I miss the Poconos! (Philadelphia, Scranton: appointed, ski resorts, rent)

[natashasimone]

Hello everyone.

I am feeling a bit homesick today. We recently relocated to England after living in Florida for about a year. I went to East Stroudsburg University, and lived in the Poconos (Bushkill) for over 10 years.

We were going to try to make a life for us in the Poconos, but were disappointed with the cost of living. I know that it's not as high as other parts of the tri-state area, but it was still a bit too rich for our blood at the time. Not to mention that my husband wasn't too happy about the idea of having to commute long distances to find work in the IT field.

I just wanted to say that the Poconos are a truly beautiful place, and I enjoyed the time I lived there. I love Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg, and there are so many good qualities about the area.

After living in the south and then residing in England, I can safely say that the people in the Poconos are my favourite! I will always be a Jersey girl (Born in Perth Amboy), and I loved the combination of different cultures and people from New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, etc... I know that there can sometimes be a lot of resentment amongst some people in the Poconos who feel that the area has been taken over and ruined by people from NJ and NY, but I think that there are good and bad in every group of people, and everyone brings their own richness and uniqueness into the area.

I was back in the Poconos for a short visit this past August, and wasn't shocked by any major changes. I noticed that RT 209 was still the congested mess that it always was for me. Stroudsburg is a bit more built up, and I was saddened to see that the Pocono Cinema and Coffee Shop was no longer in existence.

My only gripe was that there seemed to be more deer running into the roadways. I do know that it's because of the progress of new homes and such. That, of course, is a downside, and as much as I love the inclusion of new people and new ideas, I do worry that the influx of people has had some detrimental and unfortunate impact on the land.

My parents community in Pine Ridge was certainly more like a city suburb than a quiet community in the mountains.

At any rate, I don't want to start a debate about anything, and I was just saying "hello", and I hope everyone in the Poconos is enjoying the snowy weather and staying safe. Be lucky you live there, as it's a beautiful place, full of colourful and vibrant people.

You could be in England, where it's cold and damp--but wait: Sounds like the Poconos, except we don't get hardly any snow in this area, and I don't need to have a car.

If anyone has any questions on the area, I can certainly help. I am very well-versed in the area and have only been gone a few years.

[weluvpa]

Originally Posted by natashasimone

You could be in England, where it's cold and damp--.

Are you near or in Cornwall? I'll trade you if you are near St. Ives.

[Soldier01]

Originally Posted by natashasimone

Hello everyone.

I am feeling a bit homesick today. We recently relocated to England after living in Florida for about a year. I went to East Stroudsburg University, and lived in the Poconos (Bushkill) for over 10 years.

We were going to try to make a life for us in the Poconos, but were disappointed with the cost of living. I know that it's not as high as other parts of the tri-state area, but it was still a bit too rich for our blood at the time. Not to mention that my husband wasn't too happy about the idea of having to commute long distances to find work in the IT field.

I just wanted to say that the Poconos are a truly beautiful place, and I enjoyed the time I lived there. I love Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg, and there are so many good qualities about the area.

After living in the south and then residing in England, I can safely say that the people in the Poconos are my favourite! I will always be a Jersey girl (Born in Perth Amboy), and I loved the combination of different cultures and people from New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, etc... I know that there can sometimes be a lot of resentment amongst some people in the Poconos who feel that the area has been taken over and ruined by people from NJ and NY, but I think that there are good and bad in every group of people, and everyone brings their own richness and uniqueness into the area.

I was back in the Poconos for a short visit this past August, and wasn't shocked by any major changes. I noticed that RT 209 was still the congested mess that it always was for me. Stroudsburg is a bit more built up, and I was saddened to see that the Pocono Cinema and Coffee Shop was no longer in existence.

My only gripe was that there seemed to be more deer running into the roadways. I do know that it's because of the progress of new homes and such. That, of course, is a downside, and as much as I love the inclusion of new people and new ideas, I do worry that the influx of people has had some detrimental and unfortunate impact on the land.

My parents community in Pine Ridge was certainly more like a city suburb than a quiet community in the mountains.

At any rate, I don't want to start a debate about anything, and I was just saying "hello", and I hope everyone in the Poconos is enjoying the snowy weather and staying safe. Be lucky you live there, as it's a beautiful place, full of colourful and vibrant people.

You could be in England, where it's cold and damp--but wait: Sounds like the Poconos, except we don't get hardly any snow in this area, and I don't need to have a car.

If anyone has any questions on the area, I can certainly help. I am very well-versed in the area and have only been gone a few years.

Natasha, Please come back !!! LOL, We need more people like you around here. Thank You for that wonderful post. I wish you all the best in England and hope that you one day return for good.

[Summering]

Hello Natash.........Yes, our area is very beautiful. I miss it even when I head down south for the winter. I'm always glad to see the mountains of home.
Not all of us got the snow, it was a bit here and there. Northern NJ was hammered, route 80 closed in a few areas, people parked in their cars.
Our Mt Pocono area got snow along with places near Blakeslee..........myself.........nothing but rain and wind. So no snow this part of the Poconos either.......
I came here from NJ about 14 years ago. Most of the time I felt welcome, just once someone had a comment. I just laughed it off. Rudeness is never a good trait.
It seems like you are going to adjust well to your surroundings, not needing a car to get around in must be a big plus.
Come visit often, and stay awhile...........

[I LOVE PA!]

Natasha...tell us how you would compare the cost of living in The Poconos compared to living in England...I'd be curious to know..having never left North America.

[natashasimone]

Thanks for all the wonderfully warm replies! I am located in the Southeast area, about 30 miles from London. The British treat a 30 mile distance as being countries away, it seems. I think it's attributed to the fact that although it's such a small country, things are very concentrated and compressed in each area, with most places having everything that one could possibly need without venturing too far out of their area. I could get to central London in less than an hour's train ride, with only a few change-overs.

I am in the county of Essex, so not too close to Cornwall, I am afraid. Cornwall is beautifull, and was one of my choices, but the jobs for teachers are plentiful in the London and Home Counties of London (Essex, Kent, Suffolk...) Essex especially had a lot of job openings.

The cost of living is very high, I think. It's hard to compare it accurately without bringing up the fact that the UK pound is still "worth more" than the American dollar. I am not sure of the conversion rates now, as they change daily, but when we moved over, we had $3300 dollars for our relocation. After conversion, with a very minimal fee, we had only £1500. The average cost for a one-bedroom flat in my area (Westcliff-on-Sea) is £450-£550 a month. We found one for £500 a month. If you do the conversion of pounds to dollars, it is a little more than a one bedroom in Stroudsburg..Or perhaps right on par. Two bedrooms go for £600 and up usually. There are other extra expenses that you don't get in the States. We have to pay something called Council Tax, which includes trash pick-up, road repairs, street lights (hahaha--all ONE of them for a big street in many cases). The rate of the tax depends on the building or terrace house you live in, the size of your flat, how many people reside, if you have kids, etc... The tax is organised into bands--with four different bands going from lowest to highest. Luckily we are in the lowest band, and so we pay around £100 a month. The tax is quarterly, and since we moved in mid-quarter, we are paying a bit more. Once that evens out, we will be paying around £83 a month.

Although we live in a flat that has the lowest council tax band, it doesn't necessarily mean that this is a "rough" area. I don't really know the specifications of the band. I think it has to do with the appearance of the building, the street, the other houses around it.... The area we are in has slightly higher rent since we are able to see the "sea" from the end of our street. The sea is actually an estuary of the Thames and the North Sea, I believe.

I will break down our costs in a list, and perhaps people can compare. Bear in mind that since we are renting, we don't pay house insurance, which I am told, is very expensive.

Rent: £500 pcm (per calendar month)
Council Tax: £100-£83 pcm
TV license £28 pcm
(This is a tricky one. If you own a tv, you MUST pay a tv license fee. This fee is yearly and will always be present. You can pay it one lump sum, or in installments where you are not charged any interest. Basically, it's for the channels BBC 1 and 2 which do not have commercials. You purchase a tv license for each flat or household, and you don't get charged for more than one tv. Now, if a person has a home where they rent out rooms, which many people do, then each person in each room must pay for a separate tv license. You get a cheaper rate if you have a black and white tv.)

Phone/Internet, Cable (without premimum movie channels): £65pcm

Electricity: roughly about £35 a month. We have an "electric key" because there are three other flats in our terrace house. The key is a pay-as-you-go deal, which you "top up" when it gets low. The key is inserted into a meter of sorts outside of our flat. My husband deals with this, so I am not quite sure how it works.

Gas: Right now we have yet to receive a gas bill, but we fear it. The rates have gone up a lot, I am told, but my husband did purchase some type of insurance to lock in our rates. I am told I should expect to pay around £50 a month. The bill will come every three months, and I believe (HOPE) you can pay in installments

Water: £10 a month, which is a blessing. There isn't a meter, although most places are moving in the trend of the American-style meter with rates. We lucked out. The bill was £64 when we moved in, but only because it was for six months up front. There isn't a limit to how much we can use.

Commuting costs: £60 a month for weekly train passes to my job.

We don't have a car and don't plan to get one, so I don't have to worry about the horrid price for petrol (gas).....And I am told that car insurance is through the roof as well.

Groceries: the two of us don't eat a lot, and are thrifty, since my husband hasn't found steady work yet due to being considered a "work permit dependant" and not having his National Insurance number. We spend about £30 a week on food.

Cigarettes are pricey, and I know we should quit. The average pack costs £5...so a bit more expensive than NY prices...at least, last time I was there.

The one good thing is that the gas and water are in quarterly installments, as well as the tv license and council tax, or else it would have been crippling.

I am taking a £10,000 a year pay cut by coming here. I make £10,000 less than a UK qualified teacher with the same experience.

I make about as much as someone with one year of teaching experience in Pennsylvania.

From my perception of my salary stretching for two people, I think we would go further in the States...except having a car would make a bit more tight.

I am curious to know the current cost of living in the Poconos...what's rent like? Am I paying comparable rent here? I am thinking of perhaps Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, where I could probably get away with not having a car. I really would love to move to NJ, but think the cost of living would absolutely slay us.

[beckycat]

Why did you move to England?

[natashasimone]

I had been there many times before as a visitor, and always enjoyed the culture and history of the UK. I grew up between Florida and New Jersey (child of divorce), and always loved coming up north and looking at the old homes, older cemeteries, etc... Everything always seemed so new and modernised in Florida. When I started going to England, I was even more intrigued by the history. Being an English and History major at university, the UK piqued my interest. Add on the fact that my studies were concentrated on British Literature and European History, the UK seemed "right".

To be honest, I have a lot of respect for their education system, though now that I am teaching here, I do realise that the grass is certainly not always greener on the other side. America is a wonderful country, and I am so very proud to be American. I suppose too often we don't realise what we have until it's gone.

I suppose I wanted a change. We both wanted a change. My husband and I had been through a lot with our families: drama, illness, etc... We needed some distance, and he had never been out of the country before. In fact, apart from 2 months, he had never left the southern region of the States. I wanted him to be able to experience life in another country, and be able to visit Europe, as everything is so close and just a few hours on a train or a plane.

Unfortunately, the cost of living has caught us off guard, and we haven't done any travelling as of yet. We could have lived cheaper by renting a room, but the idea of two people sharing a single room seemed a bit much for us to deal with after having lived with in-laws for 9 months. (We were in Florida helping his mother deal with his father's illness.)

At any rate, that's why we are here now.

[beckycat]

You could always come back. It's important that you took this venture b/c you would have never known if you would have liked it or not. Life is full of surprises and you just have to take them as they go. I live in FL now, but was originally from the Poconos.

[SteelCityRising]

There should absolutely be no reason to feel as if you're trapped over in the UK forever with a one-way ticket. I'm 21 (well 22 as of tomorrow) and plan to relocate to a larger city to launch my professional career. Nevertheless a return to Scranton is most definitely in my future at some point. I love this area. Despite all of its flaws the silver lining here is just immeasurable. You are only two hours from Philadelphia or New York City---two world-class cities---yet you are also just minutes from hiking trails, ski resorts, kayaking/whitewater rafting journeys, etc. The people on this forum who slam NEPA into the ground will likely have a much different perspective once they live abroad for a number of years and realize "Hey, it wasn't so bad back home after all."

Feel free to always come back. We'll welcome you with open arms!