Looking at moving to Pike County from Orange County, NY (Scranton: transplants, sales)

[maryp1122]

Hi. We are considering a move to Pike County to save a little money on a new home. We have outgrown our current home and when I look at moving up and the amt. of money we would end up paying in property taxes here in NY it makes my heart skip a beat! Given NY's fiscal crisis we can only believe that the taxes will more than likely increase. Gov. Patterson sounds like he doesn't want to do that, however, the meetings they have had lately to cut the budget have been unproductive to say the least.

Anyhow, the problem I am having with this idea is this--our children currently attend a parochial school here in Orange County. In fact, that is the only reason I would consider staying in Orange County. However, our enrollment is hovering at a dangerously low level currently and we might be headed for the chopping block--we just don't know what the future holds right now. According to Great Schools, Delaware Valley schools have a rating of 9 out of 10. Schools here in Orange County are only 6 or 7. But then I got on here this morning and saw the posts about the STD's. So do I really want my kids going to school there? Esp. if they are used to Catholic school. Are there any Catholic schools in the area? I looked at the Scranton diocese website and it says there are none at all in Pike County. There are some in Essex County, NJ and Middletown, NY. Can my children get bussed to these locations? Right now we live 5 minutes from their school and they get a bus. Even if I had to drive them, 5 minutes isn't a big thing. But to move to Pike Cty. and have to drive to Middletown everyday 2x a day--I think that would get old very quickly. If anyone has any thoughts at all I would be very appreciative. This is a very big decision and we really need to thoroughly examine all aspects of this probable move. My husband works in Buchanan, NY which is in Westchester Co. According to Google maps the move would add 8 minutes to his commute. Is this really accurrate? He commutes about 1 hour right now. Thanks for your input.

[poconosmama]

Hello and welcome! No, there are no catholic schools in pike county. There's on in Port Jervis but they have very low enrollment if they are even still there. The closest would be St. Vincents in Honesdale which will probably close soon too. My kids go to catholic school in Dunmore, takes me 25 minutes each way. I know if you are closer to the NY border you can check in Newton NJ there's one which wouldnt be too far for you. Can't think of the name off the top of my head. I think your local school district will only bus within a certain amount of miles. Too me it was not worth the hassle so I just drive them. Sometimes the diocese will have transportation too.
Good luck

[maryp1122]

Where is Dunmore?

[ff18wife]

My kids are in DV schools and they are really good schools. Granted my kids are still young..hopefully by the time they get to MS & HS the school district will have a handle on this "STD" issue.

Essex County, NJ is about 2 hours from Pike County. I grew up there and my parents still live there.

IMHO, I'd say go with Delaware Valley schools and move out here to Pike. You get so much more for your money than NY or NJ.

[greentown]

In neighboring Monroe County, there two Catholic schools, Notre Dame Elementary and High Schools, and Monsignor McHugh Elementary. I'm not sure if you have settled on a certain town to move to, but maybe they would be an option.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by maryp1122

Where is Dunmore?

Dunmore is a suburb to the northeast of Scranton. I live in a suburb of Scranton myself (albeit on the opposite side of town than Dunmore is), and I would wholeheartedly not recommend a daily commute to drop your kids off in Dunmore if you're going to be living in Pike County. My partner lives in Lehman Township (Bushkill), Pike County, and the drive door-to-door is exactly 65-minutes. It feels like an eternity though because all you see once you get past Scranton and head onto I-84 is tree after tree after tree for mile after mile after mile. I've wanted to gouge my eyes out from boredom before on this drive and often speed to make the time go by more quickly.

In the long-term the Diocese of Scranton will have to open a school in Pike County; it is the fastest-growing county in Pennsylvania and is expected to continue to grow into the future. They've been closing a number of parishes and schools in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area because it really makes no sense to have so many around when our population has dwindle to a fraction of what it was in our industrial heyday. If Bishop Martino has any sort of brain he'll look into forming Pike County's first parochial school in Milford soon. Delaware Valley indeed does have a very strong academic program from what I gather, but the STD scare is very real. You may think your children are "sweet little angels" (and maybe they are for most of the time), but take it from someone who was just a teenager not all that long ago. When peer pressure takes over anything is in the realm of possibility. I graduated from high school in 2005, and I don't think there were many (if any) in my class at that time who had been abstinent to graduation (myself included). Teenagers today do nothing but talk about sex, sex, sex; our materialistic and shallow society is to blame for that. If your children are going to be 17 and "fool around" for the first time I'd be leery of having them do so in an environment where STDs have become so widespread (including one case of HIV, I believe).

Just be well-prepared for a "culture shock." Member kwitski posted a rant in another thread about her move to Pike County, and it was not pleasant. She was ill-advised by her Realtor into believing that Pike County was "just like New Jersey" since it was so close to the border. Obviously they are not. Pike County, while becoming suburbanized in a few sections, is still vastly rural---church pierogi sales and deer hunting season are a big deal in that area whereas playing bridge or croquet might be a big deal in Sparta, NJ or Armonk, NY. Pike County is now officially part of the New York City metro area, as per the U.S. Census Bureau, and I expect Monroe County to be added to that list by the 2020 U.S. Census (perhaps with Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties being added by 2030 or 2040). NYC's influence is continuing to spread further and further into NEPA (much as how you probably feel its influence in Downstate NY too). This has lead to a "culture clash" with natives pitting themselves against the "big, scary transplants."

The Milford/Matamoras area is destined to get its first community college, parochial school, municipal airport, and small indoor shopping mall within the next decade, in my humble opinion, if the growth continues. I would just personally caution you to do your homework FIRST before settling into Pike County based upon the allure of "big cheap houses and low taxes" alone. The short-sighted people of NJ are moving to Raleigh, NC in droves for those very same reasons, and now many do nothing but complain about their decision. I don't want to see more people go through what poor kwitski is going through right now because she was deceived into thinking Pike County was something it's not. My partner is very happy living there, but then again he's also happy running around in the woods barefoot and voting Republican. I'm the polar opposite---wearing Eddie Bauer sweaters and voting Democrat, hence why I live near Scranton.

If you wanted to reap the best of both worlds you could see if your husband could find employment nearer to Scranton and live in the North Pocono area, where poconosmama lives. There you have deer, trees, and acreage within a reasonable drive of big-box stores, movie theaters, stadiums, etc.

[maryp1122]

Well, maybe we should just take the plunge and do it. Where we live now is just over the Orange Co. border in Ulster Co. We are 15 minutes from Newburgh though so going to the movies, Walmart, grocery is not too bad. I drove out to Milford about 2 wks. ago and looked at a house that was literally 5 minutes from the high school and Walmart and 84. I thought that wouldn't be bad. But if my kids wanted to go to the movies we would have to drive out to Middletown.:< We used to have to do that when we first moved up here. Newburgh only started getting developed about 5 yrs. ago. Until then all we had was a Walmart and Home Depot--and they were still 15 minutes away. If we bought that house in Milford it would only be 5 minutes. We would just have to bite the bullet and tell ourselves this is what we have to do to save money and have a nicer house. The recreational possibilities in Milford are very attractive. I am sure my children would love boating, fishing, swimming in the summer. Thanks for the input.

[beckycat]

I attended Wallenpaupack High School in Pike County. Although, it is a public school, I'd highly recommend it! The one thing I'd be concerned about is employment. Do you have work lined up? The taxes are cheap there, but what good is that going to do if you can't find work? Will you commute? Do you mind living in a rural area? If you don't mind commuting it maybe worth it. Good luck!

[KarenRice]

Personally I think the issues of the STD's in schools has more to do with parenting than anything else.

I would not like to drive to Middletown and back every day - though friends of mine live near Lake Wallenpaupack and work at Orange Co. Community College (radiation tech instructors). Not sure how many days a week they go in though.

[JohnVeenstra]

Pope John XXIII is in Sparta, NJ (Sussex county) Probably a god 40 minute drive down Route 23 from Pike County