Forest City Info? (Scranton, Carbondale, Dickson City: credit, houses, school district)

[krp123]

House hunting from afar, my husband will be getting out of the military at the end of his deployment and he's sending me back to PA to get set up. The houses in Forest City seem so affordable, and the small town feel is appealing to us. We are looking for a great area to raise kids as we have two little ones. Anyone know how the school district is? Also, I was told that there is a prison in Waymart that hires *only* former military - is this true? Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[ScranBarre]

I don't know much about Forest City other than it is a quaint small town (well perhaps "cozy" is a better word; "quaint" would be more like Wellsboro or Honesdale). I know that member Jackie2008 lives very near to Forest City, so hopefully she'll be along soon to help. The town comes alive each Fall because it is the site for the start of the very popular Steamtown Marathon, which then winds its way southward and downhill through the Mid-Valley of Lackawanna County and into Downtown Scranton for the finish line. My only gripes really would be that you tend to get more snow in the winter than many other parts of the area due to the relatively high elevation, and you are pretty isolated from big-box stores/nightlife/restaurants---It's probably a good half-hour's drive down to Dickson City for all of those needs (Lowe's, Home Depot, Target, Kohl's, Wal-Mart, etc.)

[krp123]

Thank you! We are stationed in Colorado right now - at Fort Carson - so we won't mind the elevation so much being that we're already over a mile high I just dread the summer humidity! We both grew up in the Stroudsburg area, and I refuse to send the kids to Pocono Mountain area, Stroudsburg area, etc even though that's where our family is. I know that Forest City is about an hour drive, we took a ride there last time we were visiting "home," but you don't really know the town unless you have someone who lives there I guess. I hope to hear from Jackie then! TY!

[Riverside4ever]

Forest City Is a good Little town,, Not much there a few bars a pizza joint or 2 and a new chinese place , Its smalltown .USA you'll like it if your looking for peace and quiet .. I live 10 min from there .

[Jackie2008]

Hello! Thanks ScranBarre for the mention. It has been quite the day - homeowner's problems - dirt in well water, hopefully fixed by well guy; well guy breaks faucet in my bathroom sink (had him look at it because of water flow problems); getting new faucet tomorrow from plumber. Yippee! Ok, sorry about that but I just had to vent! lol.

Krp123, a pre-welcome to the area! Forest City is a nice town and so are its "suburbs" (I know I will hear a lot of laughing over that one) Browndale, Vandling- to a point- it is in Lackawanna County and has higher taxes, Uniondale, Herrick Center and Pleasant Mount. As ScranBarre mentioned, there is the Steamtown Marathon but before that is Old Home Week, usually held the first week in August. They say "week" but most of the activity happens on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They have sidewalk sales, bands performing at night (they shut down Main Street and people literally dance in the streets), food, games, this year they are bringing back a light parade (held at night) and the big parade on Saturday. That is usually when the high school reunions take place. There seems to be a little more activity downtown in getting the town a little bit livelier. As Riverside4ever mentioned, there are two pizza places, bars, a new Chinese Restaurant. There is also a new quaint (I'll give you credit ScranBarre) bistro type place named Quotes. They sell panini (sp?) sandwiches, desserts, tea, coffee, free wi-fi and have entertainment on Friday nights. Yes, it is a nice little town and yes, you do have to drive a little bit to do big box shopping, although CVS, Hallmark, Blockbuster, Burger King, McDonalds, Peebles (department store) and Weis Market (grocery store) are located in Carbondale, about 10 minutes away. Can't really answer the prison question.

If I can be of any more help, don't hesitate to ask.

[Cougargm]

There are actually two prisons in Waymart, a state prison and a new federal prison. I can't comment about the Fed system but no, the state prison does not hire only ex-military. However, ex-military are given extra points on state civil service commission applications, so they do get a 'leg up'. Many current COs are former military and some are currently still in the reserves.

[Riverside4ever]

Most of the CO's from the county and state prison after they get hired they leave and go work for the Fed Penn ..

I live outside of Forest City , And I LOVE it , no neighbors , no crime, no noise , no , gangs , or drugs . Just peaceful country living .. Im super glad that we are surrounded by big farms and we are happy there will NEVER be any developments being put in and that even if you build a house here you MUST have at least 2 acres of land to build a house on.. This is Gods Country .. Yes its a little bit of a ride to the big stores and shopping ,, BUT that is well worth the peace and quiet.. I'll never move again ,, Ive found my paradise ... And from what I know no one is selling off there land ,, It gets past on too the next generation ...........

[NEPA-x-pat]

I would add that if you are into outdoor activities it is great too. The Lackawanna River runs through the town. It has great trout fishing and is a first class whitewater kayaking/canoeing run. There are lots of state game lands for hunting. The trail system (rails to trails) is quite extensive and you can bike, hike the trails or x country ski or snow machine them in the winter. They are kind of touchy about ATVs on the trails for safety sake. Oh, if you have horses, you can horseback ride them. Very pretty area. Elk Mountain Ski Area is very close too.

If you want peace an quiet this is a good town. I don't have the stats but you can look up the PSSA scores for Forest City schools online to see how they faired.

[Riverside4ever]

Originally Posted by NEPA-x-pat

I would add that if you are into outdoor activities it is great too. The Lackawanna River runs through the town. It has great trout fishing and is a first class whitewater kayaking/canoeing run. There are lots of state game lands for hunting. The trail system (rails to trails) is quite extensive and you can bike, hike the trails or x country ski or snow machine them in the winter. They are kind of touchy about ATVs on the trails for safety sake. Oh, if you have horses, you can horseback ride them. Very pretty area. Elk Mountain Ski Area is very close too.

If you want peace an quiet this is a good town. I don't have the stats but you can look up the PSSA scores for Forest City schools online to see how they faired.

We have the Lackwaxen river going through our land .. Its Beautiful .. so much better than ANY LAKE.. .............IMO

[krp123]

Thanks for all the great information. My husband will be thrilled to know that there are trout swimming nearby, he is going to miss the fishing here in Colorado! I'm checking out the market online for now, but packing up the kids and the u-haul at the end of this month - I'll have to stay with my parents until I can find a house :-X

Sorry about the issues you're having Jackie - hope they've all cleared up and today is a better day! Old Home Week sounds like a LOT of fun. Are there certain sections of the town that you would stay away from? It seems like it's too small to even have that sort of problem, but I thought now that I'm getting closer to the home search I'd ask!

Thanks again for all the help! What a great forum.