Any Thoughts on Tobyhanna? (Allentown, Scranton: real estate, foreclosed, crime)

[leave nyc]

I posted a similar msg. as a reply, but realize I should have started a new thread. Sorry for the duplicate inquiry. I am planning to leave NYC in a year or two . I have been browsing website listings and it looks like Tobyhanna is a good area in my price range.

I do not want to be a "week-ender", do not want to extreme commute, I want to work locally, as a paralegal. I am single, and have two grown children who will probably visit often (I hope). I read here that areas near I-80 are becoming "bad" with crime and crowding. Any thoughts on this area or others that are suitable for working locally would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

[fopt65]

Originally Posted by leave nyc

I posted a similar msg. as a reply, but realize I should have started a new thread. Sorry for the duplicate inquiry. I am planning to leave NYC in a year or two . I have been browsing website listings and it looks like Tobyhanna is a good area in my price range.

I do not want to be a "week-ender", do not want to extreme commute, I want to work locally, as a paralegal. I am single, and have two grown children who will probably visit often (I hope). I read here that areas near I-80 are becoming "bad" with crime and crowding. Any thoughts on this area or others that are suitable for working locally would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks!

Be careful about A Pocono Country Place development. Very mixed reviews on the area. Better check out jobs BEFORE moving as the Poconos are an economically depressed area, hence why everyone makes the insane commute back to NYC for their jobs.

[g-mar]

We live just north of Tobyhanna in Wayne County and are sad to report that Tobyhanna may NOT be the place for you - unless the only thing you're looking for is a cheap house. Tobyhanna is ground zero for Pocono real estate fraud. Some of the communities, notably the mentioned above "A Pocono Country Place", but not limited there, have large percentages of vacant foreclosed homes with depressed prices. Many homes are blighted and boarded-up. The community and the schools reflect this unfortunate situation, because hardly a week goes by without news reports about shootings, beatings, graffiti, gangs and other urban ills. Not far from Tobyhanna, you could find what you're looking for and the job market in Scranton to the north and Allentown to the south is not so bad. Monroe and Pike Counties are the fastest growing parts of Pennsylvania, and the economy is doing just fine.

[kimbogirl]

Hello!
I new to this site and live in Tobyhanna having my husband move us from of all place Baltimore County, Maryland. I'm so sick of this place, I wish we would've investigated more about the area before moving. It's been over a year and I can't find any suitable and well paying employment! I do not want to commute to NYC nor NJ. How does one go about finding a job around here? I am a seasoned professional with a B.S. Degree in Psychology and I was an Parole and Probation Agent Senior for the State of Maryland. Any suggestions on how to find a job in Monroe Co. anyone?

[ScranBarre]

I would gladly recommend that you look 15 minutes further north of Tobyhanna along I-380 to the North Pocono School District and more specifically towns such as Moscow, Daleville, Elmhurst, Thornhurst, Mt. Cobb, and Roaring Brook. North Pocono is a very highly-regarded public school district, and from here you would have roughly a 20-minute commute to Scranton, where you shouldn't have much trouble landing a job in most fields. There is a plethora of law firms in and around Scranton and its suburbs, so you should forward your resume to them. Monroe County is pretty much a "black hole" for employment concerns with the exception of perhaps four employers (Sanofi-Pasteur Pharmaceuticals, Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pocono Medical Center, and East Stroudsburg University). This is why thousands of county residents clog I-80 eastbound in the mornings bound for lucrative jobs in North Jersey and/or Manhattan.

I was just in the area today and snapped a photo tour of the town of Moscow, which is the "hub" town of North Pocono and includes the massive Harmony Hills planned community. You can find it here: http://www.city-data.com/forum/penns...hoto-tour.html

My parents wish to retire to North Pocono; my father has always wanted to purchase some acreage in Spring Brook Township to erect a rustic log cabin on. They're both tiring of living here in the tract-housing suburbia near Pittston, and I'm tiring of it as well (which is why a move to the city proper of Scranton is in my not-so-distant future).

The communities that comprise North Pocono are as follows:
Moscow Borough
Elmhurst Township (Elmhurst)
Spring Brook Township
Roaring Brook Township
Madison Township (Madisonville)
Jefferson Township (Mt. Cobb)
Thornhurst Township (Thornhurst)
Covington Township (Daleville)
Clifton Township (Clifton)
Lehigh Township (Gouldsboro, Wayne County)

Best of luck, and welcome in advance to NEPA!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by kimbogirl

Hello!
I new to this site and live in Tobyhanna having my husband move us from of all place Baltimore County, Maryland. I'm so sick of this place, I wish we would've investigated more about the area before moving. It's been over a year and I can't find any suitable and well paying employment! I do not want to commute to NYC nor NJ. How does one go about finding a job around here? I am a seasoned professional with a B.S. Degree in Psychology and I was an Parole and Probation Agent Senior for the State of Maryland. Any suggestions on how to find a job in Monroe Co. anyone?

Try commuting north to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The employment outlook isn't too much better up here, but we have many more businesses, which means there will always be many more opportunities. I'm sorry to hear that you're not adjusting too well; you might want to consider relocating 15 minutes north to North Pocono, in which you'll still have a wooded backdrop behind your home, yet you'll be that much closer to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make locating a job easier. Best of luck to you, and welcome to NEPA!

[Cougargm]

If you want to continue in the criminal justice field you should consider completing a civil service application for a P/P agent. There are three state correctional institutions in NE PA (Waymart, Dallas and Retreat, near Berwick) and they have agents on site, and I think there's also an office for P/P in Scranton. Not sure what the counties offer in that field but each may have something as well. You can also consider other related positions within the SCI system, such as correctional counselor, etc. All three of the SCIs I listed are commutable from Tobyhanna, though you could find nicer towns even closer to any of them. Good luck with your job search.

[deerlover]

OMG Tobyhanna is called the "armpit" of the Poconos! Yes housing is cheap! Any slum is cheap! Houses falling apart, gangs, inner city scum, you name it. Feel free to email me for more info. I was stuck there for about 9 yrs.
jkiml@ptd.net

[nancy n]

Can anyone tell me about life in the Sunrise Lakes area? I know that they had trouble with their community pool. Has that ever been resolved?? Also, can anyone tell me about their amenities, (like snow plowing, garbage or any others). I would like to buy a house in Sunrise but I would like to hear from some other people......

[christineh]

Hi Nancy,
I live in Sunrise. We don't have a pool, tennis courts, basketball courts or any ammenities. We have no security. We pay for our own garbage which I am paying $75/per 1/4 for two green bags per week. I know others pay up to 100 per 1/4. The only positive I can say is that he does plow our roads and they are in decent condition. We also don't have a bunch of rules like in other communities, for example how your shed has to match your house. We have more freedom than that. You can go to this website and it will tell you more about the pending sunrise lawsuit.
Welcome to Concerned Citizens of Sunrise Lake, Milford, PA, 18337