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I have been lurking on the site for awhile now and have gotten tons of great info so far, thank you all for sharing your experiences and suggestons! I have read some posts showing some displeasure about "1st posters" asking questions and never even logging back in for the responses, well, I can assure you that I will be on here often while I am on my quest for a new place to live and will not be shy about giving thanks where thanks are due..... ok, so on to the issues at hand....
First a little background: My wife is a tenured teacher in an urban area of NJ and it is getting increasingly rough at the school. The parents are out of control, the students are out of control, the gang presence is more pronounced and the administration and unions seem to be more than ok with just letting things be swept under the carpet or looking te other way. They are more concerned with how the school is perceived rather than how the school really is. There have been a few recent incidents at the school which have my wife nervous for her safety and so we are looking to make a move. I am a Certified Mortgage Planner and can do my job from anywhere with an internet connection, a laptop and a phone.
I am 34, she is 33, we have a 2 year old son and are currently trying for #2. We live in Sussex county NJ (Hopatcong) now which, if you are not familiar, would be consdered suburban. The houses are moderately spaced apart and the nearest mall is about 20 minutes away, churches and food shopping are within 10 minutes in any direction, good selection of schools, daycare facilities, big box stores etc. I love to hunt and fish and the wife loves to window shop and browse.
If my wife leaves her job and moves out of district (which she would have to do if she wanted to get away from the problems), she would lose her tenure so we thought why not move out of state to get away from the rediculously high cost of living in NJ and give her a completely new start.
I was born in Dunmore, PA and have spend every summer of my childhood (from newborn to about 16 yrs old) in the Lackawaxen/Greeley area (My grandmother used to own the parcel of land/house next door to Zane Grey's house in Lackawaxen). I know those areas fairly well but wanted some information on other areas to make an educated decision. I have no family left on my side but my wife is very close with her's and we would want to stay within a 2 hour drive or so to NYC area so that it would still be relatively easy for them or us to just jump in the car for a visit.
My wife would like to continue with her teaching career and has already begun looking into the required PA certifications. She has a masters degree in Educational Technology and is considered "Highly Qualified." If anyone can provide information on the school systems or point me in the direction of a good resource, it would be much appreciated. I would just hate to make this big move only to put her back into the same situation she is in now you know?
Ideally, I would love to find a new home/homesite with a minimum of 3 acres (more than that would also be great) that will retain as many of the conveniences we currently enjoy as possible. Preferably NOT in a development. We would like to be a little more "off the beaten path" than we are now or at least enough acreage so that we can get that sense of privacy/solitude. I am even considering the concept of having a home built so, please feel free to share any suggestions or input on that experience as well.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read all that, I know itwas a bit long winded, lol. I am looking forward to any information you guys can share!
My husband I moved to Dallas Township last year and love it (aside from the corruption in Luzerne County ). We moved from Parsippany, NJ. I would say it takes us about an hour and a half, hour 45 mins. to get from here to Parsippany (straight shot up Rt. 80). To avoid being redundant, do a search on this forum of "Dallas" and you will find some recent long-winded posts by both myself and ScranBarre with enough information in them to give you a pretty good idea about the area...(known as the "Back Mountain" area which you can also use to search this forum)
We live on 8 acres on a dirt road, but are less than 10 mins. away from the closest grocery store and other shopping (pretty much all of your "essentials" are here) and a 15-20 min. ride down the mountain to any big box store you could imagine in Wilkes Barre. We also have one of the best school districts (as evidenced by our high school taxes)
Only prob. with this area is there is hardly ANY work. Hundreds of people are competing for the same few jobs that are out there, so it's very important that your wife either find something *before* coming out here, or that your job is all that you'll need to survive on. That's the prob....you get low housing costs, low taxes (well, aside from high Dallas School taxes which I mentioned), etc. but salaries are extremely low, and right now there are just not many jobs out here.
Thanks for the reply! I used to work in Parsippany (Champion Mortgage). I'm guessing that the "high" high school taxes are nothing compared to Jersey taxes though right?
I also just saw another thread regarding a crime wave in Luzerne County.... have you had any first hand experience?
Thanks for the reply! I used to work in Parsippany (Champion Mortgage). I'm guessing that the "high" high school taxes are nothing compared to Jersey taxes though right?
I also just saw another thread regarding a crime wave in Luzerne County.... have you had any first hand experience?
My parents own a 3 BR, 1 BA, 1,500-square-foot home on a 3/4-acre lot in the Pittston Area School District (which has above-average school taxes in relation to the rest of the region), and they pay in the neighborhood of $3,200-$3,500 annually for school taxes, with a few hundred more for a county-levied tax (their municipality has no local tax though due to all of the commercial growth occurring there). You'll soon notice that what people in NEPA call "oppressive taxes" are a drop in the bucket as compared to what you've grown accustomed to paying in Northern New Jersey. For example people in Scranton whine about the "high property taxes," but upon closer inspection you'll see that their property taxes, on average, are lower than many surrounding suburbs like Dunmore, Clarks Summit, Pittston, etc. However, the city does have a Draconian wage tax (3.4%), which has stifled and stymied redevelopment efforts there for as long as I grew up near it.
What I'd be more concerned about in the long-term would be the ramifications locally of watching as property values and housing prices continue to rise (not as steadily as the pre-recession days, but amazingly enough they are still rising very modestly even today), as local wages for many without degrees remain relatively static or even flat. The proportion of people buying larger homes here and commuting back to higher-salaried positions in Northern NJ, the Lehigh Valley, etc. is on the increase, and that may very well cause problems in the not-so-distant future as locals feel the "pinch." This has already happened in Monroe County, where many natives have been in the process of moving to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre because they desire to stay in NEPA but the influx of upper-middle-class transplants has priced them out of that rapidly-growing part of the Poconos. I foresee that happening eventually in Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties as well with people moving out to Wyoming County to escape the influx (causing residents there to obviously panic at the sight of the pilgrimage of people into their rural area).
I was the one who brought up the issue of the violent crime wave here in 2009, and I can safely say that very little, if any, violent crime in NEPA is committed randomly. Mostly it's a case here of people with short fuses and low intelligence settling petty arguments over drugs or girlfriends with bullets instead of fists, as they did "back in the good 'ole days." If you're going for a jog around the Back Mountain or Abingtons (two of the areas that are most similar in nature here to Hopatcong/Sparta), then the odds of you being the victim of a drive-by are probably worse than the odds of me ever finding a date! LOL! I just can't get over how such large metropolises as Minneapolis, NYC, and Pittsburgh can have lower violent crime rates thus far in 2009 than a small city like Wilkes-Barre. It's just senseless that so many are bleeding to death in the streets out of stupidity, but perhaps I'll side with go phillies' popular view that it's a harsh lesson in "natural selection."
In my opinion you'd be happiest in either the Back Mountain (Dallas/Shavertown/Harvey's Lake) or the Abingtons (Clarks Summit/Dalton/Waverly). Each are very large bedroom communities immediately to the northwest of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, respectively. If large lot sizes are your thing, then I suggest looking into a place like Goodleigh Manor out in Dallas or any other massive planned community being developed by Landview Properties. This isn't "advertising" them, but they have a habit of consistently building successful wooded subdivisions with lot sizes in the 2-5-acre range. Another place to scope out would be Laurel Brook Estates in Bear Creek Township, which, on the southeastern side of Wilkes-Barre, would shorten your trek back to NYC by about a half-hour each way as opposed to living in the Back Mountain while still giving you a 15-minute drive to any big-box store/restaurant chain imaginable in Wilkes-Barre. One final suggestion would be the highly-acclaimed North Pocono School District, which, like Bear Creek is to Wilkes-Barre, is a 15-minute ride south or east of Scranton. There are a growing number of subdivisions in the areas of Moscow and Mt. Cobb, and you'd be within a two-hour driving radius of NYC while still being close to all of the "action" of Scranton (pop. 72,500) and its congested suburb of Dickson City (every chain store/restaurant imaginable).
Bear Creek and Moscow/Mt. Cobb have a much more rural atmosphere than much of the Abingtons and Back Mountain, which have a decidedly more suburban (and some may even say in some cases a "keeping up with the Jones's" attitude) aura about them (think ritzier parts of Sparta or slummier parts of Alpine), and both are likely to have lower taxes (although Bear Creek is within the Wilkes-Barre Area School District and, like my parents' district of Pittson Area, charges above-average tax rates for a relatively mediocre education).
So here you have it:
1.) Bear Creek (2-Hour Drive to NYC; 15-Minute Drive to Wilkes-Barre)
2.) Moscow/Mt. Cobb (2-Hour Drive to NYC; 15-Minute Drive to Scranton/Dickson City)
3.) Back Mountain (2.5-Hour Drive to NYC; 15-Minute Drive to Wilkes-Barre)
4.) Abingtons (2.5-Hour Drive to NYC; 10-Minute Drive to Scranton/Dickson City)
Is there no problem with your wife's state pension if she starts teaching in PA? Would it not be better to stay in that plan--unless she has very little time built up--and if so remember she could live in Pa and teach across the river with very little commute time.
Tama, Honestly, we haven't even gotten that far yet. She has been teaching for 10 years so she does have quite a history there but when it comes to her safety, I just can't put the $$ first. That is a great suggestion though and one that we will look into. She commutes to work now and it's 45 minutes each way so, depending on how far into PA we go, that could be a viable solution. Thanks!
SuperOx...
I am in Shohola..which I guess you know..is right next to Greeley...there is a double parcel of land right across the street from me with 2 lots. One is 5 1/2 acres and the other is 2 1/2. I believe it is perked and ready to build and the guy is asking $99k but it is negotiable. It is off the "beaten path" with a small supermarket up the road but other than that nothing commercial too close. About 25 mins to Milford & Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Price Chopper, KMart. 40-50 mins to any major mall.
If you want me to get you the phone #, feel free to PM me.
Oh and we are in the Delaware Valley School District which, from what I've heard and experienced, is one of the better ones in the area. Taxes are pretty reasonable compared to NJ. We moved here from Vernon 2 yrs ago.
Hope this info helps.
First a little background: My wife is a tenured teacher in an urban area of NJ and it is getting increasingly rough at the school. The parents are out of control, the students are out of control, the gang presence is more pronounced and the administration and unions seem to be more than ok with just letting things be swept under the carpet or looking te other way. They are more concerned with how the school is perceived rather than how the school really is. There have been a few recent incidents at the school which have my wife nervous for her safety and so we are looking to make a move. I am a Certified Mortgage Planner and can do my job from anywhere with an internet connection, a laptop and a phone.
My sister had EXACTLY the same problem as a teacher here in PA in a school district that only has 20000 residents in a semi rural area so the grass isn't greener. Also teaching jobs in "good" areas are really tough to procure if not impossible. Often they advertise teaching jobs cause they have to, but really the jobs only go to people known locally in with the school board or there is a bit of nepotism going on.
Thanks ff18wife, I am very familiar with Shohola and will actually be up there fishing at the falls for father's day. (my own little tradition).
Wannaroo, Is the school more urban or is it serving a more rural area? That's troubling to hear if it's starting to bleed out into the more out of the way areas.... Granted, kids are going to be kids but the lack of respect and seeing 2nd and 3rd graders in full gang colors is really unsettling.
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). We moved from Parsippany, NJ. I would say it takes us about an hour and a half, hour 45 mins. to get from here to Parsippany (straight shot up Rt. 80). To avoid being redundant, do a search on this forum of "Dallas" and you will find some recent long-winded posts by both myself and ScranBarre with enough information in them to give you a pretty good idea about the area...(known as the "Back Mountain" area which you can also use to search this forum) 
I just can't get over how such large metropolises as Minneapolis, NYC, and Pittsburgh can have lower violent crime rates thus far in 2009 than a small city like Wilkes-Barre. It's just senseless that so many are bleeding to death in the streets out of stupidity, but perhaps I'll side with go phillies' popular view that it's a harsh lesson in "natural selection." 
