Help on where to live in Scranton (Dunmore, Pittston: real estate market, apartments)

[Babydoll10204e]

I moved to Scranton a lil over a year ago and i absoultely love it here...i currently live in the Tall Trees Apts and thinking of moving to an apartment in Greenridge area (hollywood section) of Scranton. i was wondering if anyone could perhaps give me some feedback on the area over there, it would be appreciated. Thanks soo much!!

[weluvpa]

First lets start by saying that Greenridge is far from the "Hollywood" section that Paul paints it out to be. If you are going to looking for apartments in Greenridge look to be as far away from the 1600, 1700 blocks of Dickson, Sanderson Ave's and the 400,500, 600 of Maket, Electric st's as possible due to a large concrete company that is currently polluting the air and it is effecting the residents with serious lung problems. Second because I live in Lower Greenridge why not move to Dunmore(its the same) but you will save yourself close to 2.4% in the wage tax......Scranton wage tax 3.4% Dunmore 1.0% its huge difference. Do the math and see what your annual savings would be. If you are not a property owner then Dunmore would treat you better and its like a neighborhood of Scranton but under its own control. I love Scranton but I have a family and a house so i have to deal with it now, but if I were you and looking to rent , I would be living in Dunmore in a heart beat. 2.4% is a huge savings on your wage tax. Do the math before you make these decisions, most people never even think to check these things and are paying out their butts to the city of Scranton. Do the math first then make the choice.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

First lets start by saying that Greenridge is far from the "Hollywood" section that Paul paints it out to be. If you are going to looking for apartments in Greenridge look to be as far away from the 1600, 1700 blocks of Dickson, Sanderson Ave's and the 400,500, 600 of Maket, Electric st's as possible due to a large concrete company that is currently polluting the air and it is effecting the residents with serious lung problems. Second because I live in Lower Greenridge why not move to Dunmore(its the same) but you will save yourself close to 2.4% in the wage tax......Scranton wage tax 3.4% Dunmore 1.0% its huge difference. Do the math and see what your annual savings would be. If you are not a property owner then Dunmore would treat you better and its like a neighborhood of Scranton but under its own control. I love Scranton but I have a family and a house so i have to deal with it now, but if I were you and looking to rent , I would be living in Dunmore in a heart beat. 2.4% is a huge savings on your wage tax. Do the math before you make these decisions, most people never even think to check these things and are paying out their butts to the city of Scranton. Do the math first then make the choice.

Great job driving people away, Chicken Little.

Believe it or not, the sky is not falling. I lived in Dunmore for a while before I lived in Scranton, and let me tell you, Dunmore is a screwed up town. There is just as much corruption in Dunmore, if not more, than in Scranton. Also, while Scranton may have the higher wage tax, Dunmore has higher property tax....Dunmore officials have repeatedly been in court petitioning to allow Dunmore borough to charge higher taxes than the limit allowed by law. Plus, because of the perceived notion of lower taxes in Dunmore because of the wage tax, real estate prices are higher in Dunmore...and the quality of life is no better in Dunmore than in Scranton. I will say that public services, such as the DPW, is worse in Dunmore. Their roads are maintained poorly in Dunmore...forget about seeing a snowplow there. I am much happier living in Scranton (West Side) than I was in Dunmore...I also got much more house for the money in Scranton, in a quieter neighborhood yet.

So please, anyone looking for info on Scranton, ignore weluvpa, he's a malcontent who is hellbent on finding the gloom and doom in everything in this town.

P.S.- I find it ironic, Dan, that you're so worried about a cinderblock plant, but you expose your child to cigarette smoke.

[ScranBarre]

I agree with WeLuvPA (Daniel) on this one. For as much as I try to be a cheerleader for the city, the 3.4% city wage tax is something I can't cover up with "rose-colored glasses." It is what it is. I agree with just about everything he said (for a change), especially about what blocks to avoid for the industrial issues. I'll also caution you to avoid his own neighborhood of Lower Green Ridge, which extends roughly from Von Storch Avenue (at the railroad bridge underpass on Green Ridge Street), on up to Nay Aug Avenue along the Lackawanna River and just across the street from the Green Ridge Shopping Center, as this area remains flood-prone (at least for a little while longer until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fixes things).

The only thing I disagree with him with is his comment about Green Ridge being located "far" from Hollywood. I've always understood the Hollywood neighborhood of Dunmore to be just east of Marywood University, which isn't far north of Green Ridge at all. I was up in the historic district of Green Ridge for one of my photo tours, and I also walked around the campus of Marywood University and the Hollywood area of Dunmore, both of which were, obviously, within walking distance of one another.

I'm committed to moving to either Hyde Park or the Lower Hill in the future myself because I want to be a direct part of the city's impending revival. I want to pump my tax dollars into the city's coffers, be considered credible when I attend city council meetings, establish my own downtown business, etc. Nevertheless, if you love the city, you can still be an indirect part of its renaissance by moving to a place like Dunmore and still committing yourself towards patronizing city businesses and volunteering with organizations like the Scranton Jaycees, Scranton Tomorrow, Scranton Today, POWER, Rediscover Scranton, etc. I just took a drive through Dunmore yesterday, and other than the construction along Drinker Street that backed up traffic, I found Dunmore Corners, the "downtown" area of the town, to be quite charming with a lot of mom-and-pop businesses like the Dunmore Candy Kitchen and the Buck Town Diner (named after the public school district's "Dunmore Bucks," even though I don't know what deer have to do with a Scranton suburb)

I'm happy to hear that you like living in Tall Trees. My sister and brother-in-law used to live there as well before settling down in a single-family home in West Pittston, and they likewise loved being able to walk to Lake Scranton for exercise.

Best of luck to you! You'd be best off taking a little bit from both Daniel and myself in order to make your decision, as I'm admittedly too "optimistic" and he's too "pessimistic." Somewhere in the middle is the true Scranton.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

Great job driving people away, Chicken Little.

Believe it or not, the sky is not falling. I lived in Dunmore for a while before I lived in Scranton, and let me tell you, Dunmore is a screwed up town. There is just as much corruption in Dunmore, if not more, than in Scranton. Also, while Scranton may have the higher wage tax, Dunmore has higher property tax....Dunmore officials have repeatedly been in court petitioning to allow Dunmore borough to charge higher taxes than the limit allowed by law. Plus, because of the perceived notion of lower taxes in Dunmore because of the wage tax, real estate prices are higher in Dunmore...and the quality of life is no better in Dunmore than in Scranton. I will say that public services, such as the DPW, is worse in Dunmore. Their roads are maintained poorly in Dunmore...forget about seeing a snowplow there. I am much happier living in Scranton (West Side) than I was in Dunmore...I also got much more house for the money in Scranton, in a quieter neighborhood yet.

So please, anyone looking for info on Scranton, ignore weluvpa, he's a malcontent who is hellbent on finding the gloom and doom in everything in this town.

P.S.- I find it ironic, Dan, that you're so worried about a cinderblock plant, but you expose your child to cigarette smoke.

Wow! I've only ever driven and walked through Dunmore, but I never heard all of these negative things about it before. Thanks for opening my eyes with a reality check! I did notice while house-hunting online that Dunmore's prices were steeper than much of Scranton's, meaning that any savings you realize on the wage tax reduction would be canceled out with a higher mortgage.

I just wanted so desperately to finally agree with Daniel on something, but I shouldn't deceive myself or others in order to do so. I plan to attend tomorrow's city council meeting at 1 PM, and I didn't want to show up to him coming at me with a meat cleaver!

[ScranBarre]

By the way, Daniel, people will be willing to pay prices that the housing market is willing to bear. For example, a home listed at over $1.6 million dollars in Green Ridge was recently removed from the online search listings, indicating that it is already under contract. Housing prices in Scranton have been trending upward in recent years; if you're so miserable living in Lower Green Ridge, then why don't you and your mother sell your homes for their appreciated values and then buy one larger home and/or duplex in Dunmore, where you could have part of the home and your parents could share the other as an "in-law suite" of sorts so you can keep an eye on them as they age and need around-the-clock care in the upcoming years? You are visibly unhappy living in Scranton by all of your messages; selling two city homes in Scranton for about $100,000 a pop will give you $200,000 to pump into a larger home in Dunmore, where you think you might be happier.

Why continue to live on in misery? I'm unhappy living here in Pittston, and I know I'd be much, much happier living in either Hyde Park or the Lower Hill. This is why I plan to buy a fixer-upper in one of these two areas and rehab a home into my own true showplace. If I'm going to make a move to a "greener pasture," then why don't you do the same? Dunmore is only what---a mile-and-a-half or so from your home? It won't be that large of an adjustment for your family.

[weluvpa]

The problem is that you all read what you want to and never hear what I am saying. I love this city and I am unhappy with its current status, I am trying to help this city grow and help it come out from under the oppression of debt that this city is under and get the right elected officals in office. I have never said that I hate the city but I do HATE what the current gov't has done to the residents of this city thru taxes and fees that are hard for the residents to pay. As far as a the $1.6 million dollar home in Greenridge if you can pay for a house of that price then it would be safe to assume that you would have no problem paying for the taxes......Lets not compare apples to pineapples here there is no reason to use a $1.6 million dollar house as a basis for the real estate market in Scranton. Thats like using a tralier park to gauge the market in Palm Beach Fl.....Paul you should know better than that. And I never said that you comapred Greenridge to Hollywood, thats the original posters mistake, I said that it is not like "Hollywood" meaning famous, elite, etc......


Hey Conors dad look up silicosis fibrosis and tell me if your ignorant ass feels that it is something that residents should have to deal with on a daily basis and shove the smoke comments up your as#. Silicosis Fibrosis is a silent and quick killer, its black lung but not in the mines. In less than 5 yrs a womans lung capacity has been reduced by 43% and she has never smoked a day in her life, and her daughter has more lung damage by 17yrs old then she would have if she smoked 10 packs aday for the last 15 years and its all from being outside in the airbourne aggregates. Look up Crystalline Quartz Silica and tell me what the effects are in the short term and the long term and then compare them to any stats you find on second hand smoke in a open air enviroment OPEN AIR being the key here buddy open air......The effects of the Daron plant are encompassing a 10 block radius around the plant and if you opened the door in every bar in town and had every smoker blow their smoke to the air outside it would take millions of people to effect the residents like this plant does in one day.

Either you get up to date on the issues and do the research or shut up and stop the trolling.
Dunmore is not as bad as he would like you to think it is and where did I ever say that there was no corruption in Dunmore??????? All I stated was that the wage tax is significantly lower and its financially more viable to live there then live here. You are the only Dunmore person I have ever talked to that said they would rather live in Scranton then there, and my last boss and my last business partner live there as well as half the people I have grown up with so please save your crap for someone else. You want to take pot shots at me fine but as long as you sit there in your west side house and ***** on this board instead of being proactive in your city you are just part of the problem and not the solution. Like I said you worry about kids and I'll worry about mine considering his school is less than 2 blocks from Daron, I feel that my concerns with the "concrete plant" are justified. Lets address what you feel is the fair market value for our houses?? Do you think if I sold my boat and the kayaks it would make it more appealing to the buyers?????? Common Paul you want to take pot shots too???? Gimme a break here!!!

Paul I look forward to seing on thursday.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

I love this city and I am unhappy with its current status, I am trying to help this city grow and help it come out from under the oppression of debt that this city is under and get the right elected officals in office.

By bashing the city at every turn and driving people out of town and recommending other town, you are not showing your "love" for the city.

Originally Posted by weluvpa

Hey Conors dad look up silicosis fibrosis and tell me if your ignorant ass feels that it is something that residents should have to deal with on a daily basis and shove the smoke comments up your as#. Silicosis Fibrosis is a silent and quick killer, its black lung but not in the mines. In less than 5 yrs a womans lung capacity has been reduced by 43% and she has never smoked a day in her life, and her daughter has more lung damage by 17yrs old then she would have if she smoked 10 packs aday for the last 15 years and its all from being outside in the airbourne aggregates. Look up Crystalline Quartz Silica and tell me what the effects are in the short term and the long term and then compare them to any stats you find on second hand smoke in a open air enviroment OPEN AIR being the key here buddy open air......The effects of the Daron plant are encompassing a 10 block radius around the plant and if you opened the door in every bar in town and had every smoker blow their smoke to the air outside it would take millions of people to effect the residents like this plant does in one day.

I don't doubt that that place is not good for the neighborhood. But why are you and a few others harping on only that place? They are not the only pollution-emitting factory in this city. There is also a cinderblock plant at the corner of 7th Ave and W Linden St, just a stone's throw from Scranton High School. The person who lives near Daron that you are referring to, if she really had breathing trouble from that place, she could have sued them by now and won easily if that was the case. Any lawyer would jump on that case if it is as you say.
Go find someone dying of lung cancer, especially nonsmokers who have been exposed to smokers, and go tell them how second hand smoke isn't harmful. even in open air, I breathe i smoke when I walk near smokers. By breathing that in, I am breathing in carcinogens. No health benefits whatsoever. Silica, you say? Cigarette smoke contains ammonia and cyanide among hundreds of other deadly chemicals.

Originally Posted by weluvpa

You are the only Dunmore person I have ever talked to that said they would rather live in Scranton then there, and my last boss and my last business partner live there as well as half the people I have grown up with so please save your crap for someone else.

Dunmore is, far and away, the worst place I have lived. (I grew up in the upper part of the valley) Their servies are lousy, and I found the people there to be very nosy and they consider anyone who wasn't born in that town to be a second-class citizen carpetbagger. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Plus, like I said, the wage tax means nothing because Dunmore's property tax is higher and real estate prices are higher there.

Originally Posted by weluvpa

You want to take pot shots at me fine but as long as you sit there in your west side house and ***** on this board instead of being proactive in your city you are just part of the problem and not the solution.

So being a complainer and ranting and raving at city council meetings is being proactive and being part of the solution? Did you ever think that I don't have the same beefs as you? Maybe if you did more positive things, you would be part of the solution. I coach my kids' sports teams, am active at the school and PTA, and spend as much time as possible with my family. I'll bet you're the parent who never volunteers for any of the activities at the schools and waits for someone else to help out at little league, etc. there are plenty of those types of parents around here, believe me. the time you spend blabbering at city council meetings could be spent with your kids and doing something positive. Its not as if moaning and groaning and bitching at city council is going to solve anything.

[weluvpa]

The reason you see complaining about Daron is because it is my neighborhood and I am the president of the assoc and the residents are our members. It is my job to fight for these people, they elected me to this position and expect me to up hold their best interest. If there is a problem you want help with go to your neighborhood assoc and get them off their ass, wait you cannot because 90% of the assoc's in the city have been bought and paid for by the team doherty.
Well lets start here.....If you knew what the hell you were actually talking about then your argument migh and I mean might have a little bit of truth to it......Daron does not manufacture CIDER blocks they make concrete building blocks in a facility that is 20X larger tahn any other block place in Scranton. Daron is 30,000 sq ft. Yes there is a lawsuit and it has been in the deposition stage for a year now, this was filed the first year that the plant opened. Daron uses a massive amount of agrregate and sand that sits out in the open air with no containment... You know what get off your own ass and drive there and see for yourself, get out of your car and walk around and feel the fine dust in your lungs and on your lips ans skin walk around the 1600, 1700 blocks of Dickson ave and walk for a good 15 minutes and then tell me that I am wrong. I do not have to answer to your trolling crap, I do what I was elected to do and I speak on what I feel is important. My validation comes from the residents of my neighborhood, anyone else right now is unnecessary. I am home with my son everyday, we spend our days quadding, fishing, race BMX together, skateboarding. Everyday we wake and find something fun to do together and some where different to go everyday. He does not play little league nor football, he doesn't want to.
I am not telling you again, you raise your family and I'll raise mine. Leave my son and my family out of this!!!!!!! You don't like what I have to say, fine but shut up about my son or my family.

[ScranBarre]

Wow! Get a room you two! It's so nice to not be the one in the middle of an argument for a change here on City-Data.