Relocating to Schuylkill Co- Seeking Advice!

[slope95]

i like the lehigh valley, though most of it is a distance from pottsville. when i was in Schuylkill county a few months ago, it looks nothing like lehigh valley, it's more rural and mountainous, and the lehigh valley is a mix of rural and suburb. coal region of pa is nothing like florida, as you know. however, depending on how many minutes you are willing to drive, you could look at jim thorpe, which is around 45 minutes up 209 from pottsville. that is a very nice town. in your budget for rent, you could look at Mod cut - single real estate listings are not allowed.

you could also look in hamburg in berks county, which has many outdoors destinations, an old downtown, and plenty of shopping along 61. there is also a cabelas store there, which is huge. it is around 30-5 minutes south of pottsville. however, I cannot find that many rentals there with a backyard, though homes include for buying in your range are Mod cut - single real estate listings are not allowed.

[Icy Tea]

Route 222 is everything Julian said. Its the traffic and its worse in winter. They had a St. Valentines days ice storm a few years back where people were stranded for 2 days. Maybe consider Kutztown area. Its a small town with rustic charm, although there has been some incidents with drinking and violence around the campus.
Leesport is a nice area and was once a huge orchard and fruit producer. Its still got a flea market and farmers market as does Renningers in Kutztown. Not as big as Green Dragon in Lancaster but not bad. You'd get a feel for the locals there.
I see some rural houses with for rent signs that I don't think are listed.
Places I might avoid.... The Temple area heading towards Fleetwood. They have mushroom houses and the smell can be bad. Fleetwood/ Lyons/ Dryville /Topton area is nice and Fleetwood saw some big new housing tracts. Some have to be for sale or rent. The Bernville area is a little west but very rural and very nice.

[judd2401]

Since you grew up outside of Scranton and have already explored the Lehigh Valley and like it there, I think you're pretty much on your way regarding location. The coal towns including Scranton are depressed, Scranton, Allentown, Harrisburg in particular are on the upswing with crime and poverty. Pottsville was once thought to be the crown jewel of PA, it was very wealthy and was rumored to become the capitol of PA in the day, but then coal crashed, so did Pottsville, that's not to say you can't find nice properties throughout Central PA, if you want a sense of community and want to live in a neighborhood, check it out real good, can't speak about the schools, good luck.

[Joshric]

Thanks for all the input. We're just about a week away from making the move. Fortunately we can stay with family for a few weeks while we get a feel for the area.

I believe we're most looking toward exploring Hamburg, Orwigsburg and possibly the Lake Wynonah area. All are along the way to the Lehigh Valley and seem to be a bit less depressed than the coal towns themselves. Only problem: no rentals! I'm really hoping that they're just not online and that once we get there we'll see signs in yards.

[karen_s]

You can look at the online edition of The Merchandiser for rentals: The Windsor Press-Publisher Of The East Penn Valley and Northern Berks Merchandisers

Hope you find something really great!

[Joshric]

After a good bit of exploring we're finding that Hamburg is proving to be our front-runner. Ideal geographically, very clean downtown, seems to have a nice sense of community, safe neighborhoods and the houses outside of the center of town aren't all on top of each other.

Still much to be desired as far as rentals are concerned. Looks like we may be strong-armed into purchasing, but homeownership does have it's appealing side for sure.

[RobertusAurelius]

Honestly, I wouldn't rent its like throwing money away. I'd set a week or two aside and visit their area. You could usually get a feel in that time. I'm not from the area but moved out here. I'm originally from Jersey and welcomed the picturesque scenery and small town vibe. actually I know someone that has a nice house for sale in north Mannheim twp. It's in the blue mountain school district which is one of the tops in the state. If you have any questions feel free to send me a reply

[cowboyxjon]

I grew up in Pottsville. It seems like you aren't interested in Pottsville anymore, but the West End is probably where you would want to look; the homes are newer and there aren't as many rowhomes once you leave Market St. There is also "Yorktowne", which is a 1990s development, so it has bit of that suburban, cul-de-sac feel. In terms of rentals, you can check the Pottsville Republican (newspaper).