What's Up in Eastern PA???? (Chester: home, moving to, farm)

[jjj]

Originally Posted by atmilling

Well my husband and I are one of those strange couples who are thinking of moving to upper Bucks county and we need some info. How much are building costs per square foot? We are looking at some houses near Quakertown but they all need additions and renovations so I need some suggestions. Are there good workmen in the area? We have done this several times before so we know all the good and bad about remodeling.
ATM

Upper Bucks is a great place to live. Its more expensive then some of the other areas but you get what you pay for. Building cost per sq ft would vary greatly depending on what kind of home you would be building. I would think they would start at over 120.00 sq ft and up not including land and utilities. North of Doylestown there is a small amount of new construction you might want to check out. As far as good workmen in the area there are some but good luck in finding one or getting one to do work for you. Also don't forget about the 1 to 1 1/2 % Bucks County earned income tax. Good news is that is not applied to any pension income.

[KEEandKV]

Originally Posted by atmilling

Does anyone know anything about Schnabels Woods just outside of Quakertown? It is a 180 day community. We live in Mexico in the winter and it sounds great but we don't know anything about it but what the say on the web site. Could someone fill us in. We are both early 60s and artists who love nature.
ATM

Schnabels woods; quiet, shaded, near town but in woods, wide creek (wide as a 4 lane road), easy going people. not crowded, not alot of weekenders all at once, 2 miles to lake nockamixon (7 miles long) some homes or cottages feel like summer camp for adults. we bought there 1 year ago and did some fixing up and very much like the place we own. some cottages are run down, some are down right a wreck BUT, alot of them are easy to move in now. some need cosmetic work. and prices are low for almost any place. from 29K for a descent one near creek to 115K for a 3 bed on the creek. many people have crafty life styles. the proprietors are good folks. I recommend checking it out. maybe we can meet someday. Kurt n Karen

[KEEandKV]

Originally Posted by 1rosyrosu

Thank you all for your replies. You've put me a little more at ease with my thoughts on PA. To be honest, most of my bad vibes re PA came from reading other people's thoughts on PA. In fact, I've read some that say it can be very difficult for NY/NJers to make friends in NE PA because this area is becoming what New Jersey is to New Yorkers and the natives are resenting it badly. It was said that the natives are blaming the 'transplants' for raising taxes, house prices, etc.

Another issue is, (and please don't think I split a wire) another issue is tornadoes. My research shows that this area in PA can be pretty prone to tornadoes. In NY or NJ, I've never been ----- let's say the closest I've been to a tornado has been on TV. Pretty sheltered I know but that's the way it was. I can't imagine how these poor people in Florida are living from year to year knowing that the next hurricane can come knocking at their door or rather knocking their door (amongst other things) down.

You've all mentioned that we must go and look for ourselves and we do plan to do this. I, for one, need to get my retirement officially over and done with for starters and then we plan to start the exploration.

Since we are seriously thinking about moving to PA, I thought I'd do some paper searching, so to speak, before we actually got in the car.

For starters, I'm going to look up Golden Oaks (Thanks Mathjak107) and thanks too Jackooboy for mentioning that Lancaster has good hospitals. It's also great to know that you can still leave your doors open in some places. I also will definitely look into the 'revitalization' of ABE as I recently spoke to someone who used to live in this area. She's the person who said this area was quite depressed when she lived here -- which wasn't too long ago.

Thank you all again so much for your replies. If any additional info comes to your mind or if anyone else has ANYTHING to add, I will keep looking in this forum and I will be more than happy to consider anyone's thoughts or opinions.

we had a small house in pike co, above Canadensis Pa. 1900 ft up on a lake. the people we met or saw around the small towns were all as nice as can be, in Mountain Home or Canadensis or Mt Pocono. the smaller town people were friendlier than busy places. Milford is a great old town and has alot of stuff going on there. nice people too. we moved to Bucks county for our weekend house. have a few friends still in the lake community we left. the website for it is; lake in the clouds Pa, try to google it. farewell.

[KEEandKV]

Originally Posted by Will Kelly

ATM,
Schnabels Woods is a lovely area. Since you are an artist you have great access to the Nockamixon area, Bucks County in General and the Unami Watershed and it's artist communities. As an added bonus you will be an hours drive to Philadelphia and all of the wonderful offerings for art lovers. I married into a family of artists and their love of the area and all it has to offer is apparent in their original works. Best of luck and if you need more info contact me.

Hi , read your reply to Atmilling. do you own at schnabels? or do you know anyone who may? my wife and I have a home there. your replies were true and accurate. some good some bad, but an easy place to live and the best part is 'no elected board officers' Kurt n Karen

[atmilling]

We do not own in Schnabels Woods yet but are very excited about seeing it. It sounds ideal for us. We are returning from our six month stay at our home in Mexico around May 1 and plan to head to Pa. to see for ourselves with the hopes of buying there. We have no problem with renovating a cabin or home ---we have done it many times before. We look forward to meeting all of you who have been so nice to communiate with us. Thanks, Anne and Bob

[phyll]

Originally Posted by KEEandKV

Schnabels woods; quiet, shaded, near town but in woods, wide creek (wide as a 4 lane road), easy going people. not crowded, not alot of weekenders all at once, 2 miles to lake nockamixon (7 miles long) some homes or cottages feel like summer camp for adults. we bought there 1 year ago and did some fixing up and very much like the place we own. some cottages are run down, some are down right a wreck BUT, alot of them are easy to move in now. some need cosmetic work. and prices are low for almost any place. from 29K for a descent one near creek to 115K for a 3 bed on the creek. many people have crafty life styles. the proprietors are good folks. I recommend checking it out. maybe we can meet someday. Kurt n Karen

My husband and I are looking to move, we were thinking of Tennesee for the mnts and woods. But it is so far away from where we are in Jersey, it would cost us like around $7,000 for a company.I then thought of PA . It is beautiful ,I then read your post.It sounds lovely. How would it be for a family that has a agrandchild 3yrs old and a 22 yrold and 26 yrold? Is the town something that you think would fit us? We also like to fixxer -uppers.Thank you very much!

[me3256]

My husbannd and I moved our 4 children up to the area almost 20 years ago. We have enjoyed every minute of it! Crime is everywhere but more prevalent where you have too many people in one small area. We have lived in Wayne County, pretty rural and are now building in Pike County. I am enjoying life, after children move out and have been enjoying selling real estate in the Lake Wallenpaupack area. Come check out the area. You will love it! Moderator cut: Soliciting business

[JLWhite]

To Atmilling:

Did you every do anything about Schabels' Woods? I wrote to Kurt and Karen, who have a cabin there, but have yet to hear back. (I've never used any forum before, so I may not be doing it right, either). I just discoverd Schnabels', and their website, but we need to sell our home in the Poconos first, before we can make any direct inquiries.
Thanks, JLWhite

[FrancescaJ]

Schnabels Woods is my idea of Paradise. It looks exactly like it does on the website. If you like northeastern topography, very green and woodsy, this is for you. We sold our cabin there a year ago, and I think of it every single day, miss it, miss Quakertown, Doylestown, and the farmlands around. We live in Sanibel Island, Florida, which most people consider Paradise, even call it that. We moved there from upstate NY, which we also loved. My husband is an artist, we are in our sixties, not wealthy at all, and not into this resort living in Sanibel. Schnabels Woods, ranging from seedy to less seedy, is quiet and beautiful. The people are nice, and you can be to yourself as much as you want. There are few children there, but even so, my grandchildren LOVED coming there and staying with us. They were little and could be outside in nature all day. My husband taught them to fish - our tiny cabin was right on the Tohickon, a nice wide stream. We spent 3 months there each summer - and it was hard to leave. It is a very special place to me - and Doylestown, 25 minutes away, is a smart and arty town, not boutiquey. In the other direction, about 35 minutes away, is New Hope, also very nice, but very cutesie, with rides along the canal. As artists, you might like Allentown and Bethlehem, especially the latter, which are towns working hard on coming back. They were truly depressing, but things are happening there. We learned that we really liked Philadelphia. Our town, Quakertown, is working class and handy. Just starting to wake up. It's not at all "dangerous," but kind of seedy. I like it. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about Schnabels Woods, and would like to make a final comment: if you don't like funky, it's not for you!
Where in Mexico do you live? Best. Francesca
PS There is a wonderful family-run Italian restaurant in the woods not 5 minutes from our cabin! Also an old school house turned into a restaurant/bar, and that's pretty good as well. There is a campground with a swimming pool you can pay to use - little and cheap and very nearby - so if young kids visit, they will enjoy this. Finally, in Q'town there's a new pool which is just wonderful for the kids, and a new library with computers of course for public use. I loved the library. Also, a country auction about 5 minutes from us that we loved to go to. I guess I could go on and on and on.

[atmilling]

We looked at Schnabels Woods early this summer. It is a lovely area and we liked the surrounding towns. Our problem was that we could not find a cabin that was large enough for us and our studio. Working in ceramics requires a large space ---away from the living area. There was nothing that would work for us. We are back at the Jersey Shore in Atlantic Highlands for the summer and will soon leave for Bucerias, Mexico for the winter.