East Stroudsberg Investment (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, East Stroudsburg: apartments, high crime, house)

[GerF]

I am interested in possibly investing in multi-family residential buildings. I am interested in East Stroudsberg as I noted enormous population and income growth over the last several years.

Can anyone tell me what has driven this growth and whether it is reasonable to believe that there may be investment opportunities in apartments or has the horse already left the barn so to speak?

Thanks.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by GerF

I am interested in possibly investing in multi-family residential buildings. I am interested in East Stroudsberg as I noted enormous population and income growth over the last several years.

Can anyone tell me what has driven this growth and whether it is reasonable to believe that there may be investment opportunities in apartments or has the horse already left the barn so to speak?

Thanks.

Hello.

The rapid growth in not only East Stroudsburg but in the rest of surrounding Monroe and Pike Counties is directly associated with exurban/suburban sprawl stretching into PA from NJ/NYC. A lot of folks move to Monroe County, PA from those two areas seeking lower property taxes, inexpensive housing prices, more open space, etc. with the trade-off being horribly long commutes back into the city on congested roadways in Northern New Jersey.

Ironically the newcomers are bringing with them many of the same issues they wanted to escape from. They wanted to escape traffic congestion, but gridlock is now commonplace on many of the narrow Pocono roadways, including Route 209, Route 611, and I-80. They wanted to escape high property taxes, but those are also spiking now as school districts have to find new revenue sources to fund new schools to house the influx of new residents. They wanted to escape high crime, but as we've seen with recent involvement with the Hell's Angels, gangs are coming into Monroe County as well now, and I saw known gang-related graffiti tagging during my first short-lived Stroudsburg Photo Tour.

Believe it or not I bumped into a couple at work the other day who said they moved to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area to avoid the "congestion in Monroe County." It was really odd considering that this area has 550,000 or so residents while Monroe County only has around 170,000. A lot of the "rural charm" of Monroe County is being depleted. The nicest area there is probably the Pleasant Valley School District, but I even see that part of the county becoming sprawled over within the next decade as well.