Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-22-2018, 01:40 PM
 
Location: Eastern NC
20,868 posts, read 23,554,229 times
Reputation: 18814

Advertisements

So I will be retiring in about 18 months and we want to move closer to my wife's daughter and her family who live in Watertown NY. My wife would like to move there but that too far north for me and I really do not want to live in NY. I started looking around and have found several areas that will be within my price range, less that 150K, and am looking for info on them. The areas are Oil City/Franklin, Meadville, Mercer, Hamlett, and maybe Erie but property taxes seem much higher there than the other areas. Again this is preliminary work as it will be another 18 months before a move can happen. Thanks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-22-2018, 04:37 PM
 
Location: Eastern NC
20,868 posts, read 23,554,229 times
Reputation: 18814
I should add that good healthcare facilities should be available in the area that we choose.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-22-2018, 07:25 PM
 
Location: A coal patch in Pennsyltucky
10,379 posts, read 10,664,471 times
Reputation: 12705
If I was you, I would look south on I-81 to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area and start my search in that area. From Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, you could go west on I-80 to Bloomsburg and Lewisburg, south on I-476 to the Allentown area, or est into the Poconos. You have the Geisinger Health System in this area and many other hospitals. Why go much further to Western PA?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-23-2018, 06:13 AM
 
599 posts, read 498,865 times
Reputation: 2196
I agree with the last post, to a point. I would start in Northeast PA, then head west if it didn't suit you. I wouldn't go past Williamsport, IMHO. The NW region gets pummeled with lake effect weather, and much of the area seems to be in a perpetual decline. I would also rule out the Poconos, since there is nothing gained there that isn't available closer to your family in the greater Wilkes/Scranton area. The LV is much further, and since it is a vibrant economy, $150K isn't going to buy much.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-23-2018, 06:22 AM
 
13,254 posts, read 33,526,609 times
Reputation: 8103
If I were to move closer to one of our kids and I was at retirement age, I would simply move within 30 minutes of the family. Having had first hand experience with aging and now elderly parents, I would so much have rather had my parents close by and easy to get to, and vice-versa. If you do choose a town in the Northern tier of PA, I would suggest renting for a year and see what you think. And if you visit the NEPA forum, that's what you'll hear from the posters there as well.
__________________
Please follow THESE rules.

Any Questions on how to use this site? See this.

Realtors, See This.

Moderator - Lehigh Valley, NEPA, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Education and Colleges and Universities.

When I post in bold red, that is Moderator action and per the TOS can be discussed only via Direct Message.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-23-2018, 08:07 AM
 
Location: Pennsylvania
30,527 posts, read 16,222,191 times
Reputation: 44425
not sure how rural you want to get but you might want to look along rte 81. It goes right up to Watertown. Medical facilities might include those in Scranton or in Binghamton, NY.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-23-2018, 04:15 PM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
32,936 posts, read 36,359,395 times
Reputation: 43784
What they said. I would try to find a place not too far from I81. Western PA is too far in my opinion.

What Too said is quite true. What sounds reasonable in your 50s and 60s doesn't always work in your 70s and 80s.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-23-2018, 04:34 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
2,539 posts, read 2,315,098 times
Reputation: 2696
Check out Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.

County seat of Tioga County.

(Legal jobs)

Seat of the UPMC Wellsboro Hospital (Healthcare)

150k will get you something decent

Town is charming. Lots of tourist and lots of local pride

Mansfield University is 12 miles away.

Pennsylvania Grand Canyon is 12 miles from the city.

Close to Interstate 99 which will get you to upstate NY as quickly as 81.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-24-2018, 07:41 AM
 
599 posts, read 498,865 times
Reputation: 2196
Quote:
Originally Posted by rowhomecity View Post
Check out Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.

County seat of Tioga County.

(Legal jobs)

Seat of the UPMC Wellsboro Hospital (Healthcare)

150k will get you something decent

Town is charming. Lots of tourist and lots of local pride

Mansfield University is 12 miles away.

Pennsylvania Grand Canyon is 12 miles from the city.

Close to Interstate 99 which will get you to upstate NY as quickly as 81.
I spent decades assuming I would retire to Wellsboro. When the time came, my wife and I got serious about talking to locals, visiting to see home listings, and getting a look at what was I was guilty of viewing with rose colored glasses, as I vacationed in the area, since I was in Elementary school.

Bottom line? It's a great town. The region overall seems to be in decline however, with many of the businesses on rural highways in the county that are closed, gone, for sale, etc, In town, home prices seem to be flat, or declining. There is a home currently for sale in the gaslight district. We nearly bought it in 1999. It is currently in nicer condition, and (after adjusting for inflation) listed for about 88% of what it sold for, nearly twenty years ago. The rural areas have a lot of newer trophy/McMansion grade places for sale that seem to spend a very long time on the market. When it came to rural, in good condition, and under $200K, we didn't find a whole lot. Overall, it would be hard to claim that the now deceased gas drilling boom was a net positive. The final straw for us was health care. The local take on it was that excellent care was available at places like Geisinger in Danville, or in a new hospital outside of Corning, as for locally, not so much. My wife needs the availability of a specialist who is trained in evaluating and programing a specific implanted medical device. In areas like Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, The Lehigh Valley, etc.. There are several of these providers to chose from. When we checked the manufacturer, the closest provider to Tioga county made weekly visits to the Corning area. We also know of a few rural folks who had serious health crisis's in the area, heart attack, motorcycle wreck, etc. They were taken to the local hospital and immediately shipped off to Geisinger, by helicopter, since there were no local facilities that could handle the issue.

Wellsboro is a wonderful place, but there are a lot of issues to consider. We have met several locals who flat out told us that they would NOT recommend moving there, for many reasons, from the fact that they can't trust the water at their rural homes, to the many drawbacks it poses to retirees.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-24-2018, 11:52 AM
 
Location: Eastern NC
20,868 posts, read 23,554,229 times
Reputation: 18814
Quote:
Originally Posted by rowhomecity View Post
Check out Wellsboro, Pennsylvania.

County seat of Tioga County.

(Legal jobs)

Seat of the UPMC Wellsboro Hospital (Healthcare)

150k will get you something decent

Town is charming. Lots of tourist and lots of local pride

Mansfield University is 12 miles away.

Pennsylvania Grand Canyon is 12 miles from the city.

Close to Interstate 99 which will get you to upstate NY as quickly as 81.

I actually looked in that area and it seemed very promising until Wharton posted. That said, thanks to all who have posted and I will start looking in the east and northeast area. Scranton looks like it is only about 3 hours from Watertown so that is a big plus. I also looked at Williamsport but home prices seem high in that area. My only issue with towns and cities along rivers is the flood potential. I have always been leery of living near a river due to flooding. Is that being too cautious?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:13 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top