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Mt. Carmel is a nice enough town. I personally wouldn't live there, but that's more personal preferences than anything else. I can't think of anything categorically wrong with the town that would cause me to speak badly of it.
Where are you coming from? Bear in mind that like most rural PA towns, Mt. Carmel is somewhat isolated. The town is surrounded by hills, forests, other villages and boroughs, and scattered light industry. I don't mean you have a short ten-minute jaunt over to the next small town; expect to drive 20-30 minutes in any given direction for the next small town. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing in itself, consider your prospects if you change employers. How would you feel about a 45-minute drive -- each way -- to work in the snow?
Speaking of winters, the matter is entirely subjective. I personally find our winters to be a little on the mild side. I don't consider a foot of snow to be a show-stopper, and I find the rural routes to be very scenic and enjoyable after a snowstorm. The only thing about winter that annoys me is the period of what feels like several months where it's 40 degrees and rainy every day. If you are used to winters in the northeast US, you'll be fine.
If you're looking for the "small town experience", I would second the recommendation to check out towns like Bloomsburg, Danville, and Selinsgrove. On the other hand, if what I described above is what you're looking for, then you'll be fine in Mt. Carmel.
Again, I'm not putting down the town in any way. A former coworker of mine lives there and loves it. Just be aware of its small-small-small-town lifestyle, and how it differs from your average small town.
Relocate to Mount Carmel? Are you f*cking kidding me? My parents are from there. Thank God they moved and raised me in Montoursville. Oh sure the housing the cheap, because nobody wants to move there. There's no draw to the area. Half double houses with tacky decour sandwiched on top of on another, abadoned strip mines off in the distance, 80% of the population is over 60. Yeah great place to live. Anyone that wants to relocate to Mount Carmel you seriously need to travel!!!
As the post directly above this one noted, if you moved to Mount Carmel, you'd probably be younger than 2/3 to 3/4 of the people who live there, if you are in your early 40s.
I'm gonna have to ditto supertrucker...Sorry Mount Carmel folks.
If you are looking for small town, I agree with the other poster who suggested Danville, Bloomsburg (awesome little downtown area, and only 45 minutes-ish from Wilkes Barre if you need a shopping hub), or Selinsgrove, although the strip there is a NIGHTMARE.
Bloomsburg (awesome little downtown area, and only 45 minutes-ish from Wilkes Barre if you need a shopping hub)
This is why I really like the Central PA / Harrisburg region. We have a lot of everything concentrated into one region. You've got a decent-sized city with a vibrant downtown, Baltimore is 45 minutes away, Philly is just over an hour, and NYC is three hours.
For small towns, you've got Carlisle -- an idyllic small town if ever there was one -- 20 minutes from here. Carlisle always feels like the setting for a 1950s family sitcom. Mechanicsburg is a small town with suburban amenities just across the Susquehanna. A little more modern, a little more expensive, but most people can still afford a home with a yard on a reasonable income. Marysville is a small, quiet borough tucked between a mountain and the river, with Harrisburg 15 minutes to the south and pure, undeveloped, rural landscapes 15 minutes in any other direction.
And all throughout the region, you'll have no trouble finding whatever work suits you. Blue-collar, white-collar, specialized, contract, full-time, part-time, government, private sector, indoor, outdoor ... last I checked our unemployment rate was well below the state average.
My dad was from Shamokin and we used to go up there to visit relatives back in the 1970s. The area is old and worn but it has its good points. I see run down areas up there, abandoned homes, poor areas, but you don't see much trash. Come down to the larger cities, Lancaster, Allentown, Reading, Philly,etc. and there you see trash and litter. People have no respect for themselves or anybody and it shows in their neighborhoods. That goes with crime. Shamokin and Mt. Carmel have avoided that. There are lots of old people and younger people commute pretty far to work. The housing prices are cheap. The coal banks and mountains and woods don't bother me, its better than seeing sprawl everywhere. I'd consider buying a weekend cabin up there but its a little far away.
I think there's some prison corrections jobs up there and of course health care for the elderly. You won't get rich but you could probably earn a decent living.
I like seeing the different churches up there. The catholic churches, the eastern orthodox onion tops, the small churches of different faiths. And the schoolgrounds and ball parks are kept immaculate so they do have community pride. I guess I could say its boring and kind of backwards, but not a bad place. With satellite TV and cable or DSL you wouldn't go stir crazy. At least they have a Wal mart and a Home Depot now.
There are other towns a little closer to SE PA to commute to work from. Ashland, Pottsville, Jim Thorpe,
I would never move there. Its a typical dirty coal town with low income and lots of trouble, especially drugs. I would try for Elysburg, which is just 10 miles from there or anything north of there, just stay out of Northumberland/Schylkill County. Anything on the West side of the Susquehanna River is good as well.
I was raised in Mount Carmel. I must say...... You will NEVER met better people to live near you! Everyone helps their neighbor! I must sadly agree, it is a very depressed area.....drugs are an issue (BUT THAT IS EVERYWHERE TODAY) Some places worse than others.
I'm going to move to mount carmel . I'm a senior citizen and I live in Philly (northwest ). I'm in an area that's considered one of the safest area's, but that has changed, cars broken into and stolen. drunks urinating on the streets from the time they leave the bar until they get to where their going, streets dirty, No respect for anyone. If you have a car and come home after 5 pm you have to drive around to find a place to park or pay $100 dollars to park in a lot. Mount Carmel may not be for those who need excitment, so it all comes down to what stage of life your in. Me, I'm at the stage where I want to sit on a porch and see friendly people walking by and hope they say hello. lol
I lived in Shenandoah and traveled all around the coal region. It really is a good place to be if you don't have high standards for living. If you're a simple person and you enjoy a simple life, the coal region rocks. Despite the cheap property, city trash doesn't generally move in there for the same reasons why everyone is knocking Mt. Carmel. When there's nothing to do and the towns are several miles apart, and you're a long drive from the nearest "city" (Harrisburg, Reading or Hazleton depending upon which coal-country town you're in), the area won't be attractive to lots of younger people. When few people have much money, the drug gangs won't waste their time in the area.
Mount Carmel always seemed like a nifty town to me. I've given thought to moving back... the only thing I didn't like about the coal region was how I lived in a house with only on-street parking... which was awful in the winter. People try to reserve the parking spaces they spent time and effort shoveling out, by putting chairs or garbage cans out into the spaces... and there is no shortage of inconsiderate morons who will move your chair or can out of the way so they can take the space you shoveled out. (The only way I was able to reserve my parking space was by filling my very large garbage can with snow and ice so that it became so heavy that few people even had a prayer of being able to budge it.)
Beyond that, the coal region is really cool. There's very little (if any) zoning... you'll find businesses nestled within entirely residential neighborhoods and nobody cares because those businesses don't attract lots of traffic nor make lots of noise.
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