Looking for information on moving to PA (Scranton, Harrisburg: middle-class, insurance)

[bella1974]

Hello there i am just starting my search and my husband and i are trying to figure out where the best place for us to move would be. We live in NY, Farmingdale, a small town and we both love that, so wherever we go i would like the same kind of atmosphere, the cost of living is absolutly insain, and well to be honest not very affordable at all. I would like to still be close to NY, as for our family is here and dont want to be that far from them, Can anybody please guide me in my search?

Schools.. where are the best schools?

[Rtom45]

How far from family can you be? Any part of PA near New York, New Jersey, Delaware is likely to be expensive also. As you go further west in PA the cost of living is generally (not always) lower.

[Internet Superman]

I would be looking closer to the job situation then I would the housing situation. You can get a house anywhere and you can find a good school anywhere, but can you find a job there.

You just can't show up in Rural Pennsylvania and yell "Were Here" and expect people to come running with their arms open to give you a good paying job.

Certain parts of the state has certain economic opportunities and others has others. When I went to Harrisburg 25 years ago to look for a job, there was plenty of opportunities if you were involved in the printing trade and running printing presses yet very little in the way of working in a machine shop and running a mill or a lathe.

When you get to someplace like Bradford, you might be employed as a chemist or a chemical engineer or in the logging profession, but not there is not many logging jobs left and unless you have a CDL or a professional certificate - you might not be able to even find a job.

You might save a little on the house payment and the food bill, but you might not make much if the only job you can find is working in a McDonalds.

A flower usually has to bloom where it is planted.

[bella1974]

OK well i was not expecting to say were here and give me a job, My husbands job is flexable enough where he will not have to leave it and i work for my family sooo jobs aside im just trying to find out what the best areas are to begin my search where the neighborhoods are friendly and there are kids around as for i have a 5 year old and a 15 year old..ohhh and i do have my CDL just incase you were wondering.. Ya know i was expecting more of a friendly responce so i was a bit taken back by you Internet superman.. Dont judge people before you know them!

[bella1974]

How far can i be from NY? i dont know..lol cause i dont know what areas are around.. What do you reccomend?

[Internet Superman]

I wasn't being mean, I was being truthful.

3 years ago when I quit my job, where I drove 71 miles each way to and from work every day, I figured I would take the winter off and then find a new job in the spring.

In the spring, I bought my own home from the estate of my grandparents. - It needed a lot of work. By the time I finished enough work to make it barely livable it was already the end of February of the next year.

I pounded the bricks for 3 months and could not find a job, no matter how far I had to travel within reason. I applied for over 100 positions since then and still have not found a job.

I have 8 years of heavy construction experience, but can no longer carry drywall or plywood.

I have 3 years of machining experience and enough tools to start my own machine shop - + a vo tech education, adult education 1 year program that I paid for out of my own pocket. No one is hiring and the ones that are requires journeyman machinist papers and no employers in my area offers a journeyman program.

I have 5+ years of logging experience - but no one is cutting timber.

I have 3 years of warehousing experience - but then again, I cannot lift over 50 lbs.

I have 10+ years of electronics experience, but no one is hiring, plus I cannot sit or stand for long periods of time.

I have 20 years of auto mechanic's experience - but no state inspection license.

I also have 10+ years of assembly - mechanical experience. But no one is hiring and the ones that are requires journeyman papers.

So basically I sit here and give free advice to people less intelligent then me.

I know most Career Link employees by name and by office and I can tell you where every career link office is within a 75 mile radius of Punxsutawney and I can tell you what jobs are available in any one area of Pennsylvania because I visit the career link site several times a day.

When I go to the Career link I can tell the representative who the employer is - before he even looks it up - because I have read their ad's so many times that I can recite them by memory.

Unless you have a career where you can afford to just pick up and leave and go someplace else and start over and unless you already have some sort of employment pre arranged before you get there, chances are - you are not going to be in any better shape then I am in.

I have been in two major automobile accidents in the last 11 years where both times my vehicle was hit from behind. The piddly amount of money that I took for a settlement is the only money I have to live on right now.

There is no public assistance or other government funds or insurance companies to take care of me. So I am pretty much on my own. So for me to talk to you realistically - and tell you that it is hard to get a job right now and that one out of every 10 Pennsylvanian's do not have a job right now and that is just the number of people who are still able to collect unemployment compensation. There is 7 people in Pennsylvania collecting a check right now and only 3 people working in any community in my area.

Sooner or later the bubble is going to burst and the money is going to run out and then all those people will have to either get jobs or leave. That includes Social Security and pensioners. So even the elderly will be forced to get some kind of job or live off their savings.

Not a very pretty picture to paint for someone wanting to come into Pennsylvania - looking for employment opportunities.

[bella1974]

Well you did and do come across mean, so when you say "So basically I sit here and give free advice to people less intelligent then me." you sound exactly like what you are calling people. I know well enough that before i make any plans on moving i need to reasearch it and THAT is why im asking for help concering towns and some info on them so please unless you have some info on that do not post any more on my topic. Im sorry but if you think your helping your not. Thank you!!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by bella1974

Well you did and do come across mean, so when you say "So basically I sit here and give free advice to people less intelligent then me." you sound exactly like what you are calling people. I know well enough that before i make any plans on moving i need to reasearch it and THAT is why im asking for help concering towns and some info on them so please unless you have some info on that do not post any more on my topic. Im sorry but if you think your helping your not. Thank you!!

Hello Bella!

Welcome in advance to PA, the Commonwealth I called home for the first 22.5 of my nearly 23 years of life. Based upon your requirement to be nearer to NYC you'll want to consider either Northeastern Pennsylvania or the Lehigh Valley, both of which have their own sub-forums under the PA forum (and where you'll get more specific help from locals in each area).

My first recommendation to you? Look into the North Pocono School District in Moscow, PA. Here you'd be along I-380, which feeds onto I-80 and can get you into NJ in about 40 minutes, and you'd also be about 20 minutes from Scranton, which offers all sorts of dining, shopping, and nightlife options. The North Pocono schools are above-average for both the state and region. The town proper of Moscow is very small, and much of the rest of the district is comprised of rural homes on an acre or more of land or newer modern housing developments. Expect to pay an average of $200,000 for a nice home in the district. Some areas to look for here include Mt. Cobb, Moscow, Roaring Brook, Spring Brook, Daleville, or Thornhurst (very rural).

Other options in NEPA? The Abington Heights (Clarks Summit) and Dallas (Dallas/Shavertown/Trucksville) School Districts are both two of the highest-rated public school systems in the metropolitan area, and they are 15-20 minutes northwest of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, respectively. Both are in upper-middle-class, largely Caucasian or Asian-American areas and are dominated by newer housing developments. Both have a fair smattering of businesses but are still dependent upon the city.

[dice11]

Sayre pa small town cheap to live in and 20 mins driving u can go to the mall in elmira ny < 40 mins driving u can go to binghamton big city , 3 or 4 hours from nyc but i dont like it here cuz i like to live in a city

[bella1974]

Awsom help!! will check the areas out!!