Williamsport, PA (Lewisburg, Montoursville, Muncy: apartments, renting, townhouse)

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by Stephanie P

Good grief! May I ask about the surrounding towns such as Montoursville, Muncy and even South Williamsport. Are they safe?
The reason I ask is that my husband is interviewing with a company on Thursday, and the job would be located in Williamsport. We have 2 small children, so the best schools and the safest place is top priority.
Thanks so much for your help!
Steph

Montoursville and Muncy are nice enough and are safe and have good schools, so you should be good there.

South Williamsport has okay schools, but doesn't have much in the way of shopping and is mostly residential. One thing you have to watch for in S. Williamsport is a lot of houses have water in the basement due to the geographic location.

Williamsport has some very nice neighborhoods, but the schools can be dodgy.

Wouldn't avoid Williamsport altogether as it has a Wegman's, the downtown is nice and it has other shopping, the ball park and the tech school. It's not all bad you just need to avoid certain streets.

[Dopefish]

For those asking, i do have a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education, so that could always be an option. Currently, I work retail and have a lot of experience in that field, so I'm not too worried about finding even an easy retail job at the mall or elsewhere. North Dakota is ranked almost at the bottom for pay for teachers nationwide, though I'm unsure what the requirements would be to acquire a Pennsylvania teaching license, even with my current credentials. That's something I could easily look up, though.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by Dopefish

For those asking, i do have a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education, so that could always be an option. Currently, I work retail and have a lot of experience in that field, so I'm not too worried about finding even an easy retail job at the mall or elsewhere. North Dakota is ranked almost at the bottom for pay for teachers nationwide, though I'm unsure what the requirements would be to acquire a Pennsylvania teaching license, even with my current credentials. That's something I could easily look up, though.

My sister worked as a teacher in Williamsport and surrounding districts. Getting a permanent teaching job there is tough, but once you have your licence and get approved by the school board, you should be able to work as a sub. Williamsport pays the subs reasonably well after you work a certain # of days a year. Usually it takes a couple of years subbing to get a shot at a permanent position.

But you could combine that with a retail or wait staff job.

[Dawne]

Originally Posted by Stephanie P

Good grief! May I ask about the surrounding towns such as Montoursville, Muncy and even South Williamsport. Are they safe?
The reason I ask is that my husband is interviewing with a company on Thursday, and the job would be located in Williamsport. We have 2 small children, so the best schools and the safest place is top priority.
Thanks so much for your help!
Steph

I grew up in Montoursville. My mother still lives there so we visit often. I would highly recommend it for safety, schools, quality of life, etc.

[WonderingWanderer]

Dope,
You'll be fine jobwise with your degree and retail background. There's lot's of stores including a nice mall in the area. Lycoming Mall | Lycoming Mall's Website Home Page
Steph, it's beautiful here and most people are nice. I moved here from Texas 5 years ago and am finally starting to feel "home" I can tell you that your biggest problem to prepare for is the taxes here. Local tax, state tax, employment tax,etc.
For you both; Avoid moving into the inner parts of Williamsport, esp west downtown. Newberry is a bit shady, too. Mountoursville, Muncy, Lewisburg, are good places to look at for peaceful family living. The community arts center in Williamsport has good things going on there. Community Arts Center - Williamsport PA

Local newspaer link SunGazette.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Williamsport-Sun Gazette

Good luck!

[Stephanie P]

Originally Posted by WonderingWanderer

Dope,
You'll be fine jobwise with your degree and retail background. There's lot's of stores including a nice mall in the area. Lycoming Mall | Lycoming Mall's Website Home Page
Steph, it's beautiful here and most people are nice. I moved here from Texas 5 years ago and am finally starting to feel "home" I can tell you that your biggest problem to prepare for is the taxes here. Local tax, state tax, employment tax,etc.
For you both; Avoid moving into the inner parts of Williamsport, esp west downtown. Newberry is a bit shady, too. Mountoursville, Muncy, Lewisburg, are good places to look at for peaceful family living. The community arts center in Williamsport has good things going on there. Community Arts Center - Williamsport PA

Local newspaer link SunGazette.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Community Information - Williamsport-Sun Gazette

Good luck!

Thanks for the great info! Could you explain what the local, state and employment taxes are and how much are they?
My husband is having his interview this afternoon and it would help to have that info.
Thanks again!!!

[WonderingWanderer]

I believe the state tax is 3.07%. Local varies by city or township but is usually 1 to 2%. Employment tax is sometimes called occupation tax, depends on the town but it varies from $10 to $150.
When I left El Paso, there was a sales tax of 8.25% - that is around 6% here.
Be prepared to pay much more in the winter than you're probably used to now. I never heard of heating oil before moving here. When looking at homes, find out how they are heated in the winter so you can factor that into a budget. On the plus side, you might find running less a.c. than typical for Texas in the summer to be somewhat of an offset. Overall, I
guess it balances out.
The biggest plus for my family has been gang-free schools. It's much different here, nowhere near the level of crime we saw in El Paso.

[Stephanie P]

Originally Posted by WonderingWanderer

I believe the state tax is 3.07%. Local varies by city or township but is usually 1 to 2%. Employment tax is sometimes called occupation tax, depends on the town but it varies from $10 to $150.
When I left El Paso, there was a sales tax of 8.25% - that is around 6% here.
Be prepared to pay much more in the winter than you're probably used to now. I never heard of heating oil before moving here. When looking at homes, find out how they are heated in the winter so you can factor that into a budget. On the plus side, you might find running less a.c. than typical for Texas in the summer to be somewhat of an offset. Overall, I
guess it balances out.
The biggest plus for my family has been gang-free schools. It's much different here, nowhere near the level of crime we saw in El Paso.

Hi again! It's funny, I lived in El Paso for a year & 1/2, on the west side. My ex-husband is a Border Patrol agent, that is what took us there. I do remember one summer day, it got up to 114 degrees. But, being in a dry climate, it was not as bad as it sounds.

Well, Scott has a second interview Sunday morning in Williamsport, so hopefully this will work out.
We pay a lot for a/c here in Houston, so I hope it does balance out - the cost of heat vs a/c. We have to use our a/c 12 months of the year here in Houston.
He is going to look around the area while he is there, especially Montoursville and Muncy.
Do we need to live close to Williamsport? We are worried about driving a far distance in the snow. Which also leads to... does it snow a lot there? Do they keep the roads pretty well plowed?
I also lived in Michigan, so I do have some practice at least driving in the snow.
Thanks again everyone for your wonderful help!!!
Steph

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by Stephanie P

We pay a lot for a/c here in Houston, so I hope it does balance out - the cost of heat vs a/c. We have to use our a/c 12 months of the year here in Houston.
He is going to look around the area while he is there, especially Montoursville and Muncy.
Do we need to live close to Williamsport? We are worried about driving a far distance in the snow. Which also leads to... does it snow a lot there? Do they keep the roads pretty well plowed?
I also lived in Michigan, so I do have some practice at least driving in the snow.
Thanks again everyone for your wonderful help!!!
Steph

Depends on how much shade you have and how well insulated your home is but there are definitely 4-6 weeks where having A/C is nice in the summer time. Other than that there is much of year where you can have your windows open. All depends on your tolerances I guess. Some people have to live in a climate controlled 72 degrees all year round. I like fresh air myself.

There might be a few days a year where the temperature will get near 100 but that's it. The 80's is the norm it seems to me.

I lived in Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama and what I always hated was you could never enjoy the summer without roasting to death. With the Williamsport area the summer is pleasant enough you can sit outside and have a nice BBQ without melting.

In the winter there will be snow. I don't think the snow is too bad as you are far enough west to skirt the Atlantic Ocean storms and far enough south and east to miss the lake effect snow. Snow is something you will have to deal with from late November to early March at least, but I don't think it's anything like living in northern Michigan or the Rocky Mts.

Williamsport has about as balanced as a 4 season climate as you are going to get I think.

[danwxman]

I think the interesting thing about Williamsport is it doesn't get as much snow as you would think. Most parts of north-central PA get hammered in the winter but Williamsport doesn't. It sits in a low valley so as the previous poster said, most of the lake effect dries up before it ever gets there. And most of the coastal storms stay off to the east.