Which is Better (Scranton, Warren, Youngstown: hardwood floors, for sale, mortgage)

[openless]

A) living in the inner city in a large victiorian house within walking distance to all major amenities, such as buisiness, food, restaurants, jobs, government, airports and embassies. Prices are generally higher for homes and taxes are out of control. a 10 minute walk gets you anywhere.

B) Living in the Suburbs, where you have a small yard and a middle aged home, where you can take care of everything yourself, have animals and have some privacy. Taxes are okay, but traffic is horrible, you have to drive several miles in any direction to get where you want to go. Prices are modest and average. a 15 minute drive gets you anywhere.

C) Living in a rural area, such as the country, or a town far far away where you have to commute 45 minutes to an hour, but home prices are significantly cheaper, or where you could afford to pay cash and not have a mortgage. it's more rural, but doesnt have major services, no 24 hour places, few doctors and everything cool, like the mall, movies, sports and bars are far away. taxes are jokingly small. but you pay higher costs for transportation, gas and higher milage.

[inspiringmind]

C - hands down. The money I save by not having to pay a mortgage would pay for having to drive 45 minutes to buy groceries as long as I do it once a week or less. I don't drink so bars don't make a difference to me. I already live in a town where only a few things are 24 hours, but most everything rolls up at 5 or 6 PM. I would love to be rural!

[ScranBarre]

A.) Here's my Scranton dream home in the Hill Section:


What's not to love about this home's facade? They don't build homes like these in suburbia these days! It's truly one of the more remarkable properties on North Webster Avenue, and it's a treat to see it finally available on the market for some other family to enjoy!


I can already envision stringing garland up and down this bannister during Christmas and replacing those family portraits with photos of my own wonderful children and partner. I'll have to "doggie-proof" those hardwood floors so that my future Siberian husky, Sierra, doesn't scratch them all up!


What a cozy fireplace to curl up to with a good book (or a good DH!)


I can't wait to show our new dining room to all of my friends and family at Thanksgiving to show them all that you can truly have it all in the city! Friendly family atmospheres aren't solely reserved for suburbia, where my parents and sister and brother-in-law currently all live.


I can't wait to learn how to play my favorite Coldplay songs on piano, as I've seen done on YouTube. It would be great to entertain guests at our weekly dinner parties (in which anything goes---from a tie to blue jeans!).


Yet another fireplace? What a treat! I've never lived in a home with a fireplace, but I've always wanted one. I can't wait to see my children attempting to roast marshmallows!


The kitchen's a bit small, but I'm not much of a cook anyways. I'd be tempted to bring home KFC and pass it off as my own home-cooked fried chicken! I can cook Ramen soup, pop tarts, and salads---that's about it!


I'm not so sure I like the idea of hardwood flooring in the master suite; perhaps an oriental rug would liven things up a bit? I also say screw the TV---I want to spend at least 30 minutes every night just lying beside my partner to talk about our days and to share our experiences with one another.


When I'm not in Manhattan, I can most certainly put this home office to good use to tele-commute from home!



This deck has to be the envy of Scranton!


I'm already envisioning a future romantic evening on this rear deck overlooking the city skyline below. I'll whip up a candlelit dinner for my future partner and myself with some light jazz music playing in the background. We'll cap off the night with a bottle of champagne, some slow-dancing, and hopefully a wonderful embrace while the kids are off at a sleepover at a friend's home. (Now if only I could find some sorry sap who would let me do that for him...sigh).

This home comes at a steep price of $699,900, but as a future real estae broker and corporate controller who will hopefully marry the budding psychologist he's had his eye on, I think we should be able to swing it by the time we're in our mid-30s. The home has six bedrooms---one for my partner and I, one for each of our three future adopted children, and two extra (one in case one or both of my parents ever have to move in with us long-term and one for other guests). There are 3.5 baths (no more fighting over the throne!) There's also a 7-room guest house above the 3-car garage (which won't be utilized much since we're within walking distance to everything we could ever need in the Electric City!) It also sits on a quarter-acre of land, giving the kids and Sierra, our pampered pooch, ample space to run amok.

What's not to love about this place?

[I LOVE PA!]

I'm sold...can I be the live in maid in the 6th bedroom??

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by I LOVE PA!

I'm sold...can I be the live in maid in the 6th bedroom??

You can have the entire 7-room guest house if you'd like. I don't even want to think about what a similar home in NJ/NYC would cost---$1 Million?
$2 Million?

In all reality, I'll never have $700,000 lying around to invest in a home, nor will I be likely to have a doteful partner by my side, but it never hurts to have a dream, does it? Without our dreams for a brighter future, what would give us the strength to rise each morning to face the trials and tribulations of a brand new day?

[pinetar10]

i vote for c. i love the country and getting away from everything that is in the city or suburbs. Thats why i love forest county, pa. there's not even a red light in the county.

[toobusytoday]

C - If you have a family, the 24 hour open stuff and bars, entertainment are all trivial things. Doing things with friends means having each other over for dinner, not always going out. Besides, there aren't that many evenings out when you have kid activites like sports, scouts, instrumental practices, lessons. Sorry, My oldest is about to graduate from college. Those years fly by - and they were all fun. Sure don't need a city for a good life.

[CortlandGirl79]

SWB,

I just want to say i love all your posts! It's great to see someone who loves their town so much!!! You might just inspire me to do a photo-tour of the Youngstown/Warren area here in Ohio. I just love old homes!!! I think it's great that there are other people my age interested in neat old houses compared to boring cookie-cutters. Keep up the good work!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

SWB,

I just want to say i love all your posts! It's great to see someone who loves their town so much!!! You might just inspire me to do a photo-tour of the Youngstown/Warren area here in Ohio. I just love old homes!!! I think it's great that there are other people my age interested in neat old houses compared to boring cookie-cutters. Keep up the good work!

Thanks! We're a rare breed for sure; all of my friends (even those pondering a move into the city limits of Scranton), are drooling over the prospect of a drab vinyl-sided two-story cookie-cutter McMansion where the front-facing two-car garage is the focal point and the rest of the home looks like an "afterthought." I happened to choose one of the steepest properties in the city to highlight (there's also a historic mansion currently on the market in the city for just under $2 Million), but there are still plenty of older homes with character in the city in an affordable price range that I'd be more than happy to settle for.

I'm heading out with a few friends in mid-July to visit Cincinnati, and my route will take me right through Youngstown/Warren. Perhaps I'll have to take a little detour to see what historic homes your city has to offer too? If you like older homes, then you're talking to the right person! I've grown up in a 1970s "Brady Bunch" home here in suburbia, and I couldn't think of anything more...ummm..."puke-a-rific!" LOL! My parents want to flee to a log home with acreage in the country, and I want to flee into the heart of the city. Either way, we've all decided that suburbia stinks!

[weluvpa]

C. Looks better and better , SWB any idea why so many of those victorians and other larger homes are on the market in Scranton? There is close to 500 homes for sale in the city right now, thats kind of a large number don't you think.