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Hey guys. We’re looking to start a new elsewhere away from the big city with a lower COL, but somewhat close to home. The area must have a legitimate downtown and decent job market for essential/social work. We don’t have any kids so a five star school district isn’t important, but would still like to be able to have a yard in a decent neighborhood where the crime is relatively low. We’ve narrowed it down to these areas.
Levels of importance goes as follows:
- less than $2,000/mo for a 2bd+ house/first floor apartment/condos. We’re 100% OVER and done with walk ups/apt complexes.
- Having space/privacy but also not far flung, away from certain amenities/essential business. I prefer having a downtown area in walking distance, but a short drive to one is fine.
- Economically stable, with a promising future ahead (due to the pandemic/economic recession, we don’t want to be in a economically risky area that’s stagnant)
- A culturally diverse, hip area with lots of different food options is a plus. Less chain restaurants, more authentic/locally owned spots. Love a good asian market too.
- Access to parks and trails
- Socially accepting of LGBT’s with more than just sports bars/pubs to enjoy a night out.
- We’re ok with the cold/snow (love it) but also see Wilmington as a prime location with ideal weather and access to beaches. I also love seafood lol.
I see you're from NY, a lot of New Yorkers main destination when they leave is Allentown, culturally Allentown would be your best bet in terms of familiarity since people do bring their cultures with them, there'd be more Giants/Jets oriented sports bars . Allentown is about 1hr and a half from NY which makes it easier for you to travel back and forth or have family/friends come down for a visit. Diversity - Allentown is different from NY or Philly for that matter because of it' s significant Hispanic population, overall it is ; white, hispanic/latino, and black, this should hopefully meet your diversity criteria. For the beaches, it depends, were you referring to the Jersey Beaches, Delaware Beaches, or OCMD? Hopefully someone from Allentown or the area can give a more thorough summary about the city but between the 4 choices I'd choose Allentown and Wilmington.
I am surprised that Albany or even parts of the Hudson Valley(Beacon or New Paltz) weren’t considered.
Well weather/access to the ocean was meant to be less of a factor for us, so it wasn’t the answer to my question.
Also, I haven’t ruled out the Albany/Troy/Schenectady area. I just know enough about it compared to these cities in particular after going to school there. The lower Hudson valley is pretty limited for our price range for the type of housing we want. I am also just not a fan of the Newburgh/Poughkeepsie areas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AshbyQuin
I see you're from NY, a lot of New Yorkers main destination when they leave is Allentown, culturally Allentown would be your best bet in terms of familiarity since people do bring their cultures with them, there'd be more Giants/Jets oriented sports bars . Allentown is about 1hr and a half from NY which makes it easier for you to travel back and forth or have family/friends come down for a visit. Diversity - Allentown is different from NY or Philly for that matter because of it' s significant Hispanic population, overall it is ; white, hispanic/latino, and black, this should hopefully meet your diversity criteria. For the beaches, it depends, were you referring to the Jersey Beaches, Delaware Beaches, or OCMD? Hopefully someone from Allentown or the area can give a more thorough summary about the city but between the 4 choices I'd choose Allentown and Wilmington.
I’ve noticed that too, that a lot of tri-staters end up moving to the Allentown area if not down south, so I can imagine fitting right in. As far as beaches go, the east coast doesn’t have much variation whether you’re in MD, DE, NJ, VA, NC etc which isn’t a bad thing. NJ obviously has more to offer and I’d live down the Jersey shore if it was less expensive around Toms River, but the further south you go the weaker the job markets get. The job markets along the MD/DE seaboards is slim picking too, which is is why I opted for the Wilmington area since it has a larger city center then Dover or Salisbury which would be nice, but they’re too isolated. I was just hoping could chime in and tell me why Wilmington could be considered an underrated gem with a reasonable COL. It’s location is ideal, yet you hear next to nothing about it... I’d surely have to take a visit ofc, but obviously these current events are making traveling around freely difficult.
Out of those options, I think Scranton and Binghamton seem like the most livable. It would be a coin toss for me.
Binghamton is interesting, because it has a pretty big college presence due to Binghamton University and a community college. It also has some other places in the area that offer some walkability and some diversity like Endicott(minus a portion of Central Endicott) and Johnson City(minus a portion of its central area). Owego in Tioga County is another walkable community in that metro area.
In the city, I’d say to look Downtown, the West Side(south of Main Street), the East Side and the central/western portion of the South Side.
I don't usually comment on this forum, but popped in and saw you asking about Allentown. I live about 15 minutes South of Allentown and know the area pretty well. I can't compare to the other areas you're looking at. Allentown is a small city making good strides to make a comeback after a couple of decades with a dead city center . It's not there yet but you could be part of it's revitalization. Have you looked into the adjacent city of Bethlehem? The advantage to Bethlehem is that it has two colleges - Lehigh and Moravian and festivals every couple of months, an active arts scene and a established pretty cool downtown. Allentown is a little grittier.
That's a pretty comparable group, but Wilmington does have an advantage of being in a state without direct larger competition and proximity to Philly to lure jobs etc.
That's a pretty comparable group, but Wilmington does have an advantage of being in a state without direct larger competition and proximity to Philly to lure jobs etc.
All of this. I would mention Deleware taxes pensions but judging from OP that is probably irrelevant at this point and time. It's also in close proximity to DE beaches and OCMD and no sales tax.
As someone already stated, OP should give Bethlehem a shot, and perhaps Reading, although it's much more grittier than Allentown or Bethlehem, but, closer to Philadelphia and keeps the same diversity that Allentown has.
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