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I have lived all on every side of the country and I am currently looking to move back to my old stomping grounds somewhere in the Northeast. My family lives in Scranton, PA and I am trying to find something around there. I want to be close to family but there are also other things that are VERY important to me.
1. I am very environmentally conscious so I want to be in a place where I can walk to whatever I need. I have a car but if I never have to use it I'll be happier.
2. I'd like to be in a safe area. We have a daughter that is under 2 and we don't want the chances of drugs/gangs being around very high.
3. I really want there to be a school nearby that my daughter can go to that teaches (from elementary school and up) in two or more languages.
4. The more affordable the better.
I've been considering Scranton but it seems like there is nothing really within walking distance of any decent areas. And, the public transportation doesn't seem that great. If anyone knows anything different please let me know. I've also been considering Ithaca, NY. It's only 2 hours from Scranton and it seems to be very liberal and beautiful. Also, Brooklyn, NY. Everything is in walking distance and the public transportation is great. But each place I'm sure has it's downfalls.
If anyone has any opinions about any of these places. Or if anyone knows of a good place to go where convenience and family life can run together....please let me know! Very much appreciated.....
I've lived in the Scranton metro area for the past 20 years of my life, and I'd be happy to address any and all inquiries you might have about the region.
I've taken dozens of photo tours, all of which can be found on this forum, which include Ithaca, NY, Scranton, PA, Binghamton, NY, Wilkes-Barre, PA, and many great smaller towns in the Tri-State Area. Check them out for an idea of what to expect.
Ithaca, NY is indeed a cool place, but it is liberal to the point of being militant. Anti-Bush propaganda was commonplace, smelly hippies were running amok, peace signs were in shop windows, and the main modes of transportation seemed to be VW Beetles, Mini Coopers, PT Cruisers, and other "trendy" vehicles. Being am anti-Bush left-winger myself I nearly had an orgasm being surrounded by like-minded people, but the cost-of-living in Ithaca is way out-of-line for the types of career opportunities that are available.
Scranton, PA, your hometown, has been humming along quite nicely over the past 2-4 years with a lot of urban revitalization projects. A new medical school is coming downtown in 2009. The University of Scranton is expanding and spending seven-figures to beautify the Lower Hill. Dozens of new boutiques, restaurants, galleries, bars, etc. have sprung up in the past few years, including a gourmet dog bakery, blues cafe, Thai restaurant, and TWO Starbuck's! The Wall Street West initiative is expected to bring some more high-tech jobs to the city, and the new commuter rail to NYC should be up-and-running by 2013. I-81 is in line to be widened to six lanes in about a decade. Nay Aug Park has been beautifully-restored and is now a definite asset to the city. There's a lot of political instability right now though, so that could be a turn-off. The current mayor is begrudged for attempting to transform Scranton from blue-collar to white-collar, and his three loyalists on city council have allowed him to drive the city into deep financial debt. Nevertheless I've decided to move to Scranton in the future to restore a Victorian home, raise my family, and open my own downtown business. Scranton in about 5-10 years will likely become a major hot-spot for relocation for NJ/NY transplants who are continually being pushed further and further into NEPA with each passing year due to a rising cost-of-living in their former locales.
1.) Ithaca and Scranton both offer walkability. Wilkes-Barre is improving in this category, yet it still has quite a ways to go. Binghamton is the laggard of all of the regional cities in terms of urban renewal, and its pedestrian atmosphere has suffered accordingly. Ithaca has the edge over Scranton, in my opinion, for pedestrian- and bicyclist-consciousness, as I actually had people in Ithaca stop to wave me across crosswalks (you don't see that in Scranton unless it's a tourist waving you onward). Ithaca is home to Ithaca College and Cornell University and has a definite collegetown "vibe" to it with a lot of nightlife. On the other hand, Scranton is home to the University of Scranton, Marywood University, Lackawanna College, Johnson College, and the upcoming Commonwealth Medical School, yet it still doesn't feel like a true "college" town, even with the thousands upon thousands of students.
2.) Ithaca and Scranton are both amongst the safest cities in the nation. Scranton has only had one homicide over the past several years, and I'm sure Ithaca's rate is similar. Scranton's proximity to NYC and Philly can be both a boon or burden, as I fear crime might rise in the Electric City in the future as gangs and drug dealers from both cities move in and then erupt into turf wars. Ithaca is very isolated way out in the middle-of-nowhere, so its crime rate should hold steady for years to come.
3.) I've heard nothing but great things about both the Ithaca and Scranton public school districts. I'd have to assume that Ithaca has the edge though, given the city's intellectually-oriented reputation, whereas Scranton is more blue-collar.
4.) In this sense Scranton wins over Ithaca. The cost-of-living seems to be lower here than up there.
All in all it appears both cities are relatively neck-and-neck, so you'll have to inquire on both the NEPA and NY forums for more information. Ithaca is more expensive, but it has a slight edge in quality-of-life, in my opinion. Scranton is more affordable, but the influx of NJ/NY residents in about a decade or so could bring some growing pains in terms of congestion, crime, and a rising cost-of-living (along with fringe benefits like a more cultured and literate population, more cyber-cafes, art galleries, ethnic diversity, etc.) You might want to spend a weekend visiting both cities. When you come to Scranton, be sure to stay at the historic Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel downtown---it's gorgeous!
Thank you for your response ScrantonWilksbarre. I am at a fork in the road and am still unsure of which way to go! I really do like Scranton but I hate how you have to drive everywhere you want to go. I know that you can walk from the Hill section but isn't that a "bad" area now? Are there any sections that are nice that you can walk to get groceries, coffee, restaurants? Also, does this exist in Ithaca either?
Thank you for your response ScrantonWilksbarre. I am at a fork in the road and am still unsure of which way to go! I really do like Scranton but I hate how you have to drive everywhere you want to go. I know that you can walk from the Hill section but isn't that a "bad" area now? Are there any sections that are nice that you can walk to get groceries, coffee, restaurants? Also, does this exist in Ithaca either?
There are areas in each city where you can walk to daily conveniences. Ithaca and Scranton each have some very steep hilly neighborhoods near their downtowns with a lot of tree-lined streets and historic homes. In my opinion, as I said earlier, Ithaca has the "edge" over Scranton in terms of overall liveability, but it is certainly more expensive to live in Ithaca than it is to live in Scranton.
Parts of The Hill are sketchy while parts of The Hill are gorgeous. The Lower Hill, which is the part nearest to downtown, has been the roughest around the edges. I keep in touch with a former City-Data forum member and ex-Brooklynite who moved to Prescott Avenue near Mansour's Market in the Hill Section, and he enjoys living there very much. There's another forum member, "UpperHillScranton", who moved just a few blocks away from this other member a little over a decade ago from Binghamton, NY, and wants to move back to NY because she isn't happy there. The Hill Section is the type of neighborhood where you can have three blocks of nice, one block of ick, two blocks of nice, two blocks of ick, three blocks of nice, etc. I must say that as the city's downtown continues to rebound, the Hill Section will likely be the first neighborhood to receive a complete overhaul, as it is the easiest one to walk to downtown. I plan to move to the Hill Section myself in a few years once I'm established in my career as a CPA so I can raise my family within walking distance of downtown conveniences.
Just take my advice and spend a weekend or so in each city. Spend a few hours walking around the Hill Section of Scranton and its downtown, and spend a few hours walking around neighborhoods in Ithaca and its downtown. I think you'll probably give the edge to Ithaca, but once again you'll have to be prepared to "pony up" the cash to live there.
ummm what u have herd about ithaca is true but things have changed now i know this was in 2006 but u if u havnt moved here yet dont well it depends on witch area, dont move to south hill tho thats were im at and there use to be drug busts about every other month and someone was stabbed up here and there are Bloodz and black flag Cripz up here if u know what those are, and about Ithaca schools being great is mostly true, although boynton has sum bad tymes its pretty gud, just dont dend your daughter to da High School(IHS) i dont even wanna tell u what goes on there, but theres always private schools like Cascidilla or the new school NEW ROOTS sounds to hippieish for me but u might like it, and dont move near Stewart Park there are peepers and Pervs that hang around there and once i got a wiff of a joint being smoked in the bathroom, sum ppl see ithaca as a ghetto sum see it as a beautiful place or a safe haven, it depends on what area and who u are around tho, i my self see it as a ghetto.
ummm what u have herd about ithaca is true but things have changed now i know this was in 2006 but u if u havnt moved here yet dont well it depends on witch area, dont move to south hill tho thats were im at and there use to be drug busts about every other month and someone was stabbed up here and there are Bloodz and black flag Cripz up here if u know what those are, and about Ithaca schools being great is mostly true, although boynton has sum bad tymes its pretty gud, just dont dend your daughter to da High School(IHS) i dont even wanna tell u what goes on there, but theres always private schools like Cascidilla or the new school NEW ROOTS sounds to hippieish for me but u might like it, and dont move near Stewart Park there are peepers and Pervs that hang around there and once i got a wiff of a joint being smoked in the bathroom, sum ppl see ithaca as a ghetto sum see it as a beautiful place or a safe haven, it depends on what area and who u are around tho, i my self see it as a ghetto.
Check out Tarrytown NY. Brooklyn doesn't seem like a very good fit based on your criteria.
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The Wall Street West initiative is expected to bring some more high-tech jobs to the city, and the new commuter rail to NYC should be up-and-running by 2013. I-81 is in line to be widened to six lanes in about a decade. Nay Aug Park has been beautifully-restored and is now a definite asset to the city. There's a lot of political instability right now though, so that could be a turn-off. The current mayor is begrudged for attempting to transform Scranton from blue-collar to white-collar, and his three loyalists on city council have allowed him to drive the city into deep financial debt. Nevertheless I've decided to move to Scranton in the future to restore a Victorian home, raise my family, and open my own downtown business. Scranton in about 5-10 years will likely become a major hot-spot for relocation for NJ/NY transplants who are continually being pushed further and further into NEPA with each passing year due to a rising cost-of-living in their former locales.
Ithaca is very isolated way out in the middle-of-nowhere, so its crime rate should hold steady for years to come. 
