Moved to lehigh valley transplants opinions (Scranton, Wyoming: house, school districts, living in)

[seminolecounty2014]

Questions for transplants are you happy in Lehigh Valley and what do you like about it and what do you not like about it if anything?

[toobusytoday]

We moved here 20 years ago, and this is the longest we've ever lived anywhere, having lived in 5 other states and three other counties in Pennsylvania. It's the friendliest place we've found and I don't think we will live anyplace else. I do dislike the months of Feb-April, but the rest of the year makes up for them. Schools are good, people are friendly, it's easy to get anywhere. I like living close to city activities but not in a city. I love our small town and how after being here for a number of years, I can go about anywhere and see someone I know. I like the farmers markets in the summer, the PYO farms and orchards and the many festivals and celebrations. I like seeing a couple of Iron Pigs games and one or two Phantoms games without too much effort and low cost. I like the numerous restaurants, from old school stone taverns to hip ethnic spots. It's just a great place to live.

[seminolecounty2014]

Thats awesome!

[johnp292]

I’ve lived in North Jersey, the Poconos, the Wyoming Valley (PA), Lehigh Valley and now Arizona. If we were to move back east the only one of the aforementioned locales I’d consider returning to would be Lehigh.

[seminolecounty2014]

The more people I talk to all I hear about Lehigh Valley is positive and everyone loves it!

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

We moved here 20 years ago, and this is the longest we've ever lived anywhere, having lived in 5 other states and three other counties in Pennsylvania. It's the friendliest place we've found and I don't think we will live anyplace else. I do dislike the months of Feb-April, but the rest of the year makes up for them. Schools are good, people are friendly, it's easy to get anywhere. I like living close to city activities but not in a city. I love our small town and how after being here for a number of years, I can go about anywhere and see someone I know. I like the farmers markets in the summer, the PYO farms and orchards and the many festivals and celebrations. I like seeing a couple of Iron Pigs games and one or two Phantoms games without too much effort and low cost. I like the numerous restaurants, from old school stone taverns to hip ethnic spots. It's just a great place to live.

I've always liked that area. If I could choose where in PA to live, it would be on my short list. If I won the lottery, I'd move to the Philly Main Line.

[ASRGUY]

As nice as Philly burbs are you better have some $$$. LV is the next closest area with alot to offer. Nepa, Wyoming valley, poconos Scranton etc are pretty crappy.

[mary28]

Been here for 11 years.

What I love about the LV:

-plenty of nature trails, parks, outdoorsy recreation, playgrounds, river access.
-location. Accessibility to big cities like NYC and Philly.
-farms. Pick your own farms - fruits to christmas trees
-downtowns. they have walkable, charming downtowns.
-events all year
-wegmans. we still have wegmans.

What I dislike about the LV:
-roads can be bad and unkept.
-tail gating drivers. grrrr.
-it can get old after a few years. you'll find yourself going to the same hiking trails, same parks and rivers every summer - it's habit forming. so you try to venture out of state to see something else.

[blazerj]

I moved here after living in suburban NJ, NYC, Philly, and Chicago. Here are my pros/ cons.

Pros:
- It's a great area to raise kids and almost all of the suburban school districts are fine (some are much better than fine)
- You can get a lot of house for $400K+
- Weekend trips to NYC/ Philly are fun and you can easily do a day trip if you have a specific destination (e.g. Liberty Science Center, Please Touch, LegoLand)
- It's generic suburbia, but that's fine when you have kids (meaning, we have all the supermarkets, stores that you need)
- It's quiet and people are very friendly. In fact, I can't seem to think of an unfriendly interaction that I've had in the LV.

Cons:
- Traffic (during rush hour) on 22 & 78 is far worse than it should for an area of this size
- Restaurants are generally good, although not amazing (Bolette & Glassburn are the exception), although I can't seem to find really good sushi (have tried Kome), but have had very good Indian, Italian, & Thai
- Depending on your profession, it may be hard to find as good of a paying job compared to living in suburban NYC or Philly.