Cross posting: looking for home (Scranton, Williamsport: apartment, renting, condo) - Northeastern Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania (PA) -Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area - City-Data Forum

Three Ducks · 02-02-2011, 07:20 AM

For starters:

When are you moving? Hopefully in the spring
Where are you coming from? Oklahoma
Why are you moving? Our 3 year old has an autism spectrum disorder/get closer to family
Where will you be working? We will both work from home. High speed internet will be a must.
Have you been here yet? Not for 13 years or so

Will you buy or rent? Buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? House
How much can you spend? 200K
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend?
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up?

Are you married or single? Married Do you have children? yes, 1
Do you prefer public or private schools? No preference
Do you have pets? Yes
Do you want or need a yard? Yes
Are you keeping a car? Yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Calm

What do you want to be closest to?
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
Nightlife
Near Bus stop? Please note that there is NO rail service in the Lehigh Valley.

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? We're flexible

Our biggest deal will be schools. We would like a district that will work with us and isn't afraid our child will bring down scores. That said, we would rather a district that was special needs friendly but not necessarily the top district than the best school in the area. Our son is very bright but he defiantly has trouble coping. Of course, he's only three but we really want the least restrictive environment he can tolerate without disrupting class for his peers.

Additionally, we would rather not be in a housing complex (I doubt we can afford one at our price point anyway). I would also like to add that I prefer brutal honesty - if we can't afford anything that will suit our need I would prefer to be told as much. Coming from OK and finding an area with good services and schools that we can afford has been a challenge.

Any help people can offer is appreciated. I really don't know enough about any part of PA to even begin to know what would be good for us. Thank you in advance.

Tankarma · 02-02-2011, 07:35 AM

Do you know what part of Pa. your thinking about?

Three Ducks · 02-02-2011, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tankarma

Do you know what part of Pa. your thinking about?

No, I don't really know much about the area. I've been to different parts over the years on vacation. I'm not really sure what would be a good fit.

We're actually super flexible about location - this is the third state we've looked in - we started in NH because we thought that was the only thing we could afford and it's beautiful. I was really worried about winters and we would be kind of far from family. We don't have any support where we live so that's kind of important. They also had one area that seemed to be good for AS. We moved on to Buffalo, then Rochester, then Syracuse and we were very happy with that choice, but my husband and I are not spring chickens and I am concerned that the shoveling will really be bad (130" of snow is very intimidating). So I am checking in PA now. I actually didn't realize that PA was so good for ASD's.

We are kind of limited by how much we can spend on a home. We're coming from one of the lowest costs of living in the country. I noticed that people seem to like parts of the Poconos for special needs - I don't know what other areas are good and that's really the most important thing to us along with affordability.

I initially started looking at Stroudsberg. When I realized they have a crime issue I steered away. The area that we're in right now is not bad, but we've been in iffy areas and I don't want to do that again. Even where we are we had one bad neighbor and wound up being robbed several times.

Sorry for the book. This has been exhausting - I've been looking for almost a year now. We really would just like to be somewhere that's a good fit for our family. The major reason for this move is our son. He's in one of the "better" programs for AS here and it's really lacking. We've also dealt with discrimination and a great deal of nastiness from people. If there's anything that will damage my son, it will be a lack of acceptance from people. He's really high functioning too, so we would like him to be able to get an education and not be stuffed into a room and neglected because he's not as impacted as other children. That's what's happened this year, and this is his first year with district services.

Tankarma · 02-02-2011, 08:46 AM

Wallenpaupack School District is great. Honesdale, Hawley, are affordable areas. Nice old fashioned towns.

Three Ducks · 02-03-2011, 07:42 AM

What about North Pocono? I kept reading that they were very good. Any other areas?
What does Wallenpaupack have to offer? I see that they have a head start type program for 3 to 5 year olds which is good, sometimes it's hard to find a pre-school...

Tankarma · 02-03-2011, 01:04 PM

I really don't know. I wasn't up there too long. I'm sure others on here would know. Maybe if you post something about what schools have the special programs that you are looking for.

Three Ducks · 04-14-2011, 12:15 PM

I am reviving this thread in the hopes that maybe I will get some more input. We're working with a RE agent at this point.

Please guys - anything? I have friends in the Pocono Mountain district (not sure which one) and they seem to be very happy, which surprised me.

I am originally from Long Island so in addition to better schools and more acceptance of my son, part of this move is about being within driving distance of my family. My husband is from a really small town in Texas and likes the idea of being closer to nature.

Throw me a bone? LOL...

PAhippo · 04-14-2011, 12:28 PM

have a friend whose son ( 8 yo) has ADD. He's in Canton, PA school district and she's impressed with the way the teachers handle it, or him. Very tolerant but not, I don't know...permissive? I know it's not the same as autism but might want to look into it. He was in Williamsport school for a while and got lost in the crowd. They moved back into Canton.

ofhs93 · 04-14-2011, 06:03 PM

Pike County...anywhere that is covered by the Delaware Valley School District. Do a google search and read the accolades. It's 1.5 hours to Manhattan from Milford and Matamoras. Outstanding special education program that is lauded by a number of different people on this board for it's excellent autistic program. STAY AWAY from Pocono Mountain. Delaware Valley or Wallenpaupack would be the only Pocono schools I woud consider...North Pocono is more of a Scranton area school...not bad...but not the top of the list either. If you have any specific questions about the area ask and I'll do my best.

Three Ducks · 04-15-2011, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ofhs93

Pike County...anywhere that is covered by the Delaware Valley School District. Do a google search and read the accolades. It's 1.5 hours to Manhattan from Milford and Matamoras. Outstanding special education program that is lauded by a number of different people on this board for it's excellent autistic program. STAY AWAY from Pocono Mountain. Delaware Valley or Wallenpaupack would be the only Pocono schools I woud consider...North Pocono is more of a Scranton area school...not bad...but not the top of the list either. If you have any specific questions about the area ask and I'll do my best.

Thanks, had not considered this area prior and we're looking into it now