Moved to NEPA transplants and opinions (Pittsburgh, Scranton: new home, buying, income)

[slowlane3]

Originally Posted by jtab4994

We went to a fancy restaurant in lower Manhattan last Saturday. When I got the check it said they "only accept credit cards" which was fine because the bill was more than I'd planned on. But it struck me as odd that they (apparently; I didn't ask) would refuse cash. I've been to places that don't take credit cards, but this is the first one that would only take credit cards.

The last time I checked, U.S. dollar bills still say on them "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" so isn't it illegal to refuse cash?

[jtab4994]

Originally Posted by slowlane3

The last time I checked, U.S. dollar bills still say on them "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" so isn't it illegal to refuse cash?

No, it's not illegal. Many places explicitly refuse $50 and $100 bills despite whatever verbage is printed on the bills.

[seminolecounty2014]

Still looking for opinions from transplants This is so off track with the question org asked lol

[fisheye]

I just want to say on the tone of this thread: Nothing will make everybody happy all of the time. People ask all the time which areas are good and which areas are not. What we think is great; others think the opposite. It could be because we do not know what we are missing? But as long as we are happy; who really gives a damn about the next guy! Sometimes one bad neighbor is all it takes to make another's life miserable. As far as not having the services, food, recreation, entertainment that one thinks they should have when they moved here; who's fault is it that you don't have what you want? Just because somebody did not do their homework; is not justification to blame our us or our area.

One last point. Many blame 'locals' for not being friendly or whatever; but you can say the same about many that are moving into our area. Many transplants look down on the people they just decided to live with. All I am saying is that it goes both ways; it is a two way street. Either you try to get along with those you decided to live with or you don't. Life is not perfect and nobody can make friends of everybody.

[okaydorothy]

Originally Posted by Sir Eats A Lot

Mr. Magoo,

Why are you even in this thread? It's for transplants, you were born here, so go back to Wilkes-Barre, and get a couple two-tree heroin addictions like the rest of that city. Heyna or no?

Honestly, it is people like you that make transplants look bad. I am sorry, but I find most people in NEPA pretty nice. Yes I am not there full time yet, but getting there. After 10 years of part time, I think I am qualified to answer. Life is what you make of it. Also, when people move into an area, they expect the locals to change to suit them ; that is not going to happen.

before your next move, research the area, look into the things you want to live near and then figure it out. NEPA has been a good hard working place that some people still love.

[theatergypsy]

Fifty years ago, planted firmly in Bucks County (PA), my husband was transferred to Scranton PA. My only frame of reference was that Scranton and environs was "coal country". But employment when one has four children is important.

We packed up and moved and I was determined to look on this as an adventure. Thought maybe two or three years and we could return "home". Seven years in Scranton and I was enjoying most of it. There were things unfamiliar to me and some I learned to like and some...I've yet to find a decent hoagie. One needs to search out the "good" pizza. But I'd never been to a bazaar with a "beer tent" and small games of chance and potato pancakes swimming in grease. Some things you learn to like.

And then, the hubs was moved again. Not being one to drive more than ten minutes to his job, we scouted the area around Wilkes-Barre and found the town of Forty Fort. Nice area, low crime, decent schools. Little neighborhood park with a community swimming pool. Little League for the kids. And ice hockey before the Penguins arrived. Only two left at home by this time but when they decided to play hockey, we scraped together the money! Big $$$! Kirby Park on the holiday weekends. Hometown parades and 5K runs. The ever-present bazaars. Rented a house which I eventually bought. Oh, yes, from a stay-at-home mom to full-time employment when the last child entered first grade. Went back to school, back to work, found a heretofore unseen talent for acting and realized that I no longer missed my old "home". I learned that where you currently live IS home.

My four children became five and all of them graduated from NEPA schools. All of them have jobs, good-paying jobs. They all have wives who also have good-paying jobs. Any one of them could have moved to anywhere but they stayed. Hubs died almost twenty years ago, but I stayed.

I've had a couple of big-time ailments which required like surgeries. I opted to have my medical treatment right here. (The pig valve in my heart is still beating since 2005. I've had no recurrence of colon cancer since 2009)

There is so much shopping here that I can't imagine who has time enough to do it all. The number of grocery stores is overwhelming. Three Walmarts! A glut of banks and chain pharmacies. One of each on every corner! Malls, indoor and outdoor. So you have to drive for 10 or so minutes to get to them. So? In the big cities, you climb on a bus and let the driver do it for sometimes far longer than minutes.

If you live here because your job pays big money but you don't like living here because it isn't like where you left, perhaps a bit of research was in order prior to signing that contract.

I'm satisfied to live here all these years. Not every place can be NYC. Not every place wants to be.

[mr.magoo]

Originally Posted by fisheye

One last point. Many blame 'locals' for not being friendly or whatever; but you can say the same about many that are moving into our area. Many transplants look down on the people they just decided to live with. All I am saying is that it goes both ways; it is a two way street. Either you try to get along with those you decided to live with or you don't. Life is not perfect and nobody can make friends of everybody.

This is precisely (almost verbatim) what I told Sir Eats a Lot in a post 2 days ago.
The post went 'poof'. Gone with the Wind.

Well, there was a reference/mention of too much wine, :-)

[mr.magoo]

Originally Posted by Sir Eats A Lot

Mr. Magoo,

Why are you even in this thread? It's for transplants, you were born here, so go back to Wilkes-Barre, and get a couple two-tree heroin addictions like the rest of that city. Heyna or no?

Oh, so now you are trying to be clever?

How is that working out for you?...Being clever?

How 'bout we talk about this over a glass of milk.

I'll buy.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Sir Eats A Lot

Mr. Magoo,

Why are you even in this thread? It's for transplants, you were born here, so go back to Wilkes-Barre, and get a couple two-tree heroin addictions like the rest of that city. Heyna or no?

It's for anyone who wants to post here.

[jimazee]

Originally Posted by mr.magoo

That is a very charming patois you are speaking, it is a local dialect?

Heck, we usta use da patio for cookin' on da grille, but after the bear found us an' started t like the grease we prett' well quit usin' it.

I guess the same goes for the patois...

(But I must say it adds some local je ne sais quoi at times... which I must confess I can easily drift into during a chat over some suds with pals from up by da Eynon or down the line like in Taylor, Old Forge or Duryea)