How Bad is Wilkes-Barre? (Scranton, Chester: to rent, vacation home, buying)

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by jimazee

Neither Keystone College, Lackawanna College, nor Penn State Worthington (the PSU Scranton campus) are currently religiously affiliated (as far as I know).

I agree being an outsider depends heavily on the person and the place...as well as expectations, 'measurements', and comparisons.

...and just for the record there are almost 200 Jesuit colleges (and many more prep/high schools etc) in the world and 28(?) in the USA...many are well regarded.

The original question was about Wilkes-Barre. In fact, the thread is about Wilkes-Barre.

However, if you include Scranton, yes, there is Marywood University, a Catholic, regional mostly commuter school. I know the art and theater arts departments are quite good, as is social work.
Marywood is the best out of these three in Scranton.

Keystone College is a tiny, and is NOT located in the city of Scranton. It's really in the middle of nowhere, but driving distance from Scranton. It's not at all selective and it awards many associate degrees as well as bachelors degrees. Admission is not at all selective. I think almost anyone who applies gets in. Tuition is not inexpensive there. Most students and many instructors - are locals.

KC started as a two year bible college affiliated with the Baptist church. Then it became a junior college, and finally, a four year college. It's a suitcase school, and it basically clears out on weekends.
So, yes. It is no longer church affiliated.

Most troubling about Keystone, is it's current financial instability. That is concerning.

Lackawana College is primarily a commuter career focused college. The Scranton campus does have some student housing. It has satellite colleges in Hazelton, Hawley and a few other places. It's mostly a career school, with a few bachelors programs.

LC is Open Admission. They offer majors such as culinary arts, petroleum and natural gas studies, criminal justice, physical therapy assistant, pre-allied health and few bachelors degrees. Most all of the students are locals


Misericordia in Dallas is also a Roman Catholic school that was once a women's college.


Misericordia has a well regarded nursing program, and a residential campus. However, like Marywood, most of the students are local.

Penn State Worthington is obviously not religiously affiliated. However, it's offerings are rather limited.


There is nothing fundamentally wrong with a regional school. However, if I lived 20 minutes away from my family's home, I can't imagine why anyone would choose to live on campus.
The whole idea of "going away to college" is going away If a student goes home every weekend, I can't see why they would bother incurring the cost of living in a dorm.

But that's me. Many people in NEPA do just that.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by Ell9677

We'l be looking at four homes in Clarks Summit on Sunday. I am hoping the autumn leaves will be in full color. We don't get that in Coastal Georgia. We are looking forward to trying the NEPA Italian food while we are there

You're a bit early for that, but there should be a few colorful leaves.

https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map/

[Ell9677]

Thanks for all the responses. I won't be checking back on this thread. I got all the answers I needed!

[Gerania]

You're not going to tell us about the trip? Darn it.

[cj7525]

WB is not dangerous in my opinion. I lived in Dallas but was in WB daily. BUT and this is a big but, WB has a huge HUGE heroin problem. You will see people who are high or nodded out everyday. Granted I worked at the hospital but I’m just telling you it is zombie central. If you live in WB your stuff that you leave outside will get stolen, your furniture that arrives at the house before you will be gone when you get there. The pretty flowers you plant out front? Stolen. Move to forty fort or swoyersville . Dallas is wonderful. The water in WB is bad don’t drink it, get a whole house filter. Have your home checked for MOLD. There is a lot of flooding and mold will kill you slowly over a period of time! Other than that the are is great...fishing, hiking, 7 tubs, horses, fairs, festivals... I could go on and on!

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by cj7525

WB is not dangerous in my opinion. I lived in Dallas but was in WB daily. BUT and this is a big but, WB has a huge HUGE heroin problem. You will see people who are high or nodded out everyday. Granted I worked at the hospital but I’m just telling you it is zombie central. If you live in WB your stuff that you leave outside will get stolen, your furniture that arrives at the house before you will be gone when you get there. The pretty flowers you plant out front? Stolen. Move to forty fort or swoyersville . Dallas is wonderful. The water in WB is bad don’t drink it, get a whole house filter. Have your home checked for MOLD. There is a lot of flooding and mold will kill you slowly over a period of time! Other than that the are is great...fishing, hiking, 7 tubs, horses, fairs, festivals... I could go on and on!

Yeah, but Ell's husband would be working in Scranton. I like Forty Fort and Swoyersville, but I don't think that they have to live that far away.

The water in Wilkes-Barre isn't bad. If you have something, tell me. It smells like chlorine to me. Years ago, I bought a pitcher with a filter for my mother. Problem solved. I didn't notice it when I lived there, but when I moved back for a while, I thought it smelled terrible.

She would be moving from the South and you're going to tell her something about mold that she doesn't know?

I'm sorry. I grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania, then moved to Southeastern North Carolina. It was the first time in my life that I had to hire an exterminator.

[jtab4994]

Originally Posted by cj7525

BUT and this is a big but, WB has a huge HUGE heroin problem.

Everywhere has a heroin problem. My B-I-L who lives way out in farm country on the outskirts of Danville has a friend whose son recently died of an overdose. The cops were called but couldn't get to him in time with the Narcan because they were miles away giving someone else the Narcan and couldn't respond in time. So in W-B it's on every block because there are lots of people on every block. Out in the country there's maybe one addict every mile or two but only because the people are spread out thinner.

[charmed hour]

Originally Posted by jtab4994

Everywhere has a heroin problem. My B-I-L who lives way out in farm country on the outskirts of Danville has a friend whose son recently died of an overdose. The cops were called but couldn't get to him in time with the Narcan because they were miles away giving someone else the Narcan and couldn't respond in time. So in W-B it's on every block because there are lots of people on every block. Out in the country there's maybe one addict every mile or two but only because the people are spread out thinner.

Heroin and opioids are HUGE problem statewide. Terribly sad situation.

We’re seeing some meth out by me too.

[Ell9677]

I am the OP. I don't know if anyone is going to see this or respond to this and maybe I should have started a new thread, but I have a question about real estate agents in the area. We have been through several and haven't found an honest one yet. Example, one agent tells us a house is under contract, we call the listing agent and find out the house has no offers. Another agent tells us a house is going to be taken off the market because the owners decided to stay, so there is no sense looking at it. Two days later the house posts an open house and we are actually in the area on the day of the open house. We go and the house is empty and the real estate agent tells us that the family moved out over a month ago and are motivated to sell. Fast forward to now. We placed an offer on a home we saw at another open house while we were up north. The inspection report comes back very strange. We have bought 5 houses in several states over the years. We've also walked away from 2 houses after an inspection, so we are familiar with inspection reports. There is no mention of how the water, plumbing or toilets work, no mention if the heat works, no mention of the condition of the appliances, no real electrical report except a photo of live wire hanging. There was no live wire hanging at the open house, so we find this odd. We call the inspector. He tells us that he didn't test the water pressure, toilet flushing, furnace or electricity because the listing agent was present and told him they are working on the electricity, furnace, getting a new kitchen baseboard, etc. He was under the impression we knew about these items, but ordered the inspection anyway. We, in fact, were told that the furnace and electricity were all brand new, that even the dry wall was redone to install new electricity. We were told the hot water baseboards were all new. In summary, the seller (a contractor) and listing agent both tried to conceal all the defects of the house until after the release of contingencies. The disclosure stated there were no known issues. So, we would have then been stuck with a house with no heat and faulty electric if we hadn't called on that photo of the live wire since we would have never known about them. I bring all this up to my RE agent but he doesn't want to discuss what happened to the listing agent or give us an opportunity to have these items addressed. He just sends us a termination agreement to sign. No phone call, no negotiations - nothing! Is his how "outsiders" are treated in NEPA? Or are real estate agents there crooked and unprofessional to everyone? They all seem to want to do business by text only. Please understand before responding that I am not whining. I have a serious question.What is up with the RE agents there? Of course there are good ones and bad ones everywhere, but when you consider we have dealt with 5 (6 when you include the shady dealings of this listing agent) and 100 percent have been unprofessional or unhelpful, it indicates NEPA has a higher percentage of unprofessional or unhelpful RE agents. Please don't take this as a personal insult either. My husband says we have to be done considering relocating to this area. I have a genuine concern and would like genuine thoughtful answers please. So far, y'all have been great doing that.

[Chester Burnett]

Sorry to hear about you're experience. That's pretty awful and makes me feel lucky to have found good agents for our last two homes. Not in NEPA though. My parents have lived in the area for ten years so I'll ask them if they know anyone.

My other suggestion would be a google search and find reviews of agents affiliated with national agencies. Keller Williams and Berkshire Hathaway and such. Don't be quick to sign with someone. I interviewed 3 agents for our home in MN, which is now under contract. One was a recommendation from our neighbor, one we met an an open house and one I found in an internet search. I met our previous agent in FL on City-Data He was a regular poster and his knowledge and standards were well respected there.

Don't let the crappy agents scare you off. If my folks know someone I'll let you know.