Help: relocating to Scranton (Wilkes-Barre, York: section 8, crime, neighborhoods)

[ashwal]

I accepted a job at a hospital in Scranton, PA as a nurse at one of the hospitals. Before I go on I do not want any replies bashing my decision to move there as I see many of those on this site. I am looking at places in the area to move to. I am looking for suggestions on neighborhoods in Scranton.

I am 23 years old right out of college. I am looking for an area that is good for young professionals to live. Any suggestions? I would like to be near recreation and an area near/walking distance from night life/bars/restaurants etc.

[cjseliga]

Do you have to live in Scranton? Are you open to other cities?

I guess downtown Scranton, would pretty much tick all of those boxes, although I would imagine the rents are going to be highest there.

Are you from Pennsylvania, where are you coming from?

[auntieannie68]

dunmore would be an excellent choice

it has restsurants,bars,some shopping,and a college within walking distance

it was my hometown so I am predjudiced

[DavidWebb]

Originally Posted by ashwal

I am 23 years old right out of college. I am looking for an area that is good for young professionals to live. Any suggestions? I would like to be near recreation and an area near/walking distance from night life/bars/restaurants etc.

Are you male or female?? - If male then you can pretty much take care of yourself....if female then I suggest asking your new co-workers for their advice on where to live since they'll have more insight especially considering they work in the same field as you....


As for recreation there's plenty up there and in the surrounding areas....nightlife there's the Montage Casino and other venues especially down south in the Poconos: Mount Airy Lodge, Camelbak, Shawnee, and others....

[Chefkey]

Sounds like you want a taste of city living in NEPA and would probably benefit most greatly at least in the short term from living within the city. Therefore you should check out places like 317 Linden Street or Mulberry Tower. Keep south of Vine and north of Spruce, East of Mifflin and West of Jefferson and you will be in the heart of the Electric City. Lots of nightlife and things to walk to. A short trip by cab or car gets you to Nay Aug Park for recreation.

[Wells5]

I would suggest the area around Nay Aug Park or "the lower hill" section. If your new job will be at Geisinger Community, you can walk there. You should be aware that if you live in the city, you will pay a 3.4% tax on your salary. See link.


//www.city-data.com/forum/north...l-section.html

[Gerania]

Congratulations on your new job!

What everyone else said, because I don't know a lot about neighborhoods in Scranton.

[SteelCityRising]

I would reside in the city proper of Scranton, and, more specifically, either in Downtown or the Lower Hill Section, if at all possible. Minooka, Green Ridge, and (most) of West Side are fine as well. Green Ridge has a few urban amenities (Zummo's Coffee is especially hip).

Scranton is roughly twice as large as Wilkes-Barre yet seems to have roughly half the crime because Wilkes-Barre's police department just can't get a handle on things, apparently. Scranton also still seems to have more of a professional class within its city limits whereas Wilkes-Barre doesn't have much left. That helps to stabilize things somewhat.

My belated cousin lived in the Hill Section while attending medical school and loved it. Scranton has vegan cafes, coffeeshops, Thai restaurants, performing arts, etc.---a city lifestyle at a fraction of the price you'd pay an hour to two hours to the south and east nearer to Philly and NYC.

[Chefkey]

Originally Posted by santacruznative2

you can't just blame the police department for that. wilkes-barre also overall has a higher amount of low quality people living there in comparison who are more likely to commit crime and be dopers. sadly not all people in this world are good, there are plenty of trashy people who are detrimental to society.

Agreed, a big part of the influx of bad elements to Wilkes-Barre was section 8 housing and a money making scheme by a few unscrupulous realtors out of the New York area. Sherman Hills Realty is based out of Brooklyn NY and they schemed to fill up all their Poconos properties with section 8 and they did. Not long after, a word of mouth migration was incurred.

[Chefkey]

13 years in and I can say from experience that Wilkes-Barre gets a worse rap than it deserves. The gun crimes that are being committed are mostly between rivals who know each other, It's rarely a brazen thug looking to take advantage of someone innocent. I never have felt unsafe like I did walking the streets of North Philly or Asbury Park where you have that demarcation line at Memorial Drive. Just looking West of the beach at Memorial Drive and you still to this day have a dicey commute if you decide to keep going west. I almost never did opting to take a left heading south to hit the belmar area, going north around there you just hit the Deal Lake.

It's got it's nice areas and it's bad areas but I still think it has good to offer. A great shopping hub and great downtown with two great colleges bookending the main city area.