Poconos retirement 2023 (Pittsburgh, Scranton, York: to rent, crime, homes)

[cremebrulee]

Jake, I have friends who bought a retirement home in Lancaster County and they love it....she has sent me pictures and it is definately beautiful....

You might want to visit Lancaster for the weekend, it is a great retirement area....? Its called Willow Valley Community, it has everything right there for them....they have a lovely one floor apartment with a fireplace...you can check it out on the internet....there is a pond, and a really nice walking path....etc...

[PoconoCountryLady]

Bloomsburg Pa may be a good fit for you. It has a nice town area and it is not far from Geisinger. They have their Fair every year and that is one fair I grew up going to and loved.I As a child I lived a few towns away. It is a College town so the college does have theater and shows are advertised all the time on my local TV. There are walk able streets. I do not know about bus service, etc but I would think they have it because of the college.



I live in Carbon County which is one of the Counties South of Monroe and it is part of the Poconos. I worked as did my husband up in Swiftwater which is between Mount Pocono and Stroudsburg. And No I would not want to live there. To many people from the city there. The crime is rather high compared the the old Stroudsburg I use to know when I was a kid. I am 64 now.



I am 5 minutes out of Jim Thorpe and I avoid driving down town because of the traffic. But we have plenty of back roads so it is no issue.



We have delivery from Walmart and Amazon as long as you join. I use it all the time. There is Uber service Bus service for the elderly.

But the Taxes are high. I pay almost 8 thousand a year for a home we built in 1995 on 1.98 acres out in the country. My school district is the highest tax wise in the County- No business to help with lowering the school taxes.



My husband and I want to move out of the area but it is not looking like we could afford to buy a place with a great deal of land that we could afford. So we are stuck for now.



I love the Danville area, we go to a Dermatologist at Geisinger(they have 22 of them- it is also a teaching hospital) and it is a great hospital. I personally know a Mennonite family in Elysburg and they are just wonderful people. Every time I visit them, I keep telling them I want to live next to them. They live like most people just do not use TV or a radio but inside their home it is simple (kind of reminds me of the old 1960's country homes). Also Elysburg has one of the oldest Amusement parks Knobles. That is such a fun place to walk around. You do not pay admission to get into the park, that is free . You just need to buy a wrist band to get on rides. That is the beauty of it. You can walk the tree lined park and enjoy the atmosphere for free- buy and ice cream, cotton candy and relax.
But I still think you need a car. Just to get around.

[PoconoCountryLady]

Lancaster has some nice areas but the city has lots of crime. My Children went to Millersville University which is outside of Lancaster City. We rented a townhouse at the end of Lancaster City for the kids and even though it was a beautiful development it was always getting hit with car break ins. The kids saw the Police there often. Lucky for them they never left anything in their cars and kept them locked. But there is a huge Hispanic population in Lancaster and they have a great deal of crime because of this.

[cremebrulee]

Originally Posted by PoconoCountryLady

Lancaster has some nice areas but the city has lots of crime. My Children went to Millersville University which is outside of Lancaster City. We rented a townhouse at the end of Lancaster City for the kids and even though it was a beautiful development it was always getting hit with car break ins. The kids saw the Police there often. Lucky for them they never left anything in their cars and kept them locked. But there is a huge Hispanic population in Lancaster and they have a great deal of crime because of this.

your right, I forgot about that, I didn't mean to move to the city of Lancaster, so sorry about that, but the out lying areas are beautiful....no definately not the city of Lancaster....for certain, thank you

Mount Joy, New Holland, Manheim, Litiz, Mount Joy, Strasburg, Paradise, Bird in Hand, Hershey, all gorgeous areas....

[quiet life]

Originally Posted by cremebrulee

First and foremost, yes, Stroudsburg is getting out of hand with taxes....I would suggest moving further north than that, if you can....into a smaller community, that is less populated....but that's just me...I don't like living around a lot of people...and please stay away from those communites that are run by the community, I forget what they call them, but no one seems to want to run or serve on those boards so all they get are retired old people who really don't know much about what they are doing...believe me, I lived in one, oh, I remember the name now, its a home owners association, stay away because if they decide to spend money to fix something, its your money that pays for it, above your yearly expenses, for example, if the community needs new roads...they divide the cost up between all the home owners....above your yearly expenses....

Good advice there. I wish I never moved into a community but you can't put toothpaste back in the tube. We have had our share of problems with neighbors and management but it has subsided over the years. People move on, get older, etc. so that has added a little niche to our nirvana. However, the fees just keep going higher and I am at the point that it isn't justified. Point being, if you are dead set on moving to the Poconos, there are plenty of options outside of the homeowner associations.

[charmed hour]

Originally Posted by PoconoCountryLady

But there is a huge Hispanic population in Lancaster and they have a great deal of crime because of this.

Did you seriously just equate ethnicity to criminality? *SMH*

[jtab4994]

Originally Posted by charmed hour

Did you seriously just equate ethnicity to criminality? *SMH*

Good point. The OP seems to have neglected the usual qualifiers, besides lumping all "Hispanics" in one basket.

It's not the specific ethnicity; it's the huge wave of new arrivals and the social upheaval, that criminals feed on. All ethnicities go through this cycle, and so far they (we) have all gotten through it.

[jake_bhoy]

Originally Posted by jtab4994

Good point. The OP seems to have neglected the usual qualifiers, besides lumping all "Hispanics" in one basket.

It's not the specific ethnicity; it's the huge wave of new arrivals and the social upheaval, that criminals feed on. All ethnicities go through this cycle, and so far they (we) have all gotten through it.

Just to be clear, when you say OP you would not be referring to me but the OP of the tasteless remark.

[jtab4994]

Originally Posted by jake_bhoy

Just to be clear, when you say OP you would not be referring to me but the OP of the tasteless remark.

Sorry, my bad. I meant "the poster being referred to".

[charmed hour]

Originally Posted by jtab4994

Good point. The OP seems to have neglected the usual qualifiers, besides lumping all "Hispanics" in one basket.

It's not the specific ethnicity; it's the huge wave of new arrivals and the social upheaval, that criminals feed on. All ethnicities go through this cycle, and so far they (we) have all gotten through it.

Trash is trash regardless of race and/or ethnicity. I grew up in a very “white”, middle class area of the Bronx. Quality of life crime (during the era of Broken Windows policing) was sky high compared to the adjacent more “mixed” demographic neighborhoods. Those demographics have shifted the last 10 years or so. If anything, my old neighborhood is cleaner, quieter and all crime was done across the board until very recently. But that can be attributed to the current laws or lack of in Mew York City. It’s quickly becoming NYC of the 1980s again.