How is Kingston? (Pittsburgh, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: middle-class, loan, attorney)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by drsmiley06

I'm from nepa, grew up in white haven/mountaintop area and now reside in the Berwick area. For some reason or another I see people wanting to go to kingston to live and I've always wondered why. I've been to kingston plenty of times, very nice town, but noticed that there are many doctors and lawyers that live and work there. I'm not sure what the attraction is to kingston. Usually when someone asks me what are the nice places to live in nepa I'll say mountaintop/white haven area, back mountain, kingston area, but I never just say kingston and that's it.

Forty Fort/Kingston actually both have a higher proportion of college graduates than the rest of Luzerne County, and the area bounded by Church Street to the north, Pierce Street to the south, Dawes Avenue to the east, and Wyoming Avenue to the west is replete with physicians, attorneys, pharmacists, architects, bank executives, and other high-earning professionals (especially Green Acres). If you work in an office in Downtown Wilkes-Barre and don't have children necessitating the need for great schools and a huge suburban lot in the Back Mountain/Mountain Top, then the Kingston/Forty Fort area makes perfect sense---proximity to downtown, sidewalks, shade trees, easily-manageable lots, and homes with character and charm. Kingston is the Wilkes-Barre equivalent of Scranton's historic Green Ridge neighborhood.

The "attractions" to Kingston are numerous, in my eyes. You're within a mile of Downtown Wilkes-Barre for a fun night out on the town (movies, Barnes & Noble, ethnic restaurants, bars, night clubs, college theatre, Philharmonic, etc.) The town proper has a GREAT variety of businesses with many within reasonable walking distance of most residential areas. Speaking of "walking," just about EVERY road is lined with sidewalks in Kingston---here in Pittston Township our idiotic planners never even considered installing sidewalks (hence why I must dodge lead-foot latte-sipping soccer moms in Range Rovers during my runs on the 315!) You can enjoy Kirby Park and the levee system. Shade trees are plentiful, and the town came alive a couple of years ago for its bicentennial (or sesquicentennial---I can't recall which one). Kingston has a relatively high population of Jewish folks, Asian-Americans, and a rather large LGBT community.

When I move back to the valley I haven't entirely ruled out looking into living in Kingston.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Former (current?) member Lehigh Valley Native live(d) in Kingston, so maybe he could be along also to help.

Somebody rang?

We still in live in Kingston, we are on N. Landon Ave., right by the middle school.
We moved here almost 2 years ago from the Lehigh Valley.
I would agree with most everyone’s assessment of Kingston, with one small exception. Edwardsville borders Kingston west of Market street and that area of Kingston isn't that bad, probably because that whole section of Kingston borders a park, new medical center and a well kept shopping center that are all located in Edwardsville.
As far as the WB area goes, Kingston is probably one of the best suburbs you could live in, with Forty-Fort and Wyoming coming in slightly ahead if you were concerned about school districts.
Now let me climb on my soap box..........
It disturbs me that a town as small as Kingston has the need for a drug sniffing dog. Those dogs are not cheap and not easy to get.
A town the size of Kingston is not out buying drug dogs because the school kids have a dime bag of weed.
The sad reality is this whole area has a drug problem that rivals the worse inner cities, not to mention the multitude of other problems it faces. Add the lottery ticket buying attitude that seems to permeate the area and it is a recipe for disaster.
.........off soap box
Since our 3 year old is getting closer to school age, my wife and I have narrowed our future down to 3 areas to live in before she starts school. Back Mountain, Mountain Top or back to the Lehigh Valley.
Kingston was not even a consideration.

[W-B proud]

Kingston isn't bad. Everytown has drugs. Kingston is no exception. I wouldn't say Kingston rival the worst inner city in America. That is way extreme, and doesn't come close to that statement. Kingston has a drug sniffing dog because they are a very proactive police dept.

[sheena12]

I had been told that the district that serves Kingston and Forty-Fort was pretty good. Is it West Wyoming? I heard that W.Wyoming was decent and I agree with Paul that it seems like Wilkes-Barre's Greenridge.
When I say "good" I am not referring to "super suburban good" e.g. Abington, Dallas etc.
My kids go to a district like that on Long Island and BTW, they use drug sniffing dogs - and I agree that this is more of an example of "proactive police" work than it is indicative of drug infestation.
We have been thinking of the Kingston area as a back up - i.e. in case we don't find a house we love in one of Scranton's better neighborhoods.
So was I misinformed? Is Kingston an area to avoid when looking for a decent school district???

[rcb1966]

Not necessarily, the school district for Kingston is Wyoming Valley West, I believe a quad A school per PA designation for athletics. That transfers over on the educational side to mean that it is amongst the larger school districts in the state per student enrollment. Like any other large high school. I know many WVW grads that are academics & hve done well for themselves. The local catholic school is Holy Redeemer, good academics that typifies Catholic schools in PA. Kingston is nice & has some beautiful neighborhoods. I would certainly choose over Scranton any day. Closer to activities, better shopping, & local shops. Great eateries & I would say more well to do in a compact are vs. Scranton. Not to say that Scranton does not host the same, just much more spread out than Kingston.

[Gerania]

Funny what you hear. I know several people who didn't move to the Lehigh Valley because of the drug problem.

Originally Posted by Lehigh Valley Native

Somebody rang?

We still in live in Kingston, we are on N. Landon Ave., right by the middle school.
We moved here almost 2 years ago from the Lehigh Valley.
I would agree with most everyone’s assessment of Kingston, with one small exception. Edwardsville borders Kingston west of Market street and that area of Kingston isn't that bad, probably because that whole section of Kingston borders a park, new medical center and a well kept shopping center that are all located in Edwardsville.
As far as the WB area goes, Kingston is probably one of the best suburbs you could live in, with Forty-Fort and Wyoming coming in slightly ahead if you were concerned about school districts.
Now let me climb on my soap box..........
It disturbs me that a town as small as Kingston has the need for a drug sniffing dog. Those dogs are not cheap and not easy to get.
A town the size of Kingston is not out buying drug dogs because the school kids have a dime bag of weed.
The sad reality is this whole area has a drug problem that rivals the worse inner cities, not to mention the multitude of other problems it faces. Add the lottery ticket buying attitude that seems to permeate the area and it is a recipe for disaster.
.........off soap box
Since our 3 year old is getting closer to school age, my wife and I have narrowed our future down to 3 areas to live in before she starts school. Back Mountain, Mountain Top or back to the Lehigh Valley.
Kingston was not even a consideration.

[SteelCityRising]

Drugs permeate everywhere, even the tidiest of South Abington's cul-de-sacs (it's amazing what trouble well-to-do teens can get themselves into when their parents are both working 14 hours per day to make the payments on their Maseratis). To suggest otherwise would be foolish. Kingston has no more of a drug problem than Pittston, Dunmore, Nanticoke, or any other similarly-sized local community. There's even a suspected drug operation in my own subdivision.

[geos]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Drugs permeate everywhere, even the tidiest of South Abington's cul-de-sacs (it's amazing what trouble well-to-do teens can get themselves into when their parents are both working 14 hours per day to make the payments on their Maseratis). To suggest otherwise would be foolish. Kingston has no more of a drug problem than Pittston, Dunmore, Nanticoke, or any other similarly-sized local community. There's even a suspected drug operation in my own subdivision.

Well, of course that depends what you mean by "drugs". There's a huge difference between someone growing a few pot plants and a meth lab. Fortunately there may be some pot sanity coming to PA.

State Rep. Cohen Will Push Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Bill
How to become a MM producer? - 420 Magazine (http://tinyurl.com/cyftxd - broken link)

--
"Prohibition... goes beyond the bound of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded"
-Abraham Lincoln

[rcb1966]

True, true, true....drugs are everywhere. Kids listen to what their parents tell them, so the awareness & responsibility lies at home. My (2) sons, (1) a senior & (1) a soph. in college, both say that the better school districts have kids that can afford more expensive drugs. My college age son said that he saw more drugs in HS than in college, he attends school in Philadelphia. Whereas, drug hazing for my generation began late in HS or early college years, today's kids now experience their first encounters in 7th & 8th grade. By the time the get to college, its old hat. I bought urine drug tests & randomly checked my kids.....they never knew when or where I would ask. I never got a positive test result back, & it was never a trust issue between us....but you know what, at least they knew we cared & that we were serious about it. It is a way different world out there today...what (2) murders this weekend in our locale.

[geos]

Originally Posted by geos

Well, of course that depends what you mean by "drugs". There's a huge difference between someone growing a few pot plants and a meth lab. Fortunately there may be some pot sanity coming to PA.

State Rep. Cohen Will Push Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Bill (http://tinyurl.com/dceqcp - broken link)

OOPS wrong link has been corrected. Just planning ahead.

--
"Prohibition... goes beyond the bound of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded"
-Abraham Lincoln