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I recently moved into the heart of Williamsport, 4th Ave, not 4th Street. I packed my 5 kids and moved here from Orlando/Kissimmee, FL. That in itself is culture shock. I also have children in school from K thru 12th. The schools here are amazing. (Take into consideration I'm comparing them to Florida schools.) My oldest is handicapped, so the extra services provided to him via the school district and county/state are phenominal.
I'm fortunate enough to work from home, but I have noticed that pay is not comparable to the area I left. I could never find a job here that would come to close to the out out of home job I quit in March. Employment here leaves much to be desired. However, the cost of living here is so much lower than Florida. Toss it in the air???
Crime? I have heard of it, but not seen it? I have been told by my teenage daughter that race IS an issue in high school. I'm assuming that would be teenagers trying to grow up. I haven't noticed any racial anything in the elementary schools or towns. Maybe I am oblivious? When my husband does visit from FL, we do not have **stares**. Again, oblivious or accustomed? Who knows, or cares for that matter.
I like it here. Wish it was 15 degrees warmer, but if that is the only hurdle I must pass, I'm game. This should be cake. I know for my family, I have made the right decision moving here. I have only made brief visits to the other places mentioned by others. They seem to be nice places. I wouldn't settle there because it wasn't racially diverse enough for me. When I was house hunting, I looked into Wellsboro, Mansfield. Wellsboro was beautiful, but my family would not have been cofmortable. Also, the taxes were VERY high.
I can comment on homes for sale in the Williamsport area. Do your homework. There are many nice, very nice homes for sale. I'm not sure I would want to live on 4th street. Too many restrictions on home improvements.
. I know that I could move to another area and not get treated any differently for being gay as I am here in "Republican Heaven", but if I were to leave the area I've grown to love so much, then I'm just letting the uneducated rednecks win!
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On the contrary, SWB....Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties are overwhelmingly Democrat. Which to me blows out of the water the theory that republicans are backwoods intolerant racist bigots and democrats are accepting tolerant loving people.
This area has lots of good points, which is why I stayed here, but there is no denying that this heavily-democrat area is still rife with racism and bigotry. But I will say that it does seem to be improving little by little. When I was younger, it seemed that if you saw a black person walking down the street, people would stare and glare like their head was sewn to the ground.
I'm glad now that my son goes to school with people of different races and backgrounds. I can tell that, even at 4 years old, he doesn't care what color another kid is, he sees them as a potential friend or playmate no matter what their color, compared to the homogenous completely-white schools I attended, and I did not have a classmate of a different race until high school, which breeds almost a fear of people different from ourselves.
Gotta tell ya, I grew up in Muncy, and spent a lot of time in Williamsport when I was younger. Mainly in the drug scene, which happens to be huge there. I hear it's still a problem, I haven't been back for years, although I do still have a sister in Muncy. I have lived in NYC, and most currently live in LA......the change of pace for me was refreshing.....So, Mr. Holsinger, in a nut shell, I would never move my family to Williamsport. Muncy is the best option in my eyes. I'd stay away from communities who I feel still have more of a backwoods mentality as well.....i.e. Montgomery, Warrior Run, Jersey Shore......You grew up in Muncy, you know what's going on......Hope all is well fellow Indian.
Gotta tell ya, I grew up in Muncy, and spent a lot of time in Williamsport when I was younger. Mainly in the drug scene, which happens to be huge there. I hear it's still a problem, I haven't been back for years, although I do still have a sister in Muncy. I have lived in NYC, and most currently live in LA......the change of pace for me was refreshing.....So, Mr. Holsinger, in a nut shell, I would never move my family to Williamsport. Muncy is the best option in my eyes. I'd stay away from communities who I feel still have more of a backwoods mentality as well.....i.e. Montgomery, Warrior Run, Jersey Shore......You grew up in Muncy, you know what's going on......Hope all is well fellow Indian.
You wouldn't believe how bad crime is in Williamsport now. They have stabbings, robberies and shootings on a regular basis.
It's a darn shame what Williamsport has become. I remember when the city was the center of economic activity and you felt safe to go there no matter what time of the day or night it was.
Thanks to everyone for their insights! We think we'll stand pat for awhile where we are. I look back on my childhood in Muncy with not a little nostalgia, but I'm not sure I'm ready to return to a still-isolated central PA. It's the lack of a good tech sector that's the real deal breaker. And I daresay no one has need of a good ColdFusion programmer in Williamsport.
I'm deeply disheartened to hear how crime ridden Williamsport has become. Of course, where I live now, gang violence and muggings are a daily occurance (sigh), so these things are relative. I do wish the city could find a way to encourage economic growth that would allow the area to reduce crime both through providing gainful employment and growing tax revenues for enforcement. A glance at the growth plans shows some good ideas being tabled, but I'm not sure the tax base (or consumer base) is there to support them.
I've enjoyed reading the posts here, and I'd love to hear more on the jobs/politics/growth situation in Lycoming county, if anyone has the inclination to share. Best wishes to all!
Lycoming County's population, overall, has basically stagnated, with a very small growth rate. Generally, many residents of Williamsport are fleeing to the suburban areas or other nearby smaller towns (Montoursville, Muncy, Hughesville, Trout Run), and this mass exodus of people from the city has been causing it to struggle to continually offer great public services while balancing its budget. I can attest to the crime issues in Williamsport. For a city of around 30,000 individuals, we hear about weekly stabbings, shootings, robberies, etc. on the local news from the city. Just last night there was a shooting near the intersection of Fourth Street and Mifflin Place in the downtown area. However, if there's any "silver lining" to the violent crime in Williamsport, it's that I have never heard of it targeting innocent people. It's always been a case of lowlifes gunning down other lowlifes over drug deals gone South, booze, girlfriends, etc. I can't remember the last time I heard about someone walking out from the theater at night and getting mugged.
I must admit, though, that I live about an hour east of Williamsport in the much-larger Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area, so I don't have any real "firsthand" knowledge of the city. My friends and I took a road trip out there two years ago to see an off-Broadway production of RENT at the Community Arts Center, and, back then, I was neither impressed nor turned off by the city's downtown. There were a few restaurants and mom-and-pop stores, along with a plethora of well-kept buildings with vacant storefronts. The community's downtown reminded me largely of the way both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre looked before they started to undergo their massive renaissances since 2000. We walked around town at night to grab a bite to eat and explore a bit, and we never felt "threatened" in any way. If you're moving to Williamsport and have a "fear" of getting shot, then it's most likely because you have your nose on the wrong side of the law. I do remember last year though when a man was gunned down on a basketball court in a playground, but those types of blatant endangerments of public welfare are rare.
If I were offered a position in Downtown Williamsport, I'd more than likely relocate to either Montoursville, home of the airport, for a short drive to work, or to South Williamsport, where I could walk to work. Both of these small towns, other than having drug issues, don't really have much in the way of crime, yet they both border the city limits. Another popular suburban option is Loyalsock Township, which is located just to the north and northeast of the city proper, as well as Old Lycoming Township, just to the north and northwest of the city proper.
As far as long-term interests are concerned, I can envision the employment outlook in Lycoming County "stagnating" for quite some time. While Scranton/Wilkes-Barre should see a massive rebound in about ten years due to several upcoming capital improvements (new medical school, commuter rail connection to NYC, cargo airport, NY Yankees affilliation, etc.) and the accompanying influx of growth of transplants from NJ/NYC, Williamsport is simply too far away to leech off of any of that growth that will be coming to Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties in upcoming years. Other than the lowlife crime issues, I never thought Williamsport was all that bad. The downtown has much potential to bounce back again to being a "hip" place to be, and the quality-of-life there should remain solid. I just don't see the employment outlook improving there anytime soon, especially due to the lack of colleges in the city (Lycoming College and Penn College of Technology don't really offer as much in the way of a "draw" to major employers as the colleges in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre).
One thing Williamsport should consider, which I haven't seen yet, is to do a study to determine a demand for housing for young professionals and empty-nesters in the downtown area. I can foresee college professors, downtown office workers, and retirees all being willing to move into the city if there were new options available, such as loft apartments or townhomes. The key to revitalizing any downtown is to get people to LIVE there again. Williamsport is currently a 9-5 city, in which people only come into town for work and then return home to the suburbs. By encouraging homeownership near Center City, Billtown can transform itself into a 24/7 city, which will do wonders for attracting retail ventures and new nightlife options. Wilkes-Barre has four new mixed-use loft housing/retail projects currently underway, and Scranton's revival of the inner-city "Hill Section" neighborhood have both paved the way for each of those cities to see rebirth in their downtowns again. What's Williamsport waiting for in this regard?
Greetings. Have a wife and two boys - 8 and 14. From the Ozarks of Missouri, have lived there, northeastern 'bama, and northeastern Indiana. Will be interviewing w/ a firm that has tech center on what I believe to be the city's SE side, on the west side of US-15 from the PA College of Technology. If did get an offer, and did accept, we would desire to live in a rural area, w/ house on ~3-10 acres, and very good schools, w/in maximum drive of 30 minutes from work. Does such exist in this area? What would recommendations be, both to steer towards and away from? I'm compiling a list of what has been said so far, but, thought would inquire. Thanks!
PS - as can possibly tell from my moniker here, I am a caver; we all love the outdoors, hiking, bike riding, water, camping, etc. A good shopping area, w/ the basic necessities are also of course required - as well as entertainment and sports attractions, as we like movies, hockey, concerts, etc.
we would desire to live in a rural area, w/ house on ~3-10 acres, and very good schools, w/in maximum drive of 30 minutes from work. Does such exist in this area?
You could have this in rural Montoursville (great schools - I graduated from there) or a bit further east in rural Muncy or Hughesville (East Lycoming School District). To the west you have Jersey Shore area where you could also find something rural. Loyalsock Township is also a good school district (between Wmspt and Montoursville) with many rural options. Rose Valley Lake (Montoursville School District) is an absolutely beautiful area.
I'd steer clear of Montgomery, but that's just my person opinion. The schools just don't seem as good there.
I'd highly suggest working with a local realtor. Here's a link to get you started:
FWIW, had the phone interview yesterday,,, sounded positive, he inquired as to on-site interview time frame that would best suite my needs.
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