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Old 10-19-2020, 09:01 AM
 
4 posts, read 11,148 times
Reputation: 10

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Hello All,
Hope everyone is safe. We are south Indian family of 3 ( One 4 year old) and are looking for suggestions to buy a home in PA; Please suggest by considering the following details

Work Location : Parsippany, NJ
Commute Time : between 50 min and 1:30 Hr
Commute Days : 3 Days a week
School District : 6/10
Community : Close to Asian Indian population
Buy or Rent : Buy
Budget : 250K-310K

Stay Safe!

Best Regards
Kaspa
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Old 10-20-2020, 10:34 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia
2,539 posts, read 2,277,808 times
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Look in the Lehigh Valley region. Which are the cities of Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton.

The commute is about one hour and 15 minutes. 3 days a week makes that doable. You will find a much more modern home in this area and the school districts are quite good. Bethlehem is home to Lehigh University which is a top notch school. Easton is home to Lafayette which is a top notch liberal arts school and is considered a mini Ivy League. And there are 6 other universities in the area so it is quite diverse with education and people.

I cannot say specifically in regards to a South Asian community but I know many of the smaller Pennsylvania cities close to NYC, Philadelphia and DC are growing rapidly with South Asian populations because they are more affordable.
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Old 10-20-2020, 03:01 PM
 
Location: Shawnee-on-Delaware, PA
7,948 posts, read 7,306,841 times
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For a reasonable commute to Parsippany there's always Monroe County. But there's not a large South Asian community here that I'm aware of, certainly nothing like Parsippany. My kids did have several South Asian classmates when they were in school. That was Catholic school, and not all of the Indian kids were Catholic (maybe none of them were?). When I brought my son to his friend's house for a play date the family had a picture of Ganesh on the wall.

My commute to Flanders is about 40 minutes. The drive to Parsippany should only add about 10-15 minutes.

Please move here and be a pioneer! We have a bunch of Thai restaurants but only one Indian restaurant & it's real expensive! Need more South Asians to encourage diversity of cuisine.
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Old 10-20-2020, 03:57 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
273 posts, read 313,801 times
Reputation: 749
Hi Kaspa-

I tend to agree with rowhomecity’s suggestion of the Lehigh Valley.

Essentially, you could look in one of two directions: either west on I-80 to the Poconos (and possibly north on I-380 toward the Scranton area), or south and west on I-287 and I-78 to the Lehigh Valley. Depending on which direction you choose to investigate, you could post a question on either the Northeastern Pennsylvania or Lehigh Valley sub-forums. (See below.)

Northeastern Pennsylvania

The closest PA destination to Parsippany is the Stroudsburg—essentially the anchor “town” of the Pocono Mountains region. Stroudsburg is a straight shot across I-80 and about a 45-minute drive. But I’d be hesitant to recommend it to you. As far as real estate is concerned, the Poconos region is something of a boom-and-bust destination for people from the greater New York area seeking to either flee urban life, get a slice of Middle American home ownership for cheap, or have some combination of the two. Where it stands on the boom/bust cycle seems to depend on a number of factors, including the overall economy, the larger housing market, and the attractiveness of super-long commutes to NY/NJ jobs. While there are a number of south Asian and Indian professors at East Stroudsburg University and undoubtedly some Indian families in the area, I don’t know if it would satisfy as a sizable Indian community.

If you stretch to the upper end of your commuting range, you could get to parts of the Scranton area. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre region was heavily dependent on coal and heavy industry until the mid 20th century and lost a great deal of residents and jobs from the ’40s through the present day. As with many post-industrial cities, Scranton has diversified somewhat economically and flattened the curve on population losses. Its population of educated professionals includes many people in education and medicine—with a number of colleges, universities, and medical centers in the area. I think you’ll find a more sizable Indian community in Scranton along with amenities like some Indian grocery stores and a cultural organization (IAANEPA).

Scranton is a larger and more established metropolitan area than greater Stroudsburg, and it’s part of a more cohesive community with its own sense of identity. The obvious downside is that your three-day-a-week commute would be at the upper end of the specified range, and you would need to go house hunting carefully with access to I-81/I-84/I-380 in mind.

If you want to consider either Stroudsburg or Scranton, the Northeastern Pennsylvania sub-forum might be a place to look for more answers, but I doubt they’ll be able to give you much good advice with regard to the local Indian community. As an alternative, maybe the IAANEPA organization might be able to put you in touch with some helpful people to get more specific recommendations on neighborhoods.


Lehigh Valley

Overall, the Lehigh Valley (Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton)—especially the eastern end of the area within close reach of either US 22, PA 33, or I-78—might be your best option in Pennsylvania. Most of what I’ve said about the Scranton area also applies to the Lehigh Valley (post-industrial, since diversified, eds and meds professionals). The biggest difference is that the Lehigh Valley never lost population to the extent that the Scranton area did, and it has both a stronger economy and a larger percentage of residents with college degrees. As a result, home prices are somewhat higher than in the Scranton Area. You can probably find a fairly modern three-bedroom home within your $310K budget, but I wouldn’t expect to find a large or opulent home at a low price. At the lower end of your range ($250K), you might be looking at a somewhat older (but decent) home or a townhouse in a development.

A commute to Parsippany from the Lehigh Valley could be as little as about 60 minutes if your home is near I-78 in Easton. The farther you go westward toward Bethlehem and Allentown, the longer your commute will be, but as mentioned, having easy access to the area freeways will be a big factor in your overall drive time.

The Lehigh Valley also has an Indian cultural organization (IAALV), and they might be a valuable source of information and connections. The Lehigh Valley forum on City-Data isn’t terribly active, but I find its contributors to be willing to help (if they’re able).

I hope the above helps. Good luck in your search!
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Old 10-20-2020, 09:27 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
273 posts, read 313,801 times
Reputation: 749
Quote:
Originally Posted by briantroutman View Post
The closest PA destination to Parsippany is the Stroudsburg
Excuse me for leaving out a word: The closest PA destination to Parsippany is the Stroudsburg area—i.e Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Bartonsville, etc.
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Old 10-21-2020, 07:43 PM
 
4 posts, read 11,148 times
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Thanks @briantroutman for such a detailed message and references to the associations in the region. I will certainly keep the above notes in-to consideration for the house hunt.
Regards
rkaspa
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Old 10-21-2020, 07:45 PM
 
4 posts, read 11,148 times
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Dear @jtab4994
Thanks for the suggestions and I have added Monroe county to my list; Appreciate your help.
Regards
Kaspa
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Old 10-21-2020, 07:48 PM
 
4 posts, read 11,148 times
Reputation: 10
Hello @rowhomecity,
Thanks for taking time and posting the reply with information related to the school ratings in Lehigh Valley and as @briantroutman suggested I will look for a easier connect to the interstate;
Stay safe;
Regards
Kaspa
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Old 10-26-2020, 07:58 AM
 
14,612 posts, read 17,341,553 times
Reputation: 7781
Default Demographics

As you probably know, Middlesex County has the 2nd highest Indian population in the nation
123,900 Santa Clara County California
90,400 Middlesex County New Jersey out of 825,000 total
82,300 Alameda County California
78,500 Cook County Illinois
61,500 Los Angeles County California

Pennsylvania's largest immigrant population is from India (but these numbers are out of 12 million people)
India 94,480 ± 7,519 people
Dominican Republic 85,267 ± 7,145 people
China 68,580 ± 6,412 people

Northampton County is the first county in Pennsylvania on I78 corridor has 12% foreign born population. Many of my neighbors are from South Asia, but there is not a South Asian neighborhood that I am aware of.

There is a Mandarin language Christian church that has existed for about 11 years in Bethlehem PA. I am not aware of an ethnic Indian Christian church, but presumably, since almost every Indian speaks fluent English there is less interest in such a church.

The Indian American Association of the Lehigh Valley, IAALV, founded in 1972 is a cultural, educational, social, and community service, non-profit organization serving and representing the Indian-Americans in the Lehigh Valley.
About us - IAALV

There is a thriving Hindu Temple within about 10 minutes of my home.
https://www.hindutemple-lehighvalley.org/

A sample home near the temple is much cheaper than you would get in NJ
Sale Price: $328,000 Sale Date: 6/11/2009 Acreage: 0.53 Year Built: 2009 Living Area Square Feet: 2,316 Number of Bedrooms: 4 Number of Bathrooms: 2.5

But all of the Interstates are a mess, so your drive may be reasonable one day, and a nightmare the next. You should seriously think about buying a smaller home in NJ.

Last edited by PacoMartin; 10-26-2020 at 08:11 AM..
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Old 10-27-2020, 07:17 PM
 
325 posts, read 362,631 times
Reputation: 655
Yeah, I couldn’t imagine doing that commute 3 days a week. Especially in winter. NJ is your best bet.
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