Does anyone know anything about sunbury pa? (Scranton, Harrisburg: low income, rentals)

[hartford27]

Please note that this thread was started in 2009

I will be moving in nov to sunbury from ct to be closer to family. i want to know where are the safe areas. And is it hard to find places for rent i can afford 750 any info will help thanks

[Mr Yuk]

I would think that rent under $750 would be the norm in Sunbury. I've only passed through the town, but it is isolated, you'd have to travel an hour or so to Harrisburg or Williamsport for any real entertainment. Employment opportunity is not good there, and I have heard there is a pretty sizeable drug problem there. From everything I've heard from people in that area, you would want to avoid Sunbury, you'd be better off in surrounding towns. Northumberland, right next to Sunbury, always looked OK to me. And Danville is a nice town.

[hartford27]

thanks go phillies

[Dawne]

You'd do better posting your question in the general PA forum, as Sunbury is not in NE PA.

[Icy Tea]

Well its got to be a lot cheaper than Connecticut. I'm no expert but I drive through it once in a while. Its got some nice victorians along 61 just east of the city square. Its downtown is small but kept clean. The river view is obstructed by a flood wall which was built due to Agnes in 1971. Some high rises but I think they're for senior citizens.
All in all I think its not bad compared to many of the smaller coal region towns nearby, although college towns like Bloomsburg and Lewsiburg look more attractive and have more going on.

[WatsonWest]

My M-I-L lives in Sunbury, near the hospital. That area is a nice area, but there are many "seedier" areas there. If you find a nice area to live in, and don't have children going to school, Sunbury can be OK. The new curriculum is terrible & many of the parents are outraged that it was allowed & fought against it's implementation.

Depending on where your family is living, there are other towns that I would recomend. I grew up in Danville & lived in the "area" until 2002 so I have first hand knowlege of Danville schools & Warrior Run.
I, personally, recomend Danville, Bloomsburg, Lewisburg (although the rents are higher due to Bucknell U), Selinsgrove, Riverside, Elysburg, Muncy, & Hughesville.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by Dawne

You'd do better posting your question in the general PA forum, as Sunbury is not in NE PA.

I would say Sunbury is borderline NE PA, and their local TV channels are Scranton/Wilkes-Barre stations.

[debbon1]

I heard alot of the illegals have left Hazelton and are now in Sunbury.

[Dawne]

I personally have a not-so-good opinion of Sunbury, so I'll try to be unbiased here.

Sunbury has a nice downtown, with a number of stores and restaurants. There is a YMCA and large wooden outdoor playground that is great for kids. They have an indoor ice skating rink and a beautiful outdoor swimming pool. There are a number of community parks with playgrounds, including one that has water features in the summer. There is a lower area of Sunbury, along the river, that is protected by the wall as noted by Icy Tea. There is also an upper area that would never flood and has large "mansion"-type homes, some of which have been split up into rental units. There is also a hospital, a transfer station where you can take household garbage and unwanted items, a Holsum bread factory, large shopping plaza with stores and a business school, I believe an LPN school, a car dealership civic organizations, and Sunbury is the County seat for Northumberland County so they have the county jail and courthouse. Sunbury is a very multicultural community with a large Hispanic population. I believe rentals are available at all price ranges. The community also has a number of festivals and events throughout the year, and there is (controversial) talk of putting in an amphitheater along the river for outdoor entertainment.

The public school district is struggling with student performance, but they are working on it. The high school has an excellent ROTC program. The community as a whole struggles with low income housing and crime, especially drug-related and domestic (abuse, child issues, etc) situations. I have young children and personally would choose another community if I were coming to the area from somewhere else. If you do decide to rent in Sunbury, be careful of the neighborhood you end up in. Talk to neighbors or realtors to get a feel for where you're thinking about moving.

If you've never been to Sunbury then I suggest a visit, a walk around the city, and stopping in stores and businesses to get a feel for it. And make sure you do this both in the daytime and after dark - you'll get an entirely different feeling.

If you decide you want to come to the area but Sunbury isn't for you, you could check out Northumberland (again, not my top choice), Danville, Lewisburg, or Selinsgrove (my top choice as you can see from my "signature" line). Best wishes to you as you make your decision.

[susquehannock]

The town Council should change the the name to 'Sunbarrio.' Yeah.....it's that bad.

It's getting worse by the day.

Don't move there. There are a lot of unreported muggings etc. that the local media won't report on because of P.C. They even keep most of their names out of the paper when there's a huge drug bust...once again because of P.C. and the local media encourages the demise of Sunbury. They call it diversity...Most people call it crime, disease and poverty

I've lived in this area for 55 years and I can tell you Sunbury is nothing like it used to be.

I'm not afraid to tell you the rest of the story.