Moving to PA... East Stroudsburg

It's been a long time since I owned a house that was entirely my own. I close on a chalet 1/31. To say I'm stoked would be an understatement.

Any TGGers live in East Stroudsburg, or Stroudsburg? Any opinions? The chalet is in the Penn Estates development, a gated community. Got an incredible deal at 80.5k, two car garage on over an acre. Needs some work, like new carpeting and a new front door, but it's clean and in move in condition. Central air an vacuum, dishwasher, nice screened sun room in the back, nice deck out front, during the summer I won't be able to see the neighbor's houses.

Now I can sell my lawn mower, don't have a lawn. Blowers. A leaf blower and a snow blower is all I'll need. By the time I'm done, this might look more like an Irish pub than a home...LOL. I got a transfer but will be semi-retired, working part time.

Freakin deer all over the place. I'm not a hunter, but they have 3 lakes there, no idea if the fishing is any good though. I've had a 10' solid cherry wood bar which I built that I can finally get set up and working with a 4 tap ceramic beer tower and three leather/cherry bar stools that cost me $600 a peice a number of years ago.

Seems the clubhouse has a dart league, and a horse shoe league in the summer. I have two sisters who will be moving into the area in the next 12 months sometime, but I'll need to establish a social network.

At times life has not been easy, but finally... at long last, things have come together for me. I don't mind the snow. In fact, all I need is a Walter Mathau neighbor, an ice fishing hut and an Ann Margaret living across the way and I'm set.

Anyone live in or near Penn Estates? :metal::drunk:

 

CMan, I'm in Monroe county, just across the Delaware. It's like the second exit in PA off of Rte 80, then just a few miles north.

LMB... yup, my fave target. I've managed to catch 4 trophy fish on LI believe it or not all over 21", and one smally that was 19.5".

Lancaster would be a culture shock me thinks. Looking forward to exploring the Amish lands. Stroudsburg has a Polish contingent from what I gather. This community has some NYC commuters in it. Only a 1.5 hour bus ride to Manhattan.

Still... I'd love to hook up with you somewhere down the road. Us old guys (I turn 58 on Friday) can still reminice about Joe Willy, Maynard, Grantham and the rest of them! As Jets fans, at least we can remember a Supe win. But, memory is the second thing to go ya'know. I don't remember what the first thing is.

So, I'm in the foothills of the Poconos, and there is snow aplenty, near Shawnee. I might have to strap some sticks on my feet and see if I can still slide down a hill without killing myself.

So... how far are you from Stroudsburg?

 

Some of the houses are pretty close together. My place has 1.1 acre, at the end of a cul-de-sac with a green belt behind it. I can see the neighbor's houses now, but they are all pretty far away and I won't be able to see them during the summer when the leaves return. The house is set back from the road a good 100 feet, so even the houses on either side are not very close. My property is pie shaped. I could party naked in my sun room in the back and no one would ever know it.

I'm in the Highlands section. Sort of at the top of a hill. That is pretty much walking distance to the club house and the pools. Growing up there as you have, I can see why you would want a less remote area to live in now. I've had enough of the over crowded LI suburbs, the traffic, the taxes and stinkin NY state and it's crooked politians.

More than half of the houses on my street are vacation homes, not year round residences. When I was at the house last week, after some snow had fallen, I only saw one deer. The time before that I saw 5 of them in my front yard. They had no fear of me. In fact, they seemed to be looking for a handout. Ten feet away from me, they just didn't seem to care. I guess some people do feed them. I haven't seen any bucks, but lots of adult does and thier fawns.

I can't wait to fire up the wood stove. The house is only a 2 bedroom, so that one wood stove can heat the entire house given the layout. The two car attached garage is huge though. Room for two large cars and some work benches and a work shop.

The only drawback... no place to plant a veggie garden. I'll look into clearing a few trees and installing a small green house. Some of the houses around me do have small lawns in the backyard, so maybe clearing a few trees will be allowed by the HOA. With all the deer, only a green house would work.

 

Cman... you are confusing Strasburg with Stroudsburg. I'm way north of Strasburg. Draw a line straight east from NYC. Delaware Water Gap area.

 

LOL... I've heard that before. From what I know, the Stroudburg area has a lot of New Yorkers, some who still commute to Manhattan. There is a small university in town, and the downtown area still holds some small town country charm. A little trendy, but still quaint. No shortage of fast food joints on Rte 611 I think it is.

So, while way north of Philly, it's hardly redneck country. In fact the real estate brokers I worked with are all originally from LI. There is a section downtown (away from the bars and shops) that is pretty ratty. Easy to avoid.

Close to skiing (Shawnee), some casinos, other touristy stuff, and a few Irish Pubs that look interesting. My broker named one of them as being very good, great food and swill. Saime or something like that, a gaelic name. Saw some Polish delis. What the heck do pollacks eat besides kielbasa anyway? I guess I'll find out.

No more LIE. No more Old Coutry Rd at 5pm. I guess I'll miss the pizza though.

 

Fuckin beaches... I have the fuckin beaches to thank for several skin cancer operations. Fuck the beaches too.

At least with a good piza stone I can make a very good pie, as long as I can find the dough. My grill heats up to 700 degrees. While I do like bagels, I don't eat them very often. I saw a sushi bar, those freakin things are all over the place now. Fresh fish in PA? I have my doubts.

One thing I'm looking forward to is buying a telescope. Can't see shit on LI, but PA... should be a pretty night sky.

Can't freakin believe this... cable TV, HD internet etc is no cheaper than LI. That sucks. Maybe 10% less after the introductory 12 month price. I'll have to cut back on the movie channels to just HBO. They do give you a wireless router though no extra charge for a laptop.

Wonder how long before I hit a deer.

 

Siamsa, that's it. I still like to go out, but I curtail my heavy drinking to when I'm at home LOL... one DWI 25 years ago was one too many for me.

I looked at some houses in Bushkill. Liked the area, but my sis is buying a townhouse in Eburg and we didn't want to be too far apart. She is my best friend as well as my sister. Some trips to Siamsa are definitely going to happen. I'll make her drive. Her husband is pretty lame, so I'll be around to help her out, new construction town homes by Toll Bros.

A second sister is house shopping there now too. I think over time, most of my clan is going to end up moving there. However NOW is the time to buy. My realtor and others are telling me how the economy is finally rebounding, and homes are likely to start going back up. They are ridiculously cheap right now, Half of the homes for sale are foreclosures or short sales. They have hit rock bottom. Only one way to go... up.

Case in point... this townhouse my sister is buying were originally 350k. They now start at 180. One of the 4 models just had a price increase Dec 1. I'm sure the other models will go up shortly.

 

I looked at Siamsa's web site, and the DJ thing was an immediate turn off. Floods sounds like it might be more of my style. I can't stand DJ's. The brunch lookis pretty good though.

Jimmy Brown, eh? I'll be sure to check Siamsa out when he's booked. You won't catch me dead in there when a DJ is pretending to be the center of attention. God, I hope they don't have a karioke nite too.

Henryville was a place I was looking at... seems that one development at the ski area went bankrupt? The realtors wouldn't tell me what the deal was. I was considering a lot there and having a modular log cabin built, but it was a bit too pricey compared to existing homes in the Poconos right now.

As far as hitting a deer goes... my real estate agent was driving way too fast for my taste while I tried to follow her around, but even with my slow old man driving style, I hear the freakin deer can sometimes just jump out of the woods right into you windshield. Strange that auto insurance is so much cheaper in the Poconos vs. LI.