Scranton, PA - anyone there?

[popsnsqeeze]

Hi all,

DH has been offered a job in Scranton, PA. He is from there originally so knows the place and has some family there. I visited once and found it boring and ugly. I'm from London and we have been living abroad for the last 10 years. We have 2 kids, 5years old 18 months.
Can anyone tell me what it's like to live there?
We don't really want to move, we like where we are but we are drowning in debt and this is the only way out that we can see. Part of me is excited, but also bloody scared!
What are your experiences of moving somewhere with a 'small town' feel?

Any advice is appreciated!

Hi popsnsqeeze,

I've only ever been to Scranton on a day trip (long story, don't ask!), but spent two years in State College, PA and loved it there. It was certainly very small town compared with London (where we'd lived before), but we were ready for the move. I'm not sure how much telling you about life in State College would help, as Scranton seemed to have quite a different feel - I'd agree that it's not the prettiest of towns, but I don't know anything about actually living there. State College had quite an international/cosmopolitan feel, as Penn State is the main employer and so there were people (university staff and students) from all over the USA and further afield. It was a very friendly and very safe community, and it was easy to get to know people, but whether that would apply to Scranton as well, I'm not sure.

The downside of living in the middle of rural PA was that we were miles from anywhere; there was an airport, but otherwise you'd have to drive for hours to get to another town. I found it was fine for two years, but was also quite happy to move back to Europe at the end of our stint there. We also missed having family nearby, or even a few hours' drive away; having said that, I only see my parents twice a year even now that they're only a two-hour flight away.

Sorry I can't be more specific help on Scranton, but I really enjoyed our experience of living in small town PA if that's any help! And you would be quite a bit closer to NYC (and probably other places) in Scranton than we were...