Wilkes Barre Area (Wilkes-Barre, York, Kingston: section 8, apartment complexes, rentals)

[bowlingmanager]

I am thinking about accepting a job in the wilkes barre area and I would like to know where it is safe to rent apartments or houses and where decent schools are. I have two children, 14 and 12 and I need a safe enviroment for them. Any help to direct me to the better areas would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

[W-B proud]

I used to drive cab in Wilkes-Barre, and I know it like the back of my hand. Anything north of downtown is pretty decent. Some nice city neighborhoods are East End, Northend, Parsons, Brookside, Miners Mills, Plains, Georgetown's also nice and very close to the malls and shopping areas. South Wilkes-Barre's a dump (for the most part) aviod it. Iron triangle and Rolling Mill are also shadey (depending where exactly you live)these areas are none for drugs and shootings ect. Also check out the West Side- Kingston and Forty-Forty are both very nice well kept towns, and they're right across the river from W-B. Good Luck with your search! Also, W-B schools are decent, each W-B high school has a police officer assigned to it to keep law and order.

[bowlingmanager]

Do I not have to worry about drugs or gangs in the areas you mentioned?

[emmaygee]

I used to live in Miners Mills - for almost 8 years - and only had a slight problem because I lived across the street from a private club/bar. I used to keep things on my porch and never had anything taken - so, I'm a little prejudiced about that area. It is near Parson's which is also quiet, and I think that there isn't much crime around there... most of the "baddies" live near downtown and in the South W-B area - stay clear of them.
As far as rentals are in the two areas I mentioned, there are no apartment complexes - you would need to find a private home/apartment to rent.

You might also want to consider living in Wyoming, Exeter, West Pittston (small borough, but extremely clean) - all of which are in the Wyoming Area School District, which is considered one of the best in the area. But, again, there are no rental complexes (ie. with all the amenities). The rental fees are no higher than if you lived in the Wilkes Barre area.

Good luck with your move.

[Chefkey]

Check out the Heights. GAR High School is great and the area is nice.

[W-B proud]

Yah, Heights is pretty nice depending on where you live. Even the "bad neighborhoods" have nice, quite streets. You can live on a nice Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood type street in S. Wilkes-Barre where it's very quite and quaint, but 2 streets over will be a street known for crime and drugs. It's not that a whole neighborhood is bad, more like what street you live on in that neighborhood.

[W-B proud]

South Wilkes-Barre was actually one of W-B's nicest neighborhoods prior to the flood of '72. The flood devastated that entire neighborhood. Most of the nice people that lived there abandoned thier homes because they couldn't afford to rebuild or they just didn't want to live in the flood plain anymore. After this mass exodus of residents from S.W-B. opportunistic land lords from out of town started buying up all these abandoned houses (since they were practically being given away), and rehabing them, and turning alot of them into apartments and multi-unit dwellings. Most of these landlords (slumlords) live in NYC, Philly, Nj. ect.. Being that they don't live here, they simply don't care who they were renting to so after time more and more of these dwellings turned into section 8 housing to the point where now most of the housing in S.W-B is section 8 (and the wonderful people it attracts) These slumlords are simply out to make a buck and don't care what happens to the neighborhood. The city is trying to fix the problem, but it's a long uphill battle.

[Chefkey]

Going to sum it up and say, I walk these streets and I have never been afraid. I walk past the neighbors and say hi and see the kids playing in the park. This town is not a slum. You will feel safe and happy here.

There are areas here to avoid like any town but they are far less intimidating than Philly or New York. Come here and enjoy the beauty of the valley.

[bowlingmanager]

I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to post. As I come across rentals I will post the street names and if anyone can tell me yea or nay I would appreciate it.

Thanks!!

[dansdrive]

Originally Posted by Chefkey

Check out the Heights. GAR High School is great and the area is nice.

This is encouraging. Having graduated from GAR back in the late 70's and moving out of the area for employment its good to know some things have not changed that much. Lived in the Iron triangle area and walked to school. Looks like things changed for the worse in the Iron Triangle area.