Possible move to Williamsport, PA area (Danville, Montoursville: buying a house, transfer, buying)

[tx2pa?!?]

My family will be possibly relocating to the Williamsport area in the next few months from TX. I am more than a little nervous about this due to the fact that we have 3 children ranging from kindergarten to high school.

We do not want to live in Williamsport proper, but in one of the smaller towns in the area. The previous posts regarding relocation to this area were a few years old and have led me to believe that this area is not very welcoming to new residents. I am concerned that my children will not find it easy in an area that experiences very few new residents.

I am also concerned about available housing options. We currently live in a 5bd/4ba 4300 sq. ft. home. in a desirable subdivision. What will a comparable home run in the area?

Any help is appreciated, I am just a little nervous about packing up and relocating to an area that may not be receptive to newcomers.

[wanneroo]

Huh?

The area up here has been overwhelmed with thousands of texans and others in recent years due to the gas boom, so one more family isn't going to make a difference. Yes 5 years ago it was a stale area, but things have changed.

I would not expect the welcome wagon, but people in the Williamsport area are plenty friendly and helpful as long as you show the same respect and friendly behavior in return. I would understand that Pennsylvania is different culturally from Texas, people are not so open and in your face and much more opinionated and clichey.

There is not much in the way of tract home McMansion developments around Williamsport. Homes overall are much, much older in age. Outside of towns and cities, you will find in rural PA that it is common instead for people to put a home on 2-5 acres. The best thing to do is start looking at the local listings.

There are a lot of upsides to the greater Williamsport area. The weather is a very nice 4 seasons with lots of opportunity for biking on the rail trail, hiking, hunting, rafting, skiing, motorsports, etc. There is plenty of shopping available and restaurants to eat at.

Williamsport has a few issues, but it's something that can be avoided and worked around.

All you have to do is accept this isn't Texas and a lot is different here and you'll do fine.

[ki0eh]

Wonder if some of the gas families would come back here to share their experiences, might be an interesting read.

Seems that Loyalsock Township is the standard "good school suburb" around Williamsport - you might have noticed already that schools are arranged generally on sub-county-size units (67 counties in PA, 501 school districts). Loyalsock Twp includes older subdivisions as well as a bit of exurban area mostly all with Williamsport postal address - it is right outside the city limits, but Williamsport is not nearly as big a city as it sometimes thinks it is. The area stagnated economically from, oh, around 1952 to two years ago, therefore there aren't many newer subdivisions as wanneroo says.

Further out from Loyalsock Twp post office addresses and school areas non-coincide in weird ways - like Trout Run address and Montoursville Area schools. The proportion of newer permanent residents also falls off quite a bit.

[rsrobbins]

Williamsport is a small town. Actually it is a small city but the small towns nearby are severely lacking in amenities. I think the suburbs are just fine.

There is a house on my street that appears to have been abandoned and is going to ruin but it is on the market. It is probably considered a "flood home". You may want to avoid buying a house in a flood zone but they are cheap and available.

[Dawne]

Tules Run outside of Montoursville comes to mind as a place that might have the type of home you're looking for, and Montoursville is a great school district. (It's where I grew up!)

[Davros]

Originally Posted by rsrobbins

Williamsport is a small town. Actually it is a small city but the small towns nearby are severely lacking in amenities. I think the suburbs are just fine.

There is a house on my street that appears to have been abandoned and is going to ruin but it is on the market. It is probably considered a "flood home". You may want to avoid buying a house in a flood zone but they are cheap and available.

Avoiding buying a house in a flood zone is good advice. Flooding is quite common in Pennsylvania.

[nowthatsaplan]

How far are you willing to live outside Williamsport? Is there a specific job location you need to keep within a reasonable commute? If you're willing to live a little further away, you might consider Danville. We moved here last fall, and one major advantage is that Danville is more open to new residents. Geisinger Medical Center is a huge regional hospital here that has people transferring in and out all the time, so the community is really used to people coming and going.