All of the negatives
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12/9/2009
The Bad:East Stroudsburg (Eastburg to the locals) is a suburb of NYC. I moved here from St. Louis 3 yrs ago. The place has the crime, poor schools, and (surprisingly) bad traffic of a large city, with none of the good side (restaurants, night life, museums). The roads are terrible, and the taxes are very high. The winters are awful, and the summer is nearly non-existent. I keep waiting for global warming, but it never seems to come. Maybe Santa will bring it here. Property taxes are relatively cheap (good), but school taxes are not (6k/year). The schools, however, don't meet the requirements for the No Child Left Behind Act, so don't ask me what they do with the money.
The Good: I grew up in NC, and was stunned to see that most of the homes here have no AC. I thought these people must be out of their minds! But, the summers here (all 3 weeks of it) are very mild. The mountains and countryside are beautiful, but crowded with NYC folks (sorry, that belongs in the Bad heading). We finally have some major stores (a new Best Buy and a "real" grocery store, Giant). Chain restaurants have come in the form of Red Robin, Texas Steakhouse, Red Lobster, etc.
The People: Generally, very nice, but stand offish. It was depressing coming here at first, as most people seemed very rude. However, i moved here in the winter. In the spring and summer, they were like new people! Happy, smiling, fun. I totally understand this now, as the long, cold, dark winters would make anyone surly.
Bill | Saylorsburg, PA