Home development in the Poconos increased to a record high last year, with 1,634 building permits for single-family homes issued by Monroe County.
The old record of 1,592 was set in 2002.
Of the county’s 20 municipalities, the three that issued the most building permits in 2003 were Stroud Township (217), Coolbaugh Township (209), and Middle Smithfield Township (197).
“It’s obvious people want to move here especially since 9-11,” said Ed Cramer, Stroud Township supervisor. “People who have lived here for a long time think that taxes are really high, but to new people, they’re really not.”
Families in search of clean air and cheaper real estate continue to migrate west from New York City to the Poconos. Thousands of area residents commute daily to jobs 80 or 90 miles away in and around metropolitan New York.
Cramer said his township was attractive to builders because it offered public water and sewer, an indoor mall and proximity to Interstate Highway 80, among other assets.
“It was a good year for the building industry, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop,” said Rich Peterson, executive director of the Pocono Builders Association, adding that 2004 “looks like it will be even better. A lot of our builders are already booked out for the year.”
