Theory, based on dates of manufacture of matchbox cars in yard of vacation rental (1983-2003) and proliferation of empty foreclosed vacation homes AND densely populated homes full of commuters in our immediate vicinity:
The Poconos used to be a vacation destination. Wealthy folks had summer homes there.
The financial markets collapsed: wealthy folks had less wealth to pay for their summer homes.
The housing markets collapsed: the property values of the former vacation homes plummeted.
Commuters priced out of metropolitan residences now buy (or rent) former vacation homes for cheap, and move in in droves.
The result: a vacation destination a bit too reminiscent of our Baltimore city neighborhood.
Dingy, vandalized (with fire and paint) playground in the communal park? Check!
Speeding cars thrumming with bass vibes? Check!
Car drivers who look at you like you are crazy when you wave? Check!
General feeling that things used to be better maintained than they are now? Check!
Just like home, but with cooler temperatures and more blue spruce.
Oddly though, there was also a flock of turkeys (10) that we saw every day, a gopher family living in the culvert across the street, a colony of feral cats (incl. kittens) in the yard of an empty house and a plethora of very tame deer roaming the neighborhood. That's quite a lot of nature, more than we saw when we rented in the middle of the George Washington National forest and were the only house within 4 miles on a dirt road.
Also, we only saw one horsefly (in the surprisingly lovely and well-appointed Tobyhanna State Park: it has hot showers!). Said fly persistently chased Husband and bit him, twice, in the calf.
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