Of your responses I'd do homework into the cost of living. If you want to be close to NY state or NYC then Scranton makes the most sense. Lackawanna county tends to be more liberal than rural areas. I-81 will take you up to Binghamton. NY; Rt 6 will take you up toward the Finger Lakes, I-84 will take you into Port Jervis, NY and I-80 will pretty much take you into Harlem, NYC.

The Lehigh valley also seems to be turning around economically but I don't believe that professional degrees are in high demand. Instead, I'd recommend looking at the Philly metro and living someplace close to a SEPTA train stop. I lived in King of Prussia and the Main Line (rt. 30 with towns like Devon and St. David's) was a nice area with regards to amenities. Rt. 202 into Chester county also seems to be getting built up but I wouldn't recommend community via car into the city.

Finally, there's also Pittsburgh. It's a little bit of a mix of Appalachia/Great Lakes/Midwest with lots of rust belt relics but business prospects are probably better than in the Lehigh valley. The downside is that the closest part of NY is Lake Chataqua with the closest major city in NY being Buffalo which is about 4 hours away.