Most vibrant medium-sized city downtowns (less then a million people metro) (apartments, lofts)

[newcastle]

I can convince just one person that the Electric City isn't the runner-up for "Armpit of America," as it was actually dubbed in the 1990s, then I've done my duty. On the bright side, Scranton still looks a lot better than cities like Gary, Indiana.

I thought the armpit of the US was Camden, NJ.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by DC 38

In about, oh, probably 3-5 years you will realize that the opinions of people on this board regarding your town are meaningless, and that it is really unneccessary to overly trumpet a town like Scranton.

Every city is going to have some population of people that rip it to shreds. Scranton is no different than Indianapolis, Nashville, Louisville, Jacksonville, Evansville IN, Cincinnati, or any other town. The difference is there are not a lot of people from those towns going over the top on their gloating of their town to build it up in response. Someone wants to rip Indy, that is fine. I generally do not care. Now, if you are a condescending prick about it, that is something else entirely. I do not care if someone from Omaha or Chicago hates Indianapolis. It is no different than my hatred of St. Louis. Everyone has preferences, and you should not get so worked up about other peoples opinions.

The problem with Scranton is that it is much smaller than those other cities that you mentioned and can't be as resilient in the public eye against such chronic negativity. Indianapolis proper has like what, 700,000 people, not including the suburbs? That's ten times the size of my city proper. If 10,000 people in Indianapolis hem and haw about how "awful" it is, that's still a very insignificant portion of your population. If 10,000 people in my community do the same thing, that's 1/7 of the population, or a VERY noticeable segment of it.

It's sad that when people come to visit our city for "The Office" Convention, Steamtown, the coal mine tour, Yankees games, etc., people from here actually say "Why would you come here?" as if we're the seventh layer of hell. This self-deprecating identity crisis that Scranton endures is a direct result of several decades of being the butt of jokes ranging from Archie Bunker on All in the Family to Ross from Friends to Home Alone. There are a growing number of young intellectual twenty-something in our city that resent the status quo of "we've always been beaten down and always will play second fiddle, and we like it that way," and it's causing quite a cultural stir now. We're on the cusp of being annexed as the outermost satellite city of New York City now that the adjacent Poconos are booming as a year-round suburb, and the city is polarized between those who believe that doing so will cause us to lose our heritage and individuality and those of us (like myself) who believe doing so will bring better economic opportunities to Northeastern Pennsylvania via the Wall Street West movement.

I'm sorry to ramble, but I feel like the Chamber of Commerce should just offer me a position already since I'm doing more work than they could ever hope to do---they actually pat themselves on the back when a new WAL-MART opens as if it is a "good" thing for our region. I've been on my crusade to reinvent my city since I was a young teenager, and I won't let the fight die until people start giving my city the respect that it deserves. No, we'll never be Greenwich Village, but Hoboken is a great role model for sure!

[desert sun]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

The problem with Scranton is that it is much smaller than those other cities that you mentioned and can't be as resilient in the public eye against such chronic negativity. Indianapolis proper has like what, 700,000 people, not including the suburbs? That's ten times the size of my city proper. If 10,000 people in Indianapolis hem and haw about how "awful" it is, that's still a very insignificant portion of your population. If 10,000 people in my community do the same thing, that's 1/7 of the population, or a VERY noticeable segment of it.

It's sad that when people come to visit our city for "The Office" Convention, Steamtown, the coal mine tour, Yankees games, etc., people from here actually say "Why would you come here?" as if we're the seventh layer of hell. This self-deprecating identity crisis that Scranton endures is a direct result of several decades of being the butt of jokes ranging from Archie Bunker on All in the Family to Ross from Friends to Home Alone. There are a growing number of young intellectual twenty-something in our city that resent the status quo of "we've always been beaten down and always will play second fiddle, and we like it that way," and it's causing quite a cultural stir now. We're on the cusp of being annexed as the outermost satellite city of New York City now that the adjacent Poconos are booming as a year-round suburb, and the city is polarized between those who believe that doing so will cause us to lose our heritage and individuality and those of us (like myself) who believe doing so will bring better economic opportunities to Northeastern Pennsylvania via the Wall Street West movement.

I'm sorry to ramble, but I feel like the Chamber of Commerce should just offer me a position already since I'm doing more work than they could ever hope to do---they actually pat themselves on the back when a new WAL-MART opens as if it is a "good" thing for our region. I've been on my crusade to reinvent my city since I was a young teenager, and I won't let the fight die until people start giving my city the respect that it deserves. No, we'll never be Greenwich Village, but Hoboken is a great role model for sure!

Well Im sure everyone has an idea now of Scranton,so I think you've made your point with all those posts.

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

The problem with Scranton is that it is much smaller than those other cities that you mentioned and can't be as resilient in the public eye against such chronic negativity. Indianapolis proper has like what, 700,000 people, not including the suburbs? That's ten times the size of my city proper. If 10,000 people in Indianapolis hem and haw about how "awful" it is, that's still a very insignificant portion of your population. If 10,000 people in my community do the same thing, that's 1/7 of the population, or a VERY noticeable segment of it.

It's sad that when people come to visit our city for "The Office" Convention, Steamtown, the coal mine tour, Yankees games, etc., people from here actually say "Why would you come here?" as if we're the seventh layer of hell. This self-deprecating identity crisis that Scranton endures is a direct result of several decades of being the butt of jokes ranging from Archie Bunker on All in the Family to Ross from Friends to Home Alone. There are a growing number of young intellectual twenty-something in our city that resent the status quo of "we've always been beaten down and always will play second fiddle, and we like it that way," and it's causing quite a cultural stir now. We're on the cusp of being annexed as the outermost satellite city of New York City now that the adjacent Poconos are booming as a year-round suburb, and the city is polarized between those who believe that doing so will cause us to lose our heritage and individuality and those of us (like myself) who believe doing so will bring better economic opportunities to Northeastern Pennsylvania via the Wall Street West movement.

I'm sorry to ramble, but I feel like the Chamber of Commerce should just offer me a position already since I'm doing more work than they could ever hope to do---they actually pat themselves on the back when a new WAL-MART opens as if it is a "good" thing for our region. I've been on my crusade to reinvent my city since I was a young teenager, and I won't let the fight die until people start giving my city the respect that it deserves. No, we'll never be Greenwich Village, but Hoboken is a great role model for sure!

Sorry, but none of this makes Scranton much different from any other city. Get over it!

[2Adam29]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

Well, I lived in Omaha and I while I didn't think it was an awful place I hardly consider it to be a major city and it certainly has not reached major metro status either.

The way you OVER PROMOTE the place and try to make it appear bigger and better than it really is suggests, from a psychological perspective, that you are indeed worried about the image around the country and are attempting to turn it into something it has not yet achieved. I see the very same thing in Kansas City too. A few people down here seem to claim this is a World Class City when it is nothing of the sort.

While I agree with the suggesstion that GoNe over-promotes the city from time to time, you also must see where the citizens of Omaha are coming from.

For decades Omaha was as stagnant as a bucket of water, but within the last decade all of that has changed! Not only that, but the city continues to improve with projects popping up all over the place.

Is it so wrong for us as people with civic pride to want to rid people of the notion that Omaha is still fly-over country? It's not! It is a real city just like the greats, but on a smaller scale, which can actually be a huge plus.
I'd feel insignificant in NY or LA, or in a tiny town no one has heard of. In Omaha the city is just the right size, so that I can make a difference in my city without being drown out, and my city can make a difference in my nation if people are willing to hear us out.

I understand that often it seems that we may go overboard in promotions, but we do so in an effort to change opinions and pre-conceptions, not in an effort to annoy or turn people off. Would you suggest we not propose our city where applicable? Because that's not fair. We only want a seat at the table, but people are all to quick to dismiss our town becasue of their assumptions, not based on population or actual merit. (Omaha's city population is close to pre-Katrina New Orleans, and they would be taken seriously. Omaha is home to the tallest structure between Denver and Chicago, taller than any builing in nearby KC, and they would be taken seriously. Omaha would also be 1.2 million in metro population if it were connected to nearby Lincoln, driving us into the top 50 metro areas. I'm sure you knew some of this already, I just wanted to cover my bases.)

Point being, we want to be taken seriously and have every justification for it. Do you have another way to gain that status we should know about?

Open to all ideas!

[SteelCityRising]

Interesting indeed. Someone comes in to defend Go Ne as he pumps up Omaha, yet nobody comes to defend me when I pump up Scranton. It's nice to know where the social alliances on here have now been established.

[Raphael07]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Interesting indeed. Someone comes in to defend Go Ne as he pumps up Omaha, yet nobody comes to defend me when I pump up Scranton. It's nice to know where the social alliances on here have now been established.

No one really attacks you when you pump up Scranton, maybe its because they consider Omaha a threat, heh heh, except for now some one is attacking Scranton and sort of you because you practically are Scranton, soooooooo.....................

[Raphael07]

Originally Posted by DC 38

Sorry, but none of this makes Scranton much different from any other city. Get over it!

The Office doesn't make Scranton Special? Since when has Indianapolis had an immensely popular comedy show or a show for that matter based in it, sure sports events but what else? NOTHING!

As for the Economy, Indianapolis has 0 fortune 500 companies, sure Scranton has non but it has 70,000 people, while Indianapolis has 700,000 people, its one of the Few major cities without a fortune 500 company (Omaha has 5)

[xz2y]

Originally Posted by GreggB

Madison Wisconsin. Sometimes reffered to the "Paris Of The Midwest".

Wow! I had a very different impression of Madison last month when I visited, on my way back to Michigan from Minneapolis. I spent an afternoon and evening there and was not impressed. The strip (State Street) of shops that runs from the capitol to the University was essentially jammed with chain restaurants and chain stores (sunglasses hut, fast food, starbucks, etc) with a few local stores and shops sprinked in between. All students and very, very crowded. Lots of graffiti and trash around the area. People were not particularly friendly. Then, right on either side of this long street (20 blocks?) were tons of tacky high rises with no planning, just jammed in next to each other.

The capitol area had little pedestrian traffic on Saturday afternoon and none at all in the evening, when I was looking for a nice restaurant. Not wanting to walk to my car at night on desolate streets, I gave up and went to the burbs for dinner. The areas of the city near the water (parks) looked ok, but were hard to get to from the main streets. All in all, I wasn't impressed with Madison.

[Raphael07]

Originally Posted by xz2y

Wow! I had a very different impression of Madison last month when I visited, on my way back to Michigan from Minneapolis. I spent an afternoon and evening there and was not impressed. The strip (State Street) of shops that runs from the capitol to the University was essentially jammed with chain restaurants and chain stores (sunglasses hut, fast food, starbucks, etc) with a few local stores and shops sprinked in between. All students and very, very crowded. Lots of graffiti and trash around the area. People were not particularly friendly. Then, right on either side of this long street (20 blocks?) were tons of tacky high rises with no planning, just jammed in next to each other.

The capitol area had little pedestrian traffic on Saturday afternoon and none at all in the evening, when I was looking for a nice restaurant. Not wanting to walk to my car at night on desolate streets, I gave up and went to the burbs for dinner. The areas of the city near the water (parks) looked ok, but were hard to get to from the main streets. All in all, I wasn't impressed with Madison.

I had the Impression Madison was some spotless utopia in Wisconsin now................... not really