Binghamton Photo Tour (New York, Syracuse, Elmira: cul-de-sac, transplants, coupons)

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by mcmartian

you're a good photographer.

whenever i go into binghmaton I can't wait to get out. I didn't think there was anything worth photographing there other than the zoo.

thanks for the pretty views.

Thanks. I simply feel as if all cities have to have some measure of HOPE for a brighter tomorrow in order to survive. Even when Scranton was dubbed "Armpit of America," we still persevered. Now, we've hit rock bottom already and are rebounding quite nicely in the past year or two with retail/entertainment growth and a county that is once again growing in population. If a dirty, decrepit sack of a town like the 1990s version of Scranton can start to round the corner just ten years later, then why can't Bingo? Your fair city will soon have its day---trust me! There is a growing number of well-educated youths who are remaining here in Scranton to plant their roots and better the city, and I'm sure Binghamton will soon be seeing that as well. As a first time visitor, I walked all over what many of you probably see as the "sketchier" parts of town (where groups of minorities hang around on the corners smoking and swearing). Nevertheless, I wasn't mugged or beaten, was I? Some people are simply "Chicken Littles." I thought they were unique to Scranton, but I suppose Broome County has them as well. LOL!

[tviz25]

I really like these pics of Binghamton it reminds me of Elmira a lot because they are so close. You should really take some pictures in Elmira. We have beautiful Victorian homes in the Near Westside neighborhood and Maple Ave. Also there are some nice historic buildings downtown. I would like to see some nice photograph of my city that is as good as this. nice job

[grassroots]

Cool pics, that brings back some memories- thanks for sharing. Any pics of the BU campus? I'm an alumni

[tviz25]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

Thanks. I simply feel as if all cities have to have some measure of HOPE for a brighter tomorrow in order to survive. Even when Scranton was dubbed "Armpit of America," we still persevered. Now, we've hit rock bottom already and are rebounding quite nicely in the past year or two with retail/entertainment growth and a county that is once again growing in population. If a dirty, decrepit sack of a town like the 1990s version of Scranton can start to round the corner just ten years later, then why can't Bingo? Your fair city will soon have its day---trust me! There is a growing number of well-educated youths who are remaining here in Scranton to plant their roots and better the city, and I'm sure Binghamton will soon be seeing that as well. As a first time visitor, I walked all over what many of you probably see as the "sketchier" parts of town (where groups of minorities hang around on the corners smoking and swearing). Nevertheless, I wasn't mugged or beaten, was I? Some people are simply "Chicken Littles." I thought they were unique to Scranton, but I suppose Broome County has them as well. LOL!

I like what you are saying ScrantonWilkesBarre. Binghamton and Elmira (Broome and Chemung County) are both at low points right now but are surley on their way back up. I like to see that there are still people like you that have hope for cities. Also, when you talked about the "sketchier" parts of town where minorities hang out, there are plenty of those in Elmira having 2 prisons, but they don't just beat you up for no reason. You have some good points.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by grassroots

Cool pics, that brings back some memories- thanks for sharing. Any pics of the BU campus? I'm an alumni

Thanks. Sorry. I didn't quite make it over to the Binghamton University campus because I couldn't find it. I walked all over downtown, the south side, and the west side and expected to see at least a sign or two on a streetlight pointing the direction towards BU, but I had no such luck. I then returned home and did a map search and realized that the campus was quite a walk from downtown. When I walked along College Avenue in the West Side, I expected to eventually be spilled out onto the campus, but I had no such luck. That was a MAJOR disappointment to me. For as easy as it was for me, a first-time tourist to Bingo, to locate the downtown given the helpful directional signs, I had no such luck with BU. I was actually stunned to not find even one college campus in the downtown area. If Broome County's commissioners are looking for a sure-fire way to plant a catalyst downtown to spark a fire under the butt of revitalization, then some sort of institution of higher learning would be it. You already have a 2-year college and a 4-year college in the city limits---what about a small graduate school downtown such as a medical school or a law school? Downtown Scranton is getting a major medical school in 2009 that is expected to totally revamp our downtown, and Downtown Wilkes-Barre is likewise getting a new law school. What's Binghamton waiting for in that respect?

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by tviz25

I really like these pics of Binghamton it reminds me of Elmira a lot because they are so close. You should really take some pictures in Elmira. We have beautiful Victorian homes in the Near Westside neighborhood and Maple Ave. Also there are some nice historic buildings downtown. I would like to see some nice photograph of my city that is as good as this. nice job

Elmira is on my "to-do" list, along with Corning and Ithaca. I also hope to do a scenic tour of the small Delaware River towns along Route 97 from Hancock on south through Callicoon, Narrowsburg, and eventually ending up in Port Jervis. I have some more towns in NEPA I need to finish first (More of Scranton's neighborhoods especially), but expect to perhaps see some more from Upstate NY by June or July.

Sometimes you need the perspective of a first-time visitor to truly appreciate the beauty your city has to offer that you take for granted day in and day out as a resident.

[jedwardjos]

Those photos kind of resemble something out of "The Twilight Zone." Cars, stores, churches, houses but no people.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by jedwardjos

Those photos kind of resemble something out of "The Twilight Zone." Cars, stores, churches, houses but no people.

Outside of the block near Binghamton High School, which was teeming with students running back-and-forth across the middle of the street around lunchtime, the rest of the city was devoid of people. It was indeed quite sad.

[recycled]

Greetings SWB, very nice photo tour of Binghamton. I visited that area in the early 1990s when I was living in your favorite neighbor state (NJ). I enjoyed the photos, my great grandfather was born in Broome County (Harpursville) in 1855. Although he left there in the 1880s for the mid-west, and ended up in CA in about 1895, I have a thread of connection to the place with a few generations of separation. I'll bet many of those houses in the pictures were built in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
I also liked the photo tour commentary, especially the NY vs Scranton junction on route 17.
With the nice summer coming along, enjoy road trips (gas prices permitting) to the other places on your agenda. Ithaca and Corning are great, but venture a bit further to Geneseo too. Central and western NY are loaded with great places to visit, just as interesting as lots of New England towns minus the tourist crowds.

[grassroots]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

Thanks. Sorry. I didn't quite make it over to the Binghamton University campus because I couldn't find it. I walked all over downtown, the south side, and the west side and expected to see at least a sign or two on a streetlight pointing the direction towards BU, but I had no such luck. I then returned home and did a map search and realized that the campus was quite a walk from downtown. When I walked along College Avenue in the West Side, I expected to eventually be spilled out onto the campus, but I had no such luck. That was a MAJOR disappointment to me. For as easy as it was for me, a first-time tourist to Bingo, to locate the downtown given the helpful directional signs, I had no such luck with BU. I was actually stunned to not find even one college campus in the downtown area. If Broome County's commissioners are looking for a sure-fire way to plant a catalyst downtown to spark a fire under the butt of revitalization, then some sort of institution of higher learning would be it. You already have a 2-year college and a 4-year college in the city limits---what about a small graduate school downtown such as a medical school or a law school? Downtown Scranton is getting a major medical school in 2009 that is expected to totally revamp our downtown, and Downtown Wilkes-Barre is likewise getting a new law school. What's Binghamton waiting for in that respect?

Yeah, BU is actually in the town of Vestal. If you drove down 434 you would've run into it. It's a short drive from downtown, but not really a route you would walk.