Normal Life in Wilkes Barre YES IT"S TRUE!!! (Pittsburgh: middle-class, sales)
Northeastern PennsylvaniaScranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area
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The average household size INCREASED from 2.21 in 2007 to 2.24 in 2008. It's rare to see average household size growing, albeit slightly, in urbanized areas nowadays.
The number of married-couple households in the city rose significantly from 5,361 in 2007 to 5,567 in 2008. This might imply more newlyweds who may give birth to more children (helping to boost the city's population in the coming years).
This is purely subjective, but the self-identified LGBT population has also grown in Wilkes-Barre. There were 0 same-sex couple households in Wilkes-Barre in 2007. This rose to 0.2% in 2008, and I have a feeling this will have continued to rise.
Households with children under 18 years of age increased from 4,009 in 2007 to 4,141 in 2008.
The number of single householders declined from 39.7% in 2007 to 38.6% in 2008.
The percentage of city residents aged 25 to 34 with at least a Bachelor's Degree increased from 20.5% in 2007 to 21.3% in 2008.
The population of city residents aged 18 to 24 increased from 6,205 in 2007 to 6,560 in 2008.
The city's median age has declined from 36.4 in 2007 to 35 in 2008.
More people in Wilkes-Barre are power-commuting to work. In 2007 0.7% of the labor force commuted out-of-state to work. That rose to 1.1% in 2008.
The percentage of Wilkes-Barre's commuters that drove alone to work decreased from 69.4% in 2007 to 68.8% in 2008. More transit usage, carpooling, telecommuting, and people walking/biking to work means less traffic congestion on city streets. The percentage of those commuting to work via walking, taxi, public transportation, or carpooling all increased.
Despite the increase in power-commuting to NY/NJ (hence the increasing demand for the commuter rail line), the median commute time still decreased for city residents from 19.4 minutes in 2007 to 17.9 minutes in 2008.
I LOVE statistics because having a SOURCE will set you free from unfounded negative hysteria!
I knew that as prices plumetted in virtually every other market WB has held pretty steady, but the population stats are really interesting and do show a nacent upswing in the making.
I think you might be right that a forcast of a population of 50,000 is not at all unrealistic.
There is a trend of middle class flight to the cities and from the suburbs.
What I do wonder about Reston, is your take on Wilkes-Barre's housing stock and how all those little white miner's homes will accomodate a 21st century lifestyle.
In my house hunting, I learned quickly what level of coal employee lived in each house.The one we settled upon must have belonged to a comfortable superviser -but not a coal baron.
The real no frills homes, devoid of fireplaces, woodwork and well.. charm are difficult if not impossible to configure into today's life style and the equiptment if you will, that the avarage family has.
Do you see a way that they could be utilised?
Right now I see them being bought by absetee landlords - or flipped by greedy contracters.
Some of the most stately and beautiful homes can be found in South Wilkes Barre, however so much of that part of the city remains blighted.
Almost double that of some areas of the south, but not Florida, but a lot less than metro & even upstate rural NY - natural gas is your best bet for heat-------------
not so----utilities here are much more expensive,as is food,clothing,and hotels---am comparing this to the resort town that was my home for 25 yrs
I knew that as prices plumetted in virtually every other market WB has held pretty steady, but the population stats are really interesting and do show a nacent upswing in the making.
I think you might be right that a forcast of a population of 50,000 is not at all unrealistic.
There is a trend of middle class flight to the cities and from the suburbs.
What I do wonder about Reston, is your take on Wilkes-Barre's housing stock and how all those little white miner's homes will accomodate a 21st century lifestyle.
In my house hunting, I learned quickly what level of coal employee lived in each house.The one we settled upon must have belonged to a comfortable superviser -but not a coal baron.
The real no frills homes, devoid of fireplaces, woodwork and well.. charm are difficult if not impossible to configure into today's life style and the equiptment if you will, that the avarage family has.
Do you see a way that they could be utilised?
Right now I see them being bought by absetee landlords - or flipped by greedy contracters.
Some of the most stately and beautiful homes can be found in South Wilkes Barre, however so much of that part of the city remains blighted.
Any ideas?
Unfortunately it will be very difficult to retrofit those "little white miners' homes" that are packed tightly atop one another in many neighborhoods of Wilkes-Barre to appeal to the typical Back Mountain family with their 1/2-acre lot, two-car attached garage, 4 BRs, 2.5 BAs, open floorplans, etc. In very desirable "in-town" locations here in Northern Virginia many will purchase smaller bungalows, Cape Cods, and Craftsmans, tear them down, and replace them with suburban-styled McMansions because they like the convenience of living in a non-sterile community (i.e. Vienna or Falls Church in Virginia come to mind) but want the most modernized housing available. Sadly, while I hate how the "tear-downs" here have begun to ruin the character of these communities that may ultimately be the route Wilkes-Barre will have to pursue if the city ever hopes to lure in families again from the suburbs. Many of the streets in the Heights, for example, that run between Coal and Northampton Streets are narrow (off-street parking can be a bear), and have homes right on top of one another and the sidewalk along the street, too, for that matter. Spring Street near Home Depot in the East End is another good example of this. The wiring and plumbing inside of these homes are no doubt outdated for today's busy lifestyles. If some of those vacant homes were torn down, then the homes on either side could split the then-cleared lot to each have a bit of green space. I'm really torn (pun intended) inside because while I'm all for historic preservation the "miners' homes", for the most part, don't really have a lot of architectural charm to them to make them aesthetically pleasing (i.e. stained glass, turrets, wraparound porches, dormers, etc.) Scranton's neighborhoods generally have homes with larger lot sizes, which makes that "tear down" question much less attractive.
At one time Wilkes-Barre used to be extremely dense (86,626 residents/6.9 square miles = 12,554 people per square mile). Today that density is less than half as much. To put things into perspective at its peak density Wilkes-Barre was roughly as dense as Chicago, and today it would be the nation's 62nd-densest incorporated place. Density is a good thing as we can house more people on less land area to preserve open space for future generations, but I never foresee Wilkes-Barre returning to Chicago-styled density, so the question comes into play if it's really worth saving every "miners' home" if, in the long-run, most will just stay vacant?
I knew that as prices plumetted in virtually every other market WB has held pretty steady, but the population stats are really interesting and do show a nacent upswing in the making.
Sheena - another major factor responsible for the stable housing market in WB is the simple fact that most homes were built by modest standards which do not command higher pricing and speculation.
The house flipping syndrome, rush to build McMansions, consumer borrowing over their eyebrows via equity loans and the resulting high foreclosure activity crushed the housing markets in places like FL,NV,CA
Such things never grew to a level to impact places like WB.
Sheena - another major factor responsible for the stable housing market in WB is the simple fact that most homes were built by modest standards which do not command higher pricing and speculation.
The house flipping syndrome, rush to build McMansions, consumer borrowing over their eyebrows via equity loans and the resulting high foreclosure activity crushed the housing markets in places like FL,NV,CA
Such things never grew to a level to impact places like WB.
IMO, that's a good thing.
^ Agreed 100% (Whoa! That's a rarity!) The local housing market has always had the "slow and steady wins the race" model, which is why housing values have largely continued to appreciate here even while most other parts of the country have grappled with a severe housing downturn. Monroe and Pike Counties have experienced a spike in foreclosures in recent years (city transplants barely making ends meat to begin with being duped into buying real estate here they ultimately couldn't afford).
While you and I tend to have divergent perspectives on Wilkes-Barre I think even you have to admit that for the city to have possibly only had a population decline of one from 2008-2009 is a reason to celebrate. I think we'll have seen another modest decline from 2009-2010, but I think in the mid-2010s you'll see Wilkes-Barre's population start to increase again.
I thing one of the factors in what Reston mentioned (more people per household, more children, etc.) may be the influx of more Hispanic & other minorities as well, I read somewhere recently (maybe in a Times Leader article that was about some people protesting that there were not enough minority teachers), that about 40% of public school aged kids in W-B are now minorities, a stark contrast to the makeup of the overall population.
I thing one of the factors in what Reston mentioned (more people per household, more children, etc.) may be the influx of more Hispanic & other minorities as well, I read somewhere recently (maybe in a Times Leader article that was about some people protesting that there were not enough minority teachers), that about 40% of public school aged kids in W-B are now minorities, a stark contrast to the makeup of the overall population.
NEPA at-large was always one of the last few "Archie Bunker strongholds" in the Northeast (i.e. Anglo-Saxons who were dominant and were proud of their ethnic roots). Being just two hours from two of the nation's largest immigrant-attracting cities meant it was only a matter of time, though, before "diversity" kicked in. Greater Hazleton is probably home to the largest Latino stronghold in the region, and even relatively rural Schuylkill County is welcoming a Hispanic influx. From my experience Wilkes-Barre is NEPA's epicenter for African-Americans and gays/lesbians. Scranton is no slouch, either, but the growth of minorities there seems to have been less "sudden" than it has come to Luzerne County.
If you look at this site Wilkes-Barre Area School District, Pennsylvania (http://www.schoolmatters.com/schools.aspx/q/page=dp/did=1498 - broken link) It shows that the percentage of white students in the Wilkes-Barre School district is almost 70%, Hispanic is 10.9%. Scranton is not that much different Scranton High School - Scranton, Pennsylvania Schools | Schoolmatters.com (http://www.schoolmatters.com/schools.aspx/q/page=sp/sid=16420 - broken link)
Getting back to Wilkes Barre and the "little white coal miner's houses" - I have a question.
I hope that it will not sound naive - my background is in Sociology not Urban Planning or Accounting,
so at the risk of sounding silly I will post this idea-
Wouldn't those little houses work fine for first time buyers? Couples with one or two children who want to enter the real estate market.
My first house was a 1950s Long Island Cape Cod style house. Very boxy no open floor plan - but it was mine.
And it cost 189k! The afore mentioned homes sell in the 30s and 40s!
Would these work if the city in some way bought them - to prevent them from being flipped - which they are as I type, or used by out of town slum lords.
I am a huge believer in home ownership, which I believe acts as a social and economic stabilizer.
Rather than rip them all down could anyone conceive of a way that this could work?
When I wrote couples I meant it in an inclusive way. Single parents would be another group.
I do not think this would appeal to the older baby boomers for a multitude of reasons.
Any thoughts?
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The local housing market has always had the "slow and steady wins the race" model, which is why housing values have largely continued to appreciate here even while most other parts of the country have grappled with a severe housing downturn. Monroe and Pike Counties have experienced a spike in foreclosures in recent years (city transplants barely making ends meat to begin with being duped into buying real estate here they ultimately couldn't afford).
