Northeastern Pennsylvania Photo Tour: PART ONE (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: salon, real estate, apartment)

[ScranBarre]

On account of the increased interest in those seeking relocation in Northeastern Pennsylvania, I've decided to shoot some images of the area through cyberspace and right into your home offices! This is the first part in a continuing photo series that I'll be presenting every Sunday with a new location based upon requests from you, the prospective NEPA Newbies!

Here you'll find a sampling of images from Downtown Scranton, along with the "Upper Hill" residential neighborhood, which is roughly bordered by Nay Aug Park to the East (uphill), Harrison Avenue to the west (downhill), Myrtle Avenue to the north, and Roselynn Avenue to the south. The city of Scranton is home to more than 74,000 residents, who range from blue-collar families to "old money" in Green Ridge and the Upper Hill, to a newer generation of bohemians and "yuppies" who have just begun to gentrify the city's downtown, to a growing Hispanic community in SouthSide.

I hope you enjoy my snapshots of the Electric City as much as I enjoyed strolling throughout the community taking them.

[ScranBarre]

New Lackawanna Avenue Parking Garage, Including Upcoming "Molly Brannigan's Pub"


New "Medallion Parking Garage" Adjacent to the Scranton Hilton on Adams Avenue


Law Office on SE Corner of Adams & Spruce


Another Law Office on Adams Avenue (Scrantonians Love Lawyers!)


Osaka Japanese Restaurant; Adams Avenue


Washington Statue; SE Corner of Linden & North Washington


Lackawanna County Courthouse


Statue on Courthouse Square


North Washington Avenue Office Complex


SW Corner of Spruce & North Washington


Connell Building (Future Site of Downtown Market, Coffeeshop, and Loft Housing); North Washington Avenue


Brixx Restaurant (Awesome Burgers!); 130 North Washington Avenue


Offices of Morgan Stanley & VaxServe (Division of Sanofi-Pasteur Pharmaceuticals)


"Electric City" Sign (Recently Restored by "Scranton Tomorrow")


St. Peter's Cathedral


Advertisement for "The Lofts @ The Mill", and Yet Another "SOLD" Sign


Another Downtown Pub


One Restored City Block...


...After Another...


...After Another! (Banshee Irish Pub)


Downtown Church


Former Theatre; Now a New "Blues Cafe"


Semian & Gress Real Estate; Spruce Street


New "Poochie" Dog Bakery


New "Martini Grille" (Plans Call for Rooftop Cafe Overlooking Courthouse Square and the Nighttime Skyline)


Recently-Opened "New Laundry" Upscale Clothier


Pierre's Fine Men's Clothing


Penn Security Bank Building


More New Spruce Street Shops, Including "Northern Lights Espresso Bar"


Mall at Steamtown


Diversified Building


Fidelity Bank


Scranton Times Headquarters


Wyoming Avenue, Looking South


"Mazza", New Downtown Salon

[ScranBarre]

Marquee Theater


Lackawanna Avenue Office Building


New "Southern Union" Headquarters; Lackawanna Avenue




Everhart Museum; Nay Aug Park


Typical Arthur Avenue home in "Upper Hill"


Another Arthur Avenue home (On the Market!)


Typical "Upper Hill" Stucco Home


An Inviting "Upper Hill" Streetscape




More "Upper Hill" Homes

I hope you enjoyed Week One! Let me know what else you'd like to see for Week Two! Good night!

[Adream]

WOW what fantastic pictures! We should all do each other this favor of posting pictures of our area so interested folks can see what we see. I may do the same when I get my digital camera working.
Good job "ScrantonWilkesBarre!"

[Rosanne]

Thanks much Scranton. I really enjoyed seeing what Scranton looks like. I've never been there and it looks like a lot of the buildings have been there a very long time, but they all have a lot of character. I liked the house with the porch on Arthur Avenue that you said is on the market. You wouldn't happen to know what houses go for in that area.

[ScranBarre]

Thanks. That was actually my intention. I got my inspiration from "BellaFinzi" on the Upstate NY forum, with several wonderful threads of the Syracuse area. It's one thing for us to speak about an area, but it's another thing entirely to allow others to see some of what you are referencing. I'm hoping this trend, started by Bella, catches on. I used my digital camera to snap the shots, then uploaded them to PhotoBucket, then uploaded them to City-Data. Once again, everyone should feel free to let me know what other Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Pocono-area regions that want photographed, and I'll bring that region to you next Sunday. If nobody suggests anything, I plan on capturing Tunkhannock, a small country town about a half-hour NW of Scranton, for next week (BamboosMom, I have you in mind here! LOL!)

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by Rosanne

Thanks much Scranton. I really enjoyed seeing what Scranton looks like. I've never been there and it looks like a lot of the buildings have been there a very long time, but they all have a lot of character. I liked the house with the porch on Arthur Avenue that you said is on the market. You wouldn't happen to know what houses go for in that area.

Scranton is unique to other "Rust-Belt" cities in the Northeast and Midwest in that it didn't undergo a wave of "urban renewal" in the 1970s and 1980s in which most of its architectural heritage was compromised for ugly "ultra-modern" designs. Scranton, at that point, was literally too "dead" to have any renewal interest, so these historic structures were just allowed to sit vacant until the mid-to-late 1990s when people began restoring these buildings back to their former grandeur (which is the current national trend). In a sense, it's actually a good thing that Scranton nearly "died", as these architectural treasures still remain standing, untouched by the idiotic, short-sighted urban planners of a generation ago.

Housing prices are VERY varied in Scranton, so I can't pinpoint exact figures. I know historic homes like the ones you saw in the "Upper Hill" tend to hit the market between $200,000-$300,000 , which is expensive by local standards, but probably a bargain by national standards. I believe that one home with the porch is steep, somewhere around $300,000, but it sits directly across the street from the gardens at Nay Aug Park for year-round beauty. Most homes in Scranton tend to average around $100,000. No, I'm not a realtor either---I just keep abreast of these trends because I want to start my "flipping" career in several years and want to see where the "hot-spots" in the city are.

[bellafinzi]

ScrantonWilkesBarre, great pics of Scranton! Looks like a real nice city. Before these pictures, the only image in my mind I had of Scranton was “thousands of white houses in a valley”. That’s all I could see from Interstate 81. That new parking garage looks great. I wish Syracuse could get a few new parking garages. The lack of parking in downtown Syracuse is a major problem. I am always hearing how a business would locate downtown, but since there is not enough parking for their employees, they end up building in an office park. It’s also a problem for the retail stores and attracting new apartment development.
I like how parts of downtown Scranton almost look like an England city with all the gray mid-rise buildings. Very historic looking city.

Next, you should show Scranton sprawl. Just Kidding!

[robrose]

Thanks so much Scranton. I loved the photos. If you can take some pics of Bear Creek or Drums or Mountain Top and let me know which area has new housing developments with lakes it would be greatly appreciated. I am planning on taking a ride out with my husband and just want to plan my itinerary by deciding what looks most appealing before we come out. Your input has been very helpful.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by robrose

Thanks so much Scranton. I loved the photos. If you can take some pics of Bear Creek or Drums or Mountain Top and let me know which area has new housing developments with lakes it would be greatly appreciated. I am planning on taking a ride out with my husband and just want to plan my itinerary by deciding what looks most appealing before we come out. Your input has been very helpful.

Your wish is my command! Expect to see Week Two: "The SE Wilkes-Barre 'Burbs" posted on Sunday afternoon/evening. I'll snap some shots of Bear Creek Village, Bear Creek Township (including LaurelBrook Estates), Mountain Top (including the Ice Lakes, Laurel Lakes, and Lake Nuangola), and Drums (Including Beech Mountain Lakes). I wish I could take them earlier than Sunday for you, but my schedule tends to be work/school M-F 8-6, and work Saturday 8-5 . Sunday is my only R&R day! LOL!