Crime in Wilkes-Barre? (Washington, Kingston, Berwick: home, school, landlord)

[Chefkey]

Originally Posted by househuntinginPA

Looking for advice!!! My 21 year old son is transferring to Wilkes in the Fall. It is a done deal. We just rented him an apartment on W. River Street; a few blocks from campus. It is a very nice place and has a parking space. Will he be safe? He may be 21, but this is his first time on his own and he doesn't have a lot of street smarts.

Thanks!

Living and Loving in Wilkes Barre for the last two years. Your son will too, he'll be ok. Don't worry about the the things you hear, I have never felt scared living here. I enjoy my dog walks and stop to talk to neighbors sitting on their porches. Good people here that will help if needed.

[EXETERNATIVE]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

That's generally a nice part of town that he's in with a lot of tree-lined streets and historic homes. I have friends who attend Wilkes and live nearby on East South Street, and they never feel unsafe. He'd be within an easy walk of the movie theater, Kirby Center, upcoming riverfront park, restaurants, etc.

Hello ScranBarre,

I think where you feel safest is relevant to where it is your used to living. I personally never felt scared or threatened anywhere in Wilkes-Barre. (Although there are definately areas you would be better off steering clear of if you can help it and you always need to be aware of your surroundings but that goes for any downtown area in this country.) The reason I say this is because I grew up in Exeter and I definately feel much more comfortable around Kings Campus/N.Main street end of town as opposed to Wilkes area and personally think S.Main street side of town is 10 times worse. but i also spent alot more time hanging around that area. Meyers court area A.K.A. Margaritaville used to be a haven of endless keg parties and friends and I used to drink beer and play pool at Rodanos with Frank and his brother for hours after closing. But it is ashame that parts of W-B are still going downhill.

Oh yeah and I was one of those foul mouthed punk kids smoking and skateboarding in Pittston, West Pittston, of course Exeter, Forty Fort, Swoyersville, Edwardsville, W-B, Kingston, Plains, Plymouth, and anyother area of the valley that had decent places to skate.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by EXETERNATIVE

Hello ScranBarre,

I think where you feel safest is relevant to where it is your used to living. I personally never felt scared or threatened anywhere in Wilkes-Barre. (Although there are definately areas you would be better off steering clear of if you can help it and you always need to be aware of your surroundings but that goes for any downtown area in this country.) The reason I say this is because I grew up in Exeter and I definately feel much more comfortable around Kings Campus/N.Main street end of town as opposed to Wilkes area and personally think S.Main street side of town is 10 times worse. but i also spent alot more time hanging around that area. Meyers court area A.K.A. Margaritaville used to be a haven of endless keg parties and friends and I used to drink beer and play pool at Rodanos with Frank and his brother for hours after closing. But it is ashame that parts of W-B are still going downhill.

Oh yeah and I was one of those foul mouthed punk kids smoking and skateboarding in Pittston, West Pittston, of course Exeter, Forty Fort, Swoyersville, Edwardsville, W-B, Kingston, Plains, Plymouth, and anyother area of the valley that had decent places to skate.

I have nothing against skaters personally. I just thought it was sad to see that I was the only non-skater to have ever graced the waste of taxpayer funding they call Pittston's Riverfront Park. Perhaps when the new Musto Condo Towers that were just reported on in this morning's Times-Leader are built overlooking the park its viability will improve.

As far as the neighborhood near to King's is concerned, I've just had a couple of unpleasant experiences that have given me some rattled nerves. One morning while walking to campus I saw a man, apparently in his 40s, lying on the street in front of the soup kitchen staring at me. I said "Good morning" to him with a small smile as I passed, hoping to brighten his day knowing that someone had acknowledged him, only to find out in horror that he was drunk as he staggered to his feet, began slurring profanities at me, scurried towards me, and said some threatening things. I just power-walked my way down the sidewalk towards campus, where he stopped and retreated back to his perch on the sidewalk. Another evening I was walking alone after dark down Bennett Street (the alley behind the soup kitchen), and had a group of thugs across the street making cat calls at me (another male may I add). When I failed to acknowledge them they just made the comments louder and louder as I just walked to my vehicle in the North Washington Street commuter parking lot.

Needless to say I now avoid that neighborhood and pay a premium to park near the Irem Temple in a better part of downtown.

[EXETERNATIVE]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

I have nothing against skaters personally. I just thought it was sad to see that I was the only non-skater to have ever graced the waste of taxpayer funding they call Pittston's Riverfront Park. Perhaps when the new Musto Condo Towers that were just reported on in this morning's Times-Leader are built overlooking the park its viability will improve.

As far as the neighborhood near to King's is concerned, I've just had a couple of unpleasant experiences that have given me some rattled nerves. One morning while walking to campus I saw a man, apparently in his 40s, lying on the street in front of the soup kitchen staring at me. I said "Good morning" to him with a small smile as I passed, hoping to brighten his day knowing that someone had acknowledged him, only to find out in horror that he was drunk as he staggered to his feet, began slurring profanities at me, scurried towards me, and said some threatening things. I just power-walked my way down the sidewalk towards campus, where he stopped and retreated back to his perch on the sidewalk. Another evening I was walking alone after dark down Bennett Street (the alley behind the soup kitchen), and had a group of thugs across the street making cat calls at me (another male may I add). When I failed to acknowledge them they just made the comments louder and louder as I just walked to my vehicle in the North Washington Street commuter parking lot.

Needless to say I now avoid that neighborhood and pay a premium to park near the Irem Temple in a better part of downtown.

Well as you've had your bad experiences in the N.Main Street area all of mine have been on and around the S.Main Street side of town. Ranging from crack whores jumping in my car without welcome at s.main and academy (all because I was circling the block looking for a place to park near my friends house) to full on fist fights with drunks because I refused to give them change. S.Main street is way worse as far as the crack, hookers, and general sketchiness I.M.O.
I've spent alot of time in that area as well, my aunt lived on blackman street.

[Mr Yuk]

Walking to my car through downtown Wilkes-Barre today after work, there were two guys walking behind me on S. Main St., one white and one black, and one of them was telling the other how he goes back to NY to buy drugs and was bragging about how much money he makes selling the drugs in Wilkes-Barre. He didn't seem to care who heard him, and he seemed pretty proud of it.

Just another reason why I find myself walking back to my car as fast as possible, and never feel comfortable when I hear footsteps behind me in W-B.

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Walking to my car through downtown Wilkes-Barre today after work, there were two guys walking behind me on S. Main St., one white and one black, and one of them was telling the other how he goes back to NY to buy drugs and was bragging about how much money he makes selling the drugs in Wilkes-Barre. He didn't seem to care who heard him, and he seemed pretty proud of it.

Just another reason why I find myself walking back to my car as fast as possible, and never feel comfortable when I hear footsteps behind me in W-B.

You should've called 911 and turned them in.

[InfectedMushroom]

I don't think there is much they could do really...

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by InfectedMushroom

I don't think there is much they could do really...

True. There's not enough police officers in our local jurisdictions because the local residents are so unsatisfiable. If politicians raise taxes to hire new police officers or give raises to existing law enforcement personnel, people complain. If they do NOT hire any new cops, people complain. I'll never forget when I was rear-ended getting off of I-81 in mid-2006 and was told that there were "no officers available to respond." What if the man who had rear-ended me was some ghetto-thug with a tire iron or something?! I say jack local taxes THROUGH THE ROOF if that's what it takes to get an ADEQUATE level of police staffing in our area!

[returningtonepa???]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

True. There's not enough police officers in our local jurisdictions because the local residents are so unsatisfiable. If politicians raise taxes to hire new police officers or give raises to existing law enforcement personnel, people complain. If they do NOT hire any new cops, people complain. I'll never forget when I was rear-ended getting off of I-81 in mid-2006 and was told that there were "no officers available to respond." What if the man who had rear-ended me was some ghetto-thug with a tire iron or something?! I say jack local taxes THROUGH THE ROOF if that's what it takes to get an ADEQUATE level of police staffing in our area!

i agree with all you are saying,i think if taxes do go up at least 25% of the revenue will go into someone's pocket and not straight into community services such as police and fire---where are those guardian angels?
why are there very few deputy sheriffs?

[retrovintage]

Originally Posted by returningtonepa???

i agree with all you are saying,i think if taxes do go up at least 25% of the revenue will go into someone's pocket and not straight into community services such as police and fire---where are those guardian angels?
why are there very few deputy sheriffs?

Deputy Sheriff's? The sheriff's office was hit hardest with the latest layoffs and pink slips from the commissioners about 2wks ago. Savokinas loses many workers and then Judge Ciavarella turns around and hires more people for other departments.

The Guardian Angels were supposed to be out near the Iron Triangle section near Hazel Street and operating out of the old Whitehouse Cafe.

Raising taxes isn't going to make much of a difference in the patrols or crimes. We just had the reassessment and that will generate funds into the county, etc. Still not going to put a dent in the crime in WB and yes, there is crime in WB - but the South side and Heights have always had the most of it. If anything, crime watch groups and neighbors NOT turning a blind eye would help more. Some just chose to ignore the drug dealing, prostitution, blight, etc and let the crime continue.