Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Northeastern Pennsylvania
 [Register]
Northeastern Pennsylvania Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-09-2007, 09:14 AM
 
35 posts, read 241,287 times
Reputation: 31

Advertisements

This is like a mini trip down memory lane for me. My father used to live in the Hideout and then Moscow and he just recently moved to Lake Ariel. My sisters went to high school at North Pocono and I have noticed that there are more NY'ers in their school. But, I haven't noticed anything bad. They all seem to be nice, respectable people.
Now I live way across the country right now but I have been hearing rumors about a commuter train being built from Scranton to NY? Is this true and when is it supposed to be in effect? If this is at all true then the NY'ers will surely be coming! But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. They could bring in the things that Scranton needs. It will surely increase property values for homeowners. It could possibly increase the low wages and create more jobs. The downtown area of Scranton could be re-vamped a little. It needs to be more "liveable" with more conveniences that sit in the city center like loft apartments, mini grocery stores, etc. This could all be created. So people could live downtown rather than build more and more suburbs in the areas where people want their peace and quiet and land and trees. Ok, this is me being optimistic...it could go the other way.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know if Scranton already has these kinds of conveniences downtown but from the impression that I get and from what I've seen, it doesn't.
Plus, if you look at Connecticut and upstate NY, those places are filled with NY'ers that commute to work in the city and they are actually nice places. It seems to me like most of the lower class wouldn't move all the way out to Scranton so that they could commute to NY and they wouldn't be moving out there to work in Scranton to make lower wages either. It just seems like that won't be happening any time soon.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-09-2007, 09:25 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,606 posts, read 77,287,663 times
Reputation: 19071
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelliott View Post
This is like a mini trip down memory lane for me. My father used to live in the Hideout and then Moscow and he just recently moved to Lake Ariel. My sisters went to high school at North Pocono and I have noticed that there are more NY'ers in their school. But, I haven't noticed anything bad. They all seem to be nice, respectable people.
Now I live way across the country right now but I have been hearing rumors about a commuter train being built from Scranton to NY? Is this true and when is it supposed to be in effect? If this is at all true then the NY'ers will surely be coming! But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. They could bring in the things that Scranton needs. It will surely increase property values for homeowners. It could possibly increase the low wages and create more jobs. The downtown area of Scranton could be re-vamped a little. It needs to be more "liveable" with more conveniences that sit in the city center like loft apartments, mini grocery stores, etc. This could all be created. So people could live downtown rather than build more and more suburbs in the areas where people want their peace and quiet and land and trees. Ok, this is me being optimistic...it could go the other way.
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know if Scranton already has these kinds of conveniences downtown but from the impression that I get and from what I've seen, it doesn't.
Plus, if you look at Connecticut and upstate NY, those places are filled with NY'ers that commute to work in the city and they are actually nice places. It seems to me like most of the lower class wouldn't move all the way out to Scranton so that they could commute to NY and they wouldn't be moving out there to work in Scranton to make lower wages either. It just seems like that won't be happening any time soon.
The train has been about as mythical around these parts as the lost city of Atlantis (or is it Atlanta?) For many years now we've been promised a commuter rail link that will have its terminus in Downtown Scranton, where trains will also be maintained and repaired. From here the line will make a few stops in the Pocono Mountains to pick up commuters, and then it will also make a few stops in North Jersey to pick up more commuters en route to Hoboken. From here commuters can then pick up the PATH into Manhattan. The commute from Scranton into NYC would be hellishly long, but I DO think it would be viable for people to live in Scranton and commute via the rail to places in North Jersey, such as Hackettstown or Dover. As I-80's congestion continues to worsen in Monroe County, we can only hope that the train will materialize soon, but as of right now it continues to be the "Ghost Train" of sorts. PA and NJ are trying to work COHESIVELY on this project, and we both know how much red tape could be involved there! LOL!

As far as the downtown is concerned, there actually is a small yet growing demand locally that is being unmet for people who want to live in or near Downtown Scranton, including myself, several of my acquaintances, and apparently more as well if the Times-Tribune was inspired to do a downtown housing article in yesterday's paper. You're correct in that there is no grocery store downtown, but otherwise it has everything else needed to sustain downtown residents (pharmacies, banks, restaurants, night clubs, bars, the mall, the movie theater, library, cultural center, medical offices, etc.) I think if the Barry Kaplan, the owner of Everything Natural in Clarks Summit, would consider expanding and building a larger second store downtown with more offerings, this would have a very positive impact upon the demand for downtown dwellings. I'd be in the market for a downtown loft or condo myself in about five years, but there's only a 50/50 shot it would seem that there would be a complex built downtown by that time.

I agree with the comments about North Pocono. There ARE more NY and NJ ex-patriates residing in that area now, but there are all of the middle-class "right side of the law" crowd. I suspect that growth there will continue (hence necessitating the new high school within 5-10 years anyways so I don't see why everyone is fighting it) and evetually spill over closer to the Scranton Area. Whether the city is successful in luring in new residents or whether they all flock to Moosic, Clarks Summit, Dunmore, etc. has yet to be seen.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-09-2007, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Scranton
2,940 posts, read 3,935,362 times
Reputation: 570
As far as a grocery store downtown, there is the Redner's on 7th Ave, just a block off of Lackawanna Ave, which is walkable to downtown, but not quite right in the center of downtown.

Its a tough situation in regards to a grocery store downtown.....nobody will open a store without an existing demand, and people don't want to move there without being able to walk for groceries.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-06-2007, 11:50 PM
 
25 posts, read 90,988 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by conorsdad View Post
There is a new Mexican restaurant opening up soon on Business Route 6 by the Viewmont Mall (in the building vacated by Lone Star Steakhouse) called La Tonalteca. Its the same owners as an existing Mexican restaurant in Wilkes-Barre called La Tolteca. Absolutely, hands-down the best Mexican food I've had in this area. Appears to actually be run by Mexicans.

There is also a small Mexican takeout place right near me on Main Ave in West Scranton called Taco Bandido. Very good as well, but its more of a takeout, fast food Mexican than a sit down place, although they do have tables. The Hacienda in Moosic is OK, but nothing special. The rest of the Mexican places in the area that I know of are chain places, like Don Pablo's. I hate Don Pablo's....you may as well go to Taco Bell over Don Pablo's, at least it will be cheaper.
I'm glad to hear there is a new mexican restaurant moving into the area

About the Hacienda !!! It used to be fabulous when they were in South
Scranton, we couldn't get enough !!!! Then they moved to Moosic and
we went many times and NEVER had a good meal. Wonder what happened !
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-06-2007, 11:51 PM
 
25 posts, read 90,988 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by cjseliga View Post
The Hacienda shut down a few months ago, the building is for sale.

They should have never left South Side, they were just great then !!!!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-10-2007, 03:50 AM
 
3 posts, read 27,771 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre View Post
If the University of Scranton moved out of the city, then how on Earth could we bring high-paying employers here? We need to attract and RETAIN our young college graduates in the city limits, not shun them. There's a reason why so many in the city live below the poverty level; educational attainment rates are abysmally low. What high-tech, family-sustaining employer would willingly invest in a city that didn't have a skilled workforce? It would make much more financial sense for them to move their operations somewhere where the talent pool already existed as opposed to investing millions in training the existing workforce in another area. As long as the majority of Scranton residents continue to view our institutions of higher learning as blights instead of blessings, we'll continue to have problems in attracting better quality career opportunities than Wal-Mart or Burger King. I don't know about you, but I don't plan on earning my Master's Degree and earning a salary of $15,000. How about you?

There is a direct corellation between educational attainment and the level of median household incomes in a community. Those cities where a higher percentage of residents hold at least a Bachelor's Degree tend to have much, much higher incomes than those (like Scranton) where finding someone who went to college is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I have to rush off now to my Macroeconomics class, but later on this afternoon I'll post some comparisons of Scranton's 2000 Census statistics to those in comparably-sized cities where a higher percentage of the population has a post-high school education. The differences in median household incomes will astonish you.

Much of this whining about poverty in the city of Scranton would come to a screeching halt if people simply saw value in education.
I went to Lackawanna College for medical coding, which was the quicker of the two programs for it being offered around here, and I STILL cannot find a job in that field. Why? Well, for one, companies doing it want insane amounts of experience or certification in that specialty, neither of which I have and neither of which I can GET without getting my foot in the door by someone willing to give me a chance to GET the experience at least.

So now I'm left with a conundrum, do I move out of the area and hope to find someone who will give me a shot without all of the experience others require or should I hope against everything that's against me and pray that someone here gives me that shot?

My other choice was Allied Medical and Technical for the coding program, but unfortunately their program was more than the funding program I was in(WIA) would cover and I had little to no faith in this area or its people just giving me a job in this field after the program was done. That was why I chose the shorter program without an unpaid internship and I have been kicking myself ever since then because of it. Sure, it would've put me into debt for a while, but their program offered an unpaid internship after the program was finished, which would've given me crucial experience.

But again, I just didn't have ANY faith(and still don't)in this area or its employers to look past my lack of experience and give me a CHANCE.

I recently applied with Cigna Healthcare for a position much like one that I had about 6 years ago with Diversified in downtown Scranton. However, not having had stable employment for many years, I found myself unable to properly answer their essay like questions and was sent a rejection letter 2-3 days later.

This experience was much better than my prior experience with Cigna, in which I was offered customer service in lieu of the job I ACTUALLY applied for, that being claims processing. Too many employers in this area use the old bait and switch tactics for my liking and it's made me loathe going out the door to try and find work.

Maybe I'm just finding reasons to nitpick, but quite frankly I've dealt with many employers from around here. Some offer you the world, but then yank everything they promise you away once you're hired, others pull the aforementioned bait and switch and the list of reasons I despise this state and areas employers could go on and on.

I should just wear a set of chains and shackles whenever I go in for an interview anymore, since that is how I feel, that I am a slave to these companies, who will do what they please and if you try to complain to the state, you are pushed aside unless you're a minority or female.

Maybe I do have an attitude as some employers have told me in times past, but with all the crap I've put up with over the years, I can't find a reason NOT to have one.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-02-2008, 12:52 PM
 
1 posts, read 2,415 times
Reputation: 10
My husband and I are purchasing a home in the hill section (at least I think it's the hill section) of Scranton on Madison Ave. Just wanted to know how the neighborhood is from someone who lives in the city. We are originally from Jersey City, N.J. and lived in Sussex and Pike county for 23 years. Our daughter is attending Marywood and, since we are retired, thought we'd move into Scranton. It seems like a nice city on the way up with a lot of festivals and activities through out the year. It'll be nice to have all the shopping and convniences of a city once again.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-02-2008, 12:58 PM
 
Location: Drama Central
4,083 posts, read 9,059,246 times
Reputation: 1893
Paul I'll let you have this one.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-02-2008, 02:02 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,606 posts, read 77,287,663 times
Reputation: 19071
Quote:
Originally Posted by weluvpa View Post
Paul I'll let you have this one.
You can feel free to take a stab at it too, but I'll reply first.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-02-2008, 02:22 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,606 posts, read 77,287,663 times
Reputation: 19071
Quote:
Originally Posted by njpagal52 View Post
My husband and I are purchasing a home in the hill section (at least I think it's the hill section) of Scranton on Madison Ave. Just wanted to know how the neighborhood is from someone who lives in the city. We are originally from Jersey City, N.J. and lived in Sussex and Pike county for 23 years. Our daughter is attending Marywood and, since we are retired, thought we'd move into Scranton. It seems like a nice city on the way up with a lot of festivals and activities through out the year. It'll be nice to have all the shopping and convniences of a city once again.
Hello. Yes, the property you're inquiring about is in the city's Hill Section, more specifically the "Lower Hill." Madison Avenue might not be as quiet as you'd like as a retired couple though. The street's southern terminus begins on the campus of the University of Scranton, and from there the street runs northward to the Dunmore town border. The southern few blocks are going to have a lot of students living in off-campus housing (large older homes converted into student apartments); expect noise from parties, underage drinking, and other campus-related issues to occur here. Further north you'll find Mercy Hospital, which might be noisy in terms of hearing ambulances on a frequent basis. As with much of the Hill Section this neighborhood could be "hit or miss." In the 1990s many parts of the Hill Section were a hotbed for criminal activity. While the violent crime issues have subsided (Scranton's violent crime rate actually dropped in 2007), drug trafficking remains an issue. I personally couldn't tell you which block will have a crack house and which one won't. I've talked to some new Hill Section transplants who are ecstatic over the neighborhood; others regret their decisions. You can quite literally be miserable living on one block while neighbors on the next block or two are content.

Madison Avenue is the next block uphill from Jefferson Avenue, which delineates the Lower Hill neighborhood from Downtown. Living here will permit you to walk to city conveniences like bars, restaurants, coffee houses, etc. You are also as I alluded to earlier very near to the University of Scranton campus and Mercy Hospital. Moses-Taylor Hospital is only about two blocks up the hill from Madison Avenue as well along Quincy Avenue. The nice thing about much of the Hill Section is that many properties have rear-alley access to create the possibility of off-street parking, and Madison Avenue is no exception. Between Madison & Jefferson is Moir Court, and between Madison & Monroe is McKenna Court. Having these alleys is a blessing in the winter so you don't have to shovel out a parking spot along the street (assuming the often-lackadaiscal Scranton DPW plows the alleys in a timely fashion, which they didn't in the 2006-2007 winter season).

WeLuvPA will probably reply with the negative components of living in the neighborhood, so I'll cut him to the chase. The city's wage tax of 3.4% is the highest in the region, but considering you're both retired this shouldn't be an issue. Pennsylvania doesn't tax pensions (that I'm aware of). WeLuvPA will claim that the city's property taxes are skyrocketing, but coming from NJ paying $3,000-$4,000 annually in property taxes will probably actually be even cheaper than what you've been accustomed to. Besides, I've done some comparative research and have found Scranton's property taxes to be no higher than most other nearby suburban municipalities.

As I said earlier be wary of the off-campus underage drinking parties and the occasional drug house and the Lower Hill is a liveable neighborhood. I myself have my sights set on this very same area to purchase and rehabilitate a home or half-duplex and then raise my family there after college. As the downtown continues to improve in the coming years, I think adjacent neighborhoods, including the Lower Hill, will rebound with folks purchasing homes to be within walking distance of the downtown. Being able to walk into the core of the city is a primary reason why I've chosen the Lower Hill for the future after living for years in the suburbs.

Happy New Year, and welcome in advance to NEPA.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Northeastern Pennsylvania
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top