Paul's letter to the editor in today's paper (Allentown, Reading: middle-class, fit in)

[to570717]

The neighborhoods in Scranton could definitly use some help. A friend of mine bought a home on NEw York st? near the Jail. The home is this cool brick two story. It resembles a brownstone to be honest. The neighbors are all into rehabbing the homes and are really making a difference in the facade of the street. My buddy is the type of person that will take and edger and edge the sidewalks of his house and the two neighboring homes. he is maticulous when it comes to that kind of thing. I was very pleased with how lovely the hood was.

If only other neighborhoods would take that same initiative and attempt to spruce up their area. I understand it isnt that easy but it can be done. The neighborhoods of Scranton are a defining aspect of the community. They need to be taken care of. But remember it starts with the home owner or renter.

[JimmyLane]

letting your voice be heard, community activism at its finest. a well crafted letter--congrats on publishing.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by JimmyLane

letting your voice be heard, community activism at its finest. a well crafted letter--congrats on publishing.

Thanks for the support. My father doesn't approve though since we have the same exact name, and his Scranton co-workers (who are more or less the "Legion of Doom" crowd) always give him hell for it, as if he's somehow responsible for limiting the free speech of a 21-year-old. Then again it was nice to hear from my mother that her boss and her husband, both residents of West Side, complimented her on the letter. I'm surprised actually by just how much attention this letter in particular garnered, since I believe this is my fourth submission to the paper this year (with a fifth on the way by the new year). My last letter sparked the curiosity of a man at the paper who called me to inquire more about my life. I actually thought he was planning to do some sort of "feel-good" story to boost the city's image, so I kind of turned him off with a lot of one-word answers hoping that he would take the hint not to bark up this tree (which he did).

I see nothing harmful about having my opinions printed in the paper. If Dan, CHS89, or somebody else is so offended by it, then they can feel free to likewise strike up an e-mail in rebuttal to my letter to defend their positions as well. I'd actually encourage them to do so. Increasing conversation and interest about a city is a great step in getting people concerned about its revival.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by to570717

The neighborhoods in Scranton could definitly use some help. A friend of mine bought a home on NEw York st? near the Jail. The home is this cool brick two story. It resembles a brownstone to be honest. The neighbors are all into rehabbing the homes and are really making a difference in the facade of the street. My buddy is the type of person that will take and edger and edge the sidewalks of his house and the two neighboring homes. he is maticulous when it comes to that kind of thing. I was very pleased with how lovely the hood was.

If only other neighborhoods would take that same initiative and attempt to spruce up their area. I understand it isnt that easy but it can be done. The neighborhoods of Scranton are a defining aspect of the community. They need to be taken care of. But remember it starts with the home owner or renter.

For as much as people in Scranton whine and b*tch about their "neglected" neighborhoods, I must admit that I find 90% of the city to be quite attractive, with the exception of Pine Brook and parts of South Side. Most properties are well-maintained, ornamental and/or U.S. flags are proudly perched from front porches, lawns are trimmed, etc. Compare this to Pittston, for example, where every other house looks abandoned and/or unkempt in most city neighborhoods, and you folks truly don't realize how good you have it to NOT have to endure blight at every corner. I've snapped half of my Pittston Photo Tour thus far with the other half on the way, and I'll be posting some TRULY neglected neighborhoods at that time. For God's sake our infrastructure is so bad here that when a large chunk of Mill Street just disappeared into the mines, it took years to rectify. When a mine issue caused our own library to repeatedly flood, the mayor said the city was "broke" and couldn't fix it. I've tripped and fallen over our sidewalks before (when they exist).

This is why I take issue so much with Dan, Ray Lyman, Fay Franus, Sam Patilla, Andy Sbaraglia, Bill Jackowitz, Joe Pilchesky, and the others who think the city is awful. Have they opened their eyes to other places as of late? Take a trip to Carbondale, Pittston, Plymouth, Nanticoke, Edwardsville, Reading, Hazleton, Allentown, Camden, Newark, etc. some time, and THEN come back to tell me just how horrible Scranton is in relation to the rest of the region. Scranton will NEVER be as upscale-looking as Waverly, Dallas, Mountain Top, Glenmaura, etc. because 99.9% of Scranton's residents don't have Ph.D.'s or Juris Doctors! For as much as so many other communities in our region have fallen into despair, Scrantonians should be thanking their lucky stars for the GOOD they have to wake up to every morning! You know what I saw on WNEP this evening? I saw a group of neighbors from along Deacon Street in Green Ridge banding together to help a grandmother, daughter, and three children who lost everything in a fire yesterday. You don't see things like this happening very much in suburbia, do you? Why? People out here don't know one another, nor do they care!

I'll get off my soap box now, but I'm tired of feeling powerless to do ANYTHING to stop the mass exodus of residents out of the city, no matter how hard I try through photo tours, editorials, social functions, etc.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

Take a trip to Carbondale, Pittston, Plymouth, Nanticoke, Edwardsville, Reading, Hazleton, Allentown, Camden, Newark, etc. some time, and THEN come back to tell me just how horrible Scranton is in relation to the rest of the region.

No offense, but you need to open your eyes a bit more. After recently moving from the Lehigh Valley Suburbs to Kingston, currently working in Scranton, with friends in Nanticoke, let me share my opinion.

I like Scranton; it is without a doubt a much nicer city than Wilkes-Barre. With that being said, Scranton isn't much to brag about. Downtown Scranton still has that dying town look and feel to it, even the area around Steamtown has many eyesores, vacant buildings, graffiti, and roads that are in bad shape. However, the area around the University is nice.

You mention Allentown, it has its bad areas, but it also has the West End (area around Muhlenberg and Cedar Crest College) where 75-year-old homes routinely sell for 400,000 or more. Allentown probably has the best city park system in the state, thanks to a foundation set up by Mr. Trexler.

Downtown Nanticoke going down 11 is not very nice, but the neighborhoods by the schools or down near Honey Pot are nice little areas.

Reading is a hellhole, crime capital of our state per capita. But go out around Albright College or down near Wyomissing and it isn't too bad.

You put Scranton up on a Pedestal and knock other areas in the process. It isn't fair and it isn't reality. Scranton has things going for it, but really as far as Pennsylvania cities, it really is just a mid-pack city for livability.

If cities like Scranton and Wilkes-Barre want to turn it around go take a look at what Bethlehem has done. They have gone through the same industrial crisis as the coal cities have when they lost Bethlehem Steel. They reinvented themselves. Bethlehem has a vibrant downtown filled with anything your heart desires. Now they have a major casino building on the former steel property. To top it off, Bethlehem was named one of the top places to live in the United States. That is something to brag about.

You are a smart guy, but lack "life experience" living in different areas, gives you a real feel of what it is like. When I was growing up, I always wanted to live in Florida. We always visited there as a family and I thought it was the Garden of Eden. Then I went to college there for two years and realized how bad it sucked to actually live in Florida. It is all about experiences and perception. Be a cheerleader for Scranton, they need it, but don't knock other areas in the process, without actually knowing what you speak of.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

You know what I saw on WNEP this evening? I saw a group of neighbors from along Deacon Street in Green Ridge banding together to help a grandmother, daughter, and three children who lost everything in a fire yesterday. You don't see things like this happening very much in suburbia, do you? Why? People out here don't know one another, nor do they care! .

Sorry for the double post.............

Yes, these things do happen in the suburbs and even in those cookie cutter developments. I lived in the Parkland area of the Lehigh Valley, which is probably the epitome of McMansions and cookie cutter developments. Parkland is almost always berated by "city" residents in the Morning Call forums because at sporting events they are upset that the parking lot is always filled with Audi's and BMW's, I was in an area that is your classic suburbia.
People do know each other and neighbors know each other. They see each other at playgrounds with the kids, taking a walk down the development sidewalk, at community sporting events, or just cutting the grass.
Our cookie cutter development residents got together and started a soccer team for kids with developmental disorders. We had another family who had the father/husband pass away and after 2 car washes, 1 bake sale, 1 community festival and a summer long donation drive we raised nearly $15,000.00 for the family. I could go on about the churches in our suburban communities and everything they do for the families in need in suburbia. By the way, the members who are suburbanites run those churches.
Again, you know not of what you speak. These things happen everyday in suburbia, in cities and in the middle of nowhere. It doesn't matter where you live to help or know your neighbor.

By the way, my prediction for the H.S. football playoff game Friday;
Parkland - 17
vs
Valley West - 0

[Chefkey]

SWB needs to watch his partners feet while he dances. I have seen crushed toes in many of his letters. I have been up and down this area since I have lived here and only seen one or two areas that truly made me feel like saying "ghetto". These areas still had more nice spots than bad though and having lived away from the region I know from experience what a great area this region is as a whole. This area's blight is far less than most of the major areas in the country.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by Lehigh Valley Native

No offense, but you need to open your eyes a bit more. After recently moving from the Lehigh Valley Suburbs to Kingston, currently working in Scranton, with friends in Nanticoke, let me share my opinion.

I like Scranton; it is without a doubt a much nicer city than Wilkes-Barre. With that being said, Scranton isn't much to brag about. Downtown Scranton still has that dying town look and feel to it, even the area around Steamtown has many eyesores, vacant buildings, graffiti, and roads that are in bad shape. However, the area around the University is nice.

You mention Allentown, it has its bad areas, but it also has the West End (area around Muhlenberg and Cedar Crest College) where 75-year-old homes routinely sell for 400,000 or more. Allentown probably has the best city park system in the state, thanks to a foundation set up by Mr. Trexler.

Downtown Nanticoke going down 11 is not very nice, but the neighborhoods by the schools or down near Honey Pot are nice little areas.

Reading is a hellhole, crime capital of our state per capita. But go out around Albright College or down near Wyomissing and it isn't too bad.

You put Scranton up on a Pedestal and knock other areas in the process. It isn't fair and it isn't reality. Scranton has things going for it, but really as far as Pennsylvania cities, it really is just a mid-pack city for livability.

If cities like Scranton and Wilkes-Barre want to turn it around go take a look at what Bethlehem has done. They have gone through the same industrial crisis as the coal cities have when they lost Bethlehem Steel. They reinvented themselves. Bethlehem has a vibrant downtown filled with anything your heart desires. Now they have a major casino building on the former steel property. To top it off, Bethlehem was named one of the top places to live in the United States. That is something to brag about.

You are a smart guy, but lack "life experience" living in different areas, gives you a real feel of what it is like. When I was growing up, I always wanted to live in Florida. We always visited there as a family and I thought it was the Garden of Eden. Then I went to college there for two years and realized how bad it sucked to actually live in Florida. It is all about experiences and perception. Be a cheerleader for Scranton, they need it, but don't knock other areas in the process, without actually knowing what you speak of.

I think you're wrong. As far as comparable-sized cities go, Scranton is tops in the state for livability and low crime, along with Bethlehem, in my opinion. All cities will still have their nice sections, as Scranton does as well with mansions in Green Ridge and the Hill, but compare Scranton OVERALL to Allentown, and there is no comparison. The Lehigh Valley as a whole is prospering more than Scr/WB, but Allentown is a pit, with much higher crime than Scranton. There is also no comparison between Scranton and other cities like Lancaster, York, Reading, Harrisburg, etc. Even Wilkes-Barre is nicer than those cities, in my opinion.

Scranton's roads are not in that bad of shape anymore. Almost all of the roads in my section of town, West Side, have been newly paved over the past couple of years. Before that, yes, Scranton's roads were largely like driving on the dark side of the moon. And Scranton's downtown is not bad considering we live in the era of the suburban mall and big box chain stores, downtown Scranton is competing as well as it can.

As far as medium sized cities in PA go, about the only ones I would consider living in are Scranton and Bethlehem....and maybe Easton, which looked pretty nice from our trip to the Crayola factory last year.

[CHS89]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

I see nothing harmful about having my opinions printed in the paper. If Dan, CHS89, or somebody else is so offended by it, then they can feel free to likewise strike up an e-mail in rebuttal to my letter to defend their positions as well.

WTF was that all about? Defensive much? Why on Earth would I be offended by your letter? What led you to believe that I thought for a second that I thought it was "harmful" to have a letter to the editor printed? I've had one or two (not nearly as verbose, to be sure) printed as well. So what? I may not agree with you that the revitalization of Scranton begins and ends with downtown residency and development (rather, I believe that it begins with, and is in large part due to, the quality of the various neighborhoods--we're not Manhattan, we get to have yards and own our property outside of the downtown) there is nothing in your letter that is at all offensive to me. Your cheap shot above, however, is a different story. Again, while not offensive, it was simply terribly childish and quite ignorant. I can't and won't speak for Dan, but I can't imagine him getting terribly torqued up by what you wrote. Seeing how you two are on the board, it wouldn't suprise me if he merely skipped over your letter or rolled his eyes into his mornng coffee. In any case, I strongly doubt that you know anything about me, to the point where you can presume that I'd be offended by anything you have to say, or that your opinion on any topic would move me enough to feel that I needed to defend my thoughts on the subject to you.

Print all the opinions in the paper that you want. I'll do my part and vote here. That, young man, is where the magic really happens.

Usually.

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

I think you're wrong. As far as comparable-sized cities go, Scranton is tops in the state for livability and low crime, along with Bethlehem, in my opinion. All cities will still have their nice sections, as Scranton does as well with mansions in Green Ridge and the Hill, but compare Scranton OVERALL to Allentown, and there is no comparison. The Lehigh Valley as a whole is prospering more than Scr/WB, but Allentown is a pit, with much higher crime than Scranton. There is also no comparison between Scranton and other cities like Lancaster, York, Reading, Harrisburg, etc. Even Wilkes-Barre is nicer than those cities, in my opinion.

Scranton's roads are not in that bad of shape anymore. Almost all of the roads in my section of town, West Side, have been newly paved over the past couple of years. Before that, yes, Scranton's roads were largely like driving on the dark side of the moon. And Scranton's downtown is not bad considering we live in the era of the suburban mall and big box chain stores, downtown Scranton is competing as well as it can.

As far as medium sized cities in PA go, about the only ones I would consider living in are Scranton and Bethlehem....and maybe Easton, which looked pretty nice from our trip to the Crayola factory last year.

I wasn't trying to say that Allentown was a better city than Scranton or vice versa. I was just pointing out that SWB has a habit of making Scranton out to be an oasis in the middle of cities that are akin to the city in "Escape From New York" that isn't true.
Is Scranton a better city that Allentown? That depends on your own perception. If you are a family with kids, I would say no, stay away from Allentown. However, I wouldn't send any family to a city, Scranton, Allentown or even Bethlehem. The fact remains that suburbia has better schools and lower crime, but again that is how I feel and not true for everyone.
If you're a young college grad who wants to live cheap, make good money, and find plenty of available jobs, move to Allentown, because you can do that there.
Overall Allentown vs. Scranton, it depends on what you want. Is crime higher in Atown, sure, but it also has double the population of Scranton. Is the median income higher in Allentown, yes, because it has more jobs in the area than Scranton.
By the way, Easton isn't too far behind Allentown in the "pit" status if you base it off crime.