POLL: Are You Generally Content Living in NEPA? (Scranton, Washington: house, unemployment)

[newjerseybt]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

.......Olive Garden is a joke. We have tons of very nice family-owned home-cooked Italian restaurants here in Scr/WB. We have tons of new ethnic restaurants opening up here since the area is becoming more diverse....Thai, Indian, Brazilian, etc etc.

A Chinese chain? I'll take my Chinese food made by actual Chinese people.......

Agreed about Olive Garden. Starbucks carbonizes their beans first which gives it the "sophisticated flavor". Personally, I think McDonalds makes better coffee.

Please point me toward the Indian restaurant you alluded to...I drove up and down every street in the City of Scranton and only found a Curry Doughnut shop.

If anyone else knows, please chime in!

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by newjerseybt

Please point me toward the Indian restaurant you alluded to...I drove up and down every street in the City of Scranton and only found a Curry Doughnut shop.

Its called the Amber Indian restaurant, on Birney Ave in Moosic, across from K-Mart. I haven't been able to try it out, but I've heard good things about it.

[ScranBarre]

Folks, can we please stop ganging up on MiamiMan? I likewise agree that it's sickening that people in today's materialistic society judge one another based upon the year, make, and model of their vehicles, how tan they are, and how many square feet their McMansions are, but the last thing I want to see is Yac jumping on here to smack us around and close this thread. With nearly three dozen respondents thus far, I think this is the most active poll in the history of our sub-forum, and this thread sould be something to celebrate, not desecrate. The level of activity on this sub-forum reaffirms my belief that my begging for it to be created was indeed a proper move (although I'm now feeling less confident seeing all of the tumbleweed rolling by on the Lehigh Valley sub-forum I likewise initially requested to clear up confusion).

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

Its called the Amber Indian restaurant, on Birney Ave in Moosic, across from K-Mart. I haven't been able to try it out, but I've heard good things about it.

I've recently taken a keen liking to Indian food after trying it while visiting friends in State College, and I hope to hit up this place soon to scope it out. I've likewise heard nothing but good things about it.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by to570717

First off PF Changs is garbage, second Wolfgang Puck did not start that chain. I am beginning to think miamiman is some kid sitting in his basement in throop.

I'm pretty sure he isn't. If anything, the kind, friendly folks on the NJ forum think the same thing about me! LOL!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

I think maybe the sun has just done a job on you. So what your saying is that we here in NEPA we do not have pretentious Hummer driving people that have to be affirmed by their surroundings? Your kidding right? Lets see Glenn Maura, Waverly, NORTH WASHINGTON AVE, Mt. Margret(sp?) Estates and so many more of those houses going up in the abingtons are there for the pleasure of life and not the affirmation of your new money, while you park your Hummer in the driveway for all to see. Honestly if your going to defend this area from Fl. at least be honest. We have our fair share of Neuvo Riche here who think that a new house in a cul de sac in the ABINGTONS indicates money. We also have our fair share of the New generations with family money that have yet to realize that they are big fish in a puddle and when they leave here they are amazed and dissappointed that they are really NOBODY outside of their little puddle. There are a million of those RR owners and such all over this country and how you handle what you have or where you think you come from is taught and learned from your family or friends. Some of the wealthiest and low key people I have ever met are from Fl.. I have worked on many multi million dollar yachts in the Lauderdale area and the Bahamas and what I can tell you is the people here in NEPA that think that they have money are a joke. The CEO of Jabel Circuits in the Tampa area(Terra Verde), Mr. Bill Morean, spends more on fuel for his yachts and jets in one year then the wealthiest in this area ever hope to have to spend. Last time I checked he was the in top 10 billionares in Fl. and you wouldn't know it unless he told you. I actually thought he was crew when I signed on. Hands dirty everyday. Don't kid yourself we have a large population of shallow self-affirming neuvo riche wannabes here in NEPA and the majority is buying and building in your beloved Abingtons. They are just hard to see when you run among them.

The "Nuevo Riche" (thanks for teaching me this neat phrase) can be found everywhere. The Back Mountain, Mountain Top, Abingtons, and Glenmaura seem to be the four largest "pockets" of these folks in our area, but they can also be found in Moscow (Harmony Hills), Greater Pittston (Quail Hill, Willow View, Highland Hills, Gable Crest, etc.), Wilkes-Barre (Barney Farms), and many other areas. A lot of folks around here like to deceive others into believing that they are more affluent than they truly are. My own parents earn a combined $75,000 annually, which puts them in the higher-earning class of our area. However, they don't flaunt their money and live within their means. They have a three-bedroom, one-bath, 1,500 square-foot ranch home and drive a Ford and a Subaru. I know for a fact that some of our neighbors in our subdivision earn less than $75,000, yet their driveways are dotted with luxury SUVs, their children attend private schools, they travel frequently, their properties are lavishly and professionally landscaped, they wear designer clothing, etc. I suppose some folks feel the need to flaunt their "success" in the face of others whereas others are content fading into obscurity.

As for me I don't have aspirations to be any sort of "big-shot." I'd be content earning $45,000 annually working as a CPA and living in a 3-bedroom, 1.5-bath home on a typical city 50' x 150' lot. My dream car is a Mini Cooper, which is a bit on the bold and flashy side, but it is by no means a "snobby" car. I'm hoping to live frugally enough so that I can support my partner and future adopted children on just my own income so he can stay home during the day to take care of them (I would like to keep them out of day care if at all possible). I know nationwide downtown residential populations are growing with trendy "yuppies," and while I'll technically be a "young urban professional," I don't need to wear designer sunglasses on cloudy days while sipping lattes and fretting over my PDA. I just want to move to the city so that my children can grow up in the walkable neighborhood I was robbed of here in the suburbs. They should be able to walk to Nay Aug Park, their elementary schools, their friends' homes, etc. (with today's nefarious society my partner or I would walk them there hand-in-hand of course). My partner should be able to walk downtown at noon to meet me during my lunch hour at Brixx or Coney Island a few times per week. A lot of these "Nuevo Riche" cul-de-sacs that are sprouting up like hemorrhoids all over NEPA's once-pristine landscape are an urban planner's worst nightmare---just think of how much more vibrant our core boroughs and cities would be if all of these upper-middle-class folks lived, worked, worshipped, and played in them as opposed to McSnootyFartsyPants Estates.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

McSnootyFartsyPants Estates

I like that one!

[Lehigh Valley Native]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

The fact that you view chains as "sophisticated" shows how fake you really are. Chain food is nothing but mass-produced frozen-and-reheated slop served up to lemmings. A Chinese chain? I'll take my Chinese food made by actual Chinese people.

I do have to take a bit of issue with this. I am not familiar with P.F. Changs, but sophisticated chains do exist. Ruth Chris Steakhouse, Shula's Steakhouse, Spago come to mind.
I think the Cheesecake factory is a bit of stretch to be considered "sophisticated" as an earlier poster mentioned.

I will have to say that Bucca di Beppo is a smaller italian chain and we have yet to find any restaurant to offer italian dishes that are just as good. Not to mention the prices and atmosphere that Bucca has.

That being said, we just had dinner at Raubs last night in Plymouth. We like local places too!!

[Katiana]

I really don't care for the phrases "new money" and "old money". I never heard them growing up in the Pittsburgh area, probably b/c most of the people there, even then, had NO money. But to imply that one's value as a human being is somehow based on when they made their money (usually through hard work) is judgemental. The general idea, I guess, is that people who have had money a long time don't flaunt it, but that is not usually the case, e.g., the Kennedy, Bush, et all family compounds. Isn't it the American dream to do better than one's parents?

[ScranBarre]

Yes, PittNurse, one can do better than one's parents, but why does that mean that he or she should flaunt it to the rest of the world? My parents started off very impoverished. They lived in a trailer park in the Pittston 'burb of Inkerman and struggled quite a bit. Over the years as they earned their degrees and moved on up the career ladder they now earn $75,000 combined, which is not as high as the $95,000 combined they were earning at their "peak" before IBM laid off my father back in 2002, but it is certainly much, much more than either set of their parents ever made. Nevertheless they feel no need to show off in any way. They both drive middle-class year 2004 vehicles (Ford F-150 and Subaru Forester), and we live in a typical 3-bedroom, 1-bath, 1,500 square foot home in the suburbs. My sister and her husband earn over $80,000 combined as an engineer and teacher, yet they also live rather benign middle-class lifestyles. My partner and I may end up the "grand winners," as our joint careers will likely be netting us just over $100,000 annually as a controller and salon owner, but neither he nor I feel the need to flaunt our wealth in the face of others by trying to outdo our neighbors. Just give me a 3-bedroom, 1.5-bath, 1,800 square foot home on a 50' x 150' lot with my dream Mini Cooper, and I'm set for life.

I feel sorry for folks in the Abingtons, Glenmaura, Back Mountain, Mountain Top, (and even now Greater Pittston) who feel the need to say "I'm better than you are" with their noses stuck up in the air, massive 4,500 square foot McMansions for their one child, Hummers, Escalades, exquisite driveway entry pillars and gates that likely cost as much as a year of my college tuition, etc. I see no utility in accumulating so much material wealth. After all, what need will you have for it once you're six feet under and pushing up daisies? None. I'd rather give away my wealth through various philanthropic endeavors.