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Old 05-22-2017, 03:43 PM
 
Location: Shawnee-on-Delaware, PA
7,945 posts, read 7,302,129 times
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Originally Posted by ilovemycomputer90 View Post
Which mall in Morris County are you referring to? The only one I can think of Rockaway Mall and while it may not be as hot as it used to be, it's still chugging along. Retail is struggling everywhere, but Northern NJ is one of the stronger markets.
Ledgewood Mall on Route 10. It's very small, but it is an old-fashioned indoor mall.


Last time I was in there all that was left was Marshall's, Ashley Furniture, Wal-Mart, and Bath & Body Works.


They used to have Hallmark, Circuit City, Macy's (Stern's), a jewelry store, a comic book shop, an Irish goods shop, a musical instrument store, and a few of the usual mall stores like Deb Shop, etc. They never had a food court but they did have a pizza shop. All gone long ago.

Last edited by jtab4994; 05-22-2017 at 04:19 PM..
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Old 05-23-2017, 04:08 PM
 
Location: University City, Philadelphia
22,634 posts, read 14,872,988 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tb1981 View Post


Coal was kind of dead for 40 plus years so lets not blame that!
Truer words were never spoken. It's really sad that certain dishonest, corrupt, contemptible politicians have scammed good hard working Americans into believing that coal mining and manufacturing jobs will come back. Not gonna happen.

Certain towns, like Jim Thorpe, will re-invent themselves and become spots attracting tourists and visitors. This past weekend I stayed in Pittston and it gave me satisfaction that at least the downtown area was nicely revitalized by creating a pretty walkable town center with lots of restaurants, shops, pubs, and the like.

Places like Mahanoy City, Shenandoah, Shamokin ... I honestly don't know what will become of those places in the next 10, 15,, 20 years. The old folks who were born and raised there are dying off. More low income immigrants moving in as they are pushed out of Philly, the Lehigh Valley, Jersey, and New York? Will the ghettos of the future be these small towns???
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Old 06-06-2017, 10:30 AM
 
26 posts, read 43,705 times
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I have Been through Jim Thorpe a few months ago and it was surprisingly pretty nice compared to the nearby Coal Region. JT Could use some more stores and shopping to increase tourism. But going west on 209 towards Tamaqua deeper into the coal region. It gets bad fast. Cities and Boroughs like Tamaqua, Hazleton, Schuylkill Haven, Lansford, Ashland, Saint Clair, Mahanoy City, Shenandoah, Frackville, Minersville, Pottsville, Mount Carmel and Shamokin are areas that could see some real trouble the next 10-15 years. With older people drying off, many of the young educated moving out and crime ridden immigrants complimenting the uneducated who stay in the area. It could be a disaster there. The slumlords seem to be buying up the properties of many of the estates of the 65 plus generation here. If people there cant see this coming they have to be blind.

It also seems like teachers and Prison jobs are what keeps the place going. If your not into those cliches there its tough to make a living. And with the political nature of some of those jobs turns some off and they do not even wanna deal with the area and move out. Honestly, I do not know why some of those School Districts are even in existence. Some graduate only 60-70 students a year at districts such as Shenandoah Valley, Williams Valley, Tri Valley, Panther Valley Schuylkill Haven and Mahanoy Area and they are paying administrators 100 k plus there. Other districts such as Minersville, Tamaqua, Pottsville Area, North Schuylkill, Shamokin and Mount Carmel are not exactly huge growing areas with huge district payrolls. Taxes always going up! Its unreal and very Fiscally unreasonable. The districts should be consolidated such as Hazleton, no use for all this wasteful duplication of services!

Last edited by tb1981; 06-06-2017 at 10:50 AM..
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Old 06-06-2017, 01:08 PM
 
9,576 posts, read 7,247,880 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tb1981 View Post
I have Been through Jim Thorpe a few months ago and it was surprisingly pretty nice compared to the nearby Coal Region. JT Could use some more stores and shopping to increase tourism.
Jim Thorpe has been trying to push their natural assets over the past 10 or 15 years, such as the river and kayaking on it, then also the rails-to-trails with the Lehigh Gorge Trail and renting mountain bikes in town. Of course most of those things are summer related, with some spill over into fall when the leaves change colors. There are also some neat historic things in Jim Thorpe as well, besides Jim Thorpe's tomb, like the Asa Packer Mansion Museum and the Old Jail Museum, which are worth a visit.
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Old 06-15-2017, 09:44 AM
 
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But in the big scope of things Jim Thorpes isn't even a minor tourist destination in America. and 5 miles to the west on 209 is the start of a coal region that includes a strip of small old coal towns that look abandoned with huge drug problems.
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Old 06-15-2017, 10:39 AM
 
9,576 posts, read 7,247,880 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tb1981 View Post
But in the big scope of things Jim Thorpes isn't even a minor tourist destination in America. and 5 miles to the west on 209 is the start of a coal region that includes a strip of small old coal towns that look abandoned with huge drug problems.
Jim Thorpe is definitely more of a regional/local attraction for sure, but you have to start somewhere. As for the old coal towns, there really isn't anything to replace those type of coal mining jobs. Pottsville will always have Yuengling, and I think the best thing to do is embrace the warehouse/distribution industry in that area. There already is WalMart, Lowe's and Wegman's distribution centers off of I-81, with more to come. Years ago there was talk of building an international cargo airport on the Luzerne/Schuylkill line but nothing ever came of it. They thought companies like FedEx/UPS/Cathay Pacific would use it to get their goods to the Philly/NYC area quicker.

Cargo airport developers have numerous obstacles yet to overcome
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Old 06-15-2017, 01:32 PM
 
26 posts, read 43,705 times
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Coal mining was a small employer for years in this area, despite all those coal banks still around. It has pretty much been on the decline from around 35 years ago. That really isn't the issue in mid 2017. I think there is deeper sociological problems in the area. And that starts with the slumlords buying up the old housing and renting to criminals and the drug element. Not clearly enough opportunities to keep educated there. Just a cycle of degradation. Those distribution centers aren't the answer for the educated. I mean its an income source for a small percentage of the motivated population but how long will there body and lives want to do that type of work.

They bring mostly outside management in and its no corporate skilled jobs, just Logistic operations. There is never any No data centers or Financial Centers for Larger Nation wide companies that relocate to NEPA. Which is the real problem. Because In supply chain operations those companies have started to use tons of temps and its mostly dead end jobs and that's a Nationwide trend in that industry. Manufacturing would be tough in PA to begin with. Companies who relocated operations overseas and that are bring operations back are moving to states with better corporate taxes and non union affiliations.

Last edited by tb1981; 06-15-2017 at 01:50 PM..
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Old 06-16-2017, 06:43 AM
 
4,277 posts, read 11,725,819 times
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This industrial park has had some success in attracting at least some higher value added industries, not just logistics:
Humboldt Industrial Park
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Old 06-17-2017, 06:25 AM
 
41,815 posts, read 50,820,449 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tb1981 View Post
It has pretty much been on the decline from around 35 years ago.
Then decline of the anthracite industry started in 1921 or 1922, that was driven by cheap oil for home heating. Anthracite is expensive to mine compared to soft coal, it's primary use is for heating living spaces, industrial processes like coking and water filtration<gasp>.

The industry plateaued in the 80's and has had it's up and downs since. For example in 2008 there was a year waiting list for some coal boilers. Any company that made a coal burning appliance at that time was selling them as fast as they could make them and that's not an exaggeration.

It's niche industry but it directly or indirectly supports thousands of jobs. As a giant bonus if you heat with coal you are throwing your support behind a plethora local companies whether it's the mine, the trucking companies, the company building the boiler/stove or me because you inevitably end up at my website to learn how to use it.

Quote:
And that starts with the slumlords buying up the old housing and renting to criminals and the drug element.
The problem is very few people want to live in really small houses two feet from someone else so that is who they end up getting sold to.
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Old 06-19-2017, 11:05 AM
 
26 posts, read 43,705 times
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more than a problem than that! Millennials in cities live in Luxury apartment complexes packed in like sardines all over the country! As far as coal usage, with production efficiencies much less miners are needed for Anthracite. And buyers are mostly in the Far East with Anthracite Demand. Domestic home heating with anthracite screeched to halt in the mid to late 80s when people started to get rid of there coal furnaces for oil.
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