The Hazleton Thread (Scranton, Mountain Top, Butler: jobs, company, trendy)

[ScranBarre]

Forgive me if I'm touching upon a topic that is better left alone, but is anyone else as surprised as I am that there is seemingly no activity on this forum regarding Lower Luzerne County (below Mountain Top?) The townships surrounding Hazleton are now amongst the most rapidly growing in the entire county, and Butler Township (Drums) is especially becoming a boom 'burb with a population that is now larger than Pittston. Amazon.Com is the latest company to have just announced that they are bringing hundreds of new jobs to Greater Hazleton, and growth has been so steady that PennDOT is widening Route 93 to the west of town. A proposed cargo airport is expected to cause even more growth in this area. The city of Hazleton was in the national media spotlight for quite some time as the result of Mayor Lou Barletta's aggressive proposed legislation targeting illegal immigration.

It's very obvious that this forum is very Scranton-centric. Where are all of the posters from Southern Luzerne County?

[scrantonluna]

Tal vez no tienen la Internet?

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

Tal vez no tienen la Internet?

Muy chiste. LOL!

[FightinPhils]

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

The city of Hazleton was in the national media spotlight for quite some time as the result of Mayor Lou Barletta's aggressive proposed legislation targeting illegal immigration.

(Those ordinances were struck down by the U.S District Court for the Middle District of PA because they were preempted by federal law, thank god.)

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by The Commish

(Those ordinances were struck down by the U.S District Court for the Middle District of PA because they were preempted by federal law, thank god.)

But you can't blame Barletta. Sure, immigration enforcement is the federal government's responsibility, but they were doing nothing about it. So Barletta took into his own hands, since nobody else was going to do anything about it. We're screwed with immigration, since neither the republicans or the democrats want to do anything about it.

Too bad Scranton didn't have a mayor with a spine.....Dork Doherty gets quoted in the media about rolling out the red carpet for the immigrants, right around the time that Hazleton was fighting the illegals. I'm sure some had packed their bags in Hazleton and now reside in Scranton.

Barletta may have been out of his jurisdiction, but at least he tried. The feds don't enforce their laws.

[scrantonluna]

Sadly, in the end it was Barletta himself who lost his cause, when he couldn't provide specifics to illustrate his point in Federal court. I really don't blame the illegals, I blame US for allowing what has gone on.

[seasons121]

Hi All-

I was wondering if there were any mkts that are like Whole Foods that are in Hazleton.

Also, is there a trendy (or sort of trendy) downtown there? Any historical areas that are safe?

Thanks!!!

[seasons121]

Hello me again. Is the Jim Thorpe area safe? Also, do you know of any cool/charming towns close to Amazon's new Hazleton plant? THanks!

[scrantonluna]

It seems that while Barletta may not win the election, Kanjorski could certainly lose it... Not trying to make this thread political, just wondering what changes we might see if the congressional seat changes hands?