What is Your Opinion on PNC Field? (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: city hall, neighborhoods)

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by FightinPhils

Pinebrook? I'm not sure the Yanks would go for that. Heroin addicts hanging around the parking lot and having to worry about getting mugged after a game. Although it would be a way to clean up that area, I suppose.

Just a thought to toss out there. If five years from now Pinebrook should become gentrified with the potential opening of both a medical college and a stadium, where is all of the riff raff going to relocate to? Hyde Park? They better not if they know what's good for them because that's MY future 'hood, homies!

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Just a thought to toss out there. If five years from now Pinebrook should become gentrified with the potential opening of both a medical college and a stadium, where is all of the riff raff going to relocate to? Hyde Park? They better not if they know what's good for them because that's MY future 'hood, homies!

It seems South Side's riff raff is already making way into West Side (but not really Hyde Park yet...more the eastern side of Main Ave, Luzerne St)...we don't need it coming from the other side too.
Why don't they take all of the "undesirables" and move them up to Green Ridge right in Doherty's neighborhood?

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by FightinPhils

It seems South Side's riff raff is already making way into West Side (but not really Hyde Park yet...more the eastern side of Main Ave, Luzerne St)...we don't need it coming from the other side too.
Why don't they take all of the "undesirables" and move them up to Green Ridge right in Doherty's neighborhood?

Isn't that also Cruella DeVil...errr...Janet Evans's neighborhood?

[FightinPhils]

Although if the stadium was in Pinebrook, they could have a "Ray Lyman bobblehead night."

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

W-B Proud, contrary to popular belief much of that retail/restaurant explosion in the Highland Park district of Wilkes-Barre Township would have occurred even if the Wachovia Arena had been built in Downtown Wilkes-Barre. Plans had always been in place to redevelop that mine-scarred land, and the addition of Exit 168 to I-81 just made it all the more lucrative for businesses to locate there to increase their exposure. Lowe's Home Improvement, the first major retailer in the Wilkes-Barre Township boom, opened its doors in 1997 if I'm not mistaken, and other stores in the surrounding Arena Hub Plaza also opened before the Wachovia Arena's (or the F.U. Arena back then) plans were even finalized. With that retail explosion of the Arena Hub Plaza, it only made sense to create a new I-81 exit to cater to Mundy Street in particular since Exit 170 would often become a nightmare to approach to get back onto I-81 (and it still is at rush-hour).

You may be thinking "Arena" Hub, you say? Those stores all wanted to grab a piece of the Wyoming Valley marketplace anyways, and the developer likely would have just given it a more generic name like "Mundy Street Commons" if the arena had never been built there. Wal-Mart had desires to expand into a Supercenter before the Arena arrived as well, and I'd argue that the addition of the supercenter's traffic alone attracted more of those restaurants and other stores than the arena is responsible for bringing us.

The end of Coal Street would have been a great location for the Wachovia Arena---still close to I-81 yet also being a BENEFIT to the city of Wilkes-Barre instead of an economic drain upon it (you'd have to be a moron to think that Wilkes-Barre Township's sprawl has been good for Downtown Wilkes-Barre's redevelopment initiatives, and I could say the same for Dickson City and Montage vs. Scranton or in 2009 Pittston Township vs. Pittston when all of our chain stores come along the 315). Could you imagine coming into the Heights section and cresting that small hill on Coal Street to see not only the city skyline ahead of you but also the dome of the arena in the foreground?

Lemmings, lemmings, lemmings...

Who needs independent book stores like the Tudor when there's two Barnes & Nobles and a Borders nearby? R.I.P. Tudor. Who needs a small bait & tackle shop like Ray's in Dupont when Wal-Mart is only about a mile away and Dick's, Gander Mountain, etc. are also nearby? R.I.P. Ray's. There are countless other examples of mom-and-pop operations being shuttered by the corporate Goliaths as well. How is this a good thing? Yes I know it's all a part of capitalism, but at some point we're going to become nothing but a huge homogenized nation where you won't be able to tell Wilkes-Barre Township apart from Pittston Township, Dickson City, or Flint, MI for that matter due to the proliferation of the same exact stores and restaurants with the same exact layouts and decors, with the same exact menus and sales prices, yada, yada, yada. Independent businesses make each area unique from another, but as long as the lemmings need to make themselves feel good by projecting an image of "status" by driving an Escalade, living in a McMansion on a cul-de-sac, wearing sunglasses on cloudy days, charging every gadget known to man on a credit card, shopping at big-box stores and eating at Crapplebee's, etc., then we can kiss the days of individuality good-bye.

I admit I'm guilty of this myself. I shop at Best Buy or GameStop when a new video game I'd like to purchase comes out. Why do I do this? I can't name one locally-owned dealer of new PC software titles and video games. We're all guilty of selling out to corporate franchise America.

I suggest W-B Proud that if you still think that Wilkes-Barre Township's sprawl has been "great" for Wilkes-Barre City that you check out this video:


YouTube - Big Box Mart

Look, I know that the mass shopping complex up there hasn't been the best thing for downtown Wilkes-Barre, but at the time they built all that up, there was nothing in downtown anyway to steal buisness away from anyway. And the arena was indeed the catalyst that drove all those buisnesses to open up shop. They may have been wanting to build that area up, but they definately waited for the arena to break ground before anything happened, and this wasn't someones farm we're talking about, or some natural suburban area, this was a vast wasteland, with tens of thousands of tires and other junk. It was a barren enviroment disaster up there. People used to set the tires on fire, and there would be thick black smoke covering the valley for days! I'll take the "present" over the past anyday of the week. It's really a big success story. It literally went from a dirty dumping ground, wasteland to one of the most saught after real estate areas in the region, in a year or two. And as for the arena downtown off of Coal st. as nice and appealing as that sounds, could you imagine the traffic congestion coming down little two lane Coal st. on a game night? It would take you three hours to get from the top of Coal st to the bottom. You'd miss the entire game! That street backs up terribly now on fridays ect. That's why they are widening it in the near future. Neither downtown W-B or Scranton has the infrastructure or road capacity to handle that kind of traffic. And again, from a buisnessman's point of view, you simply cannot beat the "right off of rt. 81 location". It's more excessable, easier to find and get to, it's just a hands down better location in every possible way... for both the stadium and the arena. I don't think anyone can argue with that(except Chris Doherty)

[blip]

Speaking of Pinebrook, the Flats, the Plot, etc, is there a good map of all the Scranton neighborhoods somewhere?

Found this old post of ScranBarre's, which helps get the lay of the land-- http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...hborhoods.html -- but a map would be even better.

Thanks..

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by blip

Speaking of Pinebrook, the Flats, the Plot, etc, is there a good map of all the Scranton neighborhoods somewhere?

Found this old post of ScranBarre's, which helps get the lay of the land-- http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...hborhoods.html -- but a map would be even better.

Thanks..

I've just started to draw in the boundaries of a few select city neighborhoods on Wikimapia. Check it out.

[scrantonluna]

There is nothing like new contruction and bright, new street lights to drive out undesireable people. I really think that with the proper planning and attention, Pinebrook could really be a great addition to the city. The layout is ideal for most people, but the surroundings are poor. Residents of the medical college will be in the market for housing that is not only in walking distance of their job, but also close to locations for their families; schools, markets, churches, etc. I really think that between development of the college, and possibly a new stadium, that the area could be drastically revitalized and really be a bright spot on the map. Some locations are ideal for a small shopping district, the public school can be brought up to new heights in a few short years, and the more attractive the property, the higher the taxes will be adjusted and the bottom dwellers will eventually be forced out.

If you have the means to start snatching up property, I would not wait a second longer.

[ScranBarre]

That was a nice poll while it lasted. Too bad yet another sour puss had to ruin it by picking a fight with me.

[W-B proud]

I'm just a Wilkes-Barrian sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, but among all the post I've read touting where is should go, and the bennefits of putting it downtown, and rainbows and fairy tales where everyone lives happily ever after. no one seems to be mentioning the big white elephant in the room...which would be... THE STADIUM WE ALREADY HAVE AND THE TEAM WE ALREADY HAVE ARE ONLY 19 YEARS OLD!!!, AND HAS BEEN OPERATING IN THE RED ALMOST THE ENTIRE TIME!!! THEY CANNOT ATTRACT PEOPLE TO THE GAMES NOW. I'm sorry but prove to me that our current team can turn a profit before even considering a new stadium. This is so much more about Scranton's image then it is about actual need and capacity. It would be one thing if the team was so successful that they didn't have enough seats at the current facility, so they really need a new stadium to handle the demand, BUT THIS IS NOT THE CASE!!! Like I said if you guys want a new money pit stadium up there so bad, then start a few thousand fund raisers, as a Pa. taxpayer, I DO NOT want to contribute one nickel towards this Bankrupcy in the making. And those pictures of the downtown Buffalo facility were nice, but the first thing I noticed was that all the seats were filled... it's a wee bit different at PNC Field were they can't give the tickets away, let alone sell out a bunch of games. It's just a bad idea. If Scranton wants it so bad, then let them fund it entirely on thier own.