Scranton really does suck (Wilkes-Barre, York: apartment complex, rent, loft)

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Absolutely not....Cleaner well-kept neighborhoods in Wilkes-Barre???...what are you smoking? Wilkes-Barre's downtown may be making some strides, but that doesn't make the city more liveable.

Scranton is leaps and bounds ahead of Wilkes-Barre in the liveable neighborhoods department. Plus, Scranton also has a lot of nice architecture, while Wilkes-Barre's housing is more white aluminum sided coal-miner houses with barn-shaped roofs crammed together.

I haven't been to the city of Wilkes-Barre in years, but all of the towns in the valley, from Wilkes-Barre to Carbondale sound like what you described. They all seem like coal-miner houses with barn-shaped roofs crammed together, for the most part.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008

I haven't been to the city of Wilkes-Barre in years, but all of the towns in the valley, from Wilkes-Barre to Carbondale sound like what you described. They all seem like coal-miner houses with barn-shaped roofs crammed together, for the most part.

But Scranton actually has neighborhoods that aren't like this, even if many are....W-B has once nice area around Wilkes U. that has some nice victorians and old brick houses, and most of those are owned by Wilkes or are offices. The residential sections of W-B are like an architectural sewer. Scranton looks like Beverly Hills in comparison.

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by go phillies

But Scranton actually has neighborhoods that aren't like this, even if many are....W-B has once nice area around Wilkes U. that has some nice victorians and old brick houses, and most of those are owned by Wilkes or are offices. The residential sections of W-B are like an architectural sewer. Scranton looks like Beverly Hills in comparison.

True, the Green Ridge section comes to mind as being nice. And the area in West Side between Tripps Park and Hyde Park isn't bad either. But the Hill, Pinebrook and much of South Side is horrible.

[go phillies]

The Hill isn't bad either, the Hill has some run-down parts, but there are some really nice mansions up there. The Hill probably has some of the nicest houses in the city next to Green Ridge.

[blip]

Originally Posted by go phillies

The Hill isn't bad either, the Hill has some run-down parts, but there are some really nice mansions up there. The Hill probably has some of the nicest houses in the city next to Green Ridge.

I agree, parts of the Hill are really stunning. Probably the greatest number of nice old houses of any neighborhood -- they go on for many many blocks. I don't know Greenridge well, but seems like a smaller area.

[ScranBarre]

The problem with the Hill Section is that I can't think of any other Scranton neighborhood where you can go from a white-collar block of historic abodes with BMWs parked in front on the street to a block full of run-down off-campus housing on one side and a crack house around the corner. When I think of "diversity in Scranton," the Hill Section automatically comes to mind because I've seen nearly every architectural style imaginable there, every socioeconomic class there, and some Hasidic Jews, LGBT couples, college students, elderly people, etc. alike. I was just up at a friend's home in East Mountain today, and he's thoroughly remodeling his older home along East Elm Street into a real showplace---the interior looks like something you'd see in Better Homes & Gardens with all sorts of funky colors and decor. Wilkes-Barre can't hold a candle to the nice variety and condition of much of Scranton's housing stock, even if it does have a better downtown.

I still haven't entirely ruled out the Lower Hill Section as my future neighborhood, even though I'm 75% sure I'll end up in Hyde Park. I think with the continued expansion of "Da U", the opening of the Commonwealth Medical College, and now even that "insider information" about a potential DENTAL SCHOOL coming to the city as well, the Lower Hill neighborhood's property values are going to SKYROCKET in the coming years. I better get me a fixer-upper there to renovate in the coming years!

[njmike]

Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008

Maybe not South Central LA, Scranton is more like Jersey City.

Scranton is NOWHERE near being as good as Jersey City, Newark and, Hoboken were, are and to be in the future. At least these cities are TRYING to improve themselves. Scranton just keeps sinking deeper and deeper into an abandon mine shaft.

[Boris]

Scranbarre- Nobody's attacking you, it's called a rebuttal, to a very snoooty post in which you maligned an entire region and it's unique culture. A culture which has given Scranton social cohesion and much lower crime rates than many other cities. You called out for diversity while sneering at people diofferent from you. Sorry, but I simply feel that snobs need to be taken down a peg or two.
So now you like Scranton again? That's good. It's a nice place that can only be for you what YOU make of it.

[njmike]

Originally Posted by Boris

Scranbarre- Nobody's attacking you, it's called a rebuttal, to a very snoooty post in which you maligned an entire region and it's unique culture. A culture which has given Scranton social cohesion and much lower crime rates than many other cities. You called out for diversity while sneering at people diofferent from you. Sorry, but I simply feel that snobs need to be taken down a peg or two.
So now you like Scranton again? That's good. It's a nice place that can only be for you what YOU make of it.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Scranbarre, Scranton will never be the idealistic city that you want/hope it to be. That's reality.

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by njmike

Scranton is NOWHERE near being as good as Jersey City, Newark and, Hoboken were, are and to be in the future. At least these cities are TRYING to improve themselves. Scranton just keeps sinking deeper and deeper into an abandon mine shaft.

Actually, I couldn't agree with you more. The problem in Scranton is a short-sighted, money spending fool for a mayor. And the sheep here keep re-electing him. By re-electing him, the people of Scranton will never improve their city. You're also right when you say Scranton will never be an up and coming city that some people want it to be. It will be what it always has been and to some people that's just fine, for me personally, no. I know there has to be more in life than living in Scranton the rest of my life.