Wall Street Journal: "Scranton---Behind a Blue-Collar Cliche" (Philadelphia: houses, employment)

[ScranBarre]

Blip referenced a recent article in the Wall Street Journal in which our very own Electric City was highly lauded.

The article focuses primarily on how natives who relocated to other parts of the BosWash Corridor to further their professional pursuits are now starting to fuel a resurgence in the city as they return to Scranton in pursuit of "small-town qualities." It touts our location two hours from NYC or Philadelphia and our median home value that is $200,000 less than the national average.

I also found it interesting to read about Michele Dempsey, an architect who returned to Scranton to open her own downtown firm. In her employment are an architect who is another native of the city and moved back home from New York City, as well as a designer who moved here with his same-sex partner, a Scranton native who opened a new wine bar downtown. One of Michele's siblings moved back home from NYC, as did her brother-in-law.

I myself hope to leave the region to branch out into the corporate world, but I too will return someday to raise my family in the heart of the city of Scranton just like the others mentioned in the article, which can be found here:

Behind a Blue-Collar Cliché - WSJ.com

It was nice to read something upbeat about the city for a change. Judging by this forum you'd swear that Scranton was going to hell in a hand basket.

[weluvpa]

WOW that seems like it was scripted right from the city of scranton website...You know its a BS PR ad because of the faulty numbers.....Doherty probably got the whose who of crony hacks to put that together so it would help defend the city against the national media onslaught that we have seen.......Sheepish reading...How come the only ones that they are talking about are the Dempsey's???? What are they only ones that moved back to be in business or were they the choosen ones for the article by the king himself.. Don't even get me started on Michelle.....

[go phillies]

Michele Dempsey probably ended up back in Scranton because she wasn't all that good at her job. Want proof? Go look at the ridiculous looking new Fidelity Bank at the corner of Main Ave and Luzerne St.....it was designed by Dempsey and looks like it was taken from an episode of The Jetsons. Its hideous.

[blip]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Michele Dempsey probably ended up back in Scranton because she wasn't all that good at her job. Want proof? Go look at the ridiculous looking new Fidelity Bank at the corner of Main Ave and Luzerne St.....it was designed by Dempsey and looks like it was taken from an episode of The Jetsons. Its hideous.

I'm partial to modern architecture, and I don't mind that building in itself. Better than some post-modern fake-old building with columns and crap. Or yikes banks that look like houses-- I actually want my bank to feel like an institution, not like my neighbor's house.

But what I don't like is how it's set back, suburban style, destroying the streetscape. And that they demolished what I hear was a beautiful old church for space for the parking lot.

Most architects just don't get urban planning.

[ScranBarre]

Now that Marywood University is starting its own architecture program I may just go back at some point in my 30s for my second Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Architecture. I may be entering the workforce as an accountant, but my true passion is for architectural preservation and design. I'm one of the rare ones who thinks it's preferable to reinvent older buildings whenever possible instead of just tearing them down for suburban-style monstrosities.

[weluvpa]

Michelle designed the house that her family built at Moosic Lakes a few years back while my folks still had their house and just about every contractor on the job walked at one point or another because of her design flaws and the constant changes she made in the design....It took 4 contractors till they found one that was willing to build the stupid redwood deck she designed on the house....The house took 4 times longer to build then was planned and it turned out to be one of the ugliest homes on the lake....

She probably needed to have her own firm so she could actually work in her field and her family financed her firm anyway....She is a success Its not hard to be good at something when you have the backing to financially not have to worry about doing bad work.

[NYRangers 2008]

That article is Doherty propaganda. Look around, Scranton is going to hell in a hand basket.

[patranspoplannerinva]

I happen to like the ad with Kevin from the Office.

[go phillies]

Doherty always has to have his face on any ad about Scranton. He's such a cocky self-absorbed clown. Why can't anything just be about the city...why does it always have to become a photo op for Doherty?

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Doherty always has to have his face on any ad about Scranton. He's such a cocky self-absorbed clown. Why can't anything just be about the city...why does it always have to become a photo op for Doherty?

Perhaps because he knows that just like Rep. Kanjorski his popularity has flown the coop, and he's trying desperately to do anything to win back this approval?