Please help,,,,,,,,,,Scranton, PA (Philadelphia, York: middle-class, transplants, home)

[az500]

Hello guys

I'm an international student living in St. Louis and i wanna move out to another city and Scranton, PA is one of my choices.

Could you please give me an idea about Scranton, PA ?

1) I don't want to be rude but excuse me, Are people friendly with international students in Scranton? since i face difficulties with interacting with american in St. Louis and my English hasn't improved.

2) How is the University of Scranton?

3) What is the best area to live in which close to the university?

4) places...? entertainment....?

Thank you

[AmeriKenArtist]

What other cities/universities are you considering? What are your major interests?

[az500]

Hi,

What other cities?
CINCINNATI, OH

universities are you considering?
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

What are your major interests?
Computer Information System

now i wanna to know anything about Scranton, PA buz it's my first option and i tend to study there.

please there is no enough time I want to make my decision.

Thank you

[Summering]

You need a lot of information in a short time. The best thing to do is to use the search area up top here. When you hit that tab. Put in Scranton, many threads should come up.........and lots of answers also. Try adding University of Scranton and if not do a google........good luck

[I LOVE PA!]

My personal feeling is that Pa people are in Scranton are friendly...I think yuo will be just fine. University of Scranton is a very good school, beautiful area too. I think people would be patient enough for you to improve on your English. You certainly know enough to communicate just fine.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by az500

Hello guys

I'm an international student living in St. Louis and i wanna move out to another city and Scranton, PA is one of my choices.

Could you please give me an idea about Scranton, PA ?

1) I don't want to be rude but excuse me, Are people friendly with international students in Scranton? since i face difficulties with interacting with american in St. Louis and my English hasn't improved.

2) How is the University of Scranton?

3) What is the best area to live in which close to the university?

4) places...? entertainment....?

Thank you

Hello there!

I've grown up here on the south side of Scranton, PA my entire life and have been to Cincinnati, OH before, so hopefully I can provide you with some good insight.

Both cities have their advantages and their disadvantages. I'm a firm believer that the University of Scranton offers an excellent education judging by what friends and relatives who are students there have told me, but I'll admit that I don't know personally how good the universities in Cincinnati are. What I can say is that more than likely you'd have to use your degree in Scranton as a "stepping stone" to a job in a place like New York City, Philadelphia (or anywhere really I suppose in this era of the global village) while Cincinnati has a rather above-average job market (it's the polar opposite of Detroit and Cleveland in the job category). You'd be able to take your degree and get a great job in Cincinnati while having to more than likely relocate out of the Scranton region if you were to attend school here. I'm about to graduate myself and still have no job offer lined up, and most of my friends are in the same boat.

One MAJOR upside to Scranton is that we're only two hours away from New York City or Philadelphia for some great sporting events, concerts, nightlife, shopping, parades, etc. while in Cincinnati you're a reasonable drive from Louisville, Columbus, Lexington, and Indianapolis, but those cities really can't compare to NYC or Philly in what they can offer to a younger person.

To answer your first question, I think you'd have a better chance getting people to "tolerate" your broken English in Cincinnati, as it's a much larger city with a lot more diversity. Here in Scranton I hear a LOT of racist/prejudiced remarks about people of different cultures, religious affiliations, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, etc., and I don't foresee that improving anytime soon until enough NJ and NY transplants move in to Scranton to change the natives for the better. Where I work we have all of our signage in both English and Spanish to better serve our growing Hispanic population, and nary a day goes by where I don't hear at least one person giving me an unsolicited rant about "us" vs. "them" (as if those who speak Spanish are "beneath" us native English-speakers) while I just try not to get into an argument with them so I don't get fired from my job.

With that being said Cincinnati, along with Detroit, are two VERY racially divisive cities between Caucasians and African-Americans. When I visited Cincinnati I stayed in an upper-middle-class and almost exclusively white suburb called Anderson Township. When we visited the city we were told to stay out of "Over-the-Rhine," which is a predominantly African-American (black) neighborhood. Here in Scranton I'm actually pleased that the white/black issue isn't that big of a deal at all to most people, but the gay/straight and English/Spanish issues remain critical and cause a lot of anger to break out.

The University of Scranton is located in the city's "Hill Section," more specifically the "Lower Hill." This neighborhood is within walking distance of the city's downtown area, which while not great is certainly starting to improve over the dump it used to be in the early-to-mid-1990s. A lot of students at the university like to go pub-hopping/bar-hopping downtown, enjoy the parades for the holidays, like to grab coffee at Northern Light or Starbuck's, etc. One positive thing that the city and university are doing collaboratively is working to introduce students to what smaller businesses the city proper has to offer instead of seeing the university's thousands of students emptying their wallets at the suburban mall areas. For as much as many city residents whine about what a "burden" the university is (mostly because they're green-eyed monsters), I think it has been a blessing for the city's image and stature.

I'm sorry to get so long here, so I'll cut it short now, but we're all here to help you however we can!

[az500]

thanks [SIZE=5]ScranBarre[/SIZE] for answering my questions

i didn't mean that i want them to teach me english but what i meant are prople in Scranton are welcoming the international students and making friends with them?

[weluvpa]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

I've grown up here on the south side of Scranton, PA my entire life.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by az500

thanks [SIZE=5]ScranBarre[/SIZE] for answering my questions

i didn't mean that i want them to teach me english but what i meant are prople in Scranton are welcoming the international students and making friends with them?

Yes. I would like to think so. There are a few students at my college from Ukraine, and I'm friends with two of them. If someone comes to my workplace speaking Spanish I try to help them the best that I can since I can speak broken Spanish. There are quite a few students in our area (not on my campus though) from India. They seem to be doing just fine. I'm friends with an 18-year-old from France who came to visit my friends' family just outside of Scranton for two summers and invited them back to France for a summer. Scranton is still predominantly a white, non-Hispanic, middle-class "regular guy" type of city, but we're becoming more and more diverse every year as more people move here from New York City, New Jersey, and Philadelphia looking for affordable housing and a more laid-back quality-of-life.

For what it's worth your English is just fine. To be honest with you your English is better than a few people on this forum that are NATIVES of the U.S. LOL! I think as long as you try to speak English the best you can people will embrace you with open arms. The small-minded people around here who may give you a hard time would be those who would get upset if you were trying to speak your native language alone and not really trying to learn English. If you do decide to pick Scranton over Cincinnati, then I would be more than happy to help you get a better understanding of English.

By the way, by "international," what is your home country?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

Pittston Township is on the SOUTH SIDE of Scranton. I didn't say I live in "South Side, Scranton" (as in the NEIGHBORHOOD). Do you really think I enjoy having to tell everyone on my travels "I'm from Pittston Township, Pennsylvania" only to have to follow that with "it's a suburb to the south of Scranton" when they scratch their heads?