New, In a way but not really.... (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: transplants, sales)

[ARSENAL670]

....just wanted to say hello to everyone. I just registered here because I somehow stumbled across this site (probably while reseaching data). Anyway, a short info about myself...

...i was born and raised in Central NJ, and decided to go to Keystone College in La Plume. Upon my first visitation to the college, I had a feeling I was going to hate it, as it was "out there" and far away and different from what I was accustomed to. By fall, I had fallen in love with the area. I ended up spending almost 5 years living up there, making friends and getting to know a large portion of the surrounding areas. From Susquehanna county to Luzerne, from South Gibson to Numidia (where I drag raced a bit)....I got to know NEPA....and I loved it. I lived in Jessup at first, then moved to Clarks Summit....the memories I have of the area are forever embedded in my memory like a looped movie playing over and over again. Words cannot describe how much I miss it...I really hate the fact that I moved back to NJ.

....change came in 2004 when I had to leave. I had graduated with a BS in Information Technology and the job market up there for my skillset was grim. I made the move back to my hometown, and even then it took 2 full years and 6 months of applying, hoping and sending out resume after resume, going on interview and interview to finally land a position in my field. Although life here has been pretty good socially, I miss it more up there in NEPA. I was up on the first weekend of November for a wedding...and saw some disturbing changes thanks to the economy (ex. Jim Dandy's in Clarks Summit closed...I used to go there often)....all the Shell gas stations in the area are shut down. Deserted. But while that has happened, I still came back to an NEPA that made me feel good.....soothed and calmed me....made me think back to the days when I was up there, living life, enjoying snowstorms that would cripple everything-i found that harsh storms were fascinating. I would venture out in them on purpose. We didnt have winters like that in Jersey.

After leaving back to NJ from the weekend of Nov. 1st, I felt much more relaxed. Had alot of time to remember, reminisce and just unwind. I took alot of drives through areas that reminded me of a time when things were simpler. I drove to the Kmart in Dickson City and to the edge of the parking lot to look out over the valley and at Scranton. When I say that this place, this area had a profound, life-changing influence on me, its true. I dont know why, I dont know how, but NEPA became something that means alot to me. I love the area up there. From reading some other posts, I agree...my friends that are still there all say "why would you want to come back??" As if its the plague up there or something. I dont know.

What I do know is this.....its a beautiful area and I'll be back someday permanently. Hopefully before retirement. But I still have another 40-45 years to go yet. Lets just hope in that amount of time that the area does not change for the worse. Lets hope that places like Dino and Francesco's in Clarks Summit, Pizza Perfect near Dallas and Kelly's in Scranton and the Windsor Inn still exist then....because I still gotta eat good. And I hope, as much as some people disagree, that interstate 380 in the poconos stays a desolate and lonely road at night..and during the day....there's nothing like a drive through that area that doesn't see much traffic....especially late at night or during a snow storm....the tranquil quiet adds to the natural beauty of the area. For the time being, all i can do is visit when i have the time to and when i'm financially able. To those that live up there-enjoy it...love it....I was a die-hard Jerseyan....then I lived there....now I wish I never left....

[Summering]

That was just a beautiful posting. I enjoyed reading it.......and to tell you the truth, I don't usually read long postings...( shhhh)
I feel the same way about PA as a former NJ person........
There is something that is hard to catch into words. But, you have said a few.......
Tranquil, peace, natural beauty,feel good, soothed, calmed.........those winter nights when one ventures out. Parking and looking down on Scranton from Dickson City ( we do that too).......
I hope it says wonderful too. Lets both cross our fingers now. ( ya' say in 40-45 years!)

[EnyaGirl]

Originally Posted by Summering

That was just a beautiful posting. I enjoyed reading it.......and to tell you the truth, I don't usually read long postings...( shhhh)
I feel the same way about PA as a former NJ person........
There is something that is hard to catch into words. But, you have said a few.......
Tranquil, peace, natural beauty,feel good, soothed, calmed.........those winter nights when one ventures out. Parking and looking down on Scranton from Dickson City ( we do that too).......
I hope it says wonderful too. Lets both cross our fingers now. ( ya' say in 40-45 years!)

I won't tell ScranBarre that you don't read his posts .....

I feel the same way as both of you do. While I do miss Jersey (as is evident by my several trips there, usually at least once a month), I always feel so much more peaceful when I'm headed down 80 west to NEPA. This past weekend was a big realization for me that I made the right decision to move out here, when I fought the crowds near NYC. I can always feel my blood pressure rise when I'm in NJ, and then quickly come back down when I'm headed "home" to NEPA

[ARSENAL670]

Originally Posted by Summering

That was just a beautiful posting. I enjoyed reading it.......and to tell you the truth, I don't usually read long postings...( shhhh)
I feel the same way about PA as a former NJ person........
There is something that is hard to catch into words. But, you have said a few.......
Tranquil, peace, natural beauty,feel good, soothed, calmed.........those winter nights when one ventures out. Parking and looking down on Scranton from Dickson City ( we do that too).......
I hope it says wonderful too. Lets both cross our fingers now. ( ya' say in 40-45 years!)

I'm happy to hear that my words mean something to someone out there; although I dont consider what I wrote to be anything more than a quick summary of many thoughts and all of ten minutes I had to write that...not even all of them. It would take me a book to really attempt to capture what all my senses did for almost 5 years. And remember...i'm a die-hard Jerseyan who used to make fun of my friends in PA because everyone would be in bed by 11pm....on a FRIDAY NIGHT!!! Where i'm from, that's when we'd be getting ready to go out! I dont know how else to describe it...but you know what I mean...the views, the roads, the people, the cleanliness....the peace....driving late nights and not having another 35,000 people around you with road rage..................I just have so many memories, they cannot all be expressed in a forum...visual memories as well....

Originally Posted by EnyaGirl

I won't tell ScranBarre that you don't read his posts .....

I feel the same way as both of you do. While I do miss Jersey (as is evident by my several trips there, usually at least once a month), I always feel so much more peaceful when I'm headed down 80 west to NEPA. This past weekend was a big realization for me that I made the right decision to move out here, when I fought the crowds near NYC. I can always feel my blood pressure rise when I'm in NJ, and then quickly come back down when I'm headed "home" to NEPA

I agree 100% about the "headed home" part....that sunday that I returned to NJ, I was so incredibly at peace and calm....after a couple days here, my blood pressure shot right back up...

[nkotb]

Great post, I NEVER read long posts, but yours got my interest from the first sentence. Nice to know others feel the same way I do about our area !! Thanks for nice reading !!

[ARSENAL670]

Originally Posted by nkotb

Great post, I NEVER read long posts, but yours got my interest from the first sentence. Nice to know others feel the same way I do about our area !! Thanks for nice reading !!

Honestly, its nice to see people come in here and say things like that to me-especially when they dont read long posts. I typically dont myself on other forums I belong to. I'm happy to share my thoughts.

[ScranBarre]

The "long post" comments are innocent jabs on my behalf, as I'm the notorious forum windbag. Often times in debates people will just concede instead of troubling themselves with reading all I have to say (and as an Italian-American my mouth is always open to either yak or shovel food inside!) LOL!

I, too, enjoyed your post, and I welcome you to NEPA whenever you'd like to come back to visit. Some people around these parts "don't take too kindly" to the NJ/NY transplant influx, but I say "keep it coming!" Thanks to these people along with the rise of Hispanics in places like Hazleton and South Scranton, Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties are growing again after many, many decades of steep decline. Hopefully your name will be added to this list someday, and I can invite you over for burgers and hot dogs at my future Victorian home!

[ARSENAL670]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

The "long post" comments are innocent jabs on my behalf, as I'm the notorious forum windbag. Often times in debates people will just concede instead of troubling themselves with reading all I have to say (and as an Italian-American my mouth is always open to either yak or shovel food inside!) LOL!

I, too, enjoyed your post, and I welcome you to NEPA whenever you'd like to come back to visit. Some people around these parts "don't take too kindly" to the NJ/NY transplant influx, but I say "keep it coming!" Thanks to these people along with the rise of Hispanics in places like Hazleton and South Scranton, Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties are growing again after many, many decades of steep decline. Hopefully your name will be added to this list someday, and I can invite you over for burgers and hot dogs at my future Victorian home!

That is the kind of hospitality I am talking about that I have expereinced and witnessed when I lived up there!! I thank you for your warm comments and invitations; and I accept. It is true, after doing lots of research on the area while I lived there (and even moreso now), the population IS in fact growing and hopefully, once the economy recovers, things will shape up more in the area. Although born and raised in NJ, and living back here since 2004, I can understand the mass sentiment against NYC/NJ people and their "ways." It is true-we are different. Whether that is good or bad is up to the character of each individual in question...however, when you take what has happened in the Poconos and the reasons why, its no mystery. The rise in crime, the quality of life going down-because of the influx of people from this(NJ/NY) side of the border that are up to no good. But, that is another debate for another time. My sole purpose for joining and posting is to share and re-live the experiences I have had since I started College up there. The wonderful people I met, the small business owners that would know my voice when i called without looking at caller id....i mean, i even worked at an auto parts store where I got to know pretty much all the "regulars" and mechanics in the area so well, that they mostly dealt exclusively with me. We DONT HAVE THAT here. Here is "dont talk to me, look at me or otherwise speak intelligently wtih me." Its "get the f out of my face" etc. Nothing like NEPA. I feel as if.....when I come up to the area, everyone is freindly and kind, etc....I come back home to NJ.....and NO ONE smiles. Its like this "walking on ice" thing....sure, I grew up here and know how to handle myself, what the "acceptable public behavior" is...but its like if you smile, you're breaking a law. Now, I dont go around like a grinning idiot..in fact, most people think i'm angry 99% of the time-which isnt true. Bottom line though-you just dont have the good-hearted kind of people around here as you do up there..

[ScranBarre]

You can even notice the difference between the forums here on City-Data. In December 2006 on through 2007 I was MUCH maligned on the NJ forum, to say the least. During 12/06 a few members petitioned to have me banned on grounds that I had been "trolling" (i.e. they were losing in a debate with me and had no clue what else to do besides try to make me disappear). In 2007 there were still hard feelings as even if I'd say something NICE on that forum I'd get told, more or less, to "scram!" LOL! Thankfully a lot of "housekeeping" has apparently been done on the NJ forum in recent months and it has become a much more enjoyable experience, but in the past the NJ board was the most MISERABLE one I had ever posted on!

It's nice to go for runs and say "Good morning" to people as I pass and have 99 out of 100 of them return the greeting or say "How ya doin'?" There was indeed one incident in Pittston where I said hello to a woman at a gas station whom I was holding the door for, and she replied with an "I don't know you" as she walked away, but that's the exception, not the rule (besides, with all of the transplants moving into the Pittston area as of late she could have been an out-of-stater herself).

I generally welcome the transplants. I just wish more would move closer to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area instead of EXCLUSIVELY to Monroe/Pike Counties so that they can "commute." More transplants moving into Pittston, Carbondale, Nanticoke, Scranton, Kingston, Dunmore, Wilkes-Barre, Old Forge, etc. will mean more businesses opening, more people becoming active in our communities, more homes being restored, new church members, etc. I don't know why so many local natives want to put up a "Great Wall" at the Monroe County line.

Just look at this sub-forum as a prime example. Some WONDERFUL people are moving here or have moved here from other areas---memoriesbre, rockky, coartist88, EnyaGirl, Summering, I LOVE PA, Jimmy Lane, blip, versaron, Chefkey, MovingOutOfNJ, ff18wife, Karnak, Georgia to NEPA, poconosmama, etc. These are only a handful of the great transplants whom I work beside, interact with in my sales job, study with at school, etc. Change is a GOOD thing for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Just look at how much BETTER Wilkes-Barre looks now than just three years ago. It's mind-boggling. We don't have to become the "Mini-Bronx." We can become something great!

[Gerania]

"I'm happy to hear that my words mean something to someone out there..."

I grew up in NEPA and now live in Jersey. I usually get up there during holidays and spend most of my time visiting family. While I'm happy to see everyone, glad that I have them, I have an itch to get out and explore. I always wish that I had more time to drive around, hike a bit, visit some of the small towns that I haven't seen in years or have always meant to. I miss being there.