Does Scranton really suck...Part deux. (neighborhood, living, moving to)

[Summering]

Scranton Parks and Recreation Department | Scranton, PA, 18503 |
Here is a list of your parks.......Scranton has over ten parks in its location. People seem to trample on the Nay Aug Park........but, the pictures show it as beautiful. I seem to love it at every turn.
Scranton has over 25 colleges, Universities and trade schools ( some are listed here)
Scranton, Pennsylvania Colleges - Education Reference
Scranton has many great hospitals, some with the latest in technology...(some listed here)
Scranton Hospitals | Hospital Care in Scranton, PA

Your area is a hub for shopping. Be it in your city locations or in its far reaches. Its one of my favorite locations to head to to shop. Be it sometimes its surrounding towns......but that counts too.

You have mountains, lakes and streams to enjoy with the sports that go with them.
Your mountains hugging your being, which makes for a splendid sight....

You have a good transportation system with a bus company location right at your finger tips.
This bus system will get you to the bigger cities. It will get you to Washington DC, Binghamton, NY and other far reaches. With lists of bus trips to further destinations at their office.

The fact that from your location you can be in the two most wonderful cities to behold is an asset.
Philly is not but hours away, nor is the city of New York.

Your homes in the most part are not cookie cutter, and not bumper to bumper in a development.
Rather they are in some areas older, charming homes.......with nooks and crannies and a uniqueness of their own.

Money Magazine listed you as one of the ten best places to live.

Politics, Politics........You'll find it everywhere you go. You won't be able to run away from it. I've seen it my entire life in other towns, in other places.....Some on the board think it is just a Scranton issue.
Its not. Thats why I have come over many years to stay out of it. It becomes a tiresome rift, not worth being in the middle of. Usually of two sides, two opinions, two disagreements........I no longer bother to care. A town can grow by helping it out in other areas.......It will , and it will most likely do just fine.

So the question was: Does Scranton Suck..........See above and that it doesn't. I hope I kept this right on subject this time. I love the town. Its people, its character, its beauty.......certainly its beauty.

[to570717]

You can buy 67 acres of land for 220K in the Abington Heights Schools District..

Try beating that anywhere else within two hours of NYC....

[fnord]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

In a way I'm afraid to make too many "new" friends because a part of me is just asking "how long until they leave me too?" Why else would I be befriending a bunch of middle-aged soccer moms on Internet forums unless I was having a hard time retaining friendships because everyone I know is MOVING AWAY?!!

But I thought you were moving to Connecticut? Did I miss something?

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by johnqpublic

The people / neighborhoods are great, as a whole this area is a diamond in the rough, what is killing it is the political families that have been MILKING it for generations. we need a clean broom to sweep clean. I have lived here since birth , and have followed the B.S, thru the Admins.I thought McNulty was bad, but Chris Doherty has risen to a new level of the "Peter Principle"as the most unqualified/corrupt mayor this city has ever had. I actually kind of admire him , he has stolen and enriched his own so much while sticking it up our a$$es, with the help of a pi$$ poor news media that the average citizen doesnt even realize it!...

As much as I despise Chris Doherty, he is a master of the "Irish diplomacy." The old saying goes that "Irish diplomacy" is: "the ability to tell a man to go to hell so that he looks forward to the trip." That's the only explanation I can come up with as to why he was re-elected and why he might be re-elected again.

And let it be known that I am Irish and very proud of my heritage. But every bunch has its bad apples.

[weluvpa]

When there are 23,000 people voting and you have managed to lock-up a majority by giving jobs out and creating them whenever you need to you can easily lock down the numbers needed to win.

In the last election the mayor convinced McGuigan to run so that she would pull votes away from DiBileo and make sure that Doherty will win and he did.

Its very easy to manipulate the votes when only 23,000 of 70,000 actually vote......

Think about...Doherty only needs to achieve 11,000 to 12,000 votes for a win and thats even less if he gets another spolier to run.

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by loveinbloom

I love the feeling of "family" in Scranton. Children are still treated as children and not little adults. The cost of housing is a big plus. Teachers that really seem to have the students best interst at heart, and endless things to do for families.

The roads are terrible and the infrastructure is crumbling. A city council that appears to be a puppet for the mayor. Wasting money on "window dressing" , and trying to attract a population that isn't coming instead of taking care of the needs of those who are already here!

That pretty much sums up the way I feel also.

[kvysmom]

I was a Scrantonian for 25 yrs...recently moved to Mid Valley area...

Like many have said there are some really beautiful homes in Scranton...we drove through Green Ridge last night to look at the lights...we often wonder what careers people have to be able to live in such gorgeous homes...sigh!

We also drove downtown, and while there are a few success stories, many of the storefronts are still vacant. I hear my parents speak of how they used to shop downtown, meet after school for a soda, etc...it sounds so nostalgic and surreal, b/c as a 30 something, I have never experienced that in downtown Scranton.

Still some real neighborhoods left....I grew up in the hill section and there were so many families, we knew all of our neighbors and had two "corner" stores that we as children could walk to safely...too bad that isn't the case currently.

What I remember very fondly was my Grandma's home. She lived in lower Greenridge. She lived on Nay Aug Ave (the homes were demolished over a decade ago to make way for the flood control project). She had the best little neighborhood. In the 3 block span, she knew every neighbor, and almost nightly they gathered on her porch for coffee and talk. I used to get annoyed as a child b/c Grandma always had company at her house, but now that I am grown, I realize how wonderful and rare that neighborhood was. After she moved from there (when the gov't bought the houses out), she was never really the same. I often think about walking through the lot that used to be hers, to see if the pennies we placed in the concrete patio are still there.

There needs to be more neighborhoods like that. That is what Scranton is missing now, a real sense of community right on your own block. I am not talking about going to a Power! meeting, or even a neighborhood meeting...just feeling like you belong and have a stake in the homes and people around you. Since moving out of Scranton, I needed to get to know my new neighbors, and one way that I found to meet many neighbors is just to take an evening walk. When the weather is nice you get to chat with folks while they are on their porch, etc.

Local government is obviously in need of major change, and hopefully the fine citizens of Scranton will take care of that in the next election.

Hubby calls me Scranton girl...and I guess I always will be at heart. Maybe one day we move back...you never know...

[drsmiley06]

I moved back to the area last year after finishing my residency and I can't say it's all bad in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/Hazleton area but for some reason or another people think they're owed something here. Take for example the factory jobs, for some reason or another workers think they are entitled to make like $15/hour instead of $10 or $11/hour. I know people who won't get out of bed for that, so there are jobs out there people just choose not to work for that hourly rate. Compared to other cities I've lived in some of the people in this area just don't want to work, they think it's easier to just sit around all day and collect on welfare. Listen, unless you have some sort of degree or marketable trade there's nothing here, and even that's a stretch. Notice in this economy you'll starting to see more and more people go back to school, that's because most people realize the value of a good education.

[njmike]

Originally Posted by fnord

But I thought you were moving to Connecticut? Did I miss something?

I thought he was moving to the Baltimore/D.C. area.

[John From Scranton]

Originally Posted by njmike

I thought he was moving to the Baltimore/D.C. area.

It dosnt matter they have internet, no matter where one go's in the USA!