Scranton is in Growth Mode (Pittston, Moosic: houses, construction, school districts)

[weluvpa]

No your right Commish the crime in SS has nothing to do with the hispanic community at all or any of the other minorities that live there. Its the white people from Greenridge and Glenmaura driving there and committing the crimes and then using their powers to make it look like the minorities are doing it.

The crime in Hazelton was and has been directly associated with the immigrants in the city and it is the same for Scranton. Maybe you need a scanner.....

Yes your right I do attack the person and not the opinions....You are a upper middle to high class white kid from Glenmaura spouting his opinions of minorities to rest of us that actually have to live in the city....Like I said the only minorities that make it into your neighborhood are usually doing the landscaping.....Makes you point worthless in my mind.

[scrantonluna]

A comment I made in an earlier post:

It can be a good thing if it's handled in the right way. The
feds needs to step in and make sure they are all naturalized, code
enforcement needs to be ramped up, and there has to be both
community outreach and local govt. spending in areas of dense
population. If you bring them into the loop and they get a sense of
community and pride, they will become part of the local fabric; alienate
them and all you will see is crime (both hate and property) and poverty.
Even under the best conditions, this is a time of massive change, and
we have to expect a few ripples in the water. Once things settle out,
I hope to see increased tax revenues, growing neighborhoods, and a
younger population to bolster the local economy.

I still agree with these points, but I do not see anything being done
so as to 'bring them into the loop' or to 'foster better relations.'

For these reasons, my current outlook is much less optomistic.

[scrantonluna]

Has anyone heard this nonsense about the planned US census?
Fines for non compliance, highly intrusive questions, mandatory
that all household members participate, and among all of the
questions, not a one that asks....

Are you a US citizen?

[weluvpa]

Welcome to the new Socialist Democratic government of the United States of America.........You guys voted for him not me.

There will be NO enforcement or tightening of laws in Southside, the only thing that matters is the downtown and thats where our resources have been diverted to over the last 8 years and will continue to be diverted there for the next 4 years.....While the city crumbles around it.....

Again you guys voted for him as well, not me.

[ScranBarre]

For the record, here's some of my preliminary analysis based upon some of the faculty at the University of Scranton. I have bolded city residents, and the rest are suburbanites. I omitted names that were too popular and yielded multiple addresses, names that yielded no address, and names that provided addresses outside of the region (a surprisingly high number in SEPA actually, indicating some power-commuters). I will do more analysis later after I make dinner showing a percentage breakdown of where various faculty live. Why is this important, may you ask? Well, when people like Ed, Dan, Go Phillies, etc. complain about the University of Scranton paying so little in lieu of taxes to the city, they now have some extra "ammo" because now I can show them that a minority of the school's faculty resides in the city limits as well, with most, as you guessed it, in The Abingtons, meaning even more people are being "supported" by the city's municipal services while living elsewhere.


Alco, Bonnie : Glenburn Twp.
Alford, Brad A. : Greentown
Allison, Michael E. : South Abington Twp.
Aschenbrenner, George A. : LaPlume Twp.
Baillie, Harold W. : Abington Twp.
Baker, Thomas E. : South Abington Twp.
Bauman, Dona C. : South Abington Twp.
Baumann, Christopher A. : Scranton
Beal, Rebecca S. : Scranton
Beidler, John : Scranton
Benestad, J. Brian : Clarks Summit
Berger, W. Andrew : South Abington Twp.
Bi, Yaodong : Glenburn Twp.
Biberman, Gerald : Scranton
Black, David W. : South Abington Twp.
Bruch, Lori A. : Mountain Top
Brumagim, Alan L. : Kingston
Buchanan, James P. : Scranton
Byman, Abigail : Roaring Brook Twp.
Cann, Michael C. : Lake Ariel
Cannon, J. Timothy : Abington Twp.
Caporale, Marzia : Dunmore
Carey, Michael D. : South Abington Twp.
Carilli, Vincent: Scott Twp.
Carpenter, Brian W. : South Abington Twp.
Carpenter, Dona : South Abington Twp.
Carroll, Maureen T. : Scranton
Casey, Timothy K. : Scranton
Chalungsooth, Porntip : Clarks Summit
Chambers, Arthur : Brodheadsville
Champney, Leonard W. : Scranton
Chattopadhyay, Satya P. : South Abington Twp.
Chowdhury, Jafor : South Abington Twp.
Cimini, Joseph F. : Scranton
Collins, Tracey L. : South Abington Twp.
Cote, Carol A. : Scranton
Cozza, Barbara J. : Throop
Cutrufello, Paul T. : South Abington Twp.
Dammer, Harry R. : Clarks Summit
Day, Patricia A. : Moosic
Deak, John C. : North Abington Twp.
Deitrick, Ronald W. : Scranton
DeMichele, Michael D. : Scranton
DeRitter, Jones : Clarks Summit
DeSanton, Jerome P. : Glenburn Twp.
Dickneider, Trudy A. : Scranton
DiLeo, Rita : Peckville
DiMattio, Mary Jane K. : Jefferson Twp.
Domenico, Roy P. : Clarks Green
Dougherty, Steven T. : Old Forge
Dreisbach, Joseph H. : South Abington Twp.
Dwyer, Kathleen G. : Moosic
Dzurec, David J. : Clarks Summit
Engel, Mary F. : Scranton
Eschbach, Lee Ann M. : Scranton
Fahey, Paul F. : Scranton
Farrell, Marian L. : Clarks Summit
Feeney, Ann : Abington Twp.
Ferzola, Anthony P. : Madison Twp.
Franko, Jennifer: East Stroudsburg
Friedman, Michael D. : Scranton
Foley, Timothy D. : South Abington Twp.
Fraustino, Daniel V. : Moosic
Frein, Brigid C. : Scranton
Friedrichs, David O. : Clarks Green
Germeroth, Darla R. : Scranton
Ghosh, Satyajit : Clarks Summit
Glover, Antoinette G. : Scranton
Gnanendran, Selvanayagam K. : Clarks Summit
Gomez, George R. : Roaring Brook Twp.
Gougeon, Deborah J. : Moscow
Gougeon, Leonard G. : Moscow
Grambo, Ronald J. : South Abington Twp.
Gross, Patricia A. : Clarks Green
Gschwandtner, Christina : Scranton
Haggerty, Daniel P. : Clarks Green
Hair, David A. : South Abington Twp.
Hakim, Renee M. : Dallas
Haladay, Douglas E. : Madison Twp.
Harrington, Patricia : South Abington Twp.
Hill, John M. : Scranton
Hogan, Thomas P. : Clarks Summit
Hudacek, Sharon S. : Moosic
Hussain, Riaz : Scranton
Jackowitz, Paul M. : Scranton
Jasinski, Jakub S. : South Abington Twp.
Kallianiotis, Ioannis N. : Scranton
Kennedy, Lawrence W. : Clarks Summit
Klingman, Stephen L. : South Abington Twp.
Klonoski, Richard J. : Scranton
Kosmahl, Edmund M. : Gouldsboro
Kratz, Charles E. : East Stroudsburg
Kraus, Joseph E. : Kingston
Kwiecinski, Gary G. : Benton Twp.
Larsen, Richard A. : Scranton
Leahy, Patrick F. : Dunmore
Leininger, Peter M. : Clarks Summit
Lisneski, Lisa A. : Newton Twp.
Lord, Kenneth R. : South Abington Twp.
Lovecchio, Catherine : South Abington Twp.
Mahoney, Daniel P. : Newton Twp.
Marx, David E. : Clarks Summit
Mattingly, Gary E. : Scranton
Mbugua, Tata J. : South Abington Twp.
McCloskey, Robert W. : Archbald
McDermott, Christine E. : Scranton
Meagher, Sharon M. : South Abington Twp.
Mensah, Michael O. : South Abington Twp.
Mika, Molly B. : Throop
Mikesell, Rebecca L. : Scranton
Miller, Linda L. : Scranton
Morgan, Oliver J. : South Abington Twp.
Muir, Jerry R. : South Abington Twp.
Muir, Stacey : South Abington Twp.
Mulhall, Declan : Scranton
Nguyen, Hong V. : South Abington Twp.
Norcross, John C. : South Abington Twp.
Nordberg, Kevin M. : Scranton
Olden, Peter C. : South Abington Twp.
Olivette, Michael J. : Scranton
Olsen, Cyrus P. : Scranton
O'Steen, Michael T. : Dunmore
Otarod, Masood: Abington Twp.
Parente, William J. : Scranton
Parsons, Robert A. : Scott Twp.
Pavlick, Kimberly A. : South Abington Twp.
Pellegrino, Debra A. : Dunmore
Penyak, Lee M. : South Abington Twp.
Petsas, Iordanis : Dunmore
Pinches, Charles R. : Clarks Summit
Plishka, Richard M. : Newton Twp.
Plotka, Krzysztof : Scranton
Plumer, Eric A. : South Abington Twp.
Poulson, Susan L. : North Abington Twp.
Prattipati, Satyanarayana V. : South Abington Twp.
Prior, Paula R. : Abington Twp.
Rajan, Murli : Clarks Summit
Reavy, Matthew M. : Shavertown
Reinson, Carol : Abington Twp.
Rowe, William V. : Clarks Summit
Roy, Abhijit : South Abington Twp.
Rusak, David A. : Dalton
Sanko, John P. : Moscow
Scahill, Edward M. : Clarks Summit
Scandle, Tabbi: Old Forge
Schaffer, Carl M. : Scranton
Sebastianelli, Rose : South Abington Twp.
Shaffern, Robert W. : Scranton
Shimkus, Thomas A. : Dunmore
Sidbury, James R. : Scranton
Spalletta, Robert A. : Scranton
Squire, Maria E. : East Stroudsburg
Slotterback, Carole S. : Scranton
Smulowitz, Stacy : Kingston
Spinelli, Robert J. : Moosic
Stager, Helen H. : Dallas
Steinmetz, Edward J. : Roaring Brook Twp.
Subasic, Kimberly A. : Abington Twp.
Sulzinski, Michael A. : Scranton
Sumrall, Delia A. : Clarks Summit
Sweeney, Terrence E. : Clarks Summit
Szydlowski, Steven J. : Moosic
Tamimi, Nabil A. : Clarks Green
Tischler, Len : Scranton
Toloczko, Ann Marie : East Stroudsburg
Townsend, Daniel S. : Scranton
Tripp, Jennifer A. : Dunmore
Trussler, Susan : South Abington Twp.
Tully, Patrick : Benton Twp.
Varonides, Argyrios C. : Scranton
Vinson, Joe A. : Dalton
Voltzow, Janice: Clarks Green
Wagner, Barbara R. : Covington Twp.
Waldeck, Robert F. : Scranton
Wallick, William G. : Scranton
Wasilewski, Joan M. : Clarks Summit
Wasserman, Kathleen B. : Scranton
Wenze, Gloria T. : Roaring Brook Twp.
West, Daniel J. : Covington Twp.
White, Ann A. : South Abington Twp.
Whittaker, Stephen E. : Scranton
Wilkerson, Kevin S. : Clarks Summit
Wilson, Joseph P. : Dunmore
Xiong, Zhongcheng : Clarks Green
Zaboski, Gerald C. : Wyoming
Zanzana, Habib K. : Scranton
Zych, John M. : Abington Twp.

[ScranBarre]

Total Sample: 187 Faculty Members

Abingtons: 88/187 = 47%
Scranton: 51/187 = 27%


South Abington Twp. : 2007 Pop. 9,493
Total Faculty: 38/187 = 20%


Scranton : 2007 Pop. 72,485
Total Faculty: 51/187 = 27%

I just don't get it. One out of every two faculty members from this nearly all-encompassing sample live in the Abingtons, and what is more astounding is that a township of less than 10,000 is home to 1 in 5 faculty members. What's so "special" about South Abington Twp.? ARGHHH!!! It's the bane of my existence! LOL!

[JD CSummit]

ScranBarre, i really am surprised to read about your disdain for South abington twp. What do you really have against it, and why? you know full well why the bulk of these teachers/profs live in the abingtons. if youre not aware, it could be any of the following reasons: the wage tax in any of the abington twps (EVEN WAVERLY?!) isnt as high as the city of scranton, Abington is a much better school district K-12 than Scranton or West for that matter, and maybe the biggest reason of all, in the abingtons, these profs are living with neighbors like themselves.

i know that i will be attacked for this post, but understand that im only posting my opinions on it. Im good friends with the sons of 4 of the names you listed above, so i dont feel like im talking out of my *****.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by JD CSummit

ScranBarre, i really am surprised to read about your disdain for South abington twp. What do you really have against it, and why? you know full well why the bulk of these teachers/profs live in the abingtons. if youre not aware, it could be any of the following reasons: the wage tax in any of the abington twps (EVEN WAVERLY?!) isnt as high as the city of scranton, Abington is a much better school district K-12 than Scranton or West for that matter, and maybe the biggest reason of all, in the abingtons, these profs are living with neighbors like themselves.

i know that i will be attacked for this post, but understand that im only posting my opinions on it. Im good friends with the sons of 4 of the names you listed above, so i dont feel like im talking out of my *****.

You just listed the prime reasons why I hate South Abington Township so much. Most people there are people who formerly lived in Scranton and still work there, only now they "hopped the border" and pay zilch to the city, which, in itself, now has to keep raising taxes annually on the progressively fewer and fewer bodies remaining to help maintain adequate city services, which are provided to not only city residents but all of those former residents who are now suburbanites and continue to flood into the city. I view South Abington Township as FLEECING Scranton of vitality. It is amongst the most well-educated and affluent municipalities in the entire NEPA region---just imagine if those 10,000 people still lived in Scranton, still paid taxes to Scranton, still sent their children to Scranton schools, etc. instead of segregating themselves into an upper-crust "pocket" the way they now have.

Imagine if all of these working professionals lived in Scranton around the time of the next census. Scranton's percentage of college-educated residents, median household income, etc., etc. would SPIKE, making it more attractive as a relocation destination for prospective white-collar employers (Scranton needs to stop clinging to dying industries!)

Why is Abington Heights such a "good" school district, may I ask? I'm sure it's not because all of the teachers there are magically so much better at their jobs than their colleagues in the rest of NEPA. Probably just like other "power" districts like Dallas and Crestwood the primary reason is because well-educated and upper-middle-class professional couples tend to put more pressure upon their children to exceed, demand more accountability from not only their children but from the cirriculum, and can afford any and all tutoring/prep courses that money can buy. I'm a product of Pittston Area, a "terrible" public school district if you look at the ratings, but I had some AMAZING educators who helped to launch me into the high-growth career track I'm on today in DC. However, while Pittston Area had several upper-middle-class pockets, namely in Jenkins Twp. and Pittston Twp., much of the rest of the district was lower-middle-class, and parents didn't have the money or motivation to invest as much in their children as their counterparts in Mountain Top, Dallas, and The Abingtons.

It amazes me that everyone automatically assumes that Abington Heights, Crestwood, and Dallas are "better" in regards to teachers, facilities, etc. when nothing could be further from the truth. Wealthier students perform better on the SATs than poorer students. You could go to a "bad" school district, like I did, and still turn out just fine.

I guess I just don't understand the "allure" of a place like South Abington Township. I mean, what is its focal point? Where is its downtown? How do people there identify themselves as a South Abington Township community? Perhaps if it did something else besides bleed more and more of the people Scranton needs most right now OUT of it I'd be less hostile towards it. Right now I just view every new subdivision that creeps up there as being a "threat" to the city's long-term revival.

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

No your right Commish the crime in SS has nothing to do with the hispanic community at all or any of the other minorities that live there. Its the white people from Greenridge and Glenmaura driving there and committing the crimes and then using their powers to make it look like the minorities are doing it.

That's hardly a fair representation of my argument. Hispanic immigrants certainly cause crime, but at a demonstrably lower rate than citizens. Any purported increase in crime is not related to Hispanic immigration. Immigration simply does not cause crime. This has been studied again and again. Your sarcasm, much like your attacks on the person, isn't a substitute for reasoning either.

Originally Posted by weluvpa

The crime in Hazelton was and has been directly associated with the immigrants in the city and it is the same for Scranton. Maybe you need a scanner......

I'm well aware that the crime in Hazelton has been associated with immigrants. People can associate anything with anything else to their hearts' content. It doesn't mean it's true, and in this case (as well as generally), it's not. What most people aren't aware of is that crime in Hazelton decreased at the same time thousands of immigrants moved into the city. You would be right to raise the objection that correlation does not necessarily mean causation, but it fits the general trend.

[JD CSummit]

Wait, are you seriously suggesting that the commuting workers of Scranton whether they be from the abingtons, poconos, wherever are the reasons for the outrageous wage taxes in Scranton? you cant be serious. Im sure that the taxes have nothing to do with doherty's spending initiatives, the last scranton school board and their liberal view of KOZs, or the U and all their property, right?

As for abington heights, the teachers arent magically better than those from other school districts, in fact, go to the middle school, those teachers (at least when i was there) were terrible and i hated everyday. the differences in the "good" school districts and "bad" school districts are parent involvement (PTA or other organizations) and the general concern and care those students get when they get home to mom and dad. You succeeded coming out of Pittston Area b/c you wanted to and im sure you were encouraged to do so. If every child was encouraged like im assuming you were and how i was, there would be now difference between districts other than locations. As for your SAT argument, im glad you're willing to make that statement b/c im sure as hell not. is there evidence to support that claim? sure, but lets look deeper and see howthe poor student who gets encouragement from his parents or guardians does against the rich kid who's parents dont care. i like the poor kid's chances.


My other argument is this, since when are people expected to work in the towns or cities they live in? I live in south Abington twp and work in moosic, does that make me a bad guy? am i "fleecing" moosic b/c i dont live there? If so, i owe moosic an apology i guess.