Your Ideas to Help Improve Scranton/Wilkes-Barre? (Franklin, Riverside: university, live)

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

I often wonder why people in Scranton do so much more whining, griping, and kvetching about everything as compared to the people in Wilkes-Barre. :

Honestly, I think its because people in Scranton generally care more about what is happening to their city than the people in W-B. Wilkes-Barre city appears to have more transient residents than Scranton who really do not care about the financial state of their city. I agree that some people in Scranton go too far with their ranting, raving, and personal attacks, but it is rooted in a civic pride and a desire to keep their city a nice place to live. Scrantonians, in general, care more about the future of the city. Plus, I also disagree with W-B residents having more civic pride, as most of W-B neighborhoods to me, seem to be poorly kept, while Scranton, even in poorer sections, the homes appear to be cleaner and more well-kept.

[FightinPhils]

In my drives home from work in Wilkes-Barre recently, specifically last week, when I-81 was down to one lane for emergency bridge repair, I was forced to take River Rd. home to Scranton. I have to say that I was really depressed driving home that way. The part of Luzerne County between Wilkes-Barre and Pittston was downright sad...very run down and depressed. Plains, Port Griffith, etc, made the worst parts of Scranton look appealing. The ravages of the coal industry were more evident in that area than anywhere in Lackawanna County....culm dumps everywhere, dirty run-down houses. Something needs to be done to clean up that area.

[WasPA]

^^^^You do Wilkes-Barreans an injustice. The city had been as well kept as any back in the day, civic pride galore. You forget that in addition to suffering the same economic depression experienced by Scranton and the area at large, Wilkes-Barre suffered the extraordinary losses associated with the Hurricane Agnes flooding, including loss of continuity of historic population, many of whom subsequently left for the hills.

The efforts that have been made to 'right' Wilkes-Barre have been Herculean and anything but easy to execute. Propped up by substantial colleges, new condominium proposals, streetlighting, and the various projects completed and underway including Northampton & Main, the new State Office Building and so forth, Wilkes-Barre has come a very long way.

There are businessmen in South Wilkes-Barre who are forming a business alliance to help themselves and the South Wilkes-Barre community in terms of activity, appearance and safety. That's civic pride. And I believe it is spreading to other areas of the city. People have had enough. More policing is a necessity. Hopefully, Ed Rendell will continue his inspired commitment to PA's smaller older cities to continue this sort of progress.

The culm banks of Plains Twshp., etc., also occur in Lackawanna County. There's a lot of reclamation to be done when the time is ripe.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

People there have a superiority complex and consider Dunmore to be the center of the universe. My next door neighbor in Dunmore just couldn't believe that I would want to move out of Dunmore and into Scranton.

I think Clarks Summit boasts this same geocentricity. I just came back from a finishing several hour long photo tour of the Abingtons for a few other members who asked me to do so, and I kept on getting the sense that people in Clarks Summit thought they were "better" than Scranton. Yes, your driveways may be better-adorned and your lawns may be greener, but don't think for one second that Scranton doesn't have neighborhoods that are just as nice and people who are just as well-cultured.

[DeLorean]

it's a class thing. Many people who paid more for their houses because it is in a "more exclusive" area tend to think that they are the center of the universe and that people in the less expensive areas are just lowlifes. They are of the opinion that they have raised themselves up out all that are are now superior. I think a lot of people in Dallas are the same way.

the entire Philadelphia Vs Philadelphia Suburbs is like a mega Scranton Vs Clarks summit, only on a scale most people from NEPA have no concept of...

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

In my drives home from work in Wilkes-Barre recently, specifically last week, when I-81 was down to one lane for emergency bridge repair, I was forced to take River Rd. home to Scranton. I have to say that I was really depressed driving home that way. The part of Luzerne County between Wilkes-Barre and Pittston was downright sad...very run down and depressed. Plains, Port Griffith, etc, made the worst parts of Scranton look appealing. The ravages of the coal industry were more evident in that area than anywhere in Lackawanna County....culm dumps everywhere, dirty run-down houses. Something needs to be done to clean up that area.

As the riverfront becomes more heavily-utilized for recreational purposes in the upcoming years, you'll see the 8-mile or so stretch between Wilkes-Barre and Pittston revitalizing itself. Wilkes-Barre's new River Walk project is well underway, and Pittston's Riverfront Park is well-established and the site of annual fireworks displays. A "rails-to-trails" project is supposed to link both recreational areas (although I don't know how there will be room in the riverside area around Port Blanchard and the Eighth Street Bridge). The West Side of the river has a levee-top walkway that is wildly popular with runners, power-walkers, bikers, etc., and I think the 8-mile link between Pittston and Wilkes-Barre would be even more popular due to the higher population.

I'm actually surprised that Pittston itself hasn't been able to show any sort of revitalization progress over the years. The town is midway between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre (about 15 minutes from each), yet people still avoid it like the plague. I even abandoned my Pittston 2020 revitalization project (http://www.pittston.org) due to a lack of interest from others in the community. I'm even turning my back on my own hometown, opting instead to move to Scranton in the future to raise my family, rehabilitate an older home, and open my own business. Pittston's just like the "town that time forgot." Meanwhile, neighboring Pittston Township is one of the fastest-growing communities in the county. Why?

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by DeLorean

it's a class thing. Many people who paid more for their houses because it is in a "more exclusive" area tend to think that they are the center of the universe and that people in the less expensive areas are just lowlifes. They are of the opinion that they have raised themselves up out all that are are now superior. I think a lot of people in Dallas are the same way.

the entire Philadelphia Vs Philadelphia Suburbs is like a mega Scranton Vs Clarks summit, only on a scale most people from NEPA have no concept of...

I most definitely agree with you there. People think "more money=better", which isn't always the case. You see this locally in not only Dallas and Clarks Summit, but also in Mountain Top. People think that just because they spent more money on their homes that they "deserve" to be looked upon more favorably as a result and given more respect. WRONG! When I'm at work and have to choose between two customers, what car they drive or how they're dressed has no standing on who I assist first. We're all equals in this country, whether you live in a $750,000 Abington McMansion or a $50,000 South Side fixer-upper in Scranton.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

Honestly, I think its because people in Scranton generally care more about what is happening to their city than the people in W-B. Wilkes-Barre city appears to have more transient residents than Scranton who really do not care about the financial state of their city. I agree that some people in Scranton go too far with their ranting, raving, and personal attacks, but it is rooted in a civic pride and a desire to keep their city a nice place to live. Scrantonians, in general, care more about the future of the city. Plus, I also disagree with W-B residents having more civic pride, as most of W-B neighborhoods to me, seem to be poorly kept, while Scranton, even in poorer sections, the homes appear to be cleaner and more well-kept.

I really don't know if I agree with you there. I think residents of both cities are equally-concerned about the futures of their neighborhoods. On my way home from Clarks Summit today, I decided to take a detour by driving around Scranton for a half-hour, and I couldn't help but feel inspired by everything I saw in both West Side and Downtown. I hadn't been around North Main Avenue in quite some time, and I was pleasantly surprised by the improvements I saw in terms of the streetscape and some newer businesses. It looks as if West Side's business district is finally starting to "bounce back" again, and I was pleased by what I saw. I also sauntered onto a few side streets in West Side, and I was once again impressed to see so many well-kept homes. I don't care what anybody says, but you can't deny that Downtown looks much better now than it has at any other point in my lifetime (I was born in 1986). Who cares if some of the new projects are KOZ-sponsored; visitors to our city don't know that. All they see is a city on an apparent rebound, which encourages them to further invest in the city.

You work in Wilkes-Barre, right? Do me a favor. Sometime after work on a nice day, take an hour or so to saunter around the residential areas nearer to Wilkes University. Walk beneath tree-lined streets such as Riverside, West River, South Franklin, Sheldon, Terrace, Charles, Mallery, West Ross, and South River. You'll feel like you stepped back into Green Ridge or the Upper Hill. There are liveable areas of Wilkes-Barre; the whole city isn't the ugly slum you see along Coal Street or along North River between General Hospital and the Courthouse. Unfortunately, both of those blighted arteries are the main links into town from the 'burbs, and the nicer, more well-kept areas (the one I photographed, as well as Parsons and Miners Mills), are "off-the-beaten-path" so nobody sees them. Wilkes-Barre's poised for a revival very soon.

[WasPA]

Wilkes-Barre is enjoying a 'revival.....additionally, I understood that there are two condo towers proposed for Pittston among other proposals......

This thread has gotten off track. Why does that keep happening in these forums?.....doesn't anyone have specific ideas or at least wishes for things they'd love to see take place in the area??

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

I'm actually surprised that Pittston itself hasn't been able to show any sort of revitalization progress over the years. The town is midway between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre (about 15 minutes from each), yet people still avoid it like the plague. I even abandoned my Pittston 2020 revitalization project (http://www.pittston.org) due to a lack of interest from others in the community. I'm even turning my back on my own hometown, opting instead to move to Scranton in the future to raise my family, rehabilitate an older home, and open my own business. Pittston's just like the "town that time forgot." Meanwhile, neighboring Pittston Township is one of the fastest-growing communities in the county. Why?

I will say one thing about Pittston. Its not very often that I'm even in downtown Pittston, but going through there last week, I was thinking that downtown Pittston seems to be headed in the right direction. It seems more lively than it was a few years ago....seems to be more businesses along Main St. A few years ago, Pittston reminded me of Carbondale (not a compliment), but now it seems to have a decent downtown for a city its size.