How do young people meet new friends when they move to the area? (Scranton: crime rate, movies)

[nkotb]

Your right Tunk. is not as bad as W.B. only because its a smaller town !! As a past employee of Shadowbrook, its a world of its own !!! Some of the 20 something employees do drugs in the restrooms !! I have seen these kids so bad their eyes aren't even open. I have seen the bar crowd doing things in the parking lot that should only be done in a bedroom, and the young guys from the bar urinate in the parking lot !!!!! I have never seen anyone mugged or shot !!!

[smalltowngirl12]

Originally Posted by nkotb

Your right Tunk. is not as bad as W.B. only because its a smaller town !! As a past employee of Shadowbrook, its a world of its own !!! Some of the 20 something employees do drugs in the restrooms !! I have seen these kids so bad their eyes aren't even open. I have seen the bar crowd doing things in the parking lot that should only be done in a bedroom, and the young guys from the bar urinate in the parking lot !!!!! I have never seen anyone mugged or shot !!!

You see all this and more in WB! I'll admit, it has been years since I have done the bar scene but, from what I am told by friends, the only thing you still need to watch for are the cops sitting outside the bars - just waiting for people to get in there cars and drive. That has been a ongoing racket of their's for years.

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by smalltowngirl12

You see all this and more in WB! I'll admit, it has been years since I have done the bar scene but, from what I am told by friends, the only thing you still need to watch for are the cops sitting outside the bars - just waiting for people to get in there cars and drive. That has been a ongoing racket of their's for years.

Wow! What part of W-B have you been in! I've been living in this city for my entire life, and I have never once been mugged or shot. It is not America's best city, but you make it sound like Detroit or something. Wilkes-Barre is a city, and just like all other cities, there is crime and drugs. Even beautiful, ideal Tunkhannock has these problems. Drugs are everywhere... small towns and big cities. It much more depends on what kind of crowd you hang out with that determines if you'll be exposed to drugs or not. As far as shootings and murder, Wilkes-Barre's violent crime rate has been on the decline for a few years now, and was so low last year that Scranton (which for whatever reason doesn't get the bad rap that W-B gets) surpassed W-B in homicides. So if you want to pick on a city about shootings and muggings, why not pick on Scranton? It's not fair to single Wilkes-Barre out! I'm sick of people associating W-B with drugs, and violence while ignoring the fact that all the other cities in our region have similar problems. Why does W-B always have to be the scapegoat for our region's problems. There are bad parts of town that should be avoided, and there are good parts of town that probably haven't had a serious crime in 50 years. JUST LIKE ANY OTHER AREA CITY!!! I'm tired of the entire city being painted as the "badlands" of NEPA. It's not true, and if you spent ant amount of time here you'd know that.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by nkotb

Your right Tunk. is not as bad as W.B. only because its a smaller town !! As a past employee of Shadowbrook, its a world of its own !!! Some of the 20 something employees do drugs in the restrooms !! I have seen these kids so bad their eyes aren't even open. I have seen the bar crowd doing things in the parking lot that should only be done in a bedroom, and the young guys from the bar urinate in the parking lot !!!!! I have never seen anyone mugged or shot !!!

I agree. People think that the cities are just drug dens and that the small towns are just like Mayberry. Nothing is further from the truth. The small towns have just as much of a problem with drugs as the cities....I would guess it might be worse with younger people doing drugs in rural areas than in cities just because its boring in the middle of nowhere.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by smalltowngirl12

the only thing you still need to watch for are the cops sitting outside the bars - just waiting for people to get in there cars and drive. That has been a ongoing racket of their's for years.

Why is that a "racket?" If you're not driving drunk, then you have nothing to worry about. If you are driving drunk, then you're breaking the law and should be pulled over. Its not a racket at all.

[loveinbloom]

Originally Posted by memoriesbre

My daughter has moved up and is living with us. She needs to make some friends here. She is in her early 20's and works in a small office with only 5 people!! How the heck can we get her to meet new people her own age?

My son is in the same situation! His job is not really an environment to meet anyone...I am hoping when he starts college in the fall he will have some luck!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by W-B proud

Wow! What part of W-B have you been in! I've been living in this city for my entire life, and I have never once been mugged or shot. It is not America's best city, but you make it sound like Detroit or something. Wilkes-Barre is a city, and just like all other cities, there is crime and drugs. Even beautiful, ideal Tunkhannock has these problems. Drugs are everywhere... small towns and big cities. It much more depends on what kind of crowd you hang out with that determines if you'll be exposed to drugs or not. As far as shootings and murder, Wilkes-Barre's violent crime rate has been on the decline for a few years now, and was so low last year that Scranton (which for whatever reason doesn't get the bad rap that W-B gets) surpassed W-B in homicides. So if you want to pick on a city about shootings and muggings, why not pick on Scranton? It's not fair to single Wilkes-Barre out! I'm sick of people associating W-B with drugs, and violence while ignoring the fact that all the other cities in our region have similar problems. Why does W-B always have to be the scapegoat for our region's problems. There are bad parts of town that should be avoided, and there are good parts of town that probably haven't had a serious crime in 50 years. JUST LIKE ANY OTHER AREA CITY!!! I'm tired of the entire city being painted as the "badlands" of NEPA. It's not true, and if you spent ant amount of time here you'd know that.

The only time I was ever the victim of a crime was when the contents of my wallet (and several other students' wallets for that matter) were stolen during our high school gym class in the suburbs. I lost about $200 in cash that day---money I was going to use to head right up to Sarno & Sons in Scranton after school to rent a tuxedo with (and then had to make a detour to the ATM instead).

Have I ever felt at unease in Wilkes-Barre? Yes, on multiple occasions. Let me preface this by saying I have several African-American friends whose respect and trust I value dearly, but when I'm walking alone around Wilkes-Barre at night and see a group of young African-American males approaching me I begin to tense up worse than Sen. McCain on election night. I have noticed that since the new street lighting system was installed that I feel much more secure when my friends and I want to hit up the Diamond City for a "night out on the town" (Rodano's, Barnes & Noble, Cinema 14, Kirby Center, etc.) Mayor Leighton has also beefed up the city's nighttime police patrols downtown to help deter criminal activity, which has also helped to lure the once fearful suburbanites back into town after dark.

Yes, Wilkes-Barre did have fewer homicides than Scranton in 2008, but let's also not forget that three of Scranton's murders occurred at the same time in a domestic situation. Only one homicide last year was completely at random---the elderly man whose throat was slit in broad daylight downtown for no apparent reason. Most murders in NEPA in general are either related to domestic disputes or hanging around with "the wrong crowd" and getting the worst of it. If you're a law-abiding citizen who keeps your house in order, your chances of being shot or stabbed at random in either Scranton or Wilkes-Barre are probably about as likely as our nation seeing a 4% unemployment rate next month.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

The only time I was ever the victim of a crime was when the contents of my wallet (and several other students' wallets for that matter) were stolen during our high school gym class in the suburbs

Same here. I was robbed once....in Jermyn. In my years of living in Scranton and working in Wilkes-Barre, I've never been a crime victim.

[Gerania]

I was a crime victim twice in Wilkes-Barre... in the 70's.

Someone mentioned a hiking club in an earlier post; Paul brought up the book club. That's the sort of thing that you need to do, at least at first. The club or activity could center around any interest, but there will be regular meetings, like minded people, you might get some contact numbers. You might also have to try three or four different groups before you find one which fits and you make a friend. At the very least, you have somewhere to go and something to do at least once in a while.

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

The Commish has been prowling around for a girl (hint, hint!)

Very true.

I'm a taken man, now, though. Can't be flirting with every short skirt that walks by. Gotta repress 200,000 years of modern human evolution and act damn civilized. I try. I try.