How do young people meet new friends when they move to the area? (deal, room)

[smalltowngirl12]

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.

Sorry, WB Proud, the only reason I mentioned W-B is because it was brought up. I, personally, wouldn't recommend Scranton either but I am not a big fan of either city - probably because I grew up in a town smaller than Tunkhannock.

There was a time, I loved to go to Wilkes Barre (when my mother used to go to the Sterling for Union meetings), I would love to walk around the Square and look around but not any more. And Scranton, I just stay far away from there!

It is true that there are problems all through the Valley - even in our small town's like Exeter, Pittston, West Pittston and the list goes on and on....

It seems that the more drugs that are brought into our area the worse it gets and I don't know what our local cops can do to change it. Until then, I would just prefer to stay out of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton - especially once the sun goes down.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by smalltowngirl12

Sorry, WB Proud, the only reason I mentioned W-B is because it was brought up. I, personally, wouldn't recommend Scranton either but I am not a big fan of either city - probably because I grew up in a town smaller than Tunkhannock.

There was a time, I loved to go to Wilkes Barre (when my mother used to go to the Sterling for Union meetings), I would love to walk around the Square and look around but not any more. And Scranton, I just stay far away from there!

And what exactly scares you about these "big cities??" Especially now that we've cleared up that you're just as likely to find drugs and be a crime victim in a small town as you are in our local cities. Is it the fact that you see some darker faces in W-B and Scranton?

People don't want to admit it, but racism is alive and well around here. Usually when someone says they are repulsed by Wilkes-Barre or Scranton, they really mean that there's black people and hispanic people there and they feel uncomfortable around them.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by smalltowngirl12

It is true that there are problems all through the Valley - even in our small town's like Exeter, Pittston, West Pittston and the list goes on and on....

Its not just the valley. I'd actually argue that the bigger drug dens are the small, middle-of-nowhere rural towns. Places like Nicholson, Tunkannock, Towanda, etc are overrun with drugs, especially meth labs. Bradford County has been called the "meth capital" of the nation. Nothing else to do up there, I guess.

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by go phillies

And what exactly scares you about these "big cities??" Especially now that we've cleared up that you're just as likely to find drugs and be a crime victim in a small town as you are in our local cities. Is it the fact that you see some darker faces in W-B and Scranton?

People don't want to admit it, but racism is alive and well around here. Usually when someone says they are repulsed by Wilkes-Barre or Scranton, they really mean that there's black people and hispanic people there and they feel uncomfortable around them.

That was awesome.

[tofulovinvegan]

i think it would be good if your daughter went to some of the places people mentioned... she should hang out at places that she likes, like does she like to bowl? go to movies? go shopping? play sports? go to museums? and she can try and make friends on facebook, and just make sure a friend or someone is with her if she does decide to meet them.

or she can go to a college library i love libraries. i'm in my young 20s and my sister is too, she might be moving out there to the scranton area and she is wondering how she is going to make friends too. i guess it can be hard when you're not in school to make new friends... but my dad always said: if you want to be friends with someone, tell them, go upto them, talk to them... don't wait for them to come to you, because who knows how long that can take, they might be wondering the same thing as you...

so i always try too...

as far as racism, i think racism is alive and well in all places, not just cities, small towns too... i find that small towns can be more prejudice and judgemental because they're a community, but it isn't always the case, and sometimes cities can be scary to some people who prefer rural-suburban areas... maybe a crime rates or other reasons deter the person... it isn't always racism that deters someone from a city and it's kind of judgemental to assume that, and racism is kind of in the same category of judgeing and it's all wrong.

[smalltowngirl12]

Originally Posted by go phillies

And what exactly scares you about these "big cities??" Especially now that we've cleared up that you're just as likely to find drugs and be a crime victim in a small town as you are in our local cities. Is it the fact that you see some darker faces in W-B and Scranton?

People don't want to admit it, but racism is alive and well around here. Usually when someone says they are repulsed by Wilkes-Barre or Scranton, they really mean that there's black people and hispanic people there and they feel uncomfortable around them.

OMG, I hope you were only making a joke when you made the remark about the "dark faces" but something makes me think you weren't.

I never said I was "repulsed" by Wilkes-Barre or Scranton, I just do not feel as safe in either place, like I do when I walk through the smaller towns around here. And, yes, I know there are drugs throughout these areas too but the drug addicts aren't hanging on street corners of the smaller towns - like they do in the "big cities" It has nothing to do with the blacks, Hispanic's or any other nationality I may run across - it has to do with the drug activity. I don't care what nationality they are, if they are using drugs and hanging out on the streets - to me, they are looking for trouble and I just don't want to be around when it happens.

I don't think that is wrong, just playing it safe.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by smalltowngirl12

OMG, I hope you were only making a joke when you made the remark about the "dark faces" but something makes me think you weren't.

I never said I was "repulsed" by Wilkes-Barre or Scranton, I just do not feel as safe in either place, like I do when I walk through the smaller towns around here. And, yes, I know there are drugs throughout these areas too but the drug addicts aren't hanging on street corners of the smaller towns - like they do in the "big cities" It has nothing to do with the blacks, Hispanic's or any other nationality I may run across - it has to do with the drug activity. I don't care what nationality they are, if they are using drugs and hanging out on the streets - to me, they are looking for trouble and I just don't want to be around when it happens.

I don't think that is wrong, just playing it safe.

I live smack dab in the middle of Scranton and I don't see drug addicts hanging around the corners. Although I did have my car window smashed and was robbed by a drug addict in the seemingly "Mayberry" town of Jermyn. And in the newer housing development I lived in as a kid in a small town in the area, I had a neighbor who died of a drug overdose in his house. I never had these experiences living in Scranton....and I also work in Wilkes-Barre.

You really need to open up your eyes if you think Scranton and Wilkes-Barre have street corners loaded with junkies, while the small towns are just like Leave it to Beaver... Neither of these cities are South Central LA, North Philly, or the Bronx, you know. And if you don't think there's drugs in your little town, you're delusional.

[smalltowngirl12]

Originally Posted by go phillies

I live smack dab in the middle of Scranton and I don't see drug addicts hanging around the corners. Although I did have my car window smashed and was robbed by a drug addict in the seemingly "Mayberry" town of Jermyn. And in the newer housing development I lived in as a kid in a small town in the area, I had a neighbor who died of a drug overdose in his house. I never had these experiences living in Scranton....and I also work in Wilkes-Barre.

You really need to open up your eyes if you think Scranton and Wilkes-Barre have street corners loaded with junkies, while the small towns are just like Leave it to Beaver... Neither of these cities are South Central LA, North Philly, or the Bronx, you know. And if you don't think there's drugs in your little town, you're delusional.

I am far from delusional - like I have stated before, I know there are drugs all through this Valley, even in the little town I grew up in.

[memoriesbre]

My goodness why does a simple question have to turn into a debate all the time ? Stuff happens everywhere! There are plenty of good things to doin Tunkhannock and other small as well as big towns. My daughter has the common sense to know who she would like to make friends with. There are plenty of nice younger people in Tunkhannock. The suggestion of walking up to a nice peerson is a good one. Thank you! As far as all this negative talk, I just can't believe how some of you think!

[memoriesbre]

Update: Facebook is a good place to meet friends as well as Myspace. My daughter has met a few nice people already! Thanks again for the good ideas.