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Old 05-10-2009, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,606 posts, read 77,274,241 times
Reputation: 19071

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Quote:
Originally Posted by blip View Post
I'll help you out here. I believe she was just saying that if you can build Disney World out of swamp, you could turn Scranton around. No mention of the mayor or any comparison between him and Walt.

Man, this obsession with Chris Doherty is unhealthy.
I'm by no means a fan of the mayor, but I agree that some (not just weluvpa) need to take a deep breath and realize that long after Christopher Doherty is ousted from office (potentially as soon as the end of this year if what I read on DohertyDeceit is true) the city will still be here and will still be awaiting someone visionary to help turn it around. Chris Doherty isn't the captain of the Titanic, and if the city is "sinking fast" then I wonder why many of the mayor's most vociferous critics aren't jumping ship to South Abington Township or Roaring Brook Township like many of the other quitters. I know the answer to that. It's because Scrantonians are resilient and KNOW that the city has weathered worse times than this and will rise from the ashes someday long after this mayor's term is finished. Some of the "drama" though about Mayor Doherty causing elderly people to die of heart attacks as they fear their tax bills is really in poor taste, but I digress.

Chris Doherty has some excellent ideas for revitalization but engaged in poor execution with allegations (in many cases true) of nepotism/cronyism, no-bid contracts, assigning unearned and likely undeserved massive administrative pay raises, etc. while the city was mired in red ink. As a fiscal conservative myself my stomach turns sour to think of how much money has been wasted during the incumbent mayor's tenure---money that could have instead been invested to generate additional revenues for the city---revenues that could have, in turn, been used to help offset the Draconian wage tax and attract new residential growth to the city, helping to rejuvenate city businesses and blighted properties in the process.

It is likely before too long that either the city or county will have the opportunity to enact a sales tax of their own in addition to the 6% state sales tax, and instead of trying to race to be the first to enact it to help more evenly distribute the tax burden upon everyone instead of just city residents it is likely the county will enact it first, leaving the city council unable to also enact one, lest they look oblivious to the additional simultaneous financial constraints being imposed upon their constituency by the county (i.e. since some people still complain about COUNTY TAXES at the city council podium since they are too stupid to realize that the two governing bodies are independent of one another). Contrary to some arguing with me that this is a "regressive" tax that more unfairly burdens the lower-class also realize that each dollar of city sales tax revenue raised would go towards reducing the city wage tax, hence making it more or less a "wash," but assigning MORE of the burden of maintaining the city upon ALL who use it---suburbanites, tourists, and residents alike. This is just one shining example of inaction on behalf of the current city administration, even though this is one of the several ideas I've pitched (apparently Janet Evans liked my "pay-for-stay" proposal for city universities well enough to sit on it until now when she used it for her own political advantage, but I digress).

It pains me, it really does, to have to move away and feel like I'm "giving up" on the city, but not only am I powerless to have the ideas in my head work towards benefiting the city's residents because I'm not one myself, but also even if I WERE to move into the city limits I'd still not be given the time of day because:

1.) I'm young so I must be naive and know nothing; therefore my ideas are invalid (i.e. those automatically slamming 18-year-old Doug Miller before he even opens his mouth even though some of his ideas and platforms, which I disagree with quite often, demonstrate he's intellectually superior to many of those who call him names unprovoked on DohertyDeceit).

2.) I'm a newcomer so since I wasn't nailed to the cross for my ENTIRE life as a city resident my opinions are less valid than those who were born and raised there. Only a "true" Scrantonian knows what's best for the city, and everyone else should just butt out.

3.) The current city administration just doesn't care. Even Janet Evans, the only one most city residents think DOES care due to her self-serving diatribes in which she'll throw everyone else in front of a speeding bus in order to make herself look more appealing, never responds to any of my ideas (except for the one she apparently sat on until the debate the other evening where my jaw just dropped out of my feeling of betrayal). She's just posturing weekly to keep herself in office (and I can guarantee she'll be re-elected this year too because most can't see through the "act").
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Old 05-10-2009, 10:56 AM
 
Location: Idiocracy
904 posts, read 2,045,855 times
Reputation: 370
Quote:
Originally Posted by weluvpa View Post
Blip you have NOTHING to compare the Doherty admin to, nothing at all.
Uh, I'll help you out here, too. I wasn't comparing Doherty to anyone either.

Please take this ranting back to the political thread.
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Old 05-10-2009, 11:14 AM
 
8 posts, read 25,462 times
Reputation: 12
was there any rendering of what the building will look like?

...the people make a neighborhood, not the mayor. Start a Neighborhood Watch, build relationships with the people living around you. Step up your own act and watch your community get safer instead of waiting for someone else to do it for you.
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Old 05-10-2009, 11:16 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,606 posts, read 77,274,241 times
Reputation: 19071
Quote:
Originally Posted by blip View Post
Uh, I'll help you out here, too. I wasn't comparing Doherty to anyone either.

Please take this ranting back to the political thread.
Dan has the right to speak his mind, and he has been unfairly shut out by the city's administration for years, hence his growing frustrations. Unlike him, however, I don't dwell upon what Doherty is or is not doing because there's a light at the end of the tunnel (or so many in Scranton may think), and quite frankly, I think that once Gary DiBileo is elected and after his first four years the city STILL isn't any more "progressive" due to his apparent inability and fear to take any risks, people will wake up and realize that sitting around for years waiting for a MAYOR to fix the city after having three sub-par mayors in a row isn't going to be a viable solution since the candidates available (an elitist snob, a wishy-washy insurance salesman who can never give a STRAIGHT answer, and a prior convicted felon) are all incapable of possessing enough leadership, values, and vision to get people "excited" about the city again.

Look at Wilkes-Barre. While the Diamond City in 2009 is "Homicide Heaven" it is also moving forward with a plethora of impressive new projects currently under construction or just being unveiled, and the residents there, by and large (including at least FIVE on this forum alone) are generally optimistic about the future. Remember several years ago all of the local media hype when Mayor Leighton told everyone he was soon going to be announcing the "biggest thing in Wilkes-Barre's history?" Even people in Scranton were curious about what was going on in their sister city. Was this to be Wilkes-Barre landing the Olympics games? A Hard Rock Cafe? A new headquarters for Microsoft? No. All it was was an uplifting speech and a new slogan, "I Believe," which has stuck in the minds of many in the city of Wilkes-Barre. Scranton, in contrast, is a much, much SAFER city, and yet people there overwhelmingly spout sour grapes attitudes due to leadership that has been unable to rally people behind the common cause of advancing the city. While Wilkes-Barre is going to have a great 2009 and 2010 for the completion of many exciting new projects despite its terrible violent crime rate, Scranton has now hit a "plateau" and likely will undergo another "identity crisis" very shortly while intellectual capital such as myself and most of my friends who were INDEED once considering a move into Scranton move out of the state, tired of Scranton wasting valuable time on revitalization as they bicker amongst themselves pettily while the city just implodes around them. I warned people in 2006 that negativity will become infectious, and without a doubt it has now by 2009, as I encounter twice as many Wilkes-Barre proponents as Scranton proponents in my regular visits to each city, even though one would assume Scranton, with a much higher population, would have the greater level of "boosterism."

Perhaps this is because the position of Wilkes-Barre mayor pays a respectable $80,000 while the position of Scranton mayor pays a deplorable $50,000?
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Old 05-10-2009, 01:11 PM
 
Location: Sheeptown, USA
3,236 posts, read 6,628,520 times
Reputation: 907
How can one even compare the great Walt Disney with Chris Doherty? At least Walt created something cherished by millions. What has Doherty created that has any merit?
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Old 05-10-2009, 01:28 PM
 
Location: Idiocracy
904 posts, read 2,045,855 times
Reputation: 370
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
Dan has the right to speak his mind
Well, he doesn't have the right on here if it violates the terms. Either way, I have the right to ask to keep the conversation on track.

I'm not trying to suppress anyone's political voice , even if it's a painful monotone.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
and he has been unfairly shut out by the city's administration for years
I cannot understand why that'd be.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
Look at Wilkes-Barre. ... the residents there, by and large (including at least FIVE on this forum alone) are generally optimistic about the future.
I think most Scranton residents on this board are optimistic, but tempered by some realism. I can only think of two purely pessimistic posters--shouldn't let them color your opinion so much about the residents.
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Old 05-10-2009, 01:29 PM
 
Location: Idiocracy
904 posts, read 2,045,855 times
Reputation: 370
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008 View Post
How can one even compare the great Walt Disney with Chris Doherty? At least Walt created something cherished by millions. What has Doherty created that has any merit?
OMG, you and weluv are the only ones comparing Walt and Chris. AGGGHHHGHGH.
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Old 05-10-2009, 01:46 PM
 
Location: Idiocracy
904 posts, read 2,045,855 times
Reputation: 370
Going back a few posts, and speaking of optimism+realism, I share shoegal's optimism, but do think there needs to be a touch more realism when bringing up cities like Seattle.

Seattle has important geographical reasons to exist, and even Disney World has the weather to attract tourists. Scranton doesn't have much of a geographical reason to exist any more. It's not on a major travel line (though it may have a future as a 3rd-tier regional trucking hub, I suppose). Its biggest natural commodity (coal) is flooded and generally unwanted these days. And. there are plenty of small bombed-out cities that are much more accessible to NYC and Philly.

I think one of the best things that could happen (beyond even getting a super-duper mayor, of course) would be geting high-speed rail from NYC to Toronto to go through here. That's the kind of transformative force that could really change the economics here. Any high-speed rail is a long way off, and there may be more reasons to run it on the longer proposed route through Albany, so I've already tempered my excitement for such an idea with said realism.

I think this city/region will gradually turn around without something like that, but it'd be great to have some real compelling geographical raison d'etre.
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Old 05-10-2009, 01:54 PM
 
947 posts, read 1,635,843 times
Reputation: 415
Quote:
Originally Posted by blip View Post
I'll help you out here. I believe she was just saying that if you can build Disney World out of swamp, you could turn Scranton around. No mention of the mayor or any comparison between him and Walt.

Man, this obsession with Chris Doherty is unhealthy.
I'll second that blip. Geez, if you took that negative Doherty energy and used it in a positive manner can you image????...

weluvpa- If you read an entire post of mine then you would know that my company reorganized and was transferred back to the east coast so I had a few choices of where I wanted to live based on our business. I chose Scranton because of my family and it's proximity to NYC. I could have chosen a host of other cities like Philly (could not get past the bad habit of everyone spitting, yuck).
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Old 05-10-2009, 01:55 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,606 posts, read 77,274,241 times
Reputation: 19071
Quote:
Originally Posted by shoegal111 View Post
(could not get past the bad habit of everyone spitting, yuck).
EWWW!!! What do women find so "attractive" about guys like that?
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