"Wall Street West" in NEPA - Where is it being built?

[Sean M. Donahue]

Where are all the Wall Street jobs in NEPA, Wilkes Barre and Scranton that Susan Shaffer, Sandi Vito, Jim Ryan and any number of Career Link employees have been trained to talk about? If I were a CEO of a large NYC I-Bank (what we now call bank holding companies), I would never move my NYC support offices away from NYC. It would be too politically unpopular. No one involved in WSW ever truly expected NYC firms to relocate to NEPA.

However, they did know that as long as there is a desire by the public to be fed such fluff, then state and federal legislators would approve large taxpayer funded grants to study and explore such dreamy ideas. In the end, any real estate that is built will be desperate for renters and, at best, local CPA's and single lawyer law practices may be willing to rent out the space. The WSW project is yet another gross waste of your tax dollars.

But look on the bright side. Those in the right social circles were able to get government grant funded paychecks for several years and still do today. So, you pay tax and they live off of your money. Now that WSW has led to nothing, we will eventually see the very same people get the dirty and grubby hands on another grant and pay themselves a nice salary from that for the next ten years. You are foolish citizen if you ever support government funded economic development. It breeds the same corrupt activities that occur in any socialist system. A few get their hands on the tax money paid by the majority. Further, the system then becomes one where you cannot enter the free market and hope to compete without being backed by the government. The end result is that the least intelligent and least capable people end up decided the economic future of everyone else and the working class people of the world get stuck paying for it.

YOU are FOOLISH, FOOLISH, FOOLISH for even supporting the idea of WSW. You are even more FOOLISH for supporting it now, after it has accomplished nothing other than line of the pockets of the people involved, all of whom are of questionable intelligence and ability. They are nothing more then fluffy PR people.

[weluvpa]

I agree...

[scrantonluna]

Wow, out of nowhere....

My understanding as to the WSW project is that PA was
found to be too deficient in the infrastructure necessary
to support such a thing.

Why that could not be determined prior to the project even
being announced is beyond me.

[mathjak107]

well if we all wondered why big business dosent come to nepa here are the reasons cited for not coming here. all are pretty much nepa's poor infrastructure for supporting medium to large companies.


no available sizeable buildings availaible without starting from scratch building one. companies who were interested in opening offices here said they want to be in their location in no more than 90 days, not 1-2 years building a place.


lack of capacity in electrical grids for huge hvac equipment and computers.

lack of sewers and sewage treatment plants,,, i guess a cesspool or septic tank is out of the question for 500 people.

zoning issues every which way they looked.

lack of support business's like having a staples near bye without having an employee drive 30 miles back and forth.

lack of professional services businesses needed

lack of support such as eateries. imagine 500 employees going to some local diner.

lack of public transportation

to many one lane roads making getting around tough , if grandma goes out for a drive 1/2 the work force can be late.

looks like nepa is pretty much resigned to its number 1 industry tourism

[ScranBarre]

Now does anyone in Scranton think the "Brain Drain" is important? Not only have I, one of the region's long-time vocal proponents, abandoned Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for greener (MUCH greener) economic pastures down South, but every week I'm learning of another educated peer of mine that's also packing his or her bags and fleeing. People like Bob Bolus might not care that our area can't retain college graduates (after all, according to him the medical college is just a waste of taxable real estate), but someday you'll HAVE to do something to ebb this continuous revolving door of fresh, talented, energetic, young, educated people OUT of the region only to be replaced by empty-nesters and semi-retirees from NJ/NYC.

I feel especially betrayed here. Rob Mericle (the man whom I hope is NEXT to fall flat on his face in the never-ending political scandals of Luzerne County) lied to me several years ago when I politely questioned what influence, if any, that Wall Street West would have upon his then-proposed Center Point project along I-81/I-476 just outside of Pittston. We were at a monthly meeting of the Pittston Township supervisors, and I introduced myself as a township resident who was furthering his education and would love to raise my family here someday, perhaps seeking employment in his park. He ASSURED me that he was very familiar with Wall Street West and was actively and aggressively marketing Center Point for that very purpose, as Center Point would be "selective" in what tenants would be permitted to establish themselves; there would only be "quality" employers. Several years later now what does Pittston Twp. have? A bunch of massive distribution centers and flex buildings, increased truck traffic, terrible rush-hour congestion along Route 315 in some stretches, and an abundance of jobs paying probably $10/hr.-$12/hr. and in the $25,000/year range. Yes, that is most definitely going to retain MANY white-collar college graduates let me tell you! I've always dreamed of unloading tractor-trailers all day and crushing pallets with forklifts with my MBA!

There's just very little professional white-collar opportunity to be had in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and until that changes you're going to continue to see graduates fleeing like bats out of hell every May/June as they wave good-bye to NEPA in their rear view mirrors---in many cases permanently (as I myself don't know if I'll ever return).