How do you want to see Scranton move forward? (Wilkes-Barre: university, wage)

[WatsonWest]

Originally Posted by blip

These threads get a little redundant, so I'll mostly just say that I'm down with all of ScranBarre's points above. Only things I'd add:


- If remotely possible, wrest control of courthouse square from the county so that the city can rebuild it as more of an urban public square and not an inhospitable collection of ugly monuments. Use it for events, e.g. the christmas lights display, farmers markets, music on first fridays in summer, etc.

I agree with both blip & ScranBarre on their points.

I was upset to see what they've been doing to courthouse square in particular. It used to be attractive & even enjoyable. I've been downtown & gotten a bite to eat & sat under a tree on the square. They tore all the trees down, moved monuments around & put concrete over most of the grass. It's bleak!
My husband & I were walking across the square a month or so ago when he realized that the curbs are now marble all around it. I thought his head would spin off. You can't drive down most of the streets in the city without damage to your vehicle (including surrounding the square), but we have marble curbs around the courthouse.

I like the neighborhood feel of Scranton, coming from a small town where the whole town WAS the neighborhood. It's a shame that it seems to be "every neighborhood for itself." One of the people interviewed on TV the other day said it well....(paraphrasing) the current mayor has done nothing for areas of Scranton other than "his." It seems that if he or some of his "people" don't reside there or it can't be shown off as window dressing it doesn't get taken care of.
I was anxious to see what Gary DiBileo could do, if would be any different. In the least, maybe Westside would get a little sprucing up.
I'm very afraid to see what the next 4 years will bring....ie closing of some of the firehouses, etc.
*sigh*

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by go phillies

If you've seen the crowds hanging around Public Square during the week waiting for the bus, you'll know why its such a joke around here. The types of riff-raff hanging around the square waiting for the buses, many of them cursing, smoking, getting into screaming matches, etc etc might be something that scares away a lot of regular working people from taking the buses.

I like to take walks on my breaks from work, but I try to avoid the Square, especially near the Kirby Center and the Anthracite newstand, because of all the yahoos that hang out there. There's more secondhand smoke there than inside a smoky bar.

Here again, you are judging the many on the actions of a few. As someone who's taken the bus for the better part of two decades, I can tell you for a fact that the majority are working people or students. Very few are wackjobs and the wackjobs you do see on the square most of them don't even take the bus in the first place. They hang out there all day long.

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008

You're right. They just did major renovations to it 2 years ago. It's not like it's a relic or something. I was there the other day for a game and I was amazed at all the empty seats. Everyone was saying 2 years ago when the Yankees came that it was such a big deal and more people would come to the games. This turned out to be false. What makes people think that they would draw more of a crowd if the stadium was closer to or in downtown Scranton? I don't think it would make a difference. Besides, I liked the team better when they were the Red Barons.

I agree. That is another reason we don't go to games. Yankees are not our "local" team. The Phillies/Barons were. I can't cheer for the Yankees. I just can't. LOL

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by Magritte25

I agree. That is another reason we don't go to games. Yankees are not our "local" team. The Phillies/Barons were. I can't cheer for the Yankees. I just can't. LOL

I'm from New York and I don't like the Yankees either. What amazes me is how the Baby Pens outdraw the Yankees. I've been a life long hockey fan and when I moved up here, hardly anyone knew anything about the sport. When I first heard that they were bringing minor league hockey here to NEPA, I thought it wasn't going to fly here. People up here love baseball, high school football and basketball. Little did I know how successful the Baby Pens would become and how they would put hockey on the map up here in NEPA.

[The Commish]

I see Scranton with a low wage tax, low mercantile tax, zero spending priorities beyond keeping itself in a distressed city status (albeit one without nice storefronts, parks, redeveloped buildings for commercial and residential use, medical colleges, etc). Whatever we do, it can't look like Manhattan, Seattle, Portland, etc or any other models of successful urban development. I would complain anonymously on online message boards to no end if any of that happened. If we're feeling profligate, then once every 35 years or so we should throw a dollar at a park in the neighborhoods.

[go phillies]

Originally Posted by WatsonWest

I like the neighborhood feel of Scranton, coming from a small town where the whole town WAS the neighborhood. It's a shame that it seems to be "every neighborhood for itself." One of the people interviewed on TV the other day said it well....(paraphrasing) the current mayor has done nothing for areas of Scranton other than "his." It seems that if he or some of his "people" don't reside there or it can't be shown off as window dressing it doesn't get taken care of.
I was anxious to see what Gary DiBileo could do, if would be any different. In the least, maybe Westside would get a little sprucing up.
I'm very afraid to see what the next 4 years will bring....ie closing of some of the firehouses, etc.
*sigh*

Especially since Doherty does not care what happens to West Side. If it becomes the ghetto, he doesn't care. He only seems to be able to find his way over to West Side around election time. He was at my polling place...I'll bet he needed a map to find his way over here to mingle with the "commoners." You know he considers himself above regular working people.

Scranton cops I've talked to have said that West Side is getting worse than South Side. And we have 4 more years of Doherty and his war on the police (and fire) departments. In most cities, police officers and firefighters are heroes, in Scranton, the mayor craps all over them and treats them like trash.

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Especially since Doherty does not care what happens to West Side. If it becomes the ghetto, he doesn't care. He only seems to be able to find his way over to West Side around election time. He was at my polling place...I'll bet he needed a map to find his way over here to mingle with the "commoners." You know he considers himself above regular working people.

Scranton cops I've talked to have said that West Side is getting worse than South Side. And we have 4 more years of Doherty and his war on the police (and fire) departments.

Doherty doesn't care about anything except his immediate neighborhood and that friggin' downtown. Like you said, if West Side became a ghetto, what would he care? He pumps money into his precious downtown, like it's some hip new age city which it will never become, and ignores public safety and the neighborhoods. Go figure that one out.

[PITTSTON2SARASOTA]

As many others have posted ,the area suffers from "image" problems. Everyone seems to only think of their own town, neighborhood etc. Except for many in this forum; most residents NEVER see the Scranton Wilkes-Barre area as one entity. Each town etc. is unwilling to give up its own political power/agenda; never thinking that for the area to move forward they need to give up the my small town attitude and maybe consolidate, into a larger city. Let's face it... if you did not see the roadsigns you cannot tell you just went through one town and are now in another...think the Wyoming Valley"s west side....Think of the money that would be saved by consolidating public services alone. Also there is a stigma with public transportation in this country....we use it here and we ain't bums or druggies!!!Funny how trains and public transportation work so effectively in Europe...once again it is public perception and those governments actually fund public transportation and do not spend all transportation funds on roads for automobiles.

[Magritte25]

I couldn't agree with your post more Pittston!

[PITTSTON2SARASOTA]

Originally Posted by Magritte25

I couldn't agree with your post more Pittston!

Scran-Barre often refers to the area as a metroplex......why not simply the Scranton Wilbes-Barre metroplex....that way no abrupt name change. Down here we have 3 cities: Sarasota, Venice and North Port containing less than one third of Sarasota county's population....everyone else are simply county residents, we do not have the huge duplication of government services like "the plex". However in Sarasota city we get double whammied...county and city taxes...however the county is forced to invest in the cities infrastructure or tha area as a whole will fail. We city residents do not like being double taxed, but the amenities being so close to us makes up for the tax differential. This is what I also mean about the political wrangling back in Pittston etc. Some areas MAY think they are overpaying or being overlooked but if the "plex" benefits than all of it's residents do also....the towns need to give up their individual agendas and move forward as a single city. (I can't believe I spelled Wilkes-Barre wrong...lol..)