Northeastern PennsylvaniaScranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area
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Call or write to Lackawanna College. They have been
granted permission to use the old Nay Aug Zoo for both
classroom and hands-on learning purposes. I'm sure they
would appreciate input into what people would find beneficial.
Thanks for the suggestion...I will do exactly that tomorrow...any idea on who to call? If you, don't no worries...I will get someone to point me in the correct direction~
Thanks for the suggestion...I will do exactly that tomorrow...any idea on who to call? If you, don't no worries...I will get someone to point me in the correct direction~
You may also want to contact the Everhart Museum. They run a lot of programs for children.
I hear you, but you could link to the old threads/posts yourself instead of retyping it all if you didn't want to. They're actually kinda hard to find, but I dug up what I think was the most recent:
Re: all the neighborhoods vs downtown crap on these boards, it's not an either/or. A lot of the people from outside the city only go downtown, some people in the neighborhoods never go downtown. I patronize both Westside's businesses and downtown roughly equally, and want both to do well and offer more. I see their fates as intertwined--there's only a half mile separating them... Same for Southside's commercial strip and The Hill's (if you can call Mulberry a commercial strip).
I like shoegal's ideas above. In addition to that and my post in the other thread, I'd add dispersing the farmers market to various locations in the city (neighborhood centers and downtown). The current location does very little for the city.
Another idea-- a shopping-local campaign might be good-- two times the money stays in the local community as when you shop at a chain. Shopping: Keeping it local | The Economist
I would like to see the Farmers Market in other areas in Scranton. The downtown area does need help in stores. I would like to see more clothing stores that I would be able to shop in. I really only go to Boscovs and a few other stores in the mall but there are not many clothing stores that cater to a more mature taste (not teen clothes). They need a big name store there to help them get more business. Is there a Century 21 store here, thats always a big draw in NYC. They sell designer for less. Homegoods is another great store. There are none up this way and I know so many people that would go out of their way to shop at Homegoods. Ikea is another store that I dont see here.
Status:
"Pittsburgh: America's Most Livable City"
(set 26 days ago)
Location: Polish Hill, Pittsburgh, PA
23,794 posts, read 37,092,704 times
Reputation: 9125
My Two Cents
This topic has been discussed ad nauseum to the point of near-exhaustion on multiple occasions in the past, but thanks to more aggressive moderation I'm hopeful the vicious politically-charged personal attacks will ebb to permit this particular thread to thrive.
I have numerous suggestions for what I'd like to see done in Scranton by the time I consider moving back to NEPA around 2020 to open my own business venture. Some of these include:
1.) Build a new minor-league baseball stadium in/near Downtown Scranton. As of right now this may be an unthinkable proposal given the national economic crisis (that has thankfully just started to turn a corner) and the fact that the existing 20-year-old stadium CAN be "propped up" relatively inexpensively for at least several years into the future, but I firmly believe that at some point in the 2010s a new stadium SHOULD be considered within walking distance of the downtown proper of Scranton. I can already envision a few new stores and restaurants springing up around it with some people opting to patronize downtown businesses before/after the game to avoid the mad rush of traffic in/out on game evenings. A parking garage should be attached to this stadium in lieu of surface parking, which is just a waste of space, in my humble opinion.
By the way, what was the "rationale" behind building the stadium out in the middle of nowhere, anyways? Unless you live in Glenmaura, Glendale, or Belin Village it's really not "convenient" to anyone.
2.) Rejuvenate the Lackawanna River. While vacationing in Providence several years ago I fondly recall sitting on concrete steps at an amphitheater along the river to watch a free Celtic concert while gondolas passed by on the river, which was lit by large fire lanterns, to create a very romantic setting. I'll have to defer to weluvpa or NEPA-x-pat on this one since I'm generally clueless about the river, but if dredging the river was an option then this could very well be feasible on a smaller scale right here in Scranton---a city half the size of Providence that could probably have a great asset half the size as well.
3.) Move the farmers' market downtown. I never have understood the rationale behind having the city's very popular farmers' market way out in a far-flung area near Providence Road instead of on Courthouse Square in the heart of the city. Wilkes-Barre's weekly farmers' market always attracted THOUSANDS of people, many of whom bolstered the bottom lines of nearby businesses every Thursday. I personally loved strolling down from King's College with friends to sample some of the wares there before patronizing downtown businesses. This would have a VERY positive impact upon the downtown business district for Scranton as well.
4.) Rejuvenate the sidewalks/streetscapes. I agree with others who feel embarrassed that Scranton has so many areas with no sidewalks, broken sidewalks, sidewalks made of MACADAM instead of concrete, uneven sidewalks, dirty sidewalks, etc. Visitors see this and assume that people take very little pride in their city. I'm not saying every little nook and cranny of the city needs a revamp, but period lighting, benches, rubbish/recycling bins, hanging floral baskets, business banners, etc. in the downtown area and along MAJOR commercial arteries in the city (Main Avenue in Hyde Park comes to mind), would be a boon. Certainly there is grant money available for this (it funded the projects in Wilkes-Barre and Pittston, which was also helped by casino money).
5.) Bring a bookstore downtown. I hope the Borders in Dickson City seriously considers a move to Downtown Scranton. The Barnes & Noble/Starbuck's complex in Downtown Wilkes-Barre has proven itself to be a huge draw for other parts of the city, and I'm sure something similar in Scranton would be great as well.
6.) Strengthen focus on architectural heritage tourism. One thing I miss most about Scranton is the JAW-DROPPING architecture. My little invisible tail would wag uncontrollably as I did my photo tours of Green Ridge and The Hill as I marveled at the grand turrets, wraparound porches, ornate columns, etc. all around me. The problem? People visiting Steamtown, the trolley museum, the coal mine tour, etc. have no idea that these neighborhoods even exist, let alone are replete with such treasures. I'd like to see directional signage attached to streetlight poles to direct tourists to new "heritage districts" that can be based upon architectural OR cultural/ethnic significance. Self-guided walking tour brochures would be available at the NEW downtown tourism center, and open houses would be held more frequently to invite people from all over to tour the gracious interiors of these finely-crafted historic homes---the likenesses of which could never be replicated in today's sterile suburban subdivisions in South Abington.
7.) Move the county's visitors' center downtown. Was this yet another bone-headed move by Bob Cordaro to build the county's tourism center in suburbia instead of in the heart of one of the state's most significant and heart-warming cities? I'd like to see the old Central NJ Freight Terminal near the river renovated to house a new visitors' center with all sorts of interactive features.
8.) Open up a new "The Office" Museum. Everywhere I go people smile and say "DUNDER-MIFFLIN!!!" when I tell them my hometown is Scranton, PA. Whether you like the show or not you'd have to be foolish to not notice just how famous Scranton is becoming on a national scale thanks to the success of this sitcom. Why not give the numerous people who flood off I-81 to take stupid pictures of the "Welcome to Scranton" sign at the Steamtown Mall something MORE to see with a small museum that would feature props from the show, exhibits about the "behind the scenes" aspects of the series, and random visits from cast members and writers alike? Scranton is within a two-hour drive of tens of millions of potential tourists. Why not capitalize upon that?
9.) Change the ATTITUDE PROBLEM that most in Scranton seem to harbor. The "Scranton sucks" image is known FAR beyond the boundaries of the Electric City, and I feel as if this is largely unwarranted. So half the city hates its mayor with an undying passion. NOBODY CARES. Half the cities in this nation are led by idiots, and yet the vast majority of those people find other reasons to show love for their city besides throwing their hands up in the air saying "all hope is lost." Take Pittston as a prime example, where the most recent mayor quit on primary election night after throwing a temper tantrum after being ousted after one term of doing absolutely NOTHING to help the city. There WILL be a "Post-Doherty Era" someday for those of you who despise the man, and instead of wallowing around NOW why not sit and plan for the future of when that DOES come to fruition? Wilkes-Barre was led by a dolt (Mayor McGroarty) for numerous years, and now they've been blessed by a DECENT mayor. Your turn will come as well, Scrantonians. I don't know what four more years of whining will do to help move the city forward.
Status:
"Pittsburgh: America's Most Livable City"
(set 26 days ago)
Location: Polish Hill, Pittsburgh, PA
23,794 posts, read 37,092,704 times
Reputation: 9125
Quote:
Originally Posted by blip
Shoot, couldn't rep you.. So instead I complete your list:
10) Scran for Mayor in 2020
Thanks, but no thanks! I have a lot of WONDERFUL ideas to help resolve the city's long-standing financial duress and to get people EXCITED about living in Scranton again, but people in Scranton generally tend to have a very unhealthy obsession with politics. NOBODY has a 100% approval rating, no matter how popular some of their ideas may be, and in my case I wouldn't want a 65% approval rating with some of the other 35% going on another vile message board to make fun of my family, call me fat, poke fun at my sexual orientation, lurk in the bushes outside of my childrens' windows, etc., etc. I think the relatively low mayoral salary coupled with the notion that one would have to be subjected to some rather nasty vitriol during their term is what TRULY turns off most QUALIFIED people for running for office in the city. I'm not going to add anything more political than this, but I can't get "happy" over the notion of Mayor Doherty, Mayor DiBileo, OR Mayor Evans!
This place is nice. Some quality specialty food shops (meat, seafood, cheese/deli, produce, beer/wine (not good in PA)) a refurbished historic building near the center of town. People walk and drive to get to it because there is a concentration of quality items under a single roof with a bit of 'character'.
There are some sit down tables and benches and adjacent in building parking. They have some space for part-time or seasonal vendors too, maybe like a farmer's market.
Would it work in Scranton? Maybe. Of course, the location, building, tenants would be critical.
This place is nice. Some quality specialty food shops (meat, seafood, cheese/deli, produce, beer/wine (not good in PA)) a refurbished historic building near the center of town. People walk and drive to get to it because there is a concentration of quality items under a single roof with a bit of 'character'.
There are some sit down tables and benches and adjacent in building parking. They have some space for part-time or seasonal vendors too, maybe like a farmer's market.
Would it work in Scranton? Maybe. Of course, the location, building, tenants would be critical.
Philly has one, so does Seattle and NYC. I love them and wish we had a year round market here in the downtown.
This place is nice. Some quality specialty food shops (meat, seafood, cheese/deli, produce, beer/wine (not good in PA)) a refurbished historic building near the center of town. People walk and drive to get to it because there is a concentration of quality items under a single roof with a bit of 'character'.
There are some sit down tables and benches and adjacent in building parking. They have some space for part-time or seasonal vendors too, maybe like a farmer's market.
Would it work in Scranton? Maybe. Of course, the location, building, tenants would be critical.
Nice idea, but yeah, wonder if this town could support something like this. Though no wine, could have a six-pack store at least, right?
The old CNJ terminal by the river would be a cool space for something like this, though maybe a little more central would be better..
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They're actually kinda hard to find, but I dug up what I think was the most recent:
My Two Cents
Unless you live in Glenmaura, Glendale, or Belin Village it's really not "convenient" to anyone. 
I'd like to see the old Central NJ Freight Terminal near the river renovated to house a new visitors' center with all sorts of interactive features. 
I have a lot of WONDERFUL ideas to help resolve the city's long-standing financial duress and to get people EXCITED about living in Scranton again, but people in Scranton generally tend to have a very unhealthy obsession with politics. NOBODY has a 100% approval rating, no matter how popular some of their ideas may be, and in my case I wouldn't want a 65% approval rating with some of the other 35% going on another vile message board to make fun of my family, call me fat, poke fun at my sexual orientation, lurk in the bushes outside of my childrens' windows, etc., etc. 
I think the relatively low mayoral salary coupled with the notion that one would have to be subjected to some rather nasty vitriol during their term is what TRULY turns off most QUALIFIED people for running for office in the city. I'm not going to add anything more political than this, but I can't get "happy" over the notion of Mayor Doherty, Mayor DiBileo, OR Mayor Evans! 
