New Wilkes-Barre Photo Tour---"I Believe!" (Scranton, Washington: middle-class, real estate)

[ScranBarre]

Good evening everyone! It's another fabulous day in NEPA! I took an hour out of my hectic schedule today to snap another 30 photos of Downtown Wilkes-Barre as a favor to a member who PMed me asking for pictures of the city's revitalization projects for a graduate school research paper she was working on. I then realized that I had left out many key components of the seat of Luzerne County, and I truly didn't do it justice in my first fleeting tour. The first 30 photos you'll see are my newest additions onto the second part of my Wilkes-Barre photo tour, and I'll re-post my originals beneath these in another reply to keep them better-organized. Bear in mind that I still have not scratched the surface of this unique city, and future photo tours will include Parsons, Miners Mills, South Wilkes-Barre, The Heights, and the Wilkes-Barre Township retail sprawl corridor, along with a photo tour of the Lower West Side (Kingston area).

Please refrain from posting replies for at least an hour so that your replies won't get lost in between my several submissions of photos. My next photo tour will likely be of the Moscow/North Pocono area, so stay tuned for that.

P.S. I wanted desperately to bring you some more images from the King's College campus, but that proved to be futile today, as I was stopped momentarily at every juncture by somebody I knew from class. I'll have to wait until the summer to thoroughly photograph the campuses of both King's and Wilkes University, which anchors the southern end of downtown. Enjoy!

[ScranBarre]

As always, welcome to Wilkes-Barre, the Diamond City, which just celebrated its Bicentennial in 2006!


The city skyline is visible off in the distance as I approached town from Coal Street, the gateway to the city from Exit 168 off of I-81. This is the appropriately-named "Heights" neighborhood of the city due to its hilly location. The Interfaith Heights low-income housing projects are visible on your right.


Here I am stuck in traffic at the bottom of Coal Street at the intersection of Wilkes-Barre Boulevard, an interminably-congested intersection. From here, one must turn left onto the boulevard and then right onto Market Street in order to access the city's core. Within a few years a new realignment project will extend Coal Street to Union Street, giving visitors a straight shot into the downtown.


Here's the view looking west towards Public Square from Market Street. On the left in the foreground is Genetti's Best Western Hotel. The older looking red-brick building towards the right-center of the photo is the edge of city hall. Once again notice a Ford Taurus in front of me; people in Wilkes-Barre seemed to be obsessed with this sedan for some reason or other. Any explanations?


Here I am still on Market Street about a block west of Public Square. City Hall is the building on the right with the bicycle perched in front of it. The low-rise brick building on the left is home to a popular Chinese buffet. Also notice the new Victorian-era streetlights that now give the downtown district a "classier" flair. The second phase of the streetlight installation, which will extend along North Main Street between Public Square and North Street, was just initiated today.


Wilkes-Barre Police Headquarters, to the rear of City Hall.


Here is an interesting building. Built several years ago, this modern office building now houses the State Department of Labor & Industry's regional office. It is unique in that the office moved a few hundred employees from its former office in the suburbs into downtown as a "good faith" measure to show that the state was committed to Mayor Leighton's "I Believe" campaign, which is helping the city to bounce back after decades of decline associated with the major 1972 flood and unchecked urban sprawl. The office workers, being "Chicken Littles", did nothing but whine and gripe at first over how they would get mugged, raped, carjacked, etc. by moving downtown. Now, they happily head around the corner to the new entertainment district on their lunch hours.





These photos are all of the new "Northampton & Main" retail corridor project. For many years, the area of South Main Street near Northampton Street was a haven for prostitution and drug usage (there's still even a sign posted just down the street that states it's prohibited to pass by the sign three times in one hour). In mid-2006, R/C Theaters opened the doors of the new "Wilkes-Barre Movies 14" theater complex to rave reviews, and surrounding buildings have been rehabilitated and are being marketed towards restaurants, niche retailers, and loft apartment dwellers.


Nearby, Bart & Urby's Downtown Bar & Bistro also recently opened in response to the mayor's wildly-popular "I Believe" campaign. This is now a popular spot for office workers, college students, and movie-goers alike.


Just up South Main Street lies the joint Wilkes University, LCCC, and King's College Barnes & Noble college bookstore, complete with a Starbuck's inside. The main floor is accessible as a standard retail area with the coffee shop on the right-hand side. An escalator takes college students (such as moi) down to the basement, where we purchase our textbooks and other school supplies. Through creative marketing efforts, the "up" escalator drops these students off right at the college gift shop part of the store in hopes that these students will be inspired to fork over $10 for a novelty bumper sticker. The new bookstore hosts book-signings and has bolstered the intellectual vibe downtown. Above the Barnes & Noble is the Joint Urban Studies Center (JUSC), a local think-tank that uses demographics research to conduct SWOT (Strength/Weakness/Opportunity/Threat) analyses on the region for further research and to help the area to grow. I'm currently pursuing a Fall internship with this organization, as I feel as if I'd be a perfect fit for the position (Wish me luck!)


Just across the street from Barnes & Noble/Starbuck's is the new Club Mardi Gras, a haven for the college crowds. This night club joins the new FUSE Martini Lounge, which is just down South Main Street and also serves as a perfect complement to Campus Square Billiards, an upscale pool hall targeting the college crowd right next-door on Public Square. Efforts to link the once-polarized campuses of King's College (which anchors the northern end of downtown two blocks above Public Square) and Wilkes University (which anchors the southern end of downtown two blocks below Public Square) are finally paying off. With more than 6,000 downtown students, many of whom hail from upper-middle-class NJ families and have thick wallets, it was only a matter of time before private entrepreneurs began to capitalize on this untapped market that just oozed potential.


Here is the headquarters of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Luzerne County Community College (LCCC) corporate learning center. The Chamber just selected county commissioner Todd Vonderheid as it's new CEO after a tedious search, and he is expected to be replaced as commissioner by MaryAnne Petrilla (at least until the elections).


Here's how Wilkes-Barre looks to the hundreds of Kingston residents who traverse the Market Street Bridge daily on foot, bike, bus, or by car to their workplaces in Center City. I know a large percentage of the faculty here at King's College walk to work from their Kingston homes, and I'd suspect the same could be said for Wilkes University's faculty as well. The bridge itself was constructed in 1929 and survived the major 1972 Hurricane Agnes flood that displaced tens of thousands of residents in Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, and the surrounding suburbs. Two massive Eagle gargoyles stand guard at each entrance to the bridge.



Kirby Park, just across the Market Street Bridge from downtown, is a very popular spot for recreation of all sorts. The park just hosted the annual Wilkes-Barre Cherry Blossom Festival this past weekend, and its well-groomed trails are the favorites of not only dog-walkers and runners/joggers, but also for those who organize annual charity walks, some of which I love to participate in with my college comrades.


Back across the river, here's my first image of Public Square. On the left is the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, a popular venue for musicals, plays, comedians, and other performances. It was just extensively-renovated last year, and the results look fabulous! On the right is the First National Bank building, which is soon supposed to be converted into an upscale eatery to help complement the growing amount of foot traffic downtown. Wedged in between them is the very tall Luzerne Bank Building (formerly the PNC Bank Building).


Here's a clearer image of the aforementioned Luzerne Bank Building from across Public Square. In the middle of the diamond lies a neatly-manicured park that hosts farmers' markets, Fine Arts Fiesta, AIDS Walk, and various other fine events. There is usually a massive fountain in the middle of the park that would have made for an excellent photograph, but it was not turned on today. Phooey! Public Square's diamond shape is what gave rise to the city's nickname of the "Diamond City." In fact, up until a few years ago the city held an annual "Diamond Drop" on New Year's Eve. Why that popular event was stopped by the current mayoral administration is beyond my realm of comprehension (perhaps they didn't want to compete with First Night Scranton?)


Shown here are the Martz Building, on the left, and the Alltel Building, on the right, where my father works as a systems analyst for CONVERGYS. The buildings around Public Square are much more modern than those surrounding Scranton's Courthouse Square simply because many of them were built in the wake of the massive 1972 flood.


Wilkes-Barre's historic City Hall lies just one block west of Public Square along East Market Street at the corner of North Washington Street. I haven't been in here since I had to pay for a parking ticket for being five minutes over the limit a few months ago while parked near campus. Stupid meter readers!


Shown here are the Times Leader building, the Jewelcor Building (which houses an internet start-up), and the ornate Stegmaier Building.


Here's one of my older pics of the Stegmaier Building, which was taken from my car in heavy traffic during a freaky sunny snow squall (hence the poor quality).

(TO BE CONTINUED)

[ScranBarre]

These photos were all taken either today or from my previous photo tour to highlight three crucial projects coming to the city in the upcoming months---The Hotel Sterling, Market Street Square, and the River Commons upgrades.



Here you can see the abandoned rail station on Market Street Square and the upcoming plans to convert the structure into a gorgeous visitors' center at the gateway to downtown. This is exactly what Scranton should have done in its downtown. Instead, its visitors' center was constructed way out in the middle of nowhere in suburbia, which offered visitors no incentive to further explore the city itself. Nearby an intermodal transportation center will soon be under construction, and this is designed primarily to get the throngs of idling commuter buses away from Public Square in an effort to make it more pedestrian-friendly. It will also serve as a rail station for when the commuter train is re-established between Scranton and Hoboken, NJ (with a connector to Wilkes-Barre and a transfer at Hoboken to the PATH into Manhattan).







Here you can see some of the progress on the extensive, multi-million dollar project to completely revamp the city's waterfront. Two large flood-safe portals in the levee wall along River Street (one near King's and one near Wilkes) will permit downtown residents, workers, visitors, and college students to meander across River Street right to the riverfront, where there will be a walking path, amphitheater, sculpture gardens, historical markers, etc. Also definitely in the works is a plan to "calm" traffic along congested River Street to make it more pedestrian-friendly (I had to run across the street several times today myself at the busy intersection of the Market Street Bridge). The current proposal is to narrow each direction down to just one lane with a large center tree median to deter speeders and large yellow pedestrian signs to warn drivers to remain alert. However, there are also concerns on what effect this will have on rush-hour traffic, which already snarls along River Street inbound from 7-9 AM and outbound from 3-6 PM. Finally, there is currently also a controversial effort being spearheaded by Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D) to build an inflatable dam in the river at Wilkes-Barre that would create an artificial lake near the River Commons to permit water recreation. Environmentalists are cringing at this, but supporters have been pointing to the successes of a similar dam downstream in Sunbury that has not detrimentally-affected the wildlife there. Who knows if that particular phase of the project will come to fruition or not with all of the controversy surrounding it?






Here is the progress on the Hotel Sterling project. The top picture is the historic corner edifice that is going to be restored by CityVest, a local non-profit group with an interest in urban renewal, into ground-level retail space, second-floor class-A office space, and four or five dozen condominiums on the upper floors with a great view of the waterfront. The middle pictures were taken last Fall and show the ongoing demolition of the old hulking tower next-door. The final picture was taken today and shows the empty lot where that decrepit tower once stood. I'm unsure of plans for this lot, but I'd imagine a parking garage might be a good idea, considering all of those new condo residents, office workers, and boutique shoppers will need a place to put their SUVs.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

[ScranBarre]

Now I'll refresh your memories with my former photos of the city, most of which were residential and nature and primarily were in the historic district along South River Street and near Wilkes University. Futher explanations or captions for some of these can be found directly at that photo tour's page or by contacting me.























































(FINAL)

[Retired Law 08]

once again an out standing photo shoot

[Baltic_Celt]

SWB -

I appreciate all the time you've put into driving, pointing & clicking. I'm so excited about my upcoming visit. I had no idea there was a new cinemaplex in W-B & the square looks completely revitalized. Starbucks & B&N downtown! I'm in heaven! Adore those old stone/brick buildings in Part 3. Nice childhood memories of that old section of town.

Yes, good luck with securing your internship. Between FT work & school, I don't know where you find the time to sleep in between info dispursing onboard & photo tours. Thank you for sharing. I really do appreciate it... VV

[Vagus]

SWB:
Have you ever come across the alt-comic "Julius Knipl -- Real Estate Photographer"?
That's who you need to become. Or maybe already are . . .

Some amazing shots. Especially of the houses. I probably walked past all those places hundreds of times as a kid and either a) I never paid attention, b) I noticed them but my memory sucks, c) you've got an amazing gift for photog, or d) it really does look nicer nowadays.

I think the WB Chamber of commerce needs to hire you on . . .

[memoriesbre]

BRAVO once again Paul!!!

[weluvpa]

Great pics W/B looks great, what percentage of the retail space is still empty? Looks like alot from the pics. Just because you build it doesn't mean they will come but W/B has a better chance due to a lower wage tax and lower corp taxes and I do not think that they merchatile taxes either.

[openless]

Originally Posted by Vagus

I think the WB Chamber of commerce needs to hire you on . . .

that's so true. i never even heard of swb until i came on here.