I live in a part of Pittston Township just uphill from Dupont that is just about equidistant to Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. I don't think Avoca is "depressing" at all. On the contrary when I go on my runs along Main Street the sidewalks are brimming with people en route to the barber shop, bank, post office, bakery, pizzeria, etc. There are indeed a lot of burned-out homes and businesses lining the streets in town (one more just lead to the death of a well-known elderly woman), but I blame this more so upon uneducated borough zoning and/or code enforcement officials than the towns' residents themselves. I find Avocans to be very cordial and friendly; I know dozens of them through social networking.
Dupont is indeed a very, very depressing, dreary-looking town. There has been a major business boom here over the past year with a pool hall/I-cafe, diner, restaurant, law office, custom t-shirt store, and various other commercial enterprises springing up along Main Street, but the majority of the buildings are run-down and unkempt, overhead utility lines are commonplace, and shade trees are very rare. Dupont seriously looks like a poverty-infested slum, but just as with Avoca the people are worth their weight in gold.
I worry that continued sprawl in adjacent Pittston Township, including a new upcoming mall, will spell disaster for some of the remaining businesses in Dupont.
Duryea is mixed. Its downtown has been depressing for years, but it has started to rebound. The massive and upscale Blueberry Hill Estates and an adjacent brand-spanking new gated townhome community are bringing
hundreds of new families onto the tax rolls. While Dupont is predominantly Polish-American and Avoca is primarily Irish-American, Duryea is more of a "mutt" town.
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Looking for House for Sale in Dupont/Avoca/Duryea area...
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