New Scranton Photo Tour---West Side (Hyde Park/Providence) (Lancaster, Wilkes-Barre: houses, neighborhood)

[PASKIER]

great pics!!. and more detail than Google Earth!

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

Awesome! Elmira is a city that I hope to photograph when I return home from Cincinatti in mid-July. It seems to have so much history to it; I'll be curious to see how well it "stacks up" when compared to my photo tours of Binghamton, Scranton, and Wilkes-Barre, as well as my future one of Hazleton (once the crime down there calms down---another body was just found the other day).

you did a photo tour of Binghamton?

[FightinPhils]

I did check out your Bingo photo tour and was impressed. It looks to be a very nice city...very similar to Scranton with the historic architecture. I had heard a lot of bad things about Binghamton, but maybe I was just hearing them from gloom-and-doom types. Maybe Binghamton has its own version of the "Legion of Doom."

[mom4]

ScrantonWilkes-Barre:

Great pics! It gives me a real home feeling. I would love to raise my children in a town like that. What do the teenagers do around there? Do you have a local Mall, Homedepot, Best Buy, large movie theaters? Once those stores move in the property value will go up and so will the taxes.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by mom4

ScrantonWilkes-Barre:

Great pics! It gives me a real home feeling. I would love to raise my children in a town like that. What do the teenagers do around there? Do you have a local Mall, Homedepot, Best Buy, large movie theaters? Once those stores move in the property value will go up and so will the taxes.

Thanks for the compliments on the photos. This actually isn't an "independent" town; it's just one of the city of Scranton's many distinct, historic neighborhoods. I myself am hedging between calling Hyde Park (which was photographed in this tour) or the Lower Hill Section (near the campus of the University of Scranton and Downtown) as my future home to raise my family. My only gripe about the downtown area of West Side is that there should have been more greenery (tree-lined North Main Avenue, open space, etc.) to help brighten things up a bit.

Scranton has just about every chain big-box store you could ever imagine in two nearby suburbs---Dickson City (about a 5-minute drive north from West Side) and Moosic (about a 10-minute drive southeast from West Side). Dickson City is home to the Viewmont Mall, which is anchored by Macy's, Sears, and JCPenney, along with dozens of other stores. The surrounding areas of the mall are home to Lowe's, Home Depot, Borders, Best Buy, Gander Mountain, Starbucks, Wal-Mart Supercenter, Target, Pier 1 Imports, T.J. Maxx, etc., along with just about every restaurant chain you could imagine. On the flip-side, traffic congestion in that area is horrendous on the weekends and holidays (as could be expected with all of those businesses in one little area). Moosic is home to Montage Mountain, which continues to grow explosively. It is home to the "Shoppes @ Montage", a new lifestyle center with some upscale stores like New York & Company, Yankee Candle, Ann Taylor Loft, etc., along with restaurants such as Kildare's Irish Pub, Longhorn Steakhouse, Panera Bread, and Starbucks. Across the street from the "Shoppes" is the Cinemark Movie Theater, which also has three restaurants (Johnny Rocket's, Ruby Tuesday, and an upscale Italian eatery) on its perimeter, with a few more on the way. Just up the hill a bit, a new Target and Lowe's Home Improvement stores are planned. Within walking distance of Hyde Park/West Side is the Mall @ Steamtown in Downtown Scranton, which is anchored by Steve & Barry's, Boscov's, and The Bon-Ton, along with dozens of other retailers and the Marquee Cinema. The surrounding downtown area is bouncing back to life after decades of decline with cute little boutiques, restaurants, art galleries, etc. Just about any chain you could name (with the exception of IKEA, Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, Hooters, Dave & Buster's, or Costco) has a presence within 15 minutes of any Scranton neighborhood.

Housing prices in this area are still quite reasonable; I'd say the average selling price in West Side is probably in the area of $125,000, with some homes selling for less than $100,000 (needing cosmetic updating and TLC) and some homes selling for over $200,000 (including the newly-built homes in the Tripps Park Development).

[mom4]

Wow! Thanks sounds great

[mom4]

ScrantonWilkes-Barre:

What is the difference between Scranton & Wilkes-Barre. Do you think one city is better than the other and if so for what reason.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by mom4

ScrantonWilkes-Barre:

What is the difference between Scranton & Wilkes-Barre. Do you think one city is better than the other and if so for what reason.

If I may give my two cents, I would say that Scranton is a much more liveable city. Scranton's downtown is much more prosperous (in fairness, Wilkes-Barre's downtown has improved with a new movie theater and some new restaurants, but has a long way to go), Scranton, although larger, has a more small-town feel than W-B...Wilkes-barre is much more compact and crammed together...much more of an urban feel. Plus, the #1 reason that Scranton is a better choice to live in over Wilkes-Barre is CRIME. While there is crime in Scranton, W-B's crime rate is much higher. Pretty much everyday on the local news you will hear of robberies in Wilkes-Barre. Scranton and Lackawanna County just went 2 years without a single murder, while a stabbing or shooting in W-B is commonplace. There are still a few liveable neighborhoods in Wilkes-barre, and I'm sure SWB can point you to them, but those neighborhoods are in the minority. While in Scranton, there are bad neighborhoods, mainly Lower South Side, the Lower Hill Section, and Pine Brook, most Scranton neighborhoods are still safe and well-kept.

[SteelCityRising]

I'll agree with what ConorsDad said. Wilkes-Barre might be a nice city to live in within another five years or so, but for right now Scranton certainly has the edge in liveability. Scranton has a lot of neighborhoods of well-kept older homes while Wilkes-Barre, on the other hand, has very few. The best residential area of the city, in my opinion, is the historic district near Wilkes University and Riverside Drive (which I photographed in another tour), as it is Wilkes-Barre's version of Green Ridge or the Upper Hill with its large, historic homes, sidewalks, and tree-lined streets. Other than that, Parsons and Miners Mills, which comprise the city's North End, are also very liveable, albeit unattractive due to a lack of greenery and little white houses bunched together. Parts of South Wilkes-Barre and The Heights remain a haven for criminal activity.

However, I'd be curious to see which city, overall, will have the better downtown in 2010. As of right now Scranton wins hands-down for all of its newer restaurants, boutiques, galleries, etc., but Wilkes-Barre is in the midst of its own renaissance that has just begun last year. Under Mayor Leighton's short tenure in office, the following has been accomplished to "polish" the "Diamond City" of Wilkes-Barre:

-Reinstallment of city's SWAT Team
-Hiring of around a dozen new police officers
-New Victorian-era streetlights downtown
-New movie theater
-New Barnes & Noble/Starbucks store
-RiverWalk and associated upgrades (to be completed next year I believe)
-Upcoming Murray Complex mixed-use project
-Upcoming Hotel Sterling mixed-use project
-Upcoming Irem Temple museum
-Two new nightclubs, several new restaurants
-New billiards hall

"I Believe" that the city of Wilkes-Barre is on a path to success; it's just not there quite yet. If your move would be within the next year or so, I'd steer you towards Scranton hands-down. In the long-term, we'll just have to "wait-and-see" what the future holds for Wilkes-Barre's potential.

[mom4]

Thanks to both of your for the info.