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What about the locals who want a better life, but they can't afford properties and can't get jobs because the carpetbaggers are driving property rates, and prices for goods up and bringing NO employment opportunities to the area? Don't they deserve a right to be happy? A right to not have to go 2 hours into another state just to have a decent living??? The right for their local way of life not to be raped into this little New Yawk joke????
It's about GIVING to the community you LIVE IN.
I devoted some of my free time to helping local charities in all of the countries I have lived in, and in all of the cities I lived in - I was a proud citizen the time I lived there, happy to pay the taxes, live by the rules, not force people to follow my way of life if it differed from what was established there, and I ASSIMILATED. I didn't create new Stepford communities of thousands of other people JUST LIKE ME. I emrbraced the difference. I adpated.
If they were doing that en mass in NEPA then I'd welcome them with open arms, but they aren't and they won't and they haven't. Rather than assimilate, the gap is there where they demand the established, local community to bend to them. It doesn't work that way.
In some senses I agree with you; in others I never will. First and foremost, the fact that the "carpetbaggers" don't care about the harm that their new massive, sprawling, low-density, planned communities are doing to our wildlife and eco-system disgusts me. Here in my own hometown of Pittston, we have major problems now occurring just from "domestic" sprawl (from other parts of the Wyoming Valley), which is why I fear what may happen if those from NY/NJ find out about our town's close proximity to both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre and drive the demand for more housing developments even higher! Sprawl is something I don't like in the least bit; I also plan to post a few images in an informal sort of "thesis" I want to share tomorrow about the many cons of urban sprawl vs. the very limited "pros."
In the sense of "Bamboo", you really shouldn't be attacking her, and I don't agree with you doing that at all. She and her husband are actually making me happy because they're building a new home that's not obstentatious by any means and is on a parcel of land large enough to prevent damage to our environment (assuming they don't clear-cut the land). They also plan to LIVE here for the sake of LIVING HERE. Bamboo (Rosanna) even said that she was excited about checking out Old Forge, Scranton's own version of a true Italian neighborhood with many Italian eateries and an overwhelming Italian population. (Also the site of my next photo tour). She's not your stereotypical "move to PA, try to turn it into NY, and call the locals "rednecks" breed, which I don't want you to confuse her with.
I know what you're saying though. To anyone who thinks that the growth from NY/NJ has been all positive for NEPA, check out my photo tours for the Back Mountain and ESPECIALLY Mountain Top. (Which I believe were tours 4-6 if I'm not mistaken?) There's nothing like the clear-cutting of dense birch trees for forboding tract housing to truly rile anyone's blood! I wouldn't mind sprawl around here so much if it wasn't so "needless." As I said earlier, for an area that shed tens of thousands of people from the 1970s-Present, we've expanded our land usage by 20% during that same period, meaning 100% of that land consumption was NEEDLESS! We didn't need a new NYC-style mega-mall on Montage Mountain when Downtown Scranton's mall already has many of the same stores (and will likely become a white elephant in Center City once the "Shoppes @ Montage" are fully-operational in March). We didn't need a landfill expansion to accomodate the importation of garbage from NJ! (By the way, DeeDee, I'm not referencing the "New Yahkers" either in that sentence!) We didn't need the clear-cutting of beautiful trees and the destruction of natural wildlife habitats for "Polonia Estates", "The Ice Lakes", "Greystone Manor", "Sutton Farms", "Glenmaura", "Quail Hill", etc. when there are literally hundreds, if not thousands of homes sitting vacant in our core communities just waiting for a bit of elbow grease to shing beautifully once again (at half the price of one of those ugly, predictable, two-car garage-dominated, two-story, vinyl-sided suburban new constructions may I add!)
Just today at Lowe's I must have helped a full DOZEN people with NY/NJ license plates load purchases either into or onto their vehicles, and not even one of them gave me an "attitude" or seemed to think they were "above" me just because the general consensus is that people from NY/NJ are generally more affluent, and therefore "snobbier" than people from PA.
Thank you for the kind words about NYers
We may be loud sometimes but it is because we are PASSIONATE people!
I remember when I first left NY to TX how people stared at me and told me I talked funny, I thought for sure I was doomed to loneliness as a Yankee gal - but then before I knew it I had more friends there than I did in NY! Then the same happened in NM, Massachusettes everyone just bent over backwards to welcome me, now in PA I really feel a cold shoulder. Not a single neighbor of mine has spoken to me in the 10 months or so I have lived here.
What I want to know is why people don't realize that sometimes you MUST make a move out of your homestate for kids, finances, military but you want to keep a little of who you are alive too????
I might apologize for my actions if I am rude, but I will NEVER apologize for who I AM.
Diversity is something that is to be valued and appreciated, not criticized. That's one of only a few things I hate about living here---People are reluctant to learn about different social cultures than their own and are more content with just attacking and/or belittling the others for daring to be different. (The other peeves being the extreme cloudiness, the acceptance of urban sprawl, the over-emphasis on high school athletics, and the corrupt politics).
Your examples were very poignant; I couldn't have come up with any better ones myself! I'm not sure if I agree with you about DeeDee though; she actually lives in the Binghamton (Bingo) area of the Southern Tier of NY, and I don't think she has any ties to NYC. She wants to settle in Scranton for a year or so before fleeing the East Coast for greener pastures (I give her credit for that, as a part of me longs to live in a more Liberal, open-minded area, but I'm too afraid to leave!)
I think we can all fairly say that stereotyping is just downright nasty, yet it's something we're all guilty of doing! DeeDee assumes all New Yorkers are bad people. Not true. Many New Yorkers assume that all native residents of NEPA are inbred. Not true. Many people in NEPA assume that all of NJ is scummy. Not true. Yes, DeeDee hit the nail on the head for some New Yorkers---The ones that only come home to Monroe County to sleep and eat and don't give a rat's behind about anything else besides the quickest way to get to their six-figure salary in Manhattan everyday while their unsupervised teenagers do drugs, join gangs, drink, and have orgies. (My ex was from Monroe County; he filled me in about what goes on with students in the Pocono Mountain School District while the parents are two states away at work!)
Usually those "greener pastures" are not so green once you get there...
Or sometimes they ARE green but there are bugs flying all over the place biting you so you can't enjoy them anyway!
Trust me, I have been around, done alot, seen alot, before you find any "perfect" place you first have to find peace in your heart.
I was born in the year of the horse, so I will always roam. I have found three or four green pastures, I love them all..and I want to find more!
Well, when you get the urge to pack it up again, could you head on up to Minneapolis for me? That's actually the area I was considering relocating to before I shifted to my "Save NEPA" mindset. The thought of long winters, lakes everywhere, and a literate population really turned me on to the idea of moving to Minnesota, but the 1,200 or so mile commute back to family and friends in Scranton kind of turned me off to the idea.
I could see you in Amherst MA...you have to check it out sometime! Fits you to a "T"! Emily Dickinson homestead and the smell of fallen leaves and apple pie in October....sleigh rides and the 1 million christmas lights festival in Forest Park...and don't forget the Big E during September!
And you would only be about 4 hours away from NEPA!
(That is one of my green pastures if you couldn't guess )
I could see you in Amherst MA...you have to check it out sometime! Fits you to a "T"! Emily Dickinson homestead and the smell of fallen leaves and apple pie in October....sleigh rides and the 1 million christmas lights festival in Forest Park...and don't forget the Big E during September!
And you would only be about 4 hours away from NEPA!
(That is one of my green pastures if you couldn't guess )
That's out in the Berkshires, is it not? My dad was looking at a job offer in Springield, MA, and that was one of the towns we looked at for housing options. The town sounds like paradise to me! Being able to sit on a front porch and know people's names! I'm currently yearning for a few years of "downtown" living (after growing up on a middle-of-nowhere cul-de-sac), but I think I eventually want to settle down in a small-town atmosphere with leafy neighborhoods and the ability to walk to things! Amherst sounds wonderful; why they h-e-double hockey sticks did you move to Shohola?
Here in my own hometown of Pittston, we have major problems now occurring just from "domestic" sprawl (from other parts of the Wyoming Valley), which is why I fear what may happen if those from NY/NJ find out about our town's close proximity to both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre and drive the demand for more housing developments even higher! Sprawl is something I don't like in the least bit; I also plan to post a few images in an informal sort of "thesis" I want to share tomorrow about the many cons of urban sprawl vs. the very limited "pros."
As with your other photo essays - I look forward to what you present. They're a great contribution to the forum. The time and effort put into them are a thankless task, but hopefully the good karma you've displayed will come back to you when you need it most, somwhere down the line in life.
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In the sense of "Bamboo", you really shouldn't be attacking her, and I don't agree with you doing that at all. She and her husband are actually making me happy because they're building a new home that's not obstentatious by any means and is on a parcel of land large enough to prevent damage to our environment (assuming they don't clear-cut the land). They also plan to LIVE here for the sake of LIVING HERE. She's not your stereotypical "move to PA, try to turn it into NY, and call the locals "rednecks" breed, which I don't want you to confuse her with.
I'm really sorry if it seems like i'm attacking her, as a person, because that's not my intention. If it felt that way then I offer up my appology to her.
I was responding more to the people ooing and awing. I get way too much of this rich, NYawker, carept bagging vibe from most of the people who express an interest in NEPA.
I enjoy PA - the state, and I enjoy NEPA for is paradoxical old-timed sensibilities (though I'm a progressive and not much for old world nostalgia - but I can respect it) and the steps it makes towards progress. Juxtapose that to the southern tier of New York, which embraced progress (via technology) but is regressing into a styggean abyss of reverse, emtoional evolution. it's so conservative it makes NEPA seem like the bastion of liberalism (which we both know isn't the case... Yet.).
I'd add, that like NEPA, the Southern Tier of NY is becoming a cesspool where the rich New Yawk careptbaggers come in and bring NOTHING with them but high prices on goods and high proeprty rates. NO jobs. No culture. Nothing to contribute to the community (unless you include crystal meth labs and gangland murders in braod daylight on Clinton street - as "contributions.").
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I know what you're saying though. To anyone who thinks that the growth from NY/NJ has been all positive for NEPA, check out my photo tours for the Back Mountain and ESPECIALLY Mountain Top. (Which I believe were tours 4-6 if I'm not mistaken?) There's nothing like the clear-cutting of dense birch trees for forboding tract housing to truly rile anyone's blood!
I actually got physically ill from the photos. Beautiful mountains turned into subruban dens of ignorance and excess while perfectly viable ,salvagable, downtown areas rot. The suburbs are cultural, ethical and emotinal graveyards. Modern graveyards whose tombstones are that of white ignorance.
Gentrification is New Yawker's Typhoid Mary-like "gift" to the world.
People bring u pFlorida a lot in these threads. They went there for a 'better life" and found out ti's gotten worse and want out.
NEPA will eb the north east Florida soon enough .Everybody and their brother will go there and when it goes bust it's going to get ugly. Those suburban cemetaries will turn into posh ghettos brimming over with disdain.
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We didn't need a new NYC-style mega-mall on Montage Mountain when Downtown Scranton's mall already has many of the same stores (and will likely become a white elephant in Center City once the "Shoppes @ Montage" are fully-operational in March).
Tragic.
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We didn't need a landfill expansion to accomodate the importation of garbage from NJ! (By the way, DeeDee, I'm not referencing the "New Yahkers" either in that sentence!)
That's becasue Jersey used to be what NEPA is today. The New Yawkers came in and ruined a lot of it, now they move onto NEPA, and soon enough, central PA will be accomodating NEPA's garbage with a landfill from the influx of New YAWKERS (NYC hasn't the best record of waste disposal, water treatment, power grids, etc.).
It's happened to Philly, Delaware, etc. It's the tentacles of New Yawk inneptitude, arrogance and corruption.
That's my take.
Cheers.
Last edited by deedee ramone; 10-29-2006 at 02:33 PM..
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Sprawl is something I don't like in the least bit; I also plan to post a few images in an informal sort of "thesis" I want to share tomorrow about the many cons of urban sprawl vs. the very limited "pros."
There's nothing like the clear-cutting of dense birch trees for forboding tract housing to truly rile anyone's blood! 
I wouldn't mind sprawl around here so much if it wasn't so "needless." As I said earlier, for an area that shed tens of thousands of people from the 1970s-Present, we've expanded our land usage by 20% during that same period, meaning 100% of that land consumption was NEEDLESS! 
We didn't need a new NYC-style mega-mall on Montage Mountain when Downtown Scranton's mall already has many of the same stores (and will likely become a white elephant in Center City once the "Shoppes @ Montage" are fully-operational in March). We didn't need a landfill expansion to accomodate the importation of garbage from NJ! (By the way, DeeDee, I'm not referencing the "New Yahkers" either in that sentence!) 
