SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE, PA---There are a plethora of things I'd love to change about my metro area, including the following:
-Finding a way for the homegrown, bedrock, blue-collar, "salt of the earth" locals and the newer, faster-paced, "chic" transplants from NYC/NJ to live more harmoniously: There have been a few conflicts lately between the local natives who are opposed to large-scale change and the newcomers who are trying to bring it to NEPA. Some sort of compromise needs to be reached. As our population continues to grow, become better-educated, etc., we need to find a way to make
everyone happy.
-Importing more minorities: I don't want to make them sound like some sort of industrial commodity up for trade, but when your area is 96% white, non-Hispanic, and heterosexual (largely Christian and middle-class too), then people tend to put up barriers and become fearful and hostile towards minorities for being "different." We're seeing this in places like Hazleton, which has garnered national media recognition as of late for the brou-ha-ha occurring between whites and Hispanics (including some natives who contacted the KKK for help).
As a gay person myself, I can also say that I don't feel comfortable at all going on a date in public, and I'm
very depressed as a result. There's just no minorities moving to our area, and I don't know why. More diversity would force the lower-classes of people in our area who target minorities for cruelty to finally open their hearts and minds through exposure to the beauty of differences in others.
-Curtailing urban sprawl before it causes more damage than it already has: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was seeing massive population nosedives for many decades. At the same time, our land usage grew by 20 square miles. Why?
McMansions dot our once-forested hillsides. Big-box stores are creeping up everywhere. Traffic congestion is continuing to worsen (I-81 is now at TWICE its capacity in the Scranton area). As our population is now
growing for the first time in 50+ years, I'm terrified that our urban sprawl epidemic and accompanying traffic congestion are only going to continue to worsen.
-Urban forestry: Arguably, the most beautiful, attractive, liveable neighborhoods in both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre themselves are the ones where large shade trees adorn the roadways. There have been many studies done that have proven trees in residential areas to "calm" traffic, purify the air, improve property values, provide habitats for small animals, deter criminal activity, and even cool the area on warmer days, among other great benefits. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre could only benefit from the implementation of more tree lawns.
-Downtown living options for
everyone: I'm a BIG supporter of "in-town" living---that is being able to live near an urban core within walking distance of shops, restaurants, workplaces, houses of worship, schools, parks, civic buildings, etc. Scranton and Wilkes-Barre each have multiple mixed-use projects underway in their respective downtowns, but all of the living units are catering to either the upper-middle-class or upper-class of the region. For example, the St. Peter's Square project in Scranton wil have units
starting at $330,000!
Downtown Pittston is getting two new luxury condo towers on the waterfront that are also supposed to be in the $300,000 range. The units in Wilkes-Barre will also be steep. For downtowns to truly bounce back as urban neighborhoods, they need to provide living options for people of
all walks of life, from starving artists and single working mothers on up to CFOs.
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