Scranton, Pa? Considering Relocating??

[hillnbhrd]

Here it is 2012 and Scranton is still getting a bad rap, yes it has it's share of crime, but no where near the crime in Wilkes Barre or Hazelton. The upper hill section is a fine neighborhood. Bob Casey lives in the hill section, I don't think that he would live where he does if it was so bad. More and more home owners are fixing up their properties and taking some pride in living in the upper hill section. Over the past years i'll agree that living in the hill wasn't the best place to live, but now abandoned buildings have been torn down, streets are getting paved and undesirables have not found it desirable.

A lot of the accomplishments over the years can be attributed to the Hill Neighborhood Association. A non-profit organization consisting of volunteers that was established in 1977 and still doing what it can for the betterment of the residents living in the hill section.

If you would like to know more about the Hill Neighborhood Association - go to - TheHNA.Org,The Hill Neighborhood Association Inc.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by GroovyPA

I'm currently unemployed. What's the job market like in Scranton, particularly in the communications (writing, PR, social media) field?

The unemployment rate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is just under 10% and has been the highest rate in the entire state for around three years now, if I'm not mistaken. There is a huge gap in the area between the prevailing educational attainment level and skill set of many in the workforce AND the minimum requirements of the positions that ARE available. Many who become educated leave the region, including me and many of my classmates who graduated high school in the area several years ago and are now gainfully employed in larger cities. The area is seeing a proliferation in low-wage unskilled jobs (i.e. distribution centers, call centers, etc.) because the workforce has been resistant towards seeking training for better-paying lines of work because they see no hope in securing better employment opportunities once they DO become more skilled. The cost-of-living in the area is now rising more rapidly than the rise in real wages, which is squeezing more and more families into poverty, especially in Luzerne County, where nearly 1 in 2 children now live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.


More area kids live in poverty

Until people in NEPA start seeing value in higher education (instead of attacking the University of Scranton out of petty jealousy), until the Chamber of Commerce reaches out to educate the existing workforce on opportunities available to them at local trade schools and community colleges, until the area stops becoming a haven for unwed teenage mothers and the indigent from the BosWash Corridor, and until the region places a higher emphasis upon academic excellence than athletic prowess Scranton/Wilkes-Barre will rank at the bottom of most state economic rankings in perpetuity. For God's sake HOMOPHOBIA of all things still exists in the area at a time when ten jurisdictions nationwide now offer same-sex marriage. Until that alone is eradicated I refuse to move back to the area to open my own business venture and hire local people. I'd rather Pittsburgh, one of the nation's most progressive and passionately idealistic cities, be the beneficiary of what I want to bring to the marketplace.