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The schools are actually far less than mediocre. More than 2/3 of the schools are failing in Luzerne County. How incredibly sad for the children. What's worse is they spend a lot, but you see NOTHING from that money. I have family that teach in NY/NJ and they spend less per student, but get more for their kids! The feds have investigated Wyoming Valley West because $1mil. in federal funding was unaccounted for. The district leadership are a bunch of uneducated(Yes, uneducated. A degree means little regarding these folks. Not all, but too many for comfort.), money hungry, thieving bullies! I have adult neighbors, Luzerne County born & bred, who can't read & write properly, and speak with such poor grammar, its no wonder the area has been failing in every aspect, for decades. I feel for the poor children & the few decent people who are stuck here for one reason or another. I pray they & we, can leave soon.
I'd also say they're more than a decade behind, at least in Luzerne County. I feel like I've stepped into the 80's, and not NY/NJ 80's either, which there is a huge difference in comparison to NEPA. I'd say 70's, but I wasn't alive to compare. Its just so dreary, both figuratively & literally.
The Scranton area seems about 1 decade behind though, at least from what I saw just driving through there. It also seems more accepting than Luzerne County. Keep in mind, I only drove through there and visited 1 park.
I will say this, the TV show "The Office" definitely portrayed a much milder version of this area. I'd take Michael Scott, even Dwight Schrute any day over the typical locals.
Hi everyone, I live on williams st. in edwardsville. We moved in a year ago and when we first found the house my husband and I fell in love with it. It was our first house and we worked for months fixing it up. My father was completely against me moving anywhere even close to Edwardsville but I talked all the neighbors and they said our street was quiet. But it is close to Main Street which is scary. However there has been no problems with anything since we moved in. Until today, we came home and this creepy guy with a mullet was in my driveway and looking at my house. when we went to pull into the driveway he booked in down the street, in the opposite way he was going. I got out of the car and yelled after him and told him to never come on my property again. We do have apple trees in our yard and it did look like he was trying to grab an apple but I'm freaked out. Does anyone know anyone who lives on this my street? Is there a lot of crime and should I be worried? Is it a bad street and maybe I didn't notice it at first....any help would appreciated...thank you,
I am looking to move within the next six months to a year, and here's what I am not going to miss:
1. Lack of good jobs: Pretty much nothing in my area of study/career (communications/media), and very hard to find a decent job period. I don't want to spend my life bouncing around to different call centers and other lower-level clerical/admin work. This is the biggest reason why I'm moving, as my company has an office in New York City (I currently work remotely) and I would like to be closer to it to further my career and continue networking. That won't happen if I stay in Wilkes-Barre.
2. Too much crime: I feel like I can't turn on the news anymore without hearing about a murder, a meth lab bust, a hit and run, etc. I know NYC, where I'm moving, has crime, but it was not in the news as heavily as it is in NEPA.
3. The nepotism: Ties into No. 1, but I am sure there are more people besides the mayor's brother and school board family members who deserve and are qualified for teaching and other government jobs. I went to high school with the mayor's daughter, and she got a job with the state. Must be nice for her to walk right into such a cushy job!
4. Lack of anything to do: Yep, I have tried looking at Meetup and the agenda listings in The Weekender. I can't find anything that appeals to me enough that I would not want to move away from it. There are no good concerts here either, which is a waste of arena space to never have anything decent booked when the Penguins are not in town or in the offseason. (I am a big hockey fan for the record.) As far as shopping, the Wyoming Valley Mall is a joke anymore, especially the food court, and I'm not interested in any of the small businesses in downtown to shop there regularly. Even Boscov's doesn't do much for me, but I do like their restaurant!
5. Public transit: I've been to cities about the size of Wilkes-Barre or somewhat larger, and I've seen their buses running later at night. Why can't they in WB? What kind of system shuts down at 6:00 at night? I don't think of this as a good thing, especially with the movies in town, the shopping by the arena, etc. Maybe consider extending the system until 10 or 11 p.m., as I'm sure some of the people without cars would appreciate going to different places in the evening.
There are no good concerts here either, which is a waste of arena space to never have anything decent booked when the Penguins are not in town or in the offseason. (I am a big hockey fan for the record.)
I know they had some pretty big name acts; Elton John, AC/DC. The Eagles... I haven't paid attention lately, no more shows like that? Is it they can;t get enough people there or not enough seats to attract the bigger acts? Could be both.
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5. Public transit: I've been to cities about the size of Wilkes-Barre or somewhat larger, and I've seen their buses running later at night. Why can't they in WB? What kind of system shuts down at 6:00 at night? I don't think of this as a good thing, especially with the movies in town, the shopping by the arena, etc. Maybe consider extending the system until 10 or 11 p.m., as I'm sure some of the people without cars would appreciate going to different places in the evening.
At this point in time you can probably expect bus services to get cut in the very near future. Not sure if you are aware but they were inflating the amount of seniors riding the buses and it's under investigation. Not just a little bit either but a lot.
KINGSTON - Stanley Strelish, executive director of the Luzerne County Transportation Authority, offered the first official explanation of the massive drop in senior riders.
Bus drivers were miscounting, doubling and triple counting at times, Strelish said at Tuesday's authority meeting. Management met drivers April 5 to stress the importance of accurate counts and informed drivers of upcoming training sessions, Strelish said.
Senior ridership has plummeted since county Councilman Edward Brominski and authority board member Patrick Conway alleged in July that drivers were counting "ghost riders" to increase state funding.
Each senior rider counted results in about 30 cents in funds for the authority from the state lottery system. Senior ridership was counted at 71,754 in June. It was 22,101 in April.
I know they had some pretty big name acts; Elton John, AC/DC. The Eagles... I haven't paid attention lately, no more shows like that? Is it they can;t get enough people there or not enough seats to attract the bigger acts? Could be both.
No not hardly anymore. I'm not certain why this is, but I'm guessing not enough bigger seats. I have seen both Michael Buble and Josh Groban at the arena in the past, and the crowds were good (great shows, by the way, if you are into that sort of music). But both are touring this year and are skipping Wilkes-Barre, but instead going to arenas in Newark, Pittsburgh and NYC. Big cities like that. The acts at the arena that I can remember were Rascal Flatts (who I did see and would've gone to again if I had someone to go with, but my friends are flakes...another reason I can't wait to leave!), Shinedown (not really what I'd call a decent/big act) and kids' stuff/wrestling. It would be nice to have more options, that's all, and it sucks every time a big act either skips the arena or goes to Montage, where the traffic is a nightmare.
No not hardly anymore. I'm not certain why this is, but I'm guessing not enough bigger seats. I have seen both Michael Buble and Josh Groban at the arena in the past, and the crowds were good (great shows, by the way, if you are into that sort of music). But both are touring this year and are skipping Wilkes-Barre, but instead going to arenas in Newark, Pittsburgh and NYC. Big cities like that.
They can get 15 to 20K people in those larger arenas though, same thing with Montage.
I know people who live up on Pringle Hill and they have never had a problem. It seems to be a nice area looking up at the back mountain.
I have a friend who lives in Pringle and grew up there. She said there are drug houses on her street. It is still a nice area, for now. But the local government needs to squash what small issues are starting to crop up.
I am looking to move within the next six months to a year, and here's what I am not going to miss:
1. Lack of good jobs: Pretty much nothing in my area of study/career (communications/media), and very hard to find a decent job period. I don't want to spend my life bouncing around to different call centers and other lower-level clerical/admin work. This is the biggest reason why I'm moving, as my company has an office in New York City (I currently work remotely) and I would like to be closer to it to further my career and continue networking. That won't happen if I stay in Wilkes-Barre.
2. Too much crime: I feel like I can't turn on the news anymore without hearing about a murder, a meth lab bust, a hit and run, etc. I know NYC, where I'm moving, has crime, but it was not in the news as heavily as it is in NEPA.
3. The nepotism: Ties into No. 1, but I am sure there are more people besides the mayor's brother and school board family members who deserve and are qualified for teaching and other government jobs. I went to high school with the mayor's daughter, and she got a job with the state. Must be nice for her to walk right into such a cushy job!
4. Lack of anything to do: Yep, I have tried looking at Meetup and the agenda listings in The Weekender. I can't find anything that appeals to me enough that I would not want to move away from it. There are no good concerts here either, which is a waste of arena space to never have anything decent booked when the Penguins are not in town or in the offseason. (I am a big hockey fan for the record.) As far as shopping, the Wyoming Valley Mall is a joke anymore, especially the food court, and I'm not interested in any of the small businesses in downtown to shop there regularly. Even Boscov's doesn't do much for me, but I do like their restaurant!
5. Public transit: I've been to cities about the size of Wilkes-Barre or somewhat larger, and I've seen their buses running later at night. Why can't they in WB? What kind of system shuts down at 6:00 at night? I don't think of this as a good thing, especially with the movies in town, the shopping by the arena, etc. Maybe consider extending the system until 10 or 11 p.m., as I'm sure some of the people without cars would appreciate going to different places in the evening.
I have a similar degree and I've been able to make my own work by networking. Where do you want to shop? The mall has a decent amount of stores which most malls carry nationally. What exactly are you looking to do that you can't do here? I find most people who complain about being bored are victims of their own reticence and/or too much expectation of others to entertain them. There are not enough people who use public transit in our area and TPTB at LCTA are short-sighted, refusing to invest in innovation to procure additional riders.
The reason crime in NYC - btw which boro are you referencing - isn't in the news there is because it is an every day occurrence. Here, it is still news. That's a good thing.
Nepotism? People need to show up and be heard. End of story. I'm sick of hearing the whining then going to meetings where no one is there because they are "too busy".
I've known Wilkes-Barre since childhood, Scranton since my teens, and got some familiarity with Detroit through media exposure and an occsional visit. I rerget to say that I see far too many paralells in the decline of the two regions; the single common thread is corrupt politicians returned to power over and over again by an electorate which is economically ignorant, drawn from the lower strata of the social order, drives its ambitious sons and daughters away, and is prejudiced aginst entrepreneurship. (Duuuuuh - "rich Republicans" -- or anyone outside the urban Democratic machine).
It's true that racism, in both directions, was a prominent factor in the demise of the Motor City, but continued improvement iin race relations in many sectors of daily iife has made the price of short-sight and provincialism into a equal-opportuniy trap. And Luzerne and Lackawanna County political hacks and the losers who support them are so stupid that they're capable of falling down their own "anal aperture".
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 08-19-2013 at 11:54 PM..
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