Scranton ? ? (Wilkes-Barre, Northampton: houses, taxes, live)

[bloominscranton]

Originally Posted by nepa76

Thing is, when it was lower income white folks sitting on their well kept porches having fights you werent fearful of someone going inside and coming back out with a machete or a gun. Or going and calling all thirty of their extended clan outside to cheer on the event. Single family homes, middle or lower class, were always well kept because people had pride in their homes. A lot of renters today don't have any thought to maintaining the places they're in this month, not when they can just demolish it, skip out at 2am, and just have brother in-law #12 rent out the next flophouse for the twenty member brood. People aren't just sick to death of Juan and Shaquanda for no reason, they've given ample reasons as to why longtime residents don't want them moving in next door or down the street.

WOW!

[bloominscranton]

Originally Posted by nepa76

LOL it sounds like Jersey because from there and NY is where it seems like we've been getting the influx of people from, along with Philly. Not sure about Dickson City, we shop up there (Target, Kohl's, Walmart) but never actually get down into the suburbs there. Jessup is still decent, as far as I know. Throop as well. I have old relatives living in Throop and they haven't really said anything about it getting bad. My aunt lives on the border of Scranton/Taylor and she has the same complaints we do about her neighborhood getting bad. Again, not sure about Old Forge, since no one I know lives down there. I think the Saint Ann's area of west side might still be sort of decent. My grandfather's house is right by there and it's slowly creeping in though. His neighbor's are starting to pass away and now he's got a white trash family next door that bought his sisters old house and a guy on the opposite side that's your age that seems ok. A Hispanic family just bought a house two doors down and a korean? family bought a house down the street and imnediatly opened a nail salon in the living room...lmao!

Nice to see you are an equal opportunity bigot. What is happening to Scranton is a result of Scranton...mismanaged government, families not interested in passing on family homes, apathy, neglect, cycle of poverty, you name a social ill, Scranton has it and it has been on the up tick since the industries left.

[scrantonluna]

The best thing for Scranton would be less Scranton. A chunk of the proceeds from the sewer authority sale should go toward selective demolition of the over abundance of housing stock. Clear whole blocks and rezone them for double lots, offer KOZs to stimulate new construction, and keep the process going. That is the only way you will see real improvement.

[mr.magoo]

oh yeah, that's the ticket...Urban Renewal, It was such a smashing success in the 50s-60s.

[scrantonluna]

What else are you going to do? The average Scranton home does not meet the needs of the modern buyer. Property values dip, and homes are bought up, carved up, and filled with section 8 tenants. Whatever decent families are left on the block usually move out, compounding the problem. The biggest issue is that most lots are very narrow and can't accommodate a driveway and garage - most buyers won't even look at them.

[mr.magoo]

yes, exactly the same thing is happening where I live...sad, but a reality, houses were built to put a roof over ones head years ago, and for that purpose only for the most part, unless you were rich.

Being a History buff and preservationist, hurts me to see old buildings with character and history being torn down and replaced with souless blocks...but, Charm and History does not pay the bills.

Sorry if I sounded harsh, Scrantonluna.
peace, Magoo

[scrantonluna]

They were built before most people owned an automobile. Heck, even the "new" construction 50s-60s ranch houses often only have a 1 car garage. I'm not saying you have to bulldoze every one, I'm sure on some blocks removing every-other house would have the same effect. Just need someone with a vision and deep pockets. I've said on here for years that if I won the powerball I would buy up all of Pinebrook.

[mr.magoo]

If I hit the Powerball I will bequest you a Magoo Grant to realize your dream...but my Maserati takes first priority.

[scrantonluna]

Haha that's a deal.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

They were built before most people owned an automobile. Heck, even the "new" construction 50s-60s ranch houses often only have a 1 car garage. I'm not saying you have to bulldoze every one, I'm sure on some blocks removing every-other house would have the same effect. Just need someone with a vision and deep pockets. I've said on here for years that if I won the powerball I would buy up all of Pinebrook.

Some of the houses have been vacant for so long that they're not worth saving. There's no use taking them down to the studs when there are no redeeming architectural features. I watched my grandparent's rather nice brick home rot for years. It was built in the late 19th or early 20th century. Nice house, but nothing very special about it. I think it's still standing...and vacant and rotting.

Hopeless romantic that I am, I still miss the grande dame which used to stand on the corner of South Street and Park Avenue in Wilkes-Barre. It was the loveliest house on a street full of lovely homes. When it had been vacant for years, it was razed and an ugly, squatty, two story medical office went in.