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I agree that in order for this area to thrive the provincialism needs to end. Raleigh/Durham complement each other, as do Dallas/Forth Worth, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, etc. All of these areas are doing fine economically, and residents of the "second" cities (after the backslash) are quite content in their positions. This should be the same case with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. However, this area DOES have an identity crisis. While everything SHOULD be stated as such in this region, just look at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, etc. as fine examples of how Wilkes-Barre is trying to assert its dominance over its larger sister city to the north. You don't hear people calling places "Forth Worth/Dallas", "St. Paul/Minneapolis", or even "Tacoma/Seattle" for that matter, so why "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton?" Are people here just content with sounding "backwards?"
I think our local counties are way too municipally fragmented. Luzerne County has 76 municipalities, most of which have 5,000 or less residents. This creates a lot of waste---paying for separate mayors, councils, police departments, fire departments, DPWs, etc. Just look at Jeddo Borough, with a population of around 140, as a prime example of local resistance to change. Surrounding Hazle Township wants to annex Jeddo to boost its tax base, but residents there want to "retain their independence." How stupid are those people in Jeddo? If they permit themselves to be annexed, then instead of having to wait for state police response, they can have the paid Hazle Township police respond in mere minutes. They can have all sorts of municipal services. Why won't they annex themselves into Hazle Township? The same could be said for Sugar Notch and Warrior Run with Hanover Township or even Pringle and Courtdale with Luzerne Borough. The "fiefdom" mentality here is strangling our economic vitality.
I don't agree with that one. Scranton already gets enough attention. Media and otherwise. Let Wilkes-Barre get a little attention. The Arena is in W-B Twp. and probably 90% or greater of the people that frequent the hockey, and arena football games are from the Greater Wilkes-Barre area. By putting Wilkes-Barre first in the name line-up I feel they are marketing to thier target ticket buyers. Let's face it The Penguins are Wilkes-Barre's pride and joy. I highly doubt that many Scrantonian's give two hoots about them. It would be suicide (in terms of marketing) for the Pens to put Scranton first, as well as the Pioneers when thier core audience is from the greater W-B area. That would be the biggest insult to the fans! As far as the airport goes, I think they should find a name that satisfies everybody (like the Lehigh Valley Intl' Airport) Maybe NEPA Intl' or Pocono Intl'. Plus, it would be much shorter and easier to remember then The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport at Avoca That is a mouthful!!! Just look at my little blue icon friend to the left! His eyes are bulgeing and he looks like he's gasping for air.
I don't agree with that one. Scranton already gets enough attention. Media and otherwise. Let Wilkes-Barre get a little attention. The Arena is in W-B Twp. and probably 90% or greater of the people that frequent the hockey, and arena football games are from the Greater Wilkes-Barre area. By putting Wilkes-Barre first in the name line-up I feel they are marketing to thier target ticket buyers. Let's face it The Penguins are Wilkes-Barre's pride and joy. I highly doubt that many Scrantonian's give two hoots about them. It would be suicide (in terms of marketing) for the Pens to put Scranton first, as well as the Pioneers when thier core audience is from the greater W-B area. That would be the biggest insult to the fans! As far as the airport goes, I think they should find a name that satisfies everybody (like the Lehigh Valley Intl' Airport) Maybe NEPA Intl' or Pocono Intl'. Plus, it would be much shorter and easier to remember then The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport at Avoca That is a mouthful!!! Just look at my little blue icon friend to the left! His eyes are bulgeing and he looks like he's gasping for air.
Unfortunately for Wilkes-Barre, even if the sports team is located nearer to its jurisdictions than to Scranton, it should still abide by the "Scranton/Wilkes-Barre" terminology. In North Texas some of the sports teams play in a suburb of Forth Worth, yet everything is called "Dallas." I believe some of Seattle's venues are actually nearer to Tacoma, yet even there everything only adopts Seattle's namesake. Don't you think it sounds stupid to call something the "Fort Worth/Dallas Cowboys" or the "Tacoma/Seattle International Airport?" This has always been a pet peeve of mine. Another peeve is everyone thinking the airport is in Avoca when it is really in Pittston Township. Then again, do we really want to say the "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pittston Township?" What a mouthful! I think the Pocono Mountains International Airport has a much nicer ring to it.
Also, I know of many folks in Hazleton who opposed the arena's construction and many folks in Scranton, including NYRangers2008, who frequent the arena. As I said we need to start thinking of ourselves more REGIONALLY. For me this is easy since I live midway between both hub cities in the area, but I can see how hometown pride for either city is clouding people's judgments. I'm not saying Wilkes-Barre has to play "second fiddle" to Scranton, but this is the ONLY major metropolitan area in the entire country that has this identity crisis. You don't see people calling things "Schenectady/Albany", "Easton/Allentown", Warren/Youngstown", etc., so why "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton?" It's just backwards. Scranton might not necessarily be the "better" city, but it's still larger and SHOULD come first.
Both downtowns have a lot of historic appeal, but I think overall Wilkes-Barre has done a better job of preserving it. For example, the Hotel Casey was torn down in Scranton to make way for the Scranton Hilton whereas the Hotel Sterling in Wilkes-Barre is being refurbished and restored into condos. .
Other than the fact that the Casey was torn down (it was beyond repair) and the Sterling is still standing (although its in bad shape and if they continue to let it rot, it may end up suffering the same fate as the Casey), I disagree. While downtown W-B has a lot of nice historic buildings, its downtown, especially around the square, is dotted with 1970's ugly "modern" Jetsons-style buildings. I know a lot of this is the fault of the flood in '72.
I don't agree with that one. Scranton already gets enough attention. Media and otherwise. Let Wilkes-Barre get a little attention. The Arena is in W-B Twp. and probably 90% or greater of the people that frequent the hockey, and arena football games are from the Greater Wilkes-Barre area. By putting Wilkes-Barre first in the name line-up I feel they are marketing to thier target ticket buyers. Let's face it The Penguins are Wilkes-Barre's pride and joy. I highly doubt that many Scrantonian's give two hoots about them. It would be suicide (in terms of marketing) for the Pens to put Scranton first, as well as the Pioneers when thier core audience is from the greater W-B area. That would be the biggest insult to the fans! As far as the airport goes, I think they should find a name that satisfies everybody (like the Lehigh Valley Intl' Airport) Maybe NEPA Intl' or Pocono Intl'. Plus, it would be much shorter and easier to remember then The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport at Avoca That is a mouthful!!! Just look at my little blue icon friend to the left! His eyes are bulgeing and he looks like he's gasping for air.
I think you're wrong there....there are a lot of Pens fans in the Scranton area. I call myself a Pens fan, even though I'm only slightly interested in hockey. But I do know a lot of hardcore fans from up this way.
Personally, they should just make the names less of a mouthful and call the Yankees the Scranton Yankees and the Penguins the Wilkes-Barre Penguins. I know I would not be less inclined to go to a Pens game just because Scranton isn't in the name. Are there really any people from W-B who would be less likely to go to a Scranton Yankees game or people from Scranton who would be less likely to go to a W-B Penguins game?
As far as the arena football game...they're not bad, but their following of fans is a pretty small group....they don't draw anywhere near the Yanks or Pens. But I do notice people with Pioneers jerseys, license plates, etc around Scranton.
Unfortunately for Wilkes-Barre, even if the sports team is located nearer to its jurisdictions than to Scranton, it should still abide by the "Scranton/Wilkes-Barre" terminology. In North Texas some of the sports teams play in a suburb of Forth Worth, yet everything is called "Dallas." I believe some of Seattle's venues are actually nearer to Tacoma, yet even there everything only adopts Seattle's namesake. Don't you think it sounds stupid to call something the "Fort Worth/Dallas Cowboys" or the "Tacoma/Seattle International Airport?" This has always been a pet peeve of mine. Another peeve is everyone thinking the airport is in Avoca when it is really in Pittston Township. Then again, do we really want to say the "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pittston Township?" What a mouthful! I think the Pocono Mountains International Airport has a much nicer ring to it.
Also, I know of many folks in Hazleton who opposed the arena's construction and many folks in Scranton, including NYRangers2008, who frequent the arena. As I said we need to start thinking of ourselves more REGIONALLY. For me this is easy since I live midway between both hub cities in the area, but I can see how hometown pride for either city is clouding people's judgments. I'm not saying Wilkes-Barre has to play "second fiddle" to Scranton, but this is the ONLY major metropolitan area in the entire country that has this identity crisis. You don't see people calling things "Schenectady/Albany", "Easton/Allentown", Warren/Youngstown", etc., so why "Wilkes-Barre/Scranton?" It's just backwards. Scranton might not necessarily be the "better" city, but it's still larger and SHOULD come first.
I see your point, but still, as far as the hockey and football team go, these teams and the arena are in W-B, and could have just as easily omitted Scranton altogether, and just as easily called them the Wilkes-Barre Penguins ect., but they don't want to alienate the Scranton market. The only reason, in my opinion, that Lackawanna County allowed Wilkes-Barre to be included in the Scranton/W-B Red Barrons name is because they really had no choice, because Luzerne County put up half the money to by the franchise. Otherwise, they probably would have omitted W-B from the name. On the contrary, Lackawanna County contributed zilch to the buiding of the arena and the buying of the Penguins and Pioneers franchises, and are included solely for marketing to a larger pool of people and neighborly kindness. One point we can all agree on though is the W-B or the Scranton market acting alone would not be large enough to support any of these francises, and if it wasn't for the combined populations of both metros we probably wouldn't have any of these francises. This is a perfect example of both our respective cities and counties working together for the common good of the region as a whole.
One point we can all agree on though is the W-B or the Scranton market acting alone would not be large enough to support any of these francises, and if it wasn't for the combined populations of both metros we probably wouldn't have any of these francises. This is a perfect example of both our respective cities and counties working together for the common good of the region as a whole.
With the Yankees, I'll agree, because most AAA baseball markets are cities that are fairly big cities.....Indianapolis, Buffalo, Columbus, Norfolk, Richmond, Louisville, etc. Scranton or Wilkes-Barre by themselves would more likely be AA baseball markets...other AA cities are places like Reading, Harrisburg, Altoona, Binghamton, Erie, etc. But, I think the Pens would be OK in a city the size of W-B or Scranton alone....Binghamton and Hershey both have AHL franchises.
Instead of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre competing against each other. We should collectively be thinking how we can compete with the Lehigh Valley for jobs and economic development dollars.
Although I haven't been a life-long resident of Scranton, I have lived here for the past year (and looking to move into the Wilkes-Barre area), and I have to say that I'm simply not impressed with the "Electric City". Prior to moving here, I had the strong impression that Scranton was a big bustling city; a "land of opportunity", if you will. But having lived here I now know that Scranton only claims, or at least pretends to be, a big city.
For all the beauty and intrigue that Scranton exhibits (Nay Aug Park, Courthouse Square, various churches, etc), it simply hasn't stacked up to my idea of what an eclectic and booming city should be. Without meaning to offend any of the Scrantonians on here, my opinion of Scranton is not a good one. What I have experienced in the year of living here is excessive noise (cat-callers at all hours of the night, obnoxious motorists, constant blaring sirens from ambulances, etc) poorly maintained sidewalks, unbelievable amounts of road construction, discourteous drivers, incompetent college pedestrians, inconsiderate neighbors and substandard living conditions.
It may be that Scranton offers a lot in the ways of festivals, cultural going-ons, etc, which are pleasant and enjoyable for people of all ages. However, so many of these events are massive traffic hazards. I was the designated driver on Parade Day, and I nearly lost my mind trying to navigate through beligerant drunk people and road cones that had been scattered all over the roads; it was as if the police in charge of maintaing order at this chaotic event had just walked away! As entertaining as such events may be, I personally don't feel that the pint-sized streets of Scranton have the means or space to accommodate them.
Given the choice between the two, I would have to say I prefer Wilkes-Barre over Scranton. I understand that crime rates are a huge deciding factor for people who are planning to move, and Wilkes-Barre has, unfortunately, become a somewhat undesirable place because of this; however, Scranton has more than it's fair share of crime, violence, and drug problems. I also think that Scranton is more "trendy", not necessarily more "artsy"; I think Wilkes-Barre is the more desirable place for artists, considering I am one.
I feel that Scranton claims to be something that it isn't. I had high hopes for moving here, and now I'm just anxious to get out. I'm sure that a place like Scranton is perfect for certain people- I'm just not one of them.
Scranton is not and never will be a eclectic, booming city. It is what it is. It may suit others fine, but like you, I'm anxious to get out also. As I stated in the past, there is nothing sustaining here of any merit to make me want to stay.
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That is a mouthful!!! Just look at my little blue icon friend to the left! His eyes are bulgeing and he looks like he's gasping for air.
