Scranton rising (York, Middletown, Rutherford: home, transfer, taxis)

[to570717]

your right on the money stan, there wont need to be job growth just job stratification. people will drive distances to work if they can liuve cheaply. Scranton's lack of job growth will keeps its hiome price's down. It will spur some business who rely on local economy. I hear the term family sustaing jobs. That is a loose term because i know some families that can do just fine on 35k a year and some who need 100K. Both equal in size mind you. If you are hireing for labor intensive, no skill jobs you can dictate the wages. If you do not like the wages too bad, go find something more to your liking elseware. That is the mentality of employers all over the world.

Scranton is not going to see a boom in business and high paying professional services.

It's only hope is to rely on its location and do what has been working......Higher Education. Scranton needs the MED School, It needs tyhe Uof S, Marywood, LC ect.

That will be Scrantons Saving Grace, some people disagree because of tax exemptions ect, but i think that if Scranton become a beacon of higer ed by emphasizing low rent, low cost housing, matched with Excellent education and top notch schools....they will come.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by to570717

I hear the term family sustaing jobs. That is a loose term because i know some families that can do just fine on 35k a year and some who need 100K. Both equal in size mind you. .

If a family of a certain size can live on 35k, then the other family of the same size doesn't NEED 100k for anything other than keeping up with the Joneses.

[to570717]

Thats my point. People are different so using a term like "family sustaining" is tough to define. It may not be keeping up with the jones, it could be likeing nice things. It could also be not being wise with spending decisions.

For instance, people complain about their gas prices or some tax they pay, yet they spend 25 dollars a week on cig's and 20 bucks a week on beer. That is $2340 a year.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by to570717

For instance, people complain about their gas prices or some tax they pay, yet they spend 25 dollars a week on cig's and 20 bucks a week on beer. That is $2340 a year.

I agree....there's a lot of those types around here. I see parents dropping their kids off at school, and I know those kids get free lunch, yet the parents are smoking. I wonder why the taxpayers need to subsidize a kid's $1.30 school lunch, yet mom or dad can afford $4 a day for a pack of smokes.

[to570717]

When you learn to work the system you rarly turn back....ask a politician.

The people eho get the saft in this county are the hard working middle class. not the poor. If your child goes to bed hungry....it is your fault...not the gov't not he economy....you. There are too many systems and gov't programs that give and give and give. Nothing that spurs a spirt of self motivation. It creates socalists, and that is dangerous.

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by to570717

When you learn to work the system you rarly turn back....ask a politician.

The people eho get the saft in this county are the hard working middle class. not the poor. If your child goes to bed hungry....it is your fault...not the gov't not he economy....you. There are too many systems and gov't programs that give and give and give. Nothing that spurs a spirt of self motivation. It creates socalists, and that is dangerous.

They should do away with th welfare system of free food and a check in the mail every month. And in it's place they should build thousands of daycare centers. Instead of welfare mothers popping out child after child because they know it's their meal ticket, thier children will have to go to daycare so the mother will have to get of her lazy ***** and get a job! 30% of that mothers paycheck, in turn, will go to pay for the daycare. They should make the welfare system literally one step away from living under a bridge. It should be a very hard life for example:1. Instead of an access card were you can buy whatever you want, you should only be able to buy the bare minimum like rice,bread, eggs and milk (just enough to survive on) 2. Instead of getting a welfare check that you can spend on liquor, smokes, and lottery tickets, you should only get vouchures for the salvation army ect., 3. If you live in government housing, you should be subject to random raids to make sure you don't have some deadbeat boyfriend living there sponging off of the taxpayers also ( if you are caught with a boyfriend living there, you lose your house and your kids go to foster care until you find a job and a tidy apartment.) 4. random drug test. 5. mandatory birth control as long as you are on welfare. My point is that if they made being on welfare this miserable then no one would even want to be on it except the very, very needy people that really need it. There are way to many lazy deadbeats that are just enjoying the free ride. It's like hitting the jackpot!

[FightinPhils]

No to the daycare centers....I think daycare is horrible for kids, especially at a young age. I say we should just require birth control for all on welfare. A depo-provera shot every 3 months is pretty much 100% effective, and they wouldn't be able to "forget" to take their pill.

I agree on your other points, though. I'm sick of seeing people with Access cards buying cupcakes, cookies, chips, and soda. And people on welfare who somehow can't afford food and shelter, but they can afford cigarettes and booze.

[SteelCityRising]

Scranton will be just fine in the long-term. Dan, Ed, and their friends are correct that in the short-term Scranton has a lot of bumps in the road thanks to the disastrous fiscal policy of the current administration, but Scranton has weathered much worse tragedies in its past---the Great Depression, collapse of the mining industry, floods, sudden rise of the Abingtons/Dickson City sprawl, etc.---and it will also weather a $300,000,000 debt load rung up by Mr. Florida's elitist comrade, who cares more about sipping Starbucks lattes in his SUV than mingling with the "common folk."

I agree very much with to570717's insight. Scranton is going to continue to become a more diverse city, much like Hazleton has an appreciable number of Hispanics or how Wilkes-Barre has a growing community of African-Americans. You'll see more independent Latin-oriented businesses opening in SouthSide, as well as the continued revitalization of Main Avenue in West Side. I believe that once the commuter rail link between Binghamton, Scranton, the Poconos, and North Jersey is operational you'll see a mid-priced loft housing boom downtown, attracting young professionals from the suburbs (including myself) who would like to live within walking distance of city amenities, including the train station. A downtown population boom in conjunction with the new medical school will combine to revitalize Downtown Scranton fully. The influx of Hispanics will help to revitalize SouthSide, assuming your future mayor (who more than likely will not be Doherty given his approval rating) takes a tough stance on illegal immigration to prevent SouthSide from becoming the next Hazleton.

Scranton, much to Dan's chagrin, is inevitably going to be annexed as the outermost satellite city of New York City, especially if that rail line comes to fruition. It may happen in five, ten, or even twenty years, but it WILL happen. If I'm ever in Dickson City on a Saturday in the summer I feel like I'm in a different state anyways because the number of NJ/NY license plates combined equal the number of PA plates. Even down here in the Wyoming Valley I'm hearing the BosWash Corridor accents more and more frequently at work with their "wooder" and "cofffeee." I don't necessarily see this as being a bad thing. Greenwich, Stamford, and Danbury, Connecticut are all satellite cities of New York City, and they are doing just fine, as are White Plains, NY and Long Island. Stroudsburg is currently undergoing extreme growing pains, but in the long-term it too will stabilize and be a nice place to live again. That intensive growth in Monroe and Pike Counties is destined to slam into the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area very shortly---we're already seeing it as close as North Pocono.

We can either embrace our new neighbors from "the city," or we can continue to try to tune them out and pretend they don't exist while we stick our heads in the sand like sheep. As for me I was disgusted when a lesbian family from Philadelphia was pondering purchasing a home in our subdivision several years ago and was met with whispers and rumors galore from our conservative neighbors. In my eyes you're welcome as my neighbor whether you be black, white, Asian, Greek, New Jerseyite, gay, straight, paraplegic, Muslim, or whatever. NEPA has to learn to stop being "afraid" of anything that's not heterosexual, white, non-Hispanic, and Roman Catholic. We're not going to hurt you!

I think the vast majority of those moving to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre from other areas are going to be assets, including memoriesbre, coartist88, new2pa, JLStorm/EnyaGirl, Karnak, Chefkey, etc. Why so many others want to put up this "border fence" of sorts is beyond me. Scranton and its inhabitants have had decades to reinvent themselves. If they've failed, then why not let "outsiders" try to help. I myself, as a suburbanite who lives just across the Luzerne County line, am also technically an "outsider," but my intentions are not at all insidious. We all have to realize that when Scranton fails, all of NEPA looks bad with it. This is why we ALL need to be concerned about its future and what will happen when Mayor Doherty is ousted in 2009 (or worse what will happen when he's re-elected by the Sheeple that Dan posts pictures of).

[NYRangers 2008]

You make some very good points Paul. I agree with you that Scranton is becoming more diverse, but like you said, Scranton needs a leader that is tough on illegals. The more illegals that come here, the tougher it will be on Scranton's economy that is trying to rebuild itself from the dark Doherty days. Illegal aliens are a drain on our economy and something this city does not need. If you're legal and documented fine, if you're not, you are not welcome.

[slasher]

I
Rail line wont happen in your lifetime..scranton to nyc would be over 2.6 hours commute time each way. 5 hours a day.