WNEP: Too much Scranton coverage, but not enough of everyone else? (Wilkes-Barre: crime, home)

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by W-B proud

First of all W-B people do not care about Scranton, I never go to Scranton , never need to go there, and could care less if it disappeared. As far as "the office" they chose Scranton because it's a dying, dead end town, acually one of the fastest dying cities in America. It goes with the theme of the show. It's suppost to portray a dead end kind of city. People in Scranton get all excited about "the office", but everyone else knows they are actually making fun of your town, just like all the other media references do. Everytime Scranton is mentioned on a movie, or TV show it's a very negative image. Sorry but that's the truth! If that is the kind of recognition your talking about, then you and Scranton can keep it. I'd rather that W-B stay off the national radar screen, if everytime they mention us it's to make fun of us, or say "it's the armpit of America" ect. I don't want that kind of recognition, thank you anyway.. Just my opinion. I just think that the Wyoming Valley is a signifigant and heavily populated area, and deserves more coverage from WNEP. I watch the Philly news sometimes, and even they will cover Delaware, Lehigh Valley, New Jersey ect. and Philly is a massive city compared to the surrounding towns, but they still cover alot of contingent cities and towns... more then Wnep does for NEPA.

I feel the same way and I live here. If I didn't live here, I would have no need to come here either. I couldn't care less if Scranton is mentioned on the news or not, local or national.

I totally agree with you about "The Office". People are all excited it takes place here, but like you said, it's supposed to portray a second class, boring little town. I just don't get why people would want to come here just because it's the setting of a show.

[W-B proud]

You Scranton guys are ruthless. Let Wilkes-Barre keep the little dignity they can muster up by leaving the names of our teams alone, please! I mean come on!... The wheels are already in motion on Mayor Doherty's "spin machine" to have a brand spanking new stadium put in downtown Scranton. I'm sure W-B's two cents will be left out of that conversation, even though we are suppost to own half the team! Can W-B keep the little pride we have!? Seriously, since the arena is located in W-B it makes perfect sence ( I know I spell sence wrong, but I can't remember how to spell it correctly...sorry) that Wilkes-Barre's name come first. Probably 85% of the fans (or more) are from the greater W-B area, and the arena's marketing machine is marketing the team to it's core audience, which is in the Wilkes-Barre area! I would understand your point if the team and arena was located in Scranton, and W-B came first in the team's name, but it's not! The arena and team is in W-B, and so is the vast majority of the fan base! It would be suicide to switch the names. It would no longer feel like "our team" and I can promise you that fan attendence would drop dramatically. This name change will never happen anyway, so it's a pointless conversation. You guy can have The Pioneers, but leave our "Baby Pens" alone!!!

[SteelCityRising]

I'm not "one of those Scranton guys." I happen to live an equal distance from both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Most new transplants to my community are actually dually-employed professional couples with one spouse working in each city who have moved here to live just off of I-81 in order to compromise their commute times. I identify myself with both cities. I work near Wilkes-Barre. I attend college in Downtown Wilkes-Barre. My father works in Downtown Scranton. My cousin and many friends of mine attend college in Downtown Scranton. My mother splits her time at work between both cities and their respective suburbs. I shop, dine, and recreate in both cities. I know both cities like the back of my hand, more or less, and while I obviously boost one more often than another I truly claim "allegiance" to neither.

This all has to do with being proper and being correct. Do you think if the city of Fort Worth offered to pay 100% of the construction costs of DFW International that it would have been named "Fort Worth/Dallas International Airport" instead? It's just asinine to reverse the PROPER name of a metropolitan area in order to make those who live in the smaller city "feel important."

Which city do I personally prefer? Two years ago I would have said Scranton hands-down. Now in late-2008 it's a toss-up for me because I'm watching in amazement as Wilkes-Barre's resurgence steamrolls over Scranton, which has now plateaued in terms of revitalization. At this rate Wilkes-Barre might just become the more livable city by 2012 (especially if Wilkes-Barre's trend towards a decrease in violent crime while the opposite has been occurring in Scranton continues).

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

I'm watching in amazement as Wilkes-Barre's resurgence steamrolls over Scranton

I wouldn't go that far. See all the KOZ buildings at the Northampton and Main project around the movie theater.....even though they're tax free, its mostly empty.

All these new buildings are just putting lipstick on a pig.....might look nice, but they're costing taxpayers money and aren't even occupied, so they're bringing nothing to the city.

[weluvpa]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

My cousin and many friends of mine attend college in Downtown Scranton.

Where? LJC and Da U wouldn't be in the downtown in my mind.....Downtown stops at Jefferson, Mylert, Lackawanna and Mulberry....anything outside of that is the hill or midtown area.

Other then getting the crime under control neither Wilkes-Barre nor Scranton are staging any kind of major comeback, not now and not in this currenty economy....

Just because the cities might be spending when they shouldn't be doesn't mean that anyone is buying.

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by go phillies

I wouldn't go that far. See all the KOZ buildings at the Northampton and Main project around the movie theater.....even though they're tax free, its mostly empty.

All these new buildings are just putting lipstick on a pig.....might look nice, but they're costing taxpayers money and aren't even occupied, so they're bringing nothing to the city.

The Chamber of Commerce is promising that some L.A. real estate is going to purchase the complex and fill it with fancy shops. A few names I've heard are Trader Joe's, A Whole Foods, maybe an ice cream franchise. This is suppost to happen very soon, but, speaking of songs that remind you of your city... The Who's "We won't get fooled again" often comes to mind in W-B. We'll have to see if this L.A. firm deal actually comes to fruition. I'm not holding my breath though. As for the movie theater itself... I just think it is awesome, I still cannot believe such a modern, fancy movie theater is in downtown W-B, and I love it, before that was built, we had to travel all the way to Cinemark to se a movie, and that entire area where the new theater is located was crawling with drug dealers, hookers, and dilapidated, graffiti ridden buildings. So the theater is a HUGE improvement, with or without all the store fronts being filled. It'll happen in time... Oh another song that comes to mind "patience" from Guns and roses.

[Mr Yuk]

Why don't we just put the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre arguments to rest already and combine the two cities and all towns in the middle into one city? We would be a pretty big city....everything from North Scranton to South Wilkes-Barre would then be one city....we can call it "Scran-Barre" Would you lend permission for the name, Paul?

Wait...maybe W-B would get mad if we didn't call it "Barre-Scran"

[W-B proud]

Originally Posted by go phillies

Why don't we just put the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre arguments to rest already and combine the two cities and all towns in the middle into one city? We would be a pretty big city....everything from North Scranton to South Wilkes-Barre would then be one city....we can call it "Scran-Barre" Would you lend permission for the name, Paul?

Wait...maybe W-B would get mad if we didn't call it "Barre-Scran"

Normally, I would get mad, but since Barre-Scran doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as Scran-Barre does...I'll let it pass. The roaring metropolis of Scran-Barre it is!!!

[W-B proud]

No, seriously though Wilkes-Barre and Scranton should stop competing with one another, and really concentrate our forces on competing with the Lehigh Valley (our real closest competion that is beating the socks off of us) while we argue amongst ourselves. They have the growing population, growing job market, better wages, more high tech, and medical field jobs. They are the ones reaping all the bennefits while we are busy competing with each other. We should concentrate our forces into luring some of thier good fortune north to NEPA. That's my humble opinion anyway.

[Mr Yuk]

True...you don't hear the bickering between Allentown and Bethlehem that you hear between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. It must be a leftover from the coal cracker mentality....