Scranton is in Growth Mode (Reading, Bethlehem: house, utilities, restaurants)

[weluvpa]

Sure and while your at it you get tinkerbell, Peter Pan and the lost boys to swoop in and buy new lofts in Neverland......

Please explain to me oh enlightened ones.......How are these places going to survive in a recession, in a city with the 2nd HIGHEST unemployment rate in the state, in a region with the highest jobless rate in the state, with a housing surplus and shrinking population and 20% of the residents at or below the poverty line?

There is little to no demand to live in the downtown, because there is no downtown.......

Downtown is a pure business zone, fed on the welfare of gov't employees. The only large number of people in the downtown during the day work for the various gov't bodies and at 5pm its dead.....There is no shopping......The mall will be another flea market in a few years.


So far the only ones I hear cheering for downtown "urban living" are people that I assume have NEVER LIVED IN A CITY...A real city, not Scranton or Wilkes-Barre.

Luna there is an old school butcher shop on Cedar ave.

The Med school is not our savior in scrubs folks, it will take more then a SECOND rate newly opened med school to save this city. Most of the professors and doctors will most likely be living outside of the city so that they do not have to worry about the WAGE TAX.

Its funny how people get hung up on that pesky little wage tax.(2nd highest in the state)

[SteelCityRising]

No, this isn't George Semian. This is a competing real estate executive in the downtown. The units he has available along Penn Avenue are really nice. I've seen them advertised on CraigsList before!

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

Another warm welcome to the pages of city-data....

By the tone of the original poster and the information provided, I'm going to guess that we're talking with George Semian of Semian Gress, the real estate company that is on the corner of Wyoming and Spruce. If I am right, we can thank George for bringing a little more light back to the downtown, and for having faith in the city of Scranton and it's inhabitants.

Let's hope these predictions for 2009 are true; this would connect several sections of the immediate downtown by eliminating 'dead spots,' something vital to growth. The development of Wyoming Ave is critical, and in an ideal situation, I would like to see solid development and zero occupancy from Linden across to Lackawanna, and from Jefferson Ave all the way down to Penn Ave or farther (the 100 of Penn especially).

I'm sure George would echo my sentiments that the place to buy into right now is Pinebrook. The prices are rock bottom, and the new medical college is going to completely change the entire section. Doctors, students, and staff are going to be looking for housing, schools, markets, etc. within walking distance from the campus and Pinebrook fits the bill perfectly. A smart investor would be buying up blighted properties two at a time while they are still dirt cheap.

I'm still looking for my downtown farmers market, maybe someday... A good old fashioned butcher shop would probably do quite well.

As for the corner of Wyoming and Linden, there are potentially two spots to build, with the old Markowitz Bros. being demolished right now, and the lot directly across Wyoming also available. The lot closer to the cathedral was intended to be used for apartment or loft space, but research showed people wanted a brownstone construction on a beer budget, so plans stalled. Still, there's no reason that a new structure could not be built with cost in mind, while utilizing a brownstone facade in order to blend with the rest of the block and provide a 'Target' experience: trendy at a moderate price.

[SteelCityRising]

Sadly Dan is dead-on accurate about the medical school faculty. I predict 90% of them will settle in South Abington Township, like the other la-de-da latte-sipping soccer mom dullards in this region who move to these cul-de-sacs because they like vinyl siding and fear living near minorities. I already did research on this by cross-referencing the announced faculty to-date with the assessor's office, and only TWO faculty members/administrators appear to have moved into the city limits, with one buying City Councilwoman Sherry Fanucci's former home in The Hill and the other moving to Wheeler Avenue in the Petersburg neighborhood. Some of the others relocated as far away as the Back Mountain of Luzerne County. The University of Scranton's faculty largely lives in that sprawling mess we call South Abington Township as well, even though, to their credit, a few have settled in Dunmore.

This isn't the fault of Scranton in particular though. I can only name THREE faculty members/administrators here at King's who live in the jurisdictions of Wilkes-Barre city with the rest being split largely between the West Side (Kingston/Forty Fort), Mountain Top, and Back Mountain areas. Until that "city = icky" mentality that folks in NEPA have about Scranton and Wilkes-Barre subsides, NOBODY will be moving here.

[scrantonluna]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

Luna there is an old school butcher shop on Cedar ave.

Name and block?

[weluvpa]

Its either the block after the Convienent store or the next block....Its definitely before the Miller/Bean funeral home and across from Magistrate Russell's office.....There is a Guthenhienz(sp?) sign on the building...Last time I was over there it was still open.

[scrantonluna]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

No, this isn't George Semian. This is a competing real estate executive in the downtown. The units he has available along Penn Avenue are really nice. I've seen them advertised on CraigsList before!

Well I don't know who it would be then, I will have to keep my eyes peeled for another realty office... And will someone plese revive the Char-Mont? It's a gold mine just sitting there, and with it being vacant it's killing the rest of the block. Parking garages are nice but they really take the life out of a good stretch of the downtown; any new garages or rehab projects should really include adequate store frontage and architectural interest.

[weluvpa]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

And will someone plese revive the Char-Mont? It's a gold mine just sitting there, and with it being vacant it's killing the rest of the block.

They need to clean up the buildings right around Tucks, but yes the Char-Mont would be nice. Reopen it, but leave it as it was when they closed...A little retro never hurts.

[scrantonluna]

I agree completely. Every blue hair within 50 miles would be down there on a Sunday.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

I agree completely. Every blue hair within 50 miles would be down there on a Sunday.

Oh God! Imagine the number of cars catapulting into that building when they inevitably mistake the gas and brake pedals!

[kvysmom]

Originally Posted by scrantonluna

I agree completely. Every blue hair within 50 miles would be down there on a Sunday.

Ha ha you are soooo right!! I remember going to the Char Mont (sp?) as a child with my parents. The ladies room there was large and had a sofa, etc...there were always blue haired ladies in there chatting and smoking like it was a social lounge...they all seemed to wear the same perfume too! It would be great to see it come back. My parents used to meet there after school when they were dating.