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I got a job offer in Wilkes-Bare PA and I am seriously considering it. I don't know anything about this town however and I would like someone to tell me about it.
What is the community like? How big is the town? etc.
Thanks very much.
Wilkes-Barre is a city of 40,000 or so residents that has declined from a peak of 90,000 residents around 1950. The city was forged upon the anthracite mining industry, and for a time it was one of the wealthiest cities in the nation. Some vestiges of this "high-class" status can be seen in my first photo tour of Wilkes-Barre, which primarily shows you the historic district near Wilkes University (//www.city-data.com/forum/penns...ght=photo+tour)
In 1959, the Knox Mine Disaster near my hometown of Pittston, about ten miles north of Wilkes-Barre, decimated the mining industry, as the Susquehanna River flooded the valley's mine shafts. Between 1960-1972, the region's economy largely collapsed. In 1972, the remnants of Hurricane Agnes stalled over the area, causing a major flood to occur that ravaged most of Wilkes-Barre and its inner suburbs. From 1973 to the late-1990s, most city residents fled their homes to purchase building lots in suburban housing developments on the nearby hillsides (Back Mountain, Mountain Top, Bear Creek), and downtown merchants followed their consumers out to the suburbs, including the area around the Wyoming Valley Mall.
By the late-1990s, Wilkes-Barre had a boarded-up downtown, major crime issues, poverty, urban blight, and a "feared" reputation from suburbanites, who refused to head into town unless absolutely necessary. To most, the city seemed "dead and gone."
However, in the past few years Wilkes-Barre has been seeing a rebirth, especially in the downtown area. Thanks to Mayor Leighton's "I Believe" campaign, which has boosted civic pride throughout the city limits, people are being less spiteful about their hometown and more optimistic. The old Hotel Sterling complex is being renovated into a mixed-use project of condos, Class-A office space, and retail boutiques. Across River Street from the Sterling project is the new "RiverWalk" project, which will include two large portals in the levee wall to permit recreational access to the riverfront, which will eventually include an amphitheater and potentially an artificial lake in the middle of the river thanks to an inflatable dam. River Street is also supposed to be "calmed" by being narrowed down to one lane each way with a large tree lawn in the median. Across town, the old Murray Complex is likewise being renovated into another mixed-use project of loft apartments, restaurants, and upscale boutiques. A new visitors' center is planned for Market Street Square. New historic-themed streetlights now illuminate the downtown. A two-block stretch of South Main Street between Public Square and East Northampton Street has been designated the "Diamond City Entertainment District" and is now home to a Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, FUSE Martini Club, Club Mardi Gras, Cinema 14, Campus Square Billiards, Bart & Urby's Bistro, and upcoming developments this year, in addition to the historic F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts (which has recently hosted the Irish Tenors, Broadway show tunes, and other acts).
King's College anchors the north end of downtown, and Wilkes University anchors the southern end. Wilkes, in my opinion, is in a more "attractive" setting amid the city's most historic architecture, and is decidedly "Liberal", as Al Gore may soon be coming for a visit. King's, where I attend, is decidedly "Conservative", and the college attempts to adhere to a strict Catholic moral outlook. Both schools have art galleries, theater groups, and have a combined student enrollment of 5,000+. Other than Boscov's Department Store and the new Barnes & Noble, the retail scene downtown is severely lacking. However, I'd assume that the growing foot traffic near the new entertainment district will have a snowball effect of promoting more store openings in the coming months. Much of Wilkes-Barre's retail corridors lie 1-2 miles east of town near I-81 in the Highland Park Boulevard, Mundy Street, and Kidder Street areas. It's here in Wilkes-Barre Township that you'll find the Wyoming Valley Mall (anchored by Macy's, Sears, JCPenney, and the Bon Ton), Arena Hub Plaza (Lowe's Home Improvement, Best Buy, another Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, PetSmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Pier 1 Imports, Staples, Old Navy, etc.), Spring Street Plaza (Home Depot, Burlington Coat Factory, Raymour & Flanigan Furniture), Wilkes-Barre Township Crossings (Target, Dress Barn, Country Junction, Petco, Circuit City, Catherine's, etc.), and Wilkes-Barre Township Commons (Wal-Mart Supercenter, Chuck-E-Cheese's, Radio Shack, etc.) This community is also home to the Wachovia Arena, which is home to the AAA-affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, an Arena2 Football team, and various concerts. Wegman's Foods is also in the township as are the following restaurants: Red Robin, Lone Star Steakhouse, Logan's Roadhouse, Boston's Gourmet Pizza, Uno Pizzeria, Starbucks (2), Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, TGI Friday's, Ground Round, Bennigan's, Bob Evans, Wendy's, McDonalds, Burger King, Grott Pizza, Chili's, Cracker Barrel, Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday, Friendly's, Perkins, and just about every other chain you could think of. Some other stores in the vicinity include, Sam's Club, Kohl's, Office Depot, FedEx/Kinko's, Office Max, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, Toys 'R Us, and various gas stations, car dealerships, and hotels. As you'd imagine, the trade-off for this "shoppers/diners' paradise" is horrific traffic at times; as an employee of the Lowe's store here, I dread getting out of work at 5 PM!
The city proper, while still recovering from a very crime-ridden 2006, seems to be having a much better 2007 thus far, with no homicides and very few acts of violence to date. Mayor Leighton has made swearing in new officers a priority, and I've noticed a difference already in terms of more frequent patrols around town. Considering I attend college downtown and my father works downtown, this is very much appreciated. There are still areas of blight, housing projects, etc. in the city, but, overall, things are on an upswing. The city has been battered for a few decades, but now it's finally getting some much-needed TLC. Housing prices, as of right now, are still reasonable, but I'd expect them to start rising shortly, as they've now begun to do in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre's sister city about 25 minutes to the north.
Last edited by SteelCityRising; 03-13-2007 at 04:59 PM..
Reason: Hyperlink to Photo Tour Not Working
I got a job offer in Wilkes-Bare PA and I am seriously considering it. I don't know anything about this town however and I would like someone to tell me about it.
What is the community like? How big is the town? etc.
Thanks very much.
I just spent a weekend there and enjoyed my stay. It seems very large and there is a lot to do. It was very cold though.
Not a bad place. If you move there find a good front end alignment mechanic. You'll need to get your toe in (caster, camber) checked alot more often after driving on those roads..
If you register to vote, make sure it takes. They often lose your app on the first go round. They don't want any outsiders voting without going through initiation first. Initiation - see finding a front end alignment mechanic.., kissing butt to get a political job (all the decent jobs here are political) etc .
Hopefully you're not black, asian, or hispanic they don't even like themselves let alone feriners.
Wilkes-Barre is a city of 40,000 or so residents that has declined from a peak of 90,000 residents around 1950. The city was forged upon the anthracite mining industry, and for a time it was one of the wealthiest cities in the nation. Some vestiges of this "high-class" status can be seen in my first photo tour of Wilkes-Barre, which primarily shows you the historic district near Wilkes University (//www.city-data.com/forum/penns...ght=photo+tour)
In 1959, the Knox Mine Disaster near my hometown of Pittston, about ten miles north of Wilkes-Barre, decimated the mining industry, as the Susquehanna River flooded the valley's mine shafts. Between 1960-1972, the region's economy largely collapsed. In 1972, the remnants of Hurricane Agnes stalled over the area, causing a major flood to occur that ravaged most of Wilkes-Barre and its inner suburbs. From 1973 to the late-1990s, most city residents fled their homes to purchase building lots in suburban housing developments on the nearby hillsides (Back Mountain, Mountain Top, Bear Creek), and downtown merchants followed their consumers out to the suburbs, including the area around the Wyoming Valley Mall.
By the late-1990s, Wilkes-Barre had a boarded-up downtown, major crime issues, poverty, urban blight, and a "feared" reputation from suburbanites, who refused to head into town unless absolutely necessary. To most, the city seemed "dead and gone."
However, in the past few years Wilkes-Barre has been seeing a rebirth, especially in the downtown area. Thanks to Mayor Leighton's "I Believe" campaign, which has boosted civic pride throughout the city limits, people are being less spiteful about their hometown and more optimistic. The old Hotel Sterling complex is being renovated into a mixed-use project of condos, Class-A office space, and retail boutiques. Across River Street from the Sterling project is the new "RiverWalk" project, which will include two large portals in the levee wall to permit recreational access to the riverfront, which will eventually include an amphitheater and potentially an artificial lake in the middle of the river thanks to an inflatable dam. River Street is also supposed to be "calmed" by being narrowed down to one lane each way with a large tree lawn in the median. Across town, the old Murray Complex is likewise being renovated into another mixed-use project of loft apartments, restaurants, and upscale boutiques. A new visitors' center is planned for Market Street Square. New historic-themed streetlights now illuminate the downtown. A two-block stretch of South Main Street between Public Square and East Northampton Street has been designated the "Diamond City Entertainment District" and is now home to a Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, FUSE Martini Club, Club Mardi Gras, Cinema 14, Campus Square Billiards, Bart & Urby's Bistro, and upcoming developments this year, in addition to the historic F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts (which has recently hosted the Irish Tenors, Broadway show tunes, and other acts).
King's College anchors the north end of downtown, and Wilkes University anchors the southern end. Wilkes, in my opinion, is in a more "attractive" setting amid the city's most historic architecture, and is decidedly "Liberal", as Al Gore may soon be coming for a visit. King's, where I attend, is decidedly "Conservative", and the college attempts to adhere to a strict Catholic moral outlook. Both schools have art galleries, theater groups, and have a combined student enrollment of 5,000+. Other than Boscov's Department Store and the new Barnes & Noble, the retail scene downtown is severely lacking. However, I'd assume that the growing foot traffic near the new entertainment district will have a snowball effect of promoting more store openings in the coming months. Much of Wilkes-Barre's retail corridors lie 1-2 miles east of town near I-81 in the Highland Park Boulevard, Mundy Street, and Kidder Street areas. It's here in Wilkes-Barre Township that you'll find the Wyoming Valley Mall (anchored by Macy's, Sears, JCPenney, and the Bon Ton), Arena Hub Plaza (Lowe's Home Improvement, Best Buy, another Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, PetSmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Pier 1 Imports, Staples, Old Navy, etc.), Spring Street Plaza (Home Depot, Burlington Coat Factory, Raymour & Flanigan Furniture), Wilkes-Barre Township Crossings (Target, Dress Barn, Country Junction, Petco, Circuit City, Catherine's, etc.), and Wilkes-Barre Township Commons (Wal-Mart Supercenter, Chuck-E-Cheese's, Radio Shack, etc.) This community is also home to the Wachovia Arena, which is home to the AAA-affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, an Arena2 Football team, and various concerts. Wegman's Foods is also in the township as are the following restaurants: Red Robin, Lone Star Steakhouse, Logan's Roadhouse, Boston's Gourmet Pizza, Uno Pizzeria, Starbucks (2), Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, TGI Friday's, Ground Round, Bennigan's, Bob Evans, Wendy's, McDonalds, Burger King, Grott Pizza, Chili's, Cracker Barrel, Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday, Friendly's, Perkins, and just about every other chain you could think of. Some other stores in the vicinity include, Sam's Club, Kohl's, Office Depot, FedEx/Kinko's, Office Max, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, Toys 'R Us, and various gas stations, car dealerships, and hotels. As you'd imagine, the trade-off for this "shoppers/diners' paradise" is horrific traffic at times; as an employee of the Lowe's store here, I dread getting out of work at 5 PM!
The city proper, while still recovering from a very crime-ridden 2006, seems to be having a much better 2007 thus far, with no homicides and very few acts of violence to date. Mayor Leighton has made swearing in new officers a priority, and I've noticed a difference already in terms of more frequent patrols around town. Considering I attend college downtown and my father works downtown, this is very much appreciated. There are still areas of blight, housing projects, etc. in the city, but, overall, things are on an upswing. The city has been battered for a few decades, but now it's finally getting some much-needed TLC. Housing prices, as of right now, are still reasonable, but I'd expect them to start rising shortly, as they've now begun to do in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre's sister city about 25 minutes to the north.
Wow.. Congrats on not mentioning you're gay..!!??!!
Wow.. Congrats on not mentioning you're gay..!!??!!
I'm so sorry to hear that you're yet another one of the valley's 99.9% homophobic population. If I intimidate you so much, then don't listen to me. It's not like I'm an advocate of same-sex marriage or anything!
The city proper, while still recovering from a very crime-ridden 2006, seems to be having a much better 2007 thus far, with no homicides and very few acts of violence to date.
I must now retract that statement. There was a homicide this morning at 21 East North Street near my college campus. Emergency crews actually blocked one lane of North Street near my commuter parking lot to bring the body out on a stretcher this morning as I drove to class. Also early this morning, there was a home invasion just blocks away on Darling Street in which the homeowners were roughed up. I'm hoping these two incidents aren't the "beginning" of what may be another violent year in the city. Then again, we've had "flukes" like this before where things would rapidly return to normalcy thereafter. As for me, I still "Believe" in the city's rebirth.
In2dadark you are a jerk no matter what thread you post in you just cannot get over being a homophobe can you. Grow up
Thanks for the support, Daniel, but I can handle myself. I had the displeasure of dealing with a Neo-Nazi through high school and into my first year at King's, but he and I managed to work things out (basically our mutual friends got wind of what he was doing to me and began telling all of his other friends to ostracize him, which lead him to leave me alone). I was all pumped up and ready for a one, two punch, but a peaceful resolution worked out just as well (I wouldn't want to explain to the campus president why there was a fistfight on our otherwise quiet, conservative, placid campus).
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Just visited there!
. 
It's not like I'm an advocate of same-sex marriage or anything! 
I had the displeasure of dealing with a Neo-Nazi through high school and into my first year at King's, but he and I managed to work things out (basically our mutual friends got wind of what he was doing to me and began telling all of his other friends to ostracize him, which lead him to leave me alone). I was all pumped up and ready for a one, two punch, but a peaceful resolution worked out just as well (I wouldn't want to explain to the campus president why there was a fistfight on our otherwise quiet, conservative, placid campus). 
