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In the 1970's and early 1980's the catch phrase in Seattle was "Willl the Last Person Leaving Seattle Turn Out the Lights". Yes, there were even billboards!! See attached url for more info on Seattle (http://www.historylink.org/index.cfmDisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3224 (broken link))
Sound familiar? Sounds like Scranton and it's current psychological state. People complained about lack of business, high crime, a boarded up downtown, etc. A concerted effort by the city to diversify it's commerce, clean up the downtown, expansion/support for downtown businesses, and targeted marketing campaigns for tourism succeeded to help rejuvenate the area.
As new businesses emerged and the area started to grow so did the need for skilled workers- both white collar and blue collar- and both well educated in their fields. How were businesses able to attract this talent at the beginning when cash/payroll reserves could not afford to always pay top dollar? Simple, stock options and the best living environment one could ask for. Stock options made lot's of workers millionaires and not just at Microsoft. And the local attractions and recreation made life outside of work very enjoyable even in cloudy, misty Seattle. These made it easy for companies to recruit workers with the skills necessary when the local skilled labor force was tapped out.
The city and it's residents also drove the need for higher education and cutting edge at that among their young. So now they can boast on having the most well read and educated city in the country.
Yes, Seattle does leave something to be desired as it is still not as sophisticated as NYC and I always thought the locals were kind of Niles Crane types but with a computer and they seem more willing to hug a tree than another human being (they are somewhat standoffish). They were able to pull themselves collective up by the bootstraps and turn their city around. This meant everyone need to work together- city officials, businesses and everyday citizens. They turned themselves from a dying blue collar town in the '60s and '70s into a diversified, highly skilled and high tech white and blue collar town.
If the citizens of Scranton would just stop complaining and fighting amongst each other and band together for the common good of the city it could someday grow and prosper like Seattle but in it's own Scranton fashion.
It's important for the citizens of the city to embrace change and support startups (yes that sometimes means with tax dollars) that want to innovate. If not then Scranton is going to be left by the wayside both the city and it's residents.
If that hasn't got you thinking then maybe this video will:
( YouTube - Did You Know?) This is where we as a world have gone with technology and where the world is headed. Scranton can go along for the ride or vanish in the dust. It's not up to the politicians to do this all for us but it is up to every citizen and business person as well to give them a helping hand no matter who you voted for. support or endorse.
Last edited by shoegal111; 08-29-2009 at 05:38 PM..
Reason: typo
shoegal, did you write the above post or did you copy and paste it from an article? If it was an article, please post where it came from and also the link you provided is not working.
shoegal, did you write the above post or did you copy and paste it from an article? If it was an article, please post where it came from and also the link you provided is not working.
No I wrote the post- I do not plagarize other peoples work. I lived and worked in Seattle for a while, have taken all of the tours, seen documentaries on the cities history, and worked and socialized with many a millionaire (from the startups I spoke about and not just Microsoft) while I was there. The url I posted is an article from a Seattle Historian which gives a background into what caused the business and population decline.
Other cities that are well diversified have weathered recessions better than most and prosper more in good times. Salt Lake City is also very diversified and yes the Mormon Church (non-profit) owns lots of property there as well but they seem to do just fine. I've worked there too during a recession.
I completely agree shoegal. Very well written post. Unfortunately, I see too much apathy among Scranton residents and corruption among the "Old Guard" politicians for this to come to fruition.
I think it COULD happen and I think Scranton is an ideal place for diversification of blue/white collar businesses. But Scranton residents need to clean out city hall, the mayor's office, etc and start anew. They need to elect a mayor that will build the city from the ground up - literally. Fix the roads, support the Police Dept, etc.
I completely agree shoegal. Very well written post. Unfortunately, I see too much apathy among Scranton residents and corruption among the "Old Guard" politicians for this to come to fruition.
I think it COULD happen and I think Scranton is an ideal place for diversification of blue/white collar businesses. But Scranton residents need to clean out city hall, the mayor's office, etc and start anew. They need to elect a mayor that will build the city from the ground up - literally. Fix the roads, support the Police Dept, etc.
Margritte25,
That's the whole point. It's not just the Mayor's issue or any other Scranton politician's. It's the entire communitites and the in-fighting just grinds everything to a complete halt. It doesn't matter who is in office. Business people need to give more opportunities to attract skilled workers. Citizens need to stop complaining and fighting with everyone because it does not serve a purpose other than to further divide the city. You don't have to like the mayor currently in office or any other politician but instead of fighting tooth and nail against every city plan publically, the city and it's residence are better off trying to help the administration make it's plans to grow the city work because it is in the best interests of the community.
I have never heard of a start up company in the area offering stock options in leiu of a fat paycheck. Believe me it works like a charm if the business model is a good one. In every city I have lived in the past 10 yrs outside of Scranton, I chose to live in the downtown and was always marketed by the downtown businesses the day I moved into the neighborhood. It doesn't happen here in any neighborhood.
The schools including the colleges need to be more aggressive with their ciriculums regarding new technologies and what they can actually do from a R&D and marketing perspective? Do you know how many young people I know in this area that work for small businesses that could be helping to grow the business if they only thought of facebook as a marketing tool? I work for a large company and the younger workforce employed here thinks it's just a social networking tool. It was years ago but has since evolved.
Heck, I know so many people who talk about wanting opportunities in this area but the fact of the matter is thay want it handed to them on a silver platter and it doesn't work that way. You need to work for it and that just doesn't apply to the singular individual but to the community as a whole.
Any mayor is not going to be able to bring in new business to the city if all the prospects see is a bitter, angry communitiy. And trust me they research on the web including sites like city data as well as sending advance teams to check out the area in person. It's not going to matter how good the work ethic is here if the people are nasty. And unfortunately that is what people see right now.
I am not disagreeing with you necessarily, but how can we, as citizens, beef up a police force if the mayor is unwilling to give them funding? I completely agree that we need to band together as a community to make positive changes, I'm not disputing that. But I think it *does* matter if the mayor is so unwilling to help with funding.
Now, how does this stock options thing work? I am not very familiar with this.
I am not disagreeing with you necessarily, but how can we, as citizens, beef up a police force if the mayor is unwilling to give them funding? I completely agree that we need to band together as a community to make positive changes, I'm not disputing that. But I think it *does* matter if the mayor is so unwilling to help with funding.
Now, how does this stock options thing work? I am not very familiar with this.
This has nothing to do with the police force but by growing the area the police force too will grow. I posted on the gang thread as well that speaks to what people need to do to keep gangs out of their neighborhoods. The police cannot do it alone.
As for stock options. Does it work? Yes it can. That's how Bill Gates grew his company and became a billionaire and a lot of other business owners did too. They did not have the funds to pay talent big bucks so they offer stock options in their private companies. If the company succeeds and grows then it the stock options grow too. If the company goes public then the stocks can grow even more. It is a risk but one a lot of talent is willing to take in leiu of a huge paycheck but other things are in play as well... like life/work balance, a nice community to live in with lots of ammenities. Bill Gates did not get rich by keeping his startup staff poor he became rich by sharing the risk and rewards with them as the company matured.
And he is not the only one. That's also how the Silicon Valley attracted so much talent too. My cousin was one of them and they couldn't pay him what he was worth to begin with so they offered him stock options. He took a gamble and it paid off.
Once again you make good points shoegal. I do believe that Doherty is partly to blame for the downfall of the city. What has he really done to improve the city? I just don't see it. He makes it harder for companies to stay here with the oppressive mercantile and wage taxes. His vision for the city is all wrong. He had eight years to fix the city and based on his record, I can criticize him, because I don't believe it's better now. I agree that neighborhoods should band together and be aware of the gangs and other bad stuff, but to cut the police and fire departments is just foolish. Who does that benefit? People are leaving or not coming here because they believe that Scranton is becoming unsafe and some of that falls on his shoulders. That, in my opinion, is the number one thing a family looks at when they're moving someplace. Is the city as a whole safe for myself and my family? With the rash of criminal activities lately here in Scranton, it has soured a lot of people from moving here and started the mass exodus of people already here. Do I blame Doherty for it all? NO, but I put a lot of the blame squarely on his shoulders.
In the 1970's and early 1980's the catch phrase in Seattle was "Willl the Last Person Leaving Seattle Turn Out the Lights". Yes, there were even billboards!! See attached url for more info on Seattle (http://www.historylink.org/index.cfmDisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3224 (broken link))
Sound familiar? Sounds like Scranton and it's current psychological state. People complained about lack of business, high crime, a boarded up downtown, etc. A concerted effort by the city to diversify it's commerce, clean up the downtown, expansion/support for downtown businesses, and targeted marketing campaigns for tourism succeeded to help rejuvenate the area.
As new businesses emerged and the area started to grow so did the need for skilled workers- both white collar and blue collar- and both well educated in their fields. How were businesses able to attract this talent at the beginning when cash/payroll reserves could not afford to always pay top dollar? Simple, stock options and the best living environment one could ask for. Stock options made lot's of workers millionaires and not just at Microsoft. And the local attractions and recreation made life outside of work very enjoyable even in cloudy, misty Seattle. These made it easy for companies to recruit workers with the skills necessary when the local skilled labor force was tapped out.
The city and it's residents also drove the need for higher education and cutting edge at that among their young. So now they can boast on having the most well read and educated city in the country.
Yes, Seattle does leave something to be desired as it is still not as sophisticated as NYC and I always thought the locals were kind of Niles Crane types but with a computer and they seem more willing to hug a tree than another human being (they are somewhat standoffish). They were able to pull themselves collective up by the bootstraps and turn their city around. This meant everyone need to work together- city officials, businesses and everyday citizens. They turned themselves from a dying blue collar town in the '60s and '70s into a diversified, highly skilled and high tech white and blue collar town.
If the citizens of Scranton would just stop complaining and fighting amongst each other and band together for the common good of the city it could someday grow and prosper like Seattle but in it's own Scranton fashion.
It's important for the citizens of the city to embrace change and support startups (yes that sometimes means with tax dollars) that want to innovate. If not then Scranton is going to be left by the wayside both the city and it's residents.
If that hasn't got you thinking then maybe this video will:
( YouTube - Did You Know?) This is where we as a world have gone with technology and where the world is headed. Scranton can go along for the ride or vanish in the dust. It's not up to the politicians to do this all for us but it is up to every citizen and business person as well to give them a helping hand no matter who you voted for. support or endorse.
A well written post...One can feel your love for Scranton/Wilkes/Barre...I have tried to get some of your points across too...THE IMAGE of an area can make or break it....both the medias image and just as importantly the residents.
That's why I harp on about Sarasota; it has successfully marketed itself...world wide and honestly Scranton has better amenities minus the rich snobs down here.
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