Garden Village Photo Tour (Scranton, Dunmore: middle-class, houses, neighborhood)

[freeedom]

SWB, I personally, would love any locations! I truly enjoy your tours, And I have to say, Showing the homes for everyone is great! I can not believe how low the taxes are in your state.

[HomeAgainInWestPittston]

Geeze, Paul - You got my best friend's house, but, missed mine.

I'm feeling flattered and stalked at the same time.

You made me see my neighborhood from fresh eyes and confirmed the reasons I left NYC - I can breathe now.

Linda

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by HomeAgainInWestPittston

Geeze, Paul - You got my best friend's house, but, missed mine.

I'm feeling flattered and stalked at the same time.

You made me see my neighborhood from fresh eyes and confirmed the reasons I left NYC - I can breathe now.

Linda

Thanks, Linda! As I said, I wanted to snap many, many more (probably would have included your home, as well as the homes of my aunt and uncle and my sister and brother-in-law), but I was pressed on time due to my final and was running out of memory space. I didn't get to snap any pictures west of Wyoming Avenue and south of Luzerne Avenue. I wanted to snap a photo of Montgomery Avenue Elementary, as well as a home just up Montgomery Avenue from the school that is truly a work of art! I also wanted to snap the shopping center just down the road to show people that they would be within walking distance of Gerrity's, Subway, Blockbuster, Dunkin' Donuts, Great Wall, etc. from most parts of town. Finally, I likewise wanted to snap photos of the West Pittston Public Pool, iGourmet.com, and Keystone Automotive. I don't quite think there's still enough remaining to warrant a second photo tour of West Pittston, but you never know! If you want your home added to that potential second tour, let me know your address in a PM, and I'll be stalking you in the bushes outside of your bedroom window! LOL!

[weluvpa]

How much do these photo tours cost you in gas Paul? Instead of complaining to others in the general form about the gas prices and how you cannot afford the rising prices because of hummers and suv's! Its only $35 a week in gas for you? isn't that what you said? Maybe you should stop driving all over the NEPA region before you start to complain about the price of gas and how you cannot afford it. I like the photos they do the area justice but you do not do yourself any by complaining in one venue and acting financially backwards in another.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

How much do these photo tours cost you in gas Paul? Instead of complaining to others in the general form about the gas prices and how you cannot afford the rising prices because of hummers and suv's! Its only $35 a week in gas for you? isn't that what you said? Maybe you should stop driving all over the NEPA region before you start to complain about the price of gas and how you cannot afford it. I like the photos they do the area justice but you do not do yourself any by complaining in one venue and acting financially backwards in another.

Luring new residents to our region is the only way that it will survive into the future. In case you haven't noticed, our region is shedding residents at one of the fastest rates in the nation out of the 100-largest metropolitan areas; how can an area champion itself as being economically-viable when its own residents are abandoning ship like the Titanic? That obviously sends up red flag warnings to any prospective high-caliber employer who may have considered moving its operations to our area. I'll suck it up and pay a bit extra for fuel if my photo tours help to inspire even one person to inquire about relocating to West Pittston, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Honesdale, Milford, Tunkhannock, or any other city I photographed. In this sense, West Pittston is only five miles from my doorstep, and I would have considered walking over there if there was a safe pedestrian link other than commuter-clogged Highway 315.

By the way, my car is quite fuel-efficient, and I hope to be able to purchase a hybrid in 2008. If I were driving a Hummer or Escalade your complaints might have a bit more merit, but these "pleasure trips" of mine serve much more of a purpose than just simply gallavanting around. It is my hope that showing our area in a positive light to thousands of people will help to shed the negative reputation it has to outsiders that has only been exacerbated by people like you, Joe Pilchesky, DawnRace, Mechtm84, StuckPA, and all of the others who think our region is doomed to failure. If even one person out there saw this photo tour and thought "West Pittston isn't the dump I thought it was after all," then I've done my civic duty in helping to spread optimism throughout cyberspace.

I find it amusing that you're twisting my photo tours around to try to seem like a negative. Why must you do that to EVERYTHING?! I could say that Mayor Doherty just gave everyone a free puppy that excretes ice cream and $20 bills, and you'd probably complain "I'm lactose-intolerant, and I'd rather have $50 bills." For your own sake, please stop always trying to find the sour side of things. Have you even been to West Pittston lately? It's a historic riverside mecca that is underappreciated and deserved this special online recognition. There's more to life than spending money, paying bills, griping about tax rates, etc. I currently pay most of my own expenses, pay income taxes, pay EMS taxes, etc., yet I don't give them a second thought. I'd rather focus on the GOOD that this area has to offer.

[weluvpa]

I like the tours but I do not like you using them for attention and then slamming the rest of us that drive suv's on the general thread. You were complaining that you cannot afford to pay for gas between going to work and commuting to school. You were outright blaming the owners of luxury trucks for your inability to pay for your gas. I do not like when someone tells me that I am the reason for their hardtimes with gas prices when they blow their money driving around the area highlighting the real estate and telling everyone that its great here, do not worry about the hidden costs of the house you bought in Scranton, all you need to know is its beautiful. For once why don't you tell them what the tax increases are and the wage taxes, tell them that if they move to Scranton that they will be paying the highest Wage Tax in the state of PA, tell them that the police dept is the lest paid and losing officers left and right. Tell them the TRUTH about what is involved here and what they will be expected to pay. You paint a great picture of the area but you leave out the important things, the things that cost the most money and make life that much harder for people. 3.4% wage tax is hard on families and to allow someone to think that this area is soooooo great without telling them the underlying truths is out right disception and you know it. If the gas prices are too much stay at home, or at least tell everyone here that you are trading gallons of gas for attention from them. Either way, you are part of the problem or the solution, right now I think you area bigger part of the Scranton problem then you are a solution because of your inability to be truthful because then you wouldn't be SWB the CHEERLEADER for NEPA would you? Its really that simple Paul. Overall honesty is better than personal needs don't you think? Peoples best interest out weighs personal interests right Paul?

[I LOVE PA!]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

How much do these photo tours cost you in gas Paul? Instead of complaining to others in the general form about the gas prices and how you cannot afford the rising prices because of hummers and suv's! Its only $35 a week in gas for you? isn't that what you said? Maybe you should stop driving all over the NEPA region before you start to complain about the price of gas and how you cannot afford it. I like the photos they do the area justice but you do not do yourself any by complaining in one venue and acting financially backwards in another.

You are constantly try to strike up an arguement with Paul, over and over and over and over and over again.... It has been suggested before than no one else is interested in reading, take it to PM's.
I have one better, don't bring it up all. No one wants to read your negativity.

[weluvpa]

Originally Posted by I LOVE PA!

You are constantly try to strike up an arguement with Paul, over and over and over and over and over again.... It has been suggested before than no one else is interested in reading, take it to PM's.
I have one better, don't bring it up all. No one wants to read your negativity.

YYYYAAAAAWWWWNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!! Cheer on my friend cheer on..........

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by I LOVE PA!

You are constantly try to strike up an arguement with Paul, over and over and over and over and over again.... It has been suggested before than no one else is interested in reading, take it to PM's.
I have one better, don't bring it up all. No one wants to read your negativity.

Daniel actually seems to be a great guy with a passion for the city. I just never wanted to contact him again because he was a bit too cynical and a "Debbie Downer" for my tastes. I'm a "rose-colored glasses" type of guy who can see potential to turn every Scranton crack house into a great family home, and he's the type who can see nothing but doom and gloom until we round up every city official except for Janet Evans and shoot them into the center of the sun! He doesn't seem to realize that good things can happen through hard work and dilligence of the townspeople themselves and private investors as opposed to waiting for an inept and corrupt government to hold their hands through the process. Yes, Scranton is rife with problems, but it is also rife with great people, wonderful festivals, gorgeous architecture, low crime in relation to similarly-sized cities (contrary to what the Chicken Littles rant and rave about at the meetings), and is just OOZING potential from every pore. If I were to do a SWOT Analysis of the city of Scranton, the "Opportunities" portion would be off the charts in relation to the other three aspects.

Daniel, sometimes you just need to take a chill pill and RELAX, my friend! I'm probably one of the most stressed-out and manically-depressed person out of my circle of friends, yet I still manage to find hope and inspiration in times of desperation. I realize I hit a lot of nerves with a lot of people when I bashed SUVs on the other forum for their fuel inefficiency, but this thread was neither the time nor place to bring that up. Besides, snapping these photo tours is MY form of entertainment and pleasure; I don't hop in my car very often to hit up the movies, restaurants, etc. because I don't have many friends. I probably expel just as much gas in doing these weekly photo tours as people who spend their weekends "living it up."

[mm_mary73]

(OK, I'd rip up the carpet and finish the oak floor underneath, fill in the *%$#@ pool) Oops, sorry I was thinking out loud.
Oh, and Daniel, Paul is probably doing errands / going to or from work / school when he does his photo tours. You sweet thing, I'll bet you're a very nice person on the inside and if you want to spend $100 / fill-up for your SUV, all the power to you. As long as we use non-renewable energy sources, we're all at fault for global warming. Am I going to carry on about it? You betcha, and to everyone and any one - I do drive a hybrid. You be sweet.