Retitled: Suggestions for Improving Quality-of-life in Scranton (Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre: middle-class, apartments)

[SteelCityRising]

Moderator cut: Personal remarks directed to another member deleted; thread retitled

I'll get the ball rolling with one of my ideas:

Promote Downtown as a Residential Neighborhood

Considering Scranton's tax base is eroding quickly, we need to do anything in our power to try to "plug" that population decline. Downtown Scranton is unique in that it can offer its future residents the ability to live, work, worship, dine, and play without having to hop in a vehicle. Considering I've grown up in the poorly-planned suburbs of Pittston, I've felt disadvantaged to have had to hop into my car and battle traffic just to go for a run in an established town with sidewalks or to pick up a loaf of bread for the house. I'd gladly relocate to Downtown Scranton for this unique "benefit" of being able to trade in my four wheels for two legs.

Downtown Scranton also has the ability to offer new residents "unique" residences that can't be found in the suburbs, such as loft apartments, rowhomes, and condos. Just look at how wildly-popular the Lofts @ The Mill complex has been. That old silk mill is hidden in an out-of-the-way corner of the city and is not within walking distance to downtown, yet it filled up quickly with young professionals and graduate students willing to pay a premium to live in a unique complex like that. Just imagine how popular a similar complex would be if it were located near the hustle and bustle of Center City?

Downtown would never be too likely to attract young families with children, but it would be likely to attract empty-nesters who are looking to downsize their suburban homes for smaller units once their children have fled the coop, young professionals who want to be nearer to their downtown offices and emulate the "SoHo" experience, and college students, among others. The young professionals and empty-nesters are likely to be of upper-middle-class status, and they'll be contributing plenty to the city's coffers via the 3.4% city wage tax as a result.

Several hundred new downtown residents would serve as a tremendous catalyst for the commercial vitality of the neighborhood as existing businesses that may have been struggling notice their bottom lines rebounding from the new foot traffic and potential entrepreneurs establish businesses of their own in vacant storefronts to latch onto that additional foot traffic in a process known as "retail clustering." (We see that more often in the suburbs, where the new Edwardsville Lowe's Home Improvement, for example, has spawned increased retail growth nearby in the formerly-abandoned West Side Mall and Gateway Shopping Center as other businesses attempt to "leech" off of the store's customers).

Granted, the downtown is lacking several key elements to sustain downtown-dwellers, among them a market of some sort. The nearest grocery stores are the Redner's on North Seventh Avenue and the Mr. Z's on South Washington Avenue, neither of which are in downtown. However, there is an urban market planned for the Connell Building once renovations are completed. A good bookstore is also lacking in Downtown Scranton. The new Barnes & Noble in Downtown Wilkes-Barre has proven itself to be quite popular, and I often wonder why the owners of the Tudor Bookstore & Cafe in Clarks Summit didn't ponder relocation to a Downtown Scranton storefront as opposed to simply "going out of business?" There's obviously an untapped market downtown for a bookstore and cafe, as evidenced by the thousands of college students and office workers who flock to Borders in Dickson City due to the lack of a downtown book store. The downtown currently has at least four coffee houses, (Two Starbucks, Center Street, and Northern Lights), and various ethnic eateries and night clubs to give it a decent assortment of night life options. The Albright Memorial Library and Scranton Cultural Center are within walking distance, as are art galleries and funky newer shops like Outrageous, Poochie, New Laundry, La Belle Cose, Lavish, and MaryAnne's Closet. The Steamtown Mall offers various apparel stores and a downtown movie theater. There's truly no reason why the downtown could not sustain residents, especially when the city is building a new parking garage in anticipation of the upcoming medical school.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who would be willing to consider urban loft-style living in Scranton, am I?

Also, as more and more people start to make downtown a 24/7 neighborhood as opposed to a 9-5 one, criminal activity in and around the downtown will likely abate.

Best of all, not one taxpayer dollar would have to be spent for this quality-of-life improvement in the city, as several private developers are already investing millions of their own dollars to see downtown house hundreds of new eager and optimistic residents. Among them are:

Sixth Avenue Development---84 Mid-Range Condos
Connell Building---52 Mid-Range Condos
St. Peter's Square---TBA Number of Upper-Range Condos
Jefferson Pointe---TBA Number of Mid-Range Condos
500-Block Lackawanna Avenue---TBA Number of Artists' Studios and Lofts

(I've bolded names argued to me in the past as "fly-by-night" failures which are being warmly-embraced by my fellow suburban readers of Electric City magazine!)

"Best War the Area is Winning"---Cleaning up Downtown Scranton
"Best Promised Downtown Development"---St. Peter's Square
"Best Grand Opening"---Martini Grille
"Best Gallery"---AFA Gallery
"Best Ongoing Arts Event"---First Fridays, Downtown
"Best Local Festival"---La Festa Italiana, Downtown
"Best Local Theatre Company"---Northeast Theatre
"Best Overall Day Spa"---Alexander's
"Best Women's Clothing"---Pierre's
"Best Unique Gifts"---Outrageous
"Best Boutique"---Lavish
"Best Jewelry"---Silver on Spruce
"Best Tattoo Parlor"---Marc's Tattooing
"Best Pet Supply Store"---Poochie
"Best Toy Store"---Toy Globe
"Best Comic Book Store"---Comics on the Green
"Best Music-Equipment Store"---Gallucci Music
"Best Furniture Store"---Penn Furniture
"Best Place to Pop the Question"---Nay Aug Park
"Best Place to Buy the Ring"---Boccardo Jewelers
"Best Place to Throw a Bachelorette Party"---Flashbacks
"Best Place to Get Hitched"---Hilton Hotel & Conference Center
"Best Hotel"---Radisson/Lackawanna Station
"Best Program on Channel 61"---Scranton City Council Meetings
"Best Local Blog"---Electric City Renaissance
"Best New Bar/Club"---Martini Grille
"Best Pub"---The Banshee
"Best Wine Bar"---Carmen's
"Best Sports Bar"---Whistle's
"Best Street for Bar-Hopping"---Linden Street
"Best Place for Gazing at the Opposite (or same) Sex"---Tink's
"Best Bar on St. Patrick's Day"---Farley's
"Best College Bar"---Green Frog
"Best Dance Club"---Flashbacks
"Best Live Music Club"---Heil's Place
"Best Open Mic Night"---The Bog
"Best Stand-Up Comedy Venue"---Wise Crackers
"Best Jukebox"---The Bog
"Best Happy Hour"---Trax
"Best Happy Hour Food"---PJ's 1910 Pub
"Best Restaurant"---Cooper's
"Best New Restaurant"---Faccia Luna
"Best Deli"---Abe's
"Best Diner"---Glider Diner
"Best Quickie Lunch Spot"---Caferazzi
"Best French Fries"---Chick's Diner
"Best Salads"---Brixx
"Best Sandwiches"---Alfredo's
"Best Wings"---Kelly's Pub & Eatery
"Best Hot Dogs"---Coney Island
"Best Chinese"---House of China
"Best Mexican"---Don Pancho Villa
"Best Seafood"---Cooper's
"Best Old School Restaurant"---Sibio's
"Best Vegetarian"---Thai Rak Thai
"Best Patio Dining"---Cosgrove's
"Best Beer Menu"---Cooper's
"Best Coffee Shop"---Northern Lights Espresso Bar

There's a certain electric pulse racing through the young professionals in this city now that has never before been experienced at any other point in its history!

[FightinPhils]

A little off topic, but I can't believe anyone voted Chick's Diner for best anything...Chick's downright sucks. Bad food, bad service, and not to mention thumbed their noses at the smoking ban.

And best wings...Kelly's?? Kelly's is overrated. The wings are dry with hardly any sauce on them. Windsor Inn in Jermyn is the best.

But anyways, I agree with your post, SWB, just had to get my 2 cents in.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

A little off topic, but I can't believe anyone voted Chick's Diner for best anything...Chick's downright sucks. Bad food, bad service, and not to mention thumbed their noses at the smoking ban.

And best wings...Kelly's?? Kelly's is overrated. The wings are dry with hardly any sauce on them. Windsor Inn in Jermyn is the best.

But anyways, I agree with your post, SWB, just had to get my 2 cents in.

I agree. I've boycotted Chick's (and Whistle's for that matter) ever since I heard that the proprietors of both establishments were openly-defying the city's public smoking ban. I happen to enjoy Kelly's wings, but I've never tasted the ones at the Windsor Inn (it's a bit far from my home, but I'll make it up there if they're THAT good).

[weluvpa]

Moderator cut: personal

... but most of those places are the only ones of their type in Scranton so they are going to be the best and the list is alomost the same every year. I have no faith in the editors of the "elctric Citry" considering they are getting paid by their advertisers to pump up the downtown.

"Best of all, not one taxpayer dollar would have to be spent for this quality-of-life improvement in the city, as several private developers are already investing millions of their own dollars to see downtown house hundreds of new eager and optimistic residents. Among them are:

Sixth Avenue Development---84 Mid-Range Condos
Connell Building---52 Mid-Range Condos
St. Peter's Square---TBA Number of Upper-Range Condos
Jefferson Pointe---TBA Number of Mid-Range Condos
500-Block Lackawanna Avenue---TBA Number of Artists' Studios and Lofts"

Moderator cut: personal These projects are going to need 100's of millions of dollars in HUD and OECD $$$$$ to be completed, they will not be build with all private money and the city is going to have to kick huge amounts as well, just like evry other project in the city going back 20 years. YourModerator cut: personal, there has never been a fully private funded project in the downtown, not even the mall or the hotels, the city lost millions on the hilton and the radisson over the years and the radisson just applied for $250,000 in OECD for renovations and they have a $116,000 tax lein on the building right now. These projects are holes in the ground for the mayor to throw our money down and if you look at haver the design or construction firms you will see that they are mostly the mayors contributors especially Mr. Jordan(loft at the mill and the St.Peters square project) former owner of Patrick advertising and known friend and huge contributor, the funding is on hold and it looks like that one might not even get to the ground breaking. These are all ideas on paper and not for sore yet and I will bet at least half of them never make it. I am not be doom and cloom on this one but a realist when I know for a fact that the funding isn't even close yet and that these projects will be build with over half the cost coming down on us either thru OECD or HUD. These guys have only invested in drawings and ideas, there is not one blue print available yet they are still on the drawing board literally.

There is no downtown crime because there is downtown after 5 anyday of the week. Your list is impressive and it must have been a time to copy it from the electric city but lets run thru it quick.

"Best War the Area is Winning"---Cleaning up Downtown Scranton
"Best Promised Downtown Development"---St. Peter's Square No money
"Best Grand Opening"---Martini Grille I was there do not know what they mean
"Best Gallery"---AFA Gallery one of two in the downtown
"Best Ongoing Arts Event"---First Fridays, Downtown its the only one
"Best Local Festival"---La Festa Italiana, Downtown
"Best Local Theatre Company"---Northeast Theatre
"Best Overall Day Spa"---Alexander's the only one
"Best Women's Clothing"---Pierre's
"Best Unique Gifts"---Outrageous
"Best Boutique"---Lavish
"Best Jewelry"---Silver on Spruce
"Best Tattoo Parlor"---Marc's Tattooing
"Best Pet Supply Store"---Poochie only one downtown
"Best Toy Store"---Toy Globe
"Best Comic Book Store"---Comics on the Green only one downtown
"Best Music-Equipment Store"---Gallucci Music only one downtown
"Best Furniture Store"---Penn Furniture only one downtown
"Best Place to Pop the Question"---Nay Aug Park what the Fu$%????
"Best Place to Buy the Ring"---Boccardo Jewelers good friends give you this one
"Best Place to Throw a Bachelorette Party"---Flashbacks ???????
"Best Place to Get Hitched"---Hilton Hotel & Conference Center one of 2
"Best Hotel"---Radisson/Lackawanna Station one of 2
"Best Program on Channel 61"---Scranton City Council Meetings
"Best Local Blog"---Electric City Renaissance
"Best New Bar/Club"---Martini Grille Not seeing it
"Best Pub"---The Banshee only pub true pubs do not exist
"Best Wine Bar"---Carmen's
"Best Sports Bar"---Whistle's only one
"Best Street for Bar-Hopping"---Linden Street they are all there for the most
"Best Place for Gazing at the Opposite (or same) Sex"---Tink's if your 21
"Best Bar on St. Patrick's Day"---Farley's surprise they open at 6am
"Best College Bar"---Green Frog of 3
"Best Dance Club"---Flashbacks
"Best Live Music Club"---Heil's Place
"Best Open Mic Night"---The Bog only open mic
"Best Stand-Up Comedy Venue"---Wise Crackers
"Best Jukebox"---The Bog
"Best Happy Hour"---Trax its been like that for 15 yrs
"Best Happy Hour Food"---PJ's 1910 Pub
"Best Restaurant"---Cooper's doubt it the food sucks Harbor house is the best
"Best New Restaurant"---Faccia Luna
"Best Deli"---Abe's the only place to get jewish deli
"Best Diner"---Glider Diner of 2
"Best Quickie Lunch Spot"---Caferazzi
"Best French Fries"---Chick's Diner
"Best Salads"---Brixx they still open????
"Best Sandwiches"---Alfredo's
"Best Wings"---Kelly's Pub & Eatery they suck windsor or waldo's
"Best Hot Dogs"---Coney Island the only hot dog place
"Best Chinese"---House of China
"Best Mexican"---Don Pancho Villa
"Best Seafood"---Cooper's see above
"Best Old School Restaurant"---Sibio's
"Best Vegetarian"---Thai Rak Thai
"Best Patio Dining"---Cosgrove's not downtown not even close
"Best Beer Menu"---Cooper's finally I agree
"Best Coffee Shop"---Northern Lights Espresso Bar tax leins tax leins tax leins

Its not hard to be the "best" when you have no competition, this vibe I do not see and I go out and spend time at the bog the owners are my friends. I do not care about the downtown as much as I care about our neighborhoods because I think we need to improve the quality of life for the residents that already live here and stop worry about what we can do for the ones that might come, the ones that live here are the ones that built this city on their backs and with their sweat, they need to be helped the neighborhoods need help not Nay Aug or a bunch of possible 20 somethings that might stay here or move here???? For what really a 3.4% wage tax, I do not care who you are its alot to pay and why pay it when you can live 5 minutes away and save. You need to focus on the neighborhoods where the residents that already pay their taxes live and stop moving our money dowtown for nothing. You mentioned the mall, how many years do you think it will take for the mall to put out of busniess by the Shoppes at Montage? They have lost and or are going to lose close to 9 stores this year. Moderator cut: personal

You really want to improve the city then we need to close the check book and get our house in order, we need to practice fiscal reponsiblity and some fiduciary responsiblity to the tax payers and their money. We need to stop spending right now and balance the $300,000,000 that we are in debt. There are sooo many projects like Southern Union that we have lost out shirt on its not even funny. How about the treehouse have you heard structurally unsound right now due to the use of inexperienced company who never actually built one more than 6 ft off the ground. Nice huh

Moderator cut: personal Come to some of the meetings in the city and talk to the residents talk to the people that have to pay for all that is Mayor Doherty and his downtown.

[SteelCityRising]

By the way, improving the vitality, aesthetic appeal, and retail/entertainment mix of a city's DOWNTOWN is a sure-fire way to spread demand for housing THROUGHOUT the city. It is no longer "embarrassing" to claim you live in "The Hill." People in West Side seem to have more pride in their revitalizing Main Avenue district than every before. Soon people will tire of paying the TRULY outrageous taxes in places like Abington Heights or Pittston Area and be willing to consider relocation into the city limits to shorten their commute times and reduce their cost-of-living. Just look at places like Pittsburgh, for example. Their downtown has been bouncing back left and right in recent years, including a major project called "South Side Works" that has now attracted the national headquarters of American Eagle. Go onto the Pittsburgh sub-forum and see people from across the country with an interest in living in Pittsburgh based largely upon the positive images they have of its downtown. The same can happen to Scranton if people would ALLOW it to occur.

By the way, there IS a market available for downtown lofts, condos, rowhomes, townhomes, etc. in or near to Scranton's core. I've spoken to several others with an interest in living downtown, so I'm not the only nutcase who wants to invest in a place that truly is becoming "Electric" with each passing year. A vibrant downtown will RADIATE that positive effect outward in concentric circles to surrounding residential neighborhoods. I'd expect to see blighted areas of the Lower Hill, Upper South Side, and West Side areas seeing residential reinvestment within the next decade.

Obviously the downtown will ALWAYS be the "focal point" of the city and will be used by potential new residents and investors as a gauge as to whether or not they should ponder a move there.

[CHS89]

Best Day of the Week Beginning with M and ending in "onday" ---


This is certainly NOT a Best of Lackawanna County list. It's not even a Best of Scranton list. More like a Chamber of Commerce "what's hot now" list.

Look, I like Scranton as much as the next guy. I'm not going to bash it the way WLPA seems to, but I'm also not going to blow sunshine up anyones ass about it the way Paul seems to.

Scranton is what it is. Little shoppes and boutiques in a 6 square block downtown will not bring this city out of it's funk. Reliable government, responsible citizenry, and people getting themselves the hell out of the way of progress will accompolish that in due time.

[CHS89]

Because while it's not as gloomy as some would have you believe it is, it's also not as potentially utopian as others make it out to be.

There are many things right with this town, but there are many things wrong with it as well. I've spent 34 of my 36 years here, and I'm choosing to raise my family here, so I'm hopeful things will get better. But I'm also not fooling myself that Scranton is ever going to become something that it won't.

Not being overly pessimistic about the place, not being overly optimistic about it, either. I like to think I'm somewhere in the middle.

[MB2]

Originally Posted by CHS89

Because while it's not as gloomy as some would have you believe it is, it's also not as potentially utopian as others make it out to be.

There are many things right with this town, but there are many things wrong with it as well. I've spent 34 of my 36 years here, and I'm choosing to raise my family here, so I'm hopeful things will get better. But I'm also not fooling myself that Scranton is ever going to become something that it won't.

Not being overly pessimistic about the place, not being overly optimistic about it, either. I like to think I'm somewhere in the middle.

Give me an "S"...give me a "C"......LOL
Like the "half emty=half full" type theory? lol

Seriously, in my eyes, the only way is "up" anymore, concerning the fate of the city of scranton.
Patience is the magic word here....rome wasn't built in one day either, and progress just takes time.
I am really trying to believe, that some very "intelligent" people, sitting in office, must have learned from previous mistakes.
Doesn't that rational process of thinking, (to make this city bigger, better then it was ever before), and processing that thought throughly, qualify us as being "evolved" and "logical"?
One might hope, wish and think, that this fact would apply to politicians as well....lol

[weluvpa]

Unfortunately your right and wrong, the next administration will be the one to learn from this ones mistakes and then they will move the city forward, I am for progress and growth but it needs to done at a rate that the tax base can afford to pay for it. Right now the city gov't is trying to get 20yrs of progress done in 5 and the bills are piling up and there is no immediate way to pay for it. Patience is the key word and its definitely the most important part of this equation, but it applies to all on both sides. The taxpayers have to patient with the city gov't but in the same respect the city needs to patient with the progress, when you rush it, its done wrong and most likely has to be done twice, if they would patiently plan each project with a time table of exceptable expenditures then we would not have the huge debt and our city would show the progress that we so sorely need.
Still the economy of downtown Scranton is hurting, business is down across the board. The new Hilton just had a state tax lein leveed against it for $886,539.10 and that came from the court house notes in the paper.

Moderator cut: personal/off topic

Scranton just has to cut back on the welfare for business idea. We need strong business's.

[MB2]

Quote: "Scranton just has to cut back on the welfare for business idea. We need strong business's"

Not to be a smarty pants here, but, which ones do you have in mind, and still preserve the downtown flair?