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Northeastern Pennsylvania Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area
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Thread summary:

Observations about Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, surrounding towns are in disrepair, welfare community moving in, section 8 housing increasing, no business development

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Old 08-18-2007, 09:26 PM
 
Location: Montrose, PA
223 posts, read 795,870 times
Reputation: 87

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Quote:
Originally Posted by HobokenGuy View Post
Ok first off, I want no harsh words from SWB...hey man, the King's family has to stay together!

My old college buddies and I spent a VERY long weekend at the Woodlands in Wilkes-Barre (last Friday to today), for the long Memorial Day weekend reunion which has become a tradition with us since we all left our beloved King's College.

We all sat down to dinner tonight before everyone headed back to Philly, Jersey, Boston, and Long Island, and we all had the same opinions about what direction "the Valley" was heading in.

I have to tell you, the surrounding towns (Edwardsville, Larksville, Plymouth, etc...) are in a terrible state of borderline disrepair, and parts of Wilkes-Barre are starting to resemble Newark and Irvington which is very disturbing.

What made it get this way? Affordable housing is what did it and here is why...

The "undesirable" crowd from NYC, Jersey, and Philly saw a great opportunity to still ride on the welfare wagon getting their big city welfare checks, and spending much less by moving to NEPA and setting up their drug and weapons business.

The aging population has nobody to give their houses to (the kids moved elsewhere for good paying white collar jobs), and an investor comes in and section 8's the whole thing, thus bringing in all the garbage.

From what we saw, there are a few towns which are holding on (Wyoming, Forty Fort, West Pittston, Old Forge, and parts of Kingston) to a good community, but those other towns are like a cancer, and sadly, I feel that soon enough it will spread to the better towns.

There are ways to turn this negative into a positive. First off, the "not in my backyard" mentality has to stop in the area. These blowhard hacks that call themselves politicians all need to be voted out. Stop giving the farm away, stop discouraging business growth, and while you're at it, start limiting the number of section 8 housing that can be allocated. These "newcomers" are not looking for a weekend retreat, trust me.

Secondly, if people are complaining because none of the college grads are sticking around, then do something about it! Offer HUGE tax incentives to companies looking to flee overpriced and overtaxed NYC and North Jersey. What some people don't understand is that even though the companies are not being heavily taxed, all the newcomers buying houses and paying income taxes will make up for it. The revenue stream will be coming from somewhere. Montage and Scranton have the right idea to a degree.

Lastly, and SWB is going to kill me for this one, but start developing, even if it means demolishing old, and replacing with new! Old houses are great to look at, but for the most part are a maintenance nightmare, and most homeowners don't want to deal with the upkeep.

I really don't think the sprawl killed those little downtown's. I honestly believe that as the store owners retired and died off, there was nobody there to take over. The kids left for greener pastures years earlier and that was it. It was the perfect opportunity for the big-box chains to come in and dominate a market.

To end this little rant, I have to say that all of us wanted to stay in the area after graduation, but no jobs = no money = no future.

Would we all come back there to work, live, and raise our families? You're damn right we would, but if nothing changes there won't be too many people returning to that area.

My best friend said it best tonight. He said "give me a job that pays 75K today in the Valley, and I am pounding the for sale sign in the front yard of my Philly house tomorrow".

I don't think the community leaders understand how bad a good deal of us "non-natives" wanted to stay in the area.
a classic neo-con "rant" it is. the problem effecting those areas is more complicated. nice try though.
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Old 08-18-2007, 09:41 PM
 
Location: Weehawken, NJ
2,179 posts, read 6,715,362 times
Reputation: 1167
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Originally Posted by JimmyLane View Post
a classic neo-con "rant" it is. the problem effecting those areas is more complicated. nice try though.
Too bad I'm not a neo-con. Nice try though.
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Old 08-18-2007, 09:47 PM
 
Location: Montrose, PA
223 posts, read 795,870 times
Reputation: 87
Quote:
Originally Posted by HobokenGuy View Post
Too bad I'm not a neo-con. Nice try though.
i described your "rant" as one imbued with neo-con thinking, not you per se, though nice try on your part to suggest that i did.
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Old 08-18-2007, 10:06 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,579,178 times
Reputation: 19101
Wow! Get a room you two!
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Old 08-19-2007, 07:27 AM
 
Location: in a house
3,574 posts, read 14,339,300 times
Reputation: 2400
Quote:
Originally Posted by HobokenGuy View Post
....... There are great, hard-working people in that area who woild give you the shirt off their backs if you needed it. In my eyes, that's what makes the area so great...well...that and the Old Forge pizza that seems like I am one of the few who actually appreciates a very unique pie.
Dude! What ever happened to your plans to come to the dark side and move to NC!!!! Hey, I agree, Salerno's pizza rocks, especially the white pie. I'm not quite an outsider, but a "one foot in the door" and I do see the changes when I come home. (sigh) I am spoiled here in NC with my land and house - I am not sure I can afford to move back permanently.
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Old 08-19-2007, 07:43 AM
 
Location: in a house
3,574 posts, read 14,339,300 times
Reputation: 2400
Quote:
Originally Posted by Summering View Post
I have seen where a Medical Assistant, or an LPN ,has gone into a doctors office for an interview and laughed at what they offered as a salary.
Some having good experience ,and great schooling.
Things are a bit better then 10 years ago. But, by far not enough.........
A single mother could never make ends meet in Pa.
I've sadly known a few...........
Well, for one thing, a medical assistant and an LPN are not the same - different training and education, and an LPN should be able to get a higher salary, but if a physician can get by with a MA, guess who gets hired. That's the main reason you don't see RNs or many LPNs in physician's offices any more - too expensive. Here in NC, the new graduate MAs, without experence or certification, make ~$10 - 12 / hr to start + benefits. $12/hr + health insurance, 401K, vacation, and disability. Couple that with no weekends, holidays, and evenings - that's pretty darn good. Healthcare doesn't pay well no matter where you are - not just in NEPA or Phila.
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Old 08-19-2007, 11:33 AM
 
Location: Weehawken, NJ
2,179 posts, read 6,715,362 times
Reputation: 1167
Quote:
Originally Posted by mm_mary73 View Post
Dude! What ever happened to your plans to come to the dark side and move to NC!!!! Hey, I agree, Salerno's pizza rocks, especially the white pie. I'm not quite an outsider, but a "one foot in the door" and I do see the changes when I come home. (sigh) I am spoiled here in NC with my land and house - I am not sure I can afford to move back permanently.
Ya know, I was all ready to move to Charlotte. I had a deposit on a condo at 5th & Poplar and I had the movers all ready to go.

I went down there last month for one last look, and then I get a phone call from one of my best clients. He asked me if I was still in the NYC area, and I told him yes, but not too much longer.

Marc tells me to cancel the movers because he needs a guy to head up the Manhattan office for this new business venture he's starting.

Long story short, I jumped at the opportunity to completely change my career and also to increase my salary (I'm doing charity work for the first 6 months while this gets up and running). I am still going to buy the condo down in Charlotte and do a corporate rental on it since it's right next to BofA.

If it doesn't work out after the first 1-2 years, then I will be coming down to NC.

Sorry for getting off topic!
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