A New Photo Tour For Your Enjoyment! (lofts, homes)

[alice_61]

Thanks for the photos. I miss Pennsylvania, especiallly those wonderful older homes already. My husband insists that we move south, home of expensive small ranches.

Thanks,
Alice

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by MoMark

Again, beautiful photographs. What camera are you using? As for nosy neighbors with binoculars, I'd simply stand up in the hot tub, shake my weenie at them, and display my proof that I'm a natural redhead.
(P.S. another striking thing in the photographs is the size of the trees. I realize they're old, but their trunks go upward forever- ginormous. What kind of trees are those anyway?)

Howdy there Mr. Mark! I'm not quite sure what trees these were (I have an easier time identifying them when there are still leaves around), but I'd have to guess that they're a blend of oaks, elms, and maples, with oaks being the dominant species throughout the city. I think adding trees to one's property (or a tree lawn) automatically boosts your property values; shadier areas have been proven to "calm" traffic, as well as deter criminal activity. As such, when I become elected to political office in Scranton in the upcoming years, I'm going to make every effort possible to secure grants from the state government for widespread tree plantings throughout the city. While the Hill Section and Green Ridge are blessed with these beautiful, ancient trees, many other neighborhoods (South Side, Providence, and West Side come to mind) don't have nearly enough shade trees for my personal tastes. I'd also like to see more cherry blossom and weeping willows added to the town's landscape to provide a bit more variety. (I am an admitted tree-hugger who feels like a hypocrite living on a suburban cul-de-sac! LOL!)

As far as my camera is concerned, I use a 3.2 MegaPixel Kodak EasyShare CX7300 digital camera that my parents bought for me at Wal-Mart two years ago as a Christmas present. It's a lower-end camera, but I couldn't be happier with it. The quality of the photos is vivid, and since it's so affordable, I won't have to shed a tear when I eventually happen to stumble over a cracked city sidewalk and fall flat on my face on top of the camera and shatter it to bits while being distracted by a sexy wraparound porch, turret, or stained-glass window!

Also, I like your rebellious hot tub idea. If it were up to me, my significant other and I would start going at it in the hot tub to give the nosy neighbors the free X-rated show of their lifetimes! (Actually, I'm the considerate, overly-polite one who'd never entertain such an idea and my better half is the "societal jerk" who'd encourage it!) LOL!

[Sharon R.]

Abso-freakin'-lutely gorgeous! The prices are amazing too. I can't even tell you which is my favorite house, I especially love the pic taken from across the little park. Another thing I like about the houses is that so many of them have the garages in back. The lots might be narrow, putting the houses close together, but they're long enough, so you have space behind you. It's not fair that you took the pics on a brilliantly sunny day, because you've said that those are rare days and dangit, I need my sun! Anyway, great job as usual, thanks for the feast for the eyes!

[geos]

Thanks SWB. Nice pics. I guess you took a detour around the "hood". I visited 90 Academy last week. Should have taken some pics. That's more hoodish but still not too bad although some the residents looked like they were consuming substances not entirely legal. Or maybe they just ate at Taco Bell. From what I saw of WB it's a touch or three below the bucolic vision you're painting but may make a worthwhile investment if it's on the rebound.

[SandyCo]

Those pictures are beautiful. Several houses remind me of my grandmother's house; she lived in Westchester County, New York. They converted the house from a barn, and then added rooms. It was a huge house, and it sat on 17 acres of land, complete with woods, a pond, and an apple orchard! Unfortunately, when she died back in 1983, none of her four children could afford to keep it, so the whole thing was sold. I still miss it; I used to go there almost every summer.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by geos

Thanks SWB. Nice pics. I guess you took a detour around the "hood". I visited 90 Academy last week. Should have taken some pics. That's more hoodish but still not too bad although some the residents looked like they were consuming substances not entirely legal. Or maybe they just ate at Taco Bell. From what I saw of WB it's a touch or three below the bucolic vision you're painting but may make a worthwhile investment if it's on the rebound.

I don't mean to paint a "pie-in-the-sky" image of our local cities---they are what they are. However, I'm looking at both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in the contexts of how far they've progressed today as opposed to the armpits they were as recently as the mid-1990s. Now, Wilkes-Barre's new "Diamond City Entertainment District", four new loft housing projects, new "RiverWalk" project, etc. will all combine to help make the city a nicer place to live in the next 2-3 years. I know Academy Street is in a "shady" area (and not in the good "tree-lined" meaning either! LOL! ) However, every decaying neighborhood has to start somewhere on its road to recovery. Believe me, if I were to photograph the Hill Section of Scranton back in 1994, I'd probably have two armed thugs coming up behind me with guns demanding my digital camera, watch, wallet, cell phone, (if they were even invented yet), etc. before hopping into some Lexus SUV with NY plates and high-tailing it out of the neighborhood! Eventually, the established residents of the Hill Section just DEMANDED action from the city, and the resulting random, intense police saturation patrols and raids wiped out much of the neighborhood's criminal element in record time. Now, it's a liveable neighborhood again. The same will happen with Wilkes-Barre's "rougher" areas as well; Academy Street isn't far at all from the new entertainment district or Wilkes University, so as that revitalization from both areas sweeps further south along South Main Street and South River Street, you'll see the criminal element start to disappear there as well.

Wilkes-Barre isn't Phoenix; we don't build 500-home subdivisions overnight. We're the type of city that is slow to act and even slower to react. We're the type of city that watched in horror as the Wyoming Valley Mall drained the life out of Center City little by little until it reached the point of despair. Now, just as slowly, the downtown is starting to bounce back. There's still an extreme shortage of merchants in Center City (IDEA for any potential investors lurking on the forum!) , but the foot traffic generated by the two new nightclubs (Mardi Gras and FUSE), the new Barnes & Noble/Starbuck's, the new movie theater, the new restaurants (Bart & Urby's, Einstein Bros., Jannuzzi's Pizza), and the new Campus Billiards should all combine to make opening a new downtown business more attractive. As I've noticed with any Rust-Belt city, those with the most vibrant, beautiful, healthiest downtown areas also tend to have some of the better neighborhoods (We're now just starting to see that happen with "The Hill" and "Green Ridge" in Scranton, and we'll see that also happen in Wilkes-Barre in the next few years).

Right now, George, I'll admit that moving into an apartment on Academy Street would be a gamble; you wouldn't have to worry about a mugging in broad daylight, but don't dare venture around alone at night! There are so many affordable apartments in safer neighborhoods within the city limits (Parsons, Miners Mills, Riverside Park, etc.) that locating an alternative for you and your father to occupy would be no problem at all. Besides, you were only looking to move here until your other home in CT was finished; it's not like you'd be establishing roots in PA. If you compared Wilkes-Barre and Scranton now to what they were 20 years ago, you'd be just as optimistic as I am about their revivals. If you're just forming judgments about what they are now as compared to yesterday or tomorrow, then you're going to be disappointed. Both cities are undergoing massive transitions (Scranton is faring better than Wilkes-Barre though), but, as in anywhere in the Rust-Belt (Think of similar-sized cities in Upstate NY or Ohio too), a process of turning an entire city from "slum" to "chic" takes TIME! Both of our local cities dilly-dallied until a few years ago to start revitalization efforts in earnest, so they both have a lot of "catching up" to do. Nevertheless, I think both will be great places to call home even in just 5 years from now.

[exscrantonian]

Great photos of the old neighborhood. Houses of that size here in Maine would be way out of our modest price range. I've got some photos of the Scanton State School for the Deaf as well as St. Paul's and Zummo's.
Last time I was in Greenridge--I noticed a lot more trucking activity especially along North Washington Ave which makes the area less desirable in my mind. Thanks for bringing back old memories. Dad still has the flag out. I wouldn't want to have to heat one of those big houses or have to keep it up. I think Dad's electric system is antique

[gigionscranton]

love it love it love it! 10 thumbs up for Scranton, PA. I can't wait to live there!

[MrsVMC]

The homes that you photographed are beautiful! It reminds me of the movie "Little Women" (The original one)!

[Positiveone]

Wow great photos!! Did you get my PM message? Anyway if not i was wondering do you have photos of Lancaster County that you can post? If not do you have a plan to do a Lancaster Photo trip anytime soon? Please let me know and keep up the great work!!

Thank you!!!!

Originally Posted by ScrantonWilkesBarre

I don't mean to paint a "pie-in-the-sky" image of our local cities---they are what they are. However, I'm looking at both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in the contexts of how far they've progressed today as opposed to the armpits they were as recently as the mid-1990s. Now, Wilkes-Barre's new "Diamond City Entertainment District", four new loft housing projects, new "RiverWalk" project, etc. will all combine to help make the city a nicer place to live in the next 2-3 years. I know Academy Street is in a "shady" area (and not in the good "tree-lined" meaning either! LOL! ) However, every decaying neighborhood has to start somewhere on its road to recovery. Believe me, if I were to photograph the Hill Section of Scranton back in 1994, I'd probably have two armed thugs coming up behind me with guns demanding my digital camera, watch, wallet, cell phone, (if they were even invented yet), etc. before hopping into some Lexus SUV with NY plates and high-tailing it out of the neighborhood! Eventually, the established residents of the Hill Section just DEMANDED action from the city, and the resulting random, intense police saturation patrols and raids wiped out much of the neighborhood's criminal element in record time. Now, it's a liveable neighborhood again. The same will happen with Wilkes-Barre's "rougher" areas as well; Academy Street isn't far at all from the new entertainment district or Wilkes University, so as that revitalization from both areas sweeps further south along South Main Street and South River Street, you'll see the criminal element start to disappear there as well.

Wilkes-Barre isn't Phoenix; we don't build 500-home subdivisions overnight. We're the type of city that is slow to act and even slower to react. We're the type of city that watched in horror as the Wyoming Valley Mall drained the life out of Center City little by little until it reached the point of despair. Now, just as slowly, the downtown is starting to bounce back. There's still an extreme shortage of merchants in Center City (IDEA for any potential investors lurking on the forum!) , but the foot traffic generated by the two new nightclubs (Mardi Gras and FUSE), the new Barnes & Noble/Starbuck's, the new movie theater, the new restaurants (Bart & Urby's, Einstein Bros., Jannuzzi's Pizza), and the new Campus Billiards should all combine to make opening a new downtown business more attractive. As I've noticed with any Rust-Belt city, those with the most vibrant, beautiful, healthiest downtown areas also tend to have some of the better neighborhoods (We're now just starting to see that happen with "The Hill" and "Green Ridge" in Scranton, and we'll see that also happen in Wilkes-Barre in the next few years).

Right now, George, I'll admit that moving into an apartment on Academy Street would be a gamble; you wouldn't have to worry about a mugging in broad daylight, but don't dare venture around alone at night! There are so many affordable apartments in safer neighborhoods within the city limits (Parsons, Miners Mills, Riverside Park, etc.) that locating an alternative for you and your father to occupy would be no problem at all. Besides, you were only looking to move here until your other home in CT was finished; it's not like you'd be establishing roots in PA. If you compared Wilkes-Barre and Scranton now to what they were 20 years ago, you'd be just as optimistic as I am about their revivals. If you're just forming judgments about what they are now as compared to yesterday or tomorrow, then you're going to be disappointed. Both cities are undergoing massive transitions (Scranton is faring better than Wilkes-Barre though), but, as in anywhere in the Rust-Belt (Think of similar-sized cities in Upstate NY or Ohio too), a process of turning an entire city from "slum" to "chic" takes TIME! Both of our local cities dilly-dallied until a few years ago to start revitalization efforts in earnest, so they both have a lot of "catching up" to do. Nevertheless, I think both will be great places to call home even in just 5 years from now.