Downtown Living (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scranton: 2015, lofts, condos)

[TheTruth08]

I have some questions. My parents and I ( im 16 on the 14th) are moving to Carbon county. Im a city person. My whole life living on Long Island ive been dreaming about moving to NYC or another city in the North east. I was wondering how is Downtown Scranton or Wilkes Barre. Which one has more people on the streets. Ive also been thinking about Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. SO hopefully you guys can help me out with Scranton and Wilkes barre. Do they have star bucks, clubs, cold stone? Things like that. Ive been thinking of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Scranton-Wilkes Barre as cheaper alternatives than living in NYC>

[MollyMe]

Originally Posted by Tymel

.....I was wondering how is Downtown Scranton or Wilkes Barre. Which one has more people on the streets. .......

Definitely Wilkes-Barre has more people on the streets. I was there just the other night going into the Wawa and there were at least 3 people just lying in the streets and 1 guy peeing on the wall. Definitely more people on the streets in W.B.

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by Tymel

I have some questions. My parents and I ( im 16 on the 14th) are moving to Carbon county. Im a city person. My whole life living on Long Island ive been dreaming about moving to NYC or another city in the North east. I was wondering how is Downtown Scranton or Wilkes Barre. Which one has more people on the streets. Ive also been thinking about Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. SO hopefully you guys can help me out with Scranton and Wilkes barre. Do they have star bucks, clubs, cold stone? Things like that. Ive been thinking of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Scranton-Wilkes Barre as cheaper alternatives than living in NYC>

I too hail from Long Island. There are Starbucks in the area. We also have a Cold Stone Creamery not too far from downtown Scranton.

[TheTruth08]

Good, I didn't know how I was going to live with out a cold stone I dont mean those kinda people, I mean people who make more than 10k

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Tymel

I have some questions. My parents and I ( im 16 on the 14th) are moving to Carbon county. Im a city person. My whole life living on Long Island ive been dreaming about moving to NYC or another city in the North east. I was wondering how is Downtown Scranton or Wilkes Barre. Which one has more people on the streets. Ive also been thinking about Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. SO hopefully you guys can help me out with Scranton and Wilkes barre. Do they have star bucks, clubs, cold stone? Things like that. Ive been thinking of Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Scranton-Wilkes Barre as cheaper alternatives than living in NYC>

Hey there long-lost friend! (I'm having some problems with AIM, but feel free to send me direct message on here if you'd like to chat).

Scranton and Wilkes-Barre were both dumps from the 1970s-1990s, and it is only in the past few years that each city has begun to rebound. I'm partial to Scranton because it is a relatively-large city (pop. 70,000) with a small-town feel to it while Wilkes-Barre is a relatively-small city (pop. 40,000) with a much more congested and "urban" feel to it. Wilkes-Barre has a lot of brick rowhomes and tightly-packed multi-unit buildings within walking distance to its downtown while Scranton has a lot of single-family detached dwellings near to its downtown.

Both cities are becoming "college towns." Wilkes-Barre's downtown population swells to more than 20,000 each weekday when you factor in its 14,000 downtown workers and about 6,000 college students at King's College, Wilkes University, and the Luzerne County Community College Corporate Learning Center. There are always a lot of people walking around town. Contrary to what Molly says, there are more people in town than just bums and vagrants. I see college students en route to Barnes & Noble, business people on cell phones en route to lunch spots, senior citizens en route to Boscov's Department Store, well-heeled suburbanites en route to the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts, etc. The scariest part of the city, in my opinion, is probably the scummy neighborhood just to the north and east of King's College. In the past year there has been a murder here, a shooting, car break-ins, and most recently a man has been exposing himself to female King's students. A fellow classmate from King's was also just sexually assaulted in broad daylight the other day in Kirby Park, and many students (including myself) are on edge with the out-of-control crime rate in Wilkes-Barre. Our own campus security force now has notices posted all over the college alerting students of the recent criminal activities in an effort to encourage students to travel in packs. I've just joined the staff of our campus newspaper, The Crown, and the editors were very receptive when I suggested the possibility of doing a story in which I'd interview and photograph Mayor Leighton to ask what he plans to do to curb the exploding crime rate in Wilkes-Barre (also known as the "Diamond City" to locals).

Other than the high violent crime rate, Wilkes-Barre is really making a strong comeback economically. What was once a ghost town on the two blocks between Public Square and East Northampton Street is now home to a Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, upscale billiards hall, martini club, dance club, restaurants, and a new movie theater, among other upcoming attractions (including loft housing). The old Hotel Sterling is in the process of being transformed into a mixed-use project of retail stores, offices, and condos. Nearby the old hulking Murray Complex will soon see new life as restaurants, stores, and lofts. Across the street from both the King's and Wilkes campuses, crews are busy upgrading the city's riverfront to make it more attractive for recreation. Five years from now Wilkes-Barre's property values will be soaring upwards once all of these projects are completed. There is a very attractive historic neighborhood near Wilkes University that I've had my eye on for quite some time if my future ventures in Scranton should happen to fall through. Member "Karnak" lives in that neighborhood, and I'm sure he/she would be more than happy to answer your questions about downtown living in Wilkes-Barre if you sent him/her a message.

As far as Scranton is concerned, I know people like WeLuvPA and NYRangers will be quick to tell you that the downtown has nothing of value in it, but I'm inclined to disagree. Every time I visit the city I seem to notice more and more foot traffic on the streets, which can only be a positive thing for the continued growth of the city. Downtown is reinventing itself as an arts/cultural hub, and First Fridays is perfect evidence of that. There are organizations that have formed such as Rediscover Scranton, Scranton Jaycees, and Scranton Tomorrow that are working to promote the quality-of-life in the city. While Wilkes-Barre's main "Achilles' Heel" is its violent crime, Scranton's is its negativity. While people in Wilkes-Barre are on edge about the crime in their city, they are still adamant that it is turning a corner. In Scranton just about everyone has a "the sky is falling" mentality, which really begins to grate on your nerves after a while. Yes, the city is mired in debt, but at the same time it is also rising by leaps and bounds on the "liveability" radar for new residents to the region. A new medical college is coming to the downtown area in 2009, and when that is coupled with the University of Scranton, Lackawanna College, Johnson College, and Marywood University, you'll have thousands upon thousands of college students in the city limits. Downtown now has two Starbucks (one inside the Mall at Steamtown and one inside the Hilton Hotel) and several other independent coffee houses (Center Street Coffeehouse, Northern Light Espresso Bar, etc.) There are a lot of new shops and restaurants in the downtown area as well, including Poochie (gourmet dog bakery), Marquis Art & Frame (gallery/custom framing), Outrageous (unique gifts), Lavish (skin care products), New Laundry (women's fashions), Occasions (women's formalwear rental), Silver on Spruce (jewelry), Martini (bar), Brixx (restaurant), Molly Brannigan's (Irish pub), Banshee (Irish pub), Silhouette Lounge (LGBT-oriented bar), Vidas (tapas restaurant), and many others. The downtown still has a long ways to go, but I think I'm making a wise choice by moving within walking distance of it in the upcoming years.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Tymel

Good, I didn't know how I was going to live with out a cold stone I dont mean those kinda people, I mean people who make more than 10k

Yep. The Cold Stone is about five minutes from downtown on Montage Mountain.

[TheTruth08]

Thanks for the information. It seems like ill like Wilkes Barre more than Scranton. More into urban environment than single family homes. Scranton will probably remind me of Queens while Wilkes Barre is a little Brooklyn?

Ill check them out when I move there. I probally will miss the big cities more so pittsburgh and philly are better options. But who knows, i might fall in love with Wilkes Barre.

[weluvpa]

I'm not touching this one Paul, he is still young and he does need to hear about from me. Wilkes Barre is probably more your speed, but if you end up moving into a city it will most likely be Philly. I know where your coming from and what your looking for and its really in Philly. Trust me.

[WasPA]

Originally Posted by Tymel

Thanks for the information. It seems like ill like Wilkes Barre more than Scranton. More into urban environment than single family homes. Scranton will probably remind me of Queens while Wilkes Barre is a little Brooklyn?

Ill check them out when I move there. I probally will miss the big cities more so pittsburgh and philly are better options. But who knows, i might fall in love with Wilkes Barre.

It's exciting that you'll be checking out all these new places through young eyes....you're on the discovery side of life and seeing things differently than those of us who are older and perhaps cyncial........I remember being about 11 when Wilkes-Barre was my BIG City (even though I'd made a bunch of trips to NYC with my parents). But I had this 'thing' about cities and buildings.... a fascination. My little town of 2,000 had one traffic light and few neon signs compared to Wilkes-Barre (this is quite some time ago when Wilkes-Barre really did have crowded sidewalks and four department stores, etc.). Anyway, I would stand on our dinky little Main St. and squint my eyes so that it looked bigger....the signage and traffic lights would multiply with the intensity of the squint! lol. Other than that, I'm perfectly normal!

Anyway, enjoy seeing all you will see, comparing one city with another and discovering for yourself....I wish I were doing all that again! In a few years, you'll be making your own decisions, perhaps, about where to live when choosing college, and /or career paths and will be able to live anywhere you please.....and yes, Philly would be a fine choice but not the only one....

[new2pa]

I haven't been in the area long but I love downtown Scranton. W-B, not so much (and that's an understatement). As Paul said, it is a small town yet if feels as unsafe as a big city. Not to mention that it is esthetically not pleasing at all (again, JMHO). Maybe I'm wrong, but that was my impression when I was there.