Is Scranton/Wilkes-Barre That Bad? (Clarks Summit, Jessup: apartment, crime rates, buying)

[MaggieZ]

that's it, Leslie Fay was based in Wilkes Barre area - Plains, we made Leslie Fay at Goodmanner dress(Washington ave) and Linden Dress ( behind Tink's -courthouse square) in Scranton...most of the cutting was done in Plains
can't believe all those places are gone...Offset was one I temped at
is Woodstock Wire still open in Old Forge?

[Wells5]

Originally Posted by MaggieZ

is Woodstock Wire still open in Old Forge?

Don't know about Woodstock Wire, but Wilkes-Barre was the home to The Hazard Manufacturing Co., which made steel cable and was the inspiration for the character George Hazard in the North & South book trilogy by John Jakes. The Hazard closed down by the 70's as did Okonite, which made electrical cables and was located across Hazle Ave. from Hazard.

More industries from the 70s that have come to mind: kitchen cabinets (Marvel Kitchens, Steinhauer Co.), church interiors (Matthews Millwork Co.), pipe organ manufacturers (S. G. Bullions & Co.), furniture components (Leggett & Platt), aircraft components (Ralmark Co.). I'll probably think of more.

[weluvpa]

Where are they now?

[new-era]

Sorry it's gotten worse growing up here was never a fear walking around Scranton at night. Now you can be assaulted robbed beaten stabbed etc. See the paper today? 3 u of s students assaulted and robbed in Scranton.

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by new-era

Sorry it's gotten worse growing up here was never a fear walking around Scranton at night. Now you can be assaulted robbed beaten stabbed etc. See the paper today? 3 u of s students assaulted and robbed in Scranton.

Just a suggestion: Call your police department and ask for the crime stats for the city. You may be pleasantly surprised by the facts.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

Where are they now?

Exactly. Can we have less threads reminiscing about "how good NEPA used to be" and MORE threads about how to FIX the area?

[Magritte25]

"If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday." ~Pearl Buck

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by Wells5

Leslie Fay was headquartered in New York City, but all of their production was in NEPA with literally dozens of operations. Leslie Fay was bankrupted by an accounting scandal (Leslie Fay Files For Bankruptcy Accounting Fraud Hit Clothing Maker Harder Than It First Thought - Sun Sentinel), from which it never recovered.

My listing of manufacturers operating in and near the Wyoming Valley in the 1970s was in response to JetGraphics who stated that "Back in the 1970s, the major industries were Welfare, Medicine, and Banking." May be the case now but not then.

The mid 1960s up until the mid to late 80s was actually a prosperous time for the area. Hurricane Agnes disrupted things for a while, but we bounced back. But unfortunately, NEPA suffered the loss of 270,000+ manufacturing jobs since 1980 due to free trade treaties, problems with unions (Trane Company pull out comes to mind) and a general decline in US competitiveness (the demise of the US television set industry and the RCA/Thomson plant in Dunmore).

Interesting. I did a search for Leslie Fay and they are selling the dresses on e-bay and etsy as "vintage."

Vintage! They were a lady like line of dresses for Juniors. The kind of thing your mom would want you to wear. And indeed, most of my friends owned a few. For "special occasions".

The motto was "Leslie Fay....when only a dress will do!"

[Mike_by_Cedar]

Originally Posted by new-era

Sorry it's gotten worse growing up here was never a fear walking around Scranton at night. Now you can be assaulted robbed beaten stabbed etc. See the paper today? 3 u of s students assaulted and robbed in Scranton.

I've never felt unsafe in Scranton, but maybe it depends on what the individual is used to (not like I'm prone to seeing violent acts or desensitized to such situations).

Last year there was a homocide in Jessup, which living there through high school I would have never thought it would have happened ever. There were silly school fights or kid stuff like that, but a stabbing? Stuff like that can happen anywhere. More likely to happen in Scranton sure, but it's not isolated to just the city. I've seen other city neighborhoods that make Scranton's worst look like Disney World. Also I had a buddy who's uncle was stabbed over in the Hill Section when he was a kid, so it's not like it's never happened in Scranton either.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by Mike_by_Cedar

I've never felt unsafe in Scranton, but maybe it depends on what the individual is used to (not like I'm prone to seeing violent acts or desensitized to such situations).

Last year there was a homocide in Jessup, which living there through high school I would have never thought it would have happened ever. There were silly school fights or kid stuff like that, but a stabbing? Stuff like that can happen anywhere. More likely to happen in Scranton sure, but it's not isolated to just the city. I've seen other city neighborhoods that make Scranton's worst look like Disney World. Also I had a buddy who's uncle was stabbed over in the Hill Section when he was a kid, so it's not like it's never happened in Scranton either.

There were actually 2 within a year or so in Jessup....the one where a guy shot his brother, and then there was a stabbing at a playground. I really don't think Scranton is any more dangerous overall than any other town around here other than a few isolated parts of the city. I wouldn't want to walk through Pinebrook at night, but even then, I think if you were minding your own business, nobody would bother you. Seems most assaults, murders, etc in this area are between people who know each other....its not random people caught in the crossfire of gang turf shootouts or anything.