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Well, as a proponent of restoring our area's sagging older cities and boroughs and walkable neighborhoods, I'm disturbed to read about what seems like an incessant trend of urban sprawl in our area. Just when I thought people were considering reinvesting in Scranton, Pittston, Wilkes-Barre, Carbondale, Nanticoke, etc. again, I'm reading about a new project slated in our suburbs/exurbs on a daily basis. Here's just a sampling of what is to come for our local landscape:
Mountain Top:
A new subdivision will convert 1,961 acres of pristine woodlands in this rapidly-expanding commuter hub community into 1,488 new townhomes and McMansions. Considering the average household size in the United States is now around 2.1, that means it's likely we could be looking at 3,125 or more new residents moving to Mountain Top and leaving our established communities like Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke. This sudden influx of new residents will overburden the Crestwood School District, which is already nearing capacity. New schools will likely have to be built to accomodate the sudden student influx, which will cause property taxes to spike in order to pay for them. The narrow two-lane roads in the area will become congested, and Route 309 in and out of Mountain Top will start to resemble the Back Mountain's Memorial Freeway at rush-hour. There will be 2,000 fewer acres for natural habitats, forcing wildlife ominously closer to other existing subdivisions. Mountain Top currently has a population of 16,000, and this new development will push that to around 20,000---all of whom could have just as easily moved to the valley floor in order to revitalize our cities instead of trying to "show off" with their McMansions.
Pittston Township:
My hometown has nearly doubled its population since 1990, and that trend is likely to continue as we become even more "commuter-friendly" in the upcoming years. More families are realizing the benefits of living in this community midway between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre that has no garbage fees or township-levied residential property taxes. I'm just reading now about a 180-unit upscale townhome community on 41 acres called "Stauffer Pointe" that will be built adjacent to the township's "Stauffer Heights" single-family home subdivision. This comes on the heels of the dozens of new towhomes and McMansions recently-built in Horizon Estates, the proposed hundreds of townhomes, McMansions, and retail venues coming to Quail Hill, the upcoming Pittston Crossings retail center, the upcoming CenterPoint "Wall Street West" project, etc. The end result? Traffic is horribly congested on two-lane Oak Street and four-lane Highway 315, and accidents are commonplace. I've been rear-ended on this corridor, my sister was both rear-ended and side-swiped, and a neighbor in our subdivision was rear-ended as well. Air quality has noticeably deteriorated in our neighborhood since we moved here in 1996 to the point where I now have difficulty breathing as I run along "The 3-1-5" during rush-hour. The township is growing more quickly than it can keep pace with, and monthly municipal meetings are often littered with sprawl-related complaints from water runoff issues to traffic congestion to speeding issues. Fortunately, the enrollment at Pittston Area is stagnating---the growth in the township is being offset by the steep declines in neighboring Pittston City.
Back Mountain:
There are currently hundreds of building lots under development in the Back Mountain in several subdivisions, including Goodleigh Manor, Saddle Ridge, The Village at Greenbriar, Dakota Woods, and Rolling Meadows, among others. The Back Mountain's population is now around 30,000, and if current growth projections continue, it will soon be a larger entity than the city of Wilkes-Barre, which it is a "bedroom community" of. There also appears to be some new retail/big-box development coming to the area of Routes 415 and 118 near Harvey's Lake.
While most locals champion all this as being "progress," I wonder if it really can be all positive if our historic cities are rotting away at the same time as a direct result?
Paul, since you know so much of the where abouts of all these little (and not so little!) developments going up, do you know of any that will allow modulars? I'm finding that most of these developments are high priced houses. I just want to live in a neighborhood with approx 1/2 acre lots - 1 acre lots, preferably with sidewalks, and I want to put up a modular as it doesn't take nearly as long as building and is much more reasonable.
The ideal thing would be to find an already exisiting house, but I can't find one that will suit our particular needs as the lots are all too small.
I hope you can offer a suggestion.
I heard the Pittston Crossings have been postponed another year, something about the owner of the land and the owner of the mineral rights to the land are different or something like that, and there's a dispute about this. I heard once the new Super WalMart is built, the old WalMart across the street will become a Home Depot, so at least an empty big box won't be left there.
Well, as a proponent of restoring our area's sagging older cities and boroughs and walkable neighborhoods, I'm disturbed to read about what seems like an incessant trend of urban sprawl in our area. Just when I thought people were considering reinvesting in Scranton, Pittston, Wilkes-Barre, Carbondale, Nanticoke, etc. again, I'm reading about a new project slated in our suburbs/exurbs on a daily basis. Here's just a sampling of what is to come for our local landscape:
Mountain Top:
A new subdivision will convert 1,961 acres of pristine woodlands in this rapidly-expanding commuter hub community into 1,488 new townhomes and McMansions. Considering the average household size in the United States is now around 2.1, that means it's likely we could be looking at 3,125 or more new residents moving to Mountain Top and leaving our established communities like Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke. This sudden influx of new residents will overburden the Crestwood School District, which is already nearing capacity. New schools will likely have to be built to accomodate the sudden student influx, which will cause property taxes to spike in order to pay for them. The narrow two-lane roads in the area will become congested, and Route 309 in and out of Mountain Top will start to resemble the Back Mountain's Memorial Freeway at rush-hour. There will be 2,000 fewer acres for natural habitats, forcing wildlife ominously closer to other existing subdivisions. Mountain Top currently has a population of 16,000, and this new development will push that to around 20,000---all of whom could have just as easily moved to the valley floor in order to revitalize our cities instead of trying to "show off" with their McMansions.
Pittston Township:
My hometown has nearly doubled its population since 1990, and that trend is likely to continue as we become even more "commuter-friendly" in the upcoming years. More families are realizing the benefits of living in this community midway between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre that has no garbage fees or township-levied residential property taxes. I'm just reading now about a 180-unit upscale townhome community on 41 acres called "Stauffer Pointe" that will be built adjacent to the township's "Stauffer Heights" single-family home subdivision. This comes on the heels of the dozens of new towhomes and McMansions recently-built in Horizon Estates, the proposed hundreds of townhomes, McMansions, and retail venues coming to Quail Hill, the upcoming Pittston Crossings retail center, the upcoming CenterPoint "Wall Street West" project, etc. The end result? Traffic is horribly congested on two-lane Oak Street and four-lane Highway 315, and accidents are commonplace. I've been rear-ended on this corridor, my sister was both rear-ended and side-swiped, and a neighbor in our subdivision was rear-ended as well. Air quality has noticeably deteriorated in our neighborhood since we moved here in 1996 to the point where I now have difficulty breathing as I run along "The 3-1-5" during rush-hour. The township is growing more quickly than it can keep pace with, and monthly municipal meetings are often littered with sprawl-related complaints from water runoff issues to traffic congestion to speeding issues. Fortunately, the enrollment at Pittston Area is stagnating---the growth in the township is being offset by the steep declines in neighboring Pittston City.
Back Mountain:
There are currently hundreds of building lots under development in the Back Mountain in several subdivisions, including Goodleigh Manor, Saddle Ridge, The Village at Greenbriar, Dakota Woods, and Rolling Meadows, among others. The Back Mountain's population is now around 30,000, and if current growth projections continue, it will soon be a larger entity than the city of Wilkes-Barre, which it is a "bedroom community" of. There also appears to be some new retail/big-box development coming to the area of Routes 415 and 118 near Harvey's Lake.
While most locals champion all this as being "progress," I wonder if it really can be all positive if our historic cities are rotting away at the same time as a direct result?
Oh Lord. Here we go again. Do you ever do anything else besides complain about the "sprawl" in "suburban" Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Yes, "your" historic cities are rotting away because it seems many people aren't attracted to them. I wish you would be proactive in trying to change this pattern instead of basically posting the same thing every day.
Who cares that there are hundreds of subdivisions going up? What emotion is the supposed to spark in us? Fear? Anger? Concern? It's a lost cause. Complaining about development that is already taking place to people who either complain with you, or disagree with you, is not the right place to exert your energy. Your constant discussion of sprawl in the area and your plans for the future are repetitive and beyond annoying. Please complain to people who actually care. Gracias.
Oh Lord. Here we go again. Do you ever do anything else besides complain about the "sprawl" in "suburban" Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Yes, "your" historic cities are rotting away because it seems many people aren't attracted to them. I wish you would be proactive in trying to change this pattern instead of basically posting the same thing every day.
Who cares that there are hundreds of subdivisions going up? What emotion is the supposed to spark in us? Fear? Anger? Concern? It's a lost cause. Complaining about development that is already taking place to people who either complain with you, or disagree with you, is not the right place to exert your energy. Your constant discussion of sprawl in the area and your plans for the future are repetitive and beyond annoying. Please complain to people who actually care. Gracias.
Your constant condascending posts are also annoying and irritating. Adios.
If you know in in advance you willl find these posts redundant, why do you open them? Trying to censor people here (even if it is through social pressure) really isn't your job. If your priorities are elsewhere, why not go elsewhere?
Isn't that good? The dump of Scranton is going to hell in a handbasket, but there is a nice city developing around it. Man, you be complainin' about nuttin'
If you know in in advance you willl find these posts redundant, why do you open them? Trying to censor people here (even if it is through social pressure) really isn't your job. If your priorities are elsewhere, why not go elsewhere?
That's my main issue here. It would be fine if MiamiMan disagreed with my well-researched social stance that urban sprawl in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is hampering the revival of both cities, but if he finds such a topic to be outrageous, then why respond in such an indignant, angry tone? He and I have sparred on a thread in the "General U.S." forum about this very same issue---we're polar opposites in this respect as he's a content suburbanite who drives a Hummer, and I'm a discontent suburbanite who is planning an upcoming move to a city where I wouldn't need a car at all. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
I just don't understand why he seems to become so angry over this though---if he doesn't think sprawl is a problem in Luzerne/Lackawanna Counties, then why bother aggravating yourself by reading about it?
Isn't that good? The dump of Scranton is going to hell in a handbasket, but there is a nice city developing around it. Man, you be complainin' about nuttin'
We're becoming like a giant Krispy Kreme donut---a big empty void in the middle with artery-clogging goodness around it. I'd like for MiamiMan to explain to me how that is a good thing?
I heard the Pittston Crossings have been postponed another year, something about the owner of the land and the owner of the mineral rights to the land are different or something like that, and there's a dispute about this. I heard once the new Super WalMart is built, the old WalMart across the street will become a Home Depot, so at least an empty big box won't be left there.
Correct. We live in Butler Heights, the subdivision that adjoins the upcoming Pittston Crossings project, and from what we've heard, there is a dispute between Mericle (the developer of CenterPoint), Zamias (the developer of Pittston Crossings), and PennDOT over the proposed access road to the new shopping center from Highway 315 (which will be at the light near the Pilot Travel Center). A portion of CenterPoint extends off of Oak Street and behind the proposed strip mall, and Mericle wants to create an L-shaped road from Oak Street on over to the light at Pilot to allow for easier tractor-trailer access instead of funneling it all out onto congested two-lane Oak Street (which is in serious need of widening to four or even six lanes at this point). Supposedly, Zamias and/or PennDot is disputing permitting Mericle to having access to that same light at the Pilot Travel Center. Zamias promised our homeowners' association during the planning stages of his project that the new roadway would not be a haven for tractor-trailers, so now we're concerned as well about Mericle's plans for that roadway, which will run right next to many of our homes.
In any event, I don't know how this busy corridor (where well over 30,000 vehicles per day pass through the intersection of Highway 315 @ Oak/Armstrong as it is), will be able to sustain thousands of more vehicles per day without either becoming more congested or a safety issue. Home Depot, Pittston Crossings, Center Point, etc. will just overburden these roadways, but when I ask the supervisors about this, all I hear are crickets chirping.
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Different strokes for different folks, I guess. 
