Suprising Scranton & Wilkes-Barre PA

[Snakeyes]

Originally Posted by donybrx

^^^Do you have a link to that article Snakeyes? Or isn't it worth it....maybe just a brief note?

Sorry, I will go back on look for orig article, in the meantime...

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site...d=418218&rfi=6

[Ex-Ithacan]

^I'm sure there has to be a suitable site in downtown Scranton.

[bucks native]

It's interesting to note, and I pointed it out to a member of "the committee," an article in last week's NYTimes. It reported that rural colleges are finding that, to attract students and faculty, they need more in the way of lifestyle amenities, and are building, from scratch, old-fashioned downtowns which adjoin their campuses. An interesting article. I'll look for it and attempt to post it here, later today.


http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site...d=590572&rfi=8


Med school site unclear
BY DAVID FALCHEK
STAFF WRITER
02/10/2007

The committee behind the proposed Medical College of Northeastern Pennsylvania has decided to start over in its search for a location and consider all options — even some outside the city.

Business and medical community leaders behind the project are expanding their site search and trying to take a more methodical approach after allowing an option to purchase the Howard Johnson property on Franklin Avenue for $3 million to expire last month.

The group, which is called the Medical Education Development Consortium, wanted to extend its purchase option on Howard Johnson, said the building’s listing agent, Charles Hibble of Weichert Realty in Scranton. The motel’s owner refused.

The property remains available, but the consortium no longer has the exclusive right to buy it. It remains among many sites to be newly examined.

Members of the consortium had a daylong summit at the Hilton Scranton and Conference Center on Friday.

Former Southern Union Co. executive Thomas Karam, of Waverly, is now leading the search, consortium President Robert W. Naismith said. No site has been fully ruled in and none fully ruled out, Mr. Karam said during a meeting break. The group also wants the input of the medical school’s yet-to-be selected dean.

“We are going to be more methodical about searching for a site,” Mr. Karam said. “The criteria we use will depend on the input of the new dean.”

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty expects the influence of Gov. Ed Rendell and state Sen. Robert Mellow, D-Peckville, to keep the school in the city and probably downtown. The state has promised a $35 million grant to fund the school.

“Gov. Rendell’s investment priorities have been in downtowns,” Mr. Doherty said. “And $35 million is a lot of taxpayer money to spend off an exit ramp.”

The medical school is viewed as a catalyst for the city’s economic renaissance that would guarantee a flow of medical talent to hospitals.

A state-funded feasibility study last year said a downtown location would have the most residual benefit.

“The economic impact of the proposed medical college on the City of Scranton will be $4.3 million more annually if the college is located in the downtown,” the report said. By 2015, the annual economic impact would be $32.7 million for a downtown location and $28.4 million for a site elsewhere, it said.

“This would really help all downtown businesses,” said Elizabeth Sutton, a manager at the Banshee restaurant on Penn Avenue. “It would be a sad loss to Scranton to have it somewhere else.”

So far, the 17-member board has not agreed on purchasing a site. Some members, particularly those from medical backgrounds, favored a site on a largely residential block between Mercy and Moses Taylor hospitals.

Other members, including some from business or political backgrounds, pushed for sites in the heart of downtown, such as the Howard Johnson property. Combined with the site of the former Holiday Manor Apartments across the street, the school would have the 3 acres needed for its 180,000 square feet of building space.

Now both of those options are on the table, along with many others. Other city sites shortlisted last year include the former New Jersey Central Railroad building on Lackawanna Avenue, and the proposed Mount Pleasant Corporate Center between West Linden Street and the North Scranton Expressway.

Consortium member James May, who did not attend Friday’s meeting, said from his office in Cincinnati that he had heard the group was evaluating suburban sites, such as those in Glenmaura Corporate Center in Moosic and Scranton.

Austin Burke, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, said the consortium had indeed considered sites at Glenmaura Corporate Center in the past. Mr. Burke, however, feels the best setting for the school is downtown.

Any outside location would deviate from the initial vision of the school, said Mr. May, former Mercy Health Partners chief executive and now a division chief for its parent, Catholic Healthcare Partners.

Since Southern Union chose to move its headquarters from the city, the medical school stands as the great hope for a magnet of development downtown, Mr. Hibble said.

Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com



©The Times-Tribune 2007

[bucks native]

Transport hub gets big boost

BY MICHAEL RACE
HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF
02/13/2007


HARRISBURG — A crucial land swap that would allow construction to begin on an $11 million transportation center in downtown Scranton is back on track in the state Legislature.

A House committee on Monday unanimously approved a measure that would allow the state to give about 2.5 acres to the County of Lackawanna Transit System for a 6,500-square-foot train and bus terminal along Lackawanna Avenue. In turn, COLTS would give the state the Martz Trailways property across the street, which would become a parking lot for workers at the State Office Building.

The bill now goes to the House floor for a vote, and its backers hope for speedy passage so COLTS can break ground on the facility.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Ken Smith, D-Dunmore, who told members of the House State Government Committee the land transfer would help consolidate transportation modes in the city.

“It really cleans up the downtown, and it brings everything together,” he said.

A similar bill died late in the last legislative session after controversial amendments were added involving other land transfers.

The land the state is giving up to COLTS is valued at $900,000, according to the state Department of General Services, while the land COLTS is giving up is valued at $685,000. A DGS representative said COLTS has agreed to construct a parking lot on the parcel the state is receiving, “so we’re going to get equal value for this.”

Contact the writer: mrace@timesshamrock.com



©The Times-Tribune 2007

[Snakeyes]

Thanks Bucks...that was the article I was referencing. Appreciate the scoop from you as well!

[Snakeyes]

Thanks Bucks...that was the article I was referencing. Appreciate the scoop from you as well!

[bucks native]

Rural Colleges Seek New Edge and Urbanize

By ALAN FINDER
Published: February 7, 2007
NYTimes

CONWAY, Ark. — Across from the red-brick Collegiate Gothic campus of Hendrix College in central Arkansas lie a few beat-up ball fields, tennis courts and an expanse of woods. Downtown Conway is only a half-dozen blocks away, but it is “not overflowing with amenities,” as Frank H. Cox, a member of the Hendrix board of trustees, diplomatically put it.

For decades, colleges like Hendrix in rural areas of the country embraced a pastoral ideal, presenting themselves as oases of scholarship surrounded by nothing more distracting than lush farmland and rolling hills. But many officials at such institutions have decided that students today want something completely different: urban buzz. “You can’t market yourself as bucolic,” J. Timothy Cloyd, the Hendrix president, said.

At the same time, officials have realized that a more urbanized version of the ideal campus could attract a population well past its college years — working people and retiring baby boomers — if there is housing to suit them. And so a new concept of the college campus is taking root: a small city in the country that is not reserved for only the young.

At Hendrix, construction will begin this year on a large urban-style village on the 130 acres of ball fields and woods that the college owns across the street from the main campus, with stores, restaurants and offices. Soon, officials hope, will come nearly 200 single-family houses, many with rental apartments above the garage; 400 town houses, apartments and loft-style condominiums; and a charter school with the college as a participant.

On the corner of the property, a large student fitness center is already being built, which will be available to the owners of houses and condominiums and to the apartment dwellers, probably for a fee, as will many of the college’s other cultural and educational facilities.

Similar projects are under way at about a dozen other institutions nationwide, including the University of Connecticut in Storrs; the University of Notre Dame; Furman University in Greenville, S.C., where a retirement community on campus is being planned; and Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., where construction will begin soon on 120 condominium apartments on campus for working people and retirees.

“It’s part of a pattern of colleges and universities realizing that they have elements that are appealing to a population far broader than 18- to 25-year-olds,” said Ralph J. Hexter, president of Hampshire College. “It’s often said of a college education, ‘It’s a shame it’s wasted on the young.’ ”The distinctive marks of many of these campuses are shops, restaurants, offices and housing that, together, create a destination. The idea is to produce street life and to promote social interaction.

Nearly all of these developments are being built by institutions with vast tracts of unused land; officials hope to take advantage of that asset to help build endowments. Generally, these are also institutions that are not looking to expand significantly the size of their student bodies.

Students graduating from high school these days seem particularly attracted to urban settings, said Dr. Cloyd, the Hendrix president. Many come from the suburbs, he said.

“I think students crave the kind of vitality you have in an urban space,” Dr. Cloyd said. “The images that reveal an active social life are urban-based.”

Storrs, for example, is home to a 20,000-student flagship state university, but it is a hamlet in the hills of eastern Connecticut. Downtown consists of three small strip malls, and university officials say the lack of a vibrant college town is frequently cited by students who decline offers of admission or decide to transfer. Officials are seeking final zoning approvals for a large mixed-use complex that will include shops, office space and up to 800 apartments and town houses.

“This would make it easier for them to attract students,” said Cleo Szmygiel, a Connecticut freshman from New York City. “There is really not a lot to do here.”

Keelan King, a sophomore from Scotia, N.Y., said of the university, “It’s a nice campus, but there’s nothing around here, a place to eat, someplace to go after a basketball game.”

The new complex, Storrs Center, is meant to provide a place to go. “We’re never going to be Boston,” said M. Dolan Evanovich, the university’s vice provost for enrollment management. “But having a quintessential New England town with 100 businesses and a town green will be the missing link for us.”

Housing for people unaffiliated with the university is essential to the project’s long-term success, said Cynthia van Zelm, executive director of the Mansfield Downtown Partnership, a coalition of university, town and community officials working with a developer to create the complex. (Storrs is a hamlet in the town of Mansfield.)

“You need to have a population of people living downtown,” Ms. van Zelm said. “We need that 24-hour presence.”

Even the very urban University of Pennsylvania is building a large complex on land it owns across from its law school in Philadelphia; the 295 apartments will be available to the public. So will other housing Penn plans to build on a 25-acre site it is buying next to campus.

“When you picture a global university, you picture urban,” said Amy Gutmann, the Penn president. “You picture restaurants, art galleries, you picture day and night, taking in movies, live performances.”

If Penn thinks it needs to make its campus more dense and lively, imagine the yearning for some touches of urban life at Hendrix, a small liberal arts college in Conway, a modest but growing city of 53,000.

Like the developments in Storrs, the Hendrix project will be built in a style known as New Urbanism. Buildings will be close to the street and roads kept narrow to encourage pedestrian traffic and de-emphasize cars. The neighborhood and its buildings are meant to recall the housing and shops built in American towns in the first half of the 20th century.

“It is about creating walkable places that are sustainable and gratifying on a human scale,” said Robert L. Chapman, managing director of Traditional Neighborhood Development Partners, the developer of what will be called the Village at Hendrix.

The college is contributing the land and will invest $8 million to $10 million in the project’s first phase, said Dr. Cloyd, the Hendrix president, and it will share profits with the developer.

Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., which has created several programs to revive adjacent neighborhoods and to encourage faculty to live nearby, is building an apartment complex for undergraduates across from the main entrance to campus. There will be retail stores on the first floor.

“I think liberal arts colleges and universities are all about the serendipitous moments,” said John Fry, president of Franklin & Marshall. “You’re in the coffee shop on a Saturday morning sipping a cup of coffee and you run into a professor, and two hours later you’ve had one of those transformative moments.”

[donybrx]

BucksNative nice find...thanks for the article a-w-a the up-to-date on the MED center; I note (with disdain) that GlenMaura is under consideration.....but also harbor hope that the commitment to downtowns by the Gov... and others..will generate an intense effort to make this a downtown opportunity.

BTW...where's MetroJunkie? come see us'ns...

[donybrx]

Alas and (truly!) a-lack

NePA needs people.....they might not have counted Bucks Native just yet.... there's one more...

02/14/2007
Population a drag on economy Lack of growth preventing financial boom
BY DAVID FALCHEK
STAFF WRITER


The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre economy will continue to lag behind the nation’s until its population grows, Wachovia Corp. global economist Jay Bryson, Ph.D., said Tuesday.


While the U.S. population grows about 1 percent each year, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre region has seen its population consistently decline.

With fewer residents earning wages and spending money here each year, it is almost impossible to create a booming economy, he said. He shared his views on the national and local economies at the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

“People require a place to live, and they purchase goods and services,” he said. “Until you have population growth, you will not have as much economic growth as the nation.”

The good news is that population loss for Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming counties has steadily decreased in recent years — from 3,310 people in 2001 to 668 in 2005, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

That is an encouraging sign, Dr. Bryson said, evidence that fewer are leaving to find jobs and more people are moving in to take advantage of reasonable housing prices.

That factor aside, he said, about 90 percent of what happens to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area will be determined by national trends.

He predicted 2007 would be “the Goldilocks economy,” not too hot, not too cold, with growth of 2.5 percent, the slowest since 2003.

But individual bowls of porridge may differ. Here are his views on economic indicators:

¦ Housing starts stall. Home construction in 2007 will be like the Nasdaq in 2000. By the end of last year, housing starts were down nearly one-fifth compared to the prior year, and that will continue through most of 2007.

Home builders, he said, are in a recession. Home construction is 5 percent of the nation’s economy, and will account for the drag on the economy.

¦ The bubble myth. While existing home values in big cities will come down, there is no “bubble” nationally or locally, he said. In the past 10 years, he said, the region’s home values increased between 50 and 60 percent.

“I would sleep well at night owning a home in Scranton,” Dr. Bryson said.

¦ Corporate profits soar. As a percent of gross domestic product, corporate profits are at their highest in 30 years.

In financial health, Dr. Bryson gives the business sector an “A.”

During a question-and-answer session with the 130 people in attendance, Dr. Bryson said an increase in the national minimum wage would have almost no impact on the economy, given that half the states already have higher minimum-wage laws and only three-tenths of a percent of the nation’s work force earns minimum wage.

He expects the Federal Reserve Board to hold interest rates steady for six months.

[bucks native]

Wish I had a sled. NO traffic, the kids are out and they are FLYING down these hills.

[Snakeyes]

Two letters to the editor regarding the Medical School....you can find them at ...http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site...d=418216&rfi=6

[bucks native]

I sent copies of the NYTimes article, above, to the Chamber of Commerce and to the editor of the Scranton Times. I also tried to send a copy to the mayor but his website has no email contact.

[donybrx]

Terrific that you guys^^^^ are on the case! I know you'll be adding to the solution......

You really got socked b this storm...hope all is well.....

Meantime, Paul Sorvino is looking for easy sledding.....

er, ScrantonWood?

Posted on Wed, Feb. 14, 2007

Sorvino seeks studio funding
Actor meets with Rendell regarding possible Lackawanna County facility.

By KRIS WERNOWSKY kwernowsky@timesleader.com

Actor Paul Sorvino met with Gov. Ed Rendell Sunday to discuss possible public funding of a planned movie studio to be located in Lackawanna County.

Sorvino is looking for a substantial investment from the state to construct a 12-sound stage movie studio, offices and production facility somewhere in the county near Scranton.

The stage actor and “Goodfellas” star met to discuss the $12- to $15-million project with the governor, along with Lackawanna County Commissioner Robert Cordaro and Marilyn J. Santarelli, director of the F.M. Kirby Center and a member of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

“It brings a huge amount of money to the area,” Sorvino said. “It’s a huge opportunity for the region to help bring back Scranton. A movie industry in the area, real estate prices go up; the whole area goes right up.”

Rendell’s press aide Kate Phillips refused to discuss specific details of Sunday’s private meeting, but said the governor has yet to make a decision on whether to funnel public funding into the project.

“There is no agreement as of today,” Phillips said. “I can’t comment on their meeting. If the governor were inclined to fund any project he would do it with a public announcement and not a leak through the media. It’s a matter of priorities and question of what’s best for Pennsylvania.”

While he didn’t disclose the amount of money he’s seeking, Sorvino said he has a line of private investors ready to fund a large majority of the cost.

The key to the project, Sorvino said, is taking full advantage of the region’s proximity to the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas.

During the production of an independent film “The Trouble With Cali,” written by his son Michael and starring his daughter Mira, Sorvino said filming in Scranton was a cost-effective substitute for many regions in and around Manhattan. Crews were able to quickly travel to New York City to film exterior shots near the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Brooklyn Bridge.

“A lot of things we were able to do because it looks like New York,” Sorvino said. “The ancillary costs were a lot less. Studio rental will certainly be less than in New York.”

Phillips refused to place a timetable on Sorvino’s proposal, saying Rendell will look at other communities that invested in the movie industry to see if the benefits are worth the upfront costs.

“There is no question that the governor is a supporter of the arts and the film industry in Pennsylvania,” Phillips said. “(The governor) hopes to continue to increase funding for film production in Pennsylvania with hopes we continue to invest in it.”

[donybrx]

Very destructive snowstorm in NEPA. not least, the roof of the Hoyt Library in Kingston collapsed.. roads closed everywhere and anywhere, and:
------------------------------------------------------------

Posted on Thu, Feb. 15, 2007

Amphitheater at Montage collapses

MOOSIC – The Toyota Amphitheater at Montage collapsed at about 3:15 p.m. Thursday. There was no immediate word if anyone has been injured.

Check back at www.timesleader.com for details as they become available.

For the complete story, read The Times Leader on Friday.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Holy smokes, I skip this thread for a couple of days and the posts explode. Good stuff all the way around guys. Glad to have some on site reppin' going on now too. Yee-haw, keep it comin'.

[Wheelingman04]

I think a population boom is coming because of the proximity to the New York City metro and its exurbs. Plus the low cost of living is very attractive.

[donybrx]

I agree ^^ wheelingman although it might not be a boom...and I hesitate to use the word 'surge' right now.......but conditions are perfect for growth in NEPA and at the same time better retention of existing populations; it has plenty todo with congestion in metro NYC as well as high costs of living there as well as the wish for better environments for kids, etc.. A lot of Long Islanders seem willing to retire to NEPA too or to set up second homes as get-aways or investments......

[donybrx]

Some info re: Blue Cross that impacts the proposed Scranton Medical School:

02/18/2007
Blue Cross wants to halt bid on $175 million pledge
BY JAMES HAGGERTY
STAFF WRITER


Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania wants to halt a bid to prevent it from delivering on a $175 million pledge to improve regional health care systems and support a local medical school.

Attorneys for the health insurer filed papers in Lackawanna County Court seeking to strike a petition for a permanent injunction that would block the donations. The challenge is related to a 2002 class-action lawsuit seeking to force Wilkes-Barre-based Blue Cross to divest itself of up to $338 million in reserves to remain a tax-exempt nonprofit under state law.

Blue Cross also seeks to halt that case until Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg decides whether health insurance subscribers may sue over the surpluses held by the state’s four nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield carriers.

The state Supreme Court in November revived similar class-action suits against the Blues that call for them to use some of their surpluses to reduce health insurance premiums. The court allowed a challenge against Independence Blue Cross to proceed as a civil suit in Philadelphia.

The local challenge rises out of an action filed by Robert Petty, who was covered under a Blue Cross policy for employees of R.G. Petty Masonry of Clarks Summit.

Blue Cross’s response, filed by attorneys Patrick J. O’Connor and Aaron Krauss of Philadelphia, alleges among many things a procedural defect: that the petition should seek a temporary injunction, because permanent injunctions are issued only at the end of cases.

However, attorney Joseph Mariotti, who represents Petty, said the injunction move is appropriate because of Blue Cross’ “decision to give away $175 million, with none of it being provided to policyholders and subscribers.”

The request for Blue Cross to divest itself of part of its surplus is improper, the health insurer argues, because the state Insurance Department has determined the amount falls within “sufficient” ranges.

But Mariotti said Blue Cross’ decision to make the pledge indicates the insurer “believes that it has at least $175 million in excess as well.”

Efforts to reach O’Connor and Krauss were unsuccessful.

Blue Cross’ pledge, made in mid-December, would direct millions toward expanded services, improvements to medical technology, recruitment and retention of physicians and increased collaboration among medical facilities.

The pledge includes $50 million for the affiliation of Moses Taylor Hospital and Community Medical Center, $40 million for advancements at Wyoming Valley Health Care System, $25 million for the planned Scranton-area medical school’s startup costs and $30 million for Susquehanna Health System in Lycoming County.

So far the insurer has disbursed only $6.7 million, to Wyoming Valley Health Care System, Blue Cross spokesman Gerry Snyder said, but more outlays will occur when terms and conditions of the agreements are worked out.

“We’re going to go as planned, unless there’s direction otherwise,” Snyder said.

The Petty suit alleges that surplus of $404 million at the end of 2001 violates Blue Cross’ nonprofit status and social mission as an “insurer of last resort” for people who earn too much to qualify for Medical Assistance but cannot afford their own health insurance.

Blue Cross argues those legal issues also should remain on hold in local court until the outcome of the Commonwealth Court case.

A hearing on the competing motions is scheduled March 29 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Carmen Minora. The case originally was assigned to Judge Robert Mazzoni, but he recused himself because he is a member of the board at Moses Taylor Hospital.

jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com


©The Citizens Voice 2007

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ Wow, what a crazy mess going on there.

[Snakeyes]

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site...d=415898&rfi=6


Anyone have a scoop?