Salon.com: My Hometown, Battleground (piece on Scranton)

[Penndems]

On Tuesday, a city that's accustomed to being dumped on -- literally -- will have its chance to show America that nothing is the matter with Scranton.

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By Geraldine Sealey

Oct. 31, 2004 | You've probably heard of my hometown, Scranton, Pa., even if you've never been there. Among other things, Scranton is a frequent punch line and butt of jokes. The Farrelly brothers set their movie "Kingpin" in Scranton and made it look more depressing than it is. On "The Sopranos," Boston was once derided as "Scranton with crabs." When my mother told me that the American version of "The Office" will be set in Scranton, I didn't have the heart to tell her what it means to be the U.S. version of Slough, England. But I think she already knows; she's been a Scrantonian much longer than I have been.

You may have heard of Scranton for other reasons, too. It once supplied the world with anthracite coal, was the second-largest steel-producing city, and one of the first, before New York even, to electrify its streets. Now, a massive plunge down the economic ladder later, the Scranton area stores garbage from New York and New Jersey -- it comes by the truckload -- in a landfill that's such an attraction, a local radio station hosted a chili cookoff there.

But Scranton is most famous these days for being a frequent stop on the presidential hustings. Scranton, and towns all over Iowa and New Hampshire can relate to this, is one of those passed-over places that become a must-visit for candidates when it's time to choose a president. It wasn't like this when I was a kid and Pennsylvania was safely a Democratic state. Hugh Rodham was a Scrantonian, and when he died in 1993, Hillary and Bill came to town, which was a very big deal. But with Pennsylvania now a battleground, visits from John Kerry and George W. Bush are so frequent, they are yawn-inspiring. Both candidates made northeastern Pennsylvania their first campaign stop after their nominating conventions this past summer. Bush has visited Pennsylvania 18 times this campaign, more than any other state, and Scranton and the surrounding towns -- what we call "up and down the line" -- have factored in to Bush's electoral formula. If Bush can steal Pennsylvania from Kerry, and some pollsters say he might just do that, then victory on Tuesday is likely his.

It's ironic to see Scranton become now the subject of so much national interest, to see powerful men lavish so much attention on a city that has been so neglected for so long. Scranton has been mocked for a reason, cruel and unnecessary as it is. To grow up in Scranton was to know that your hometown was in decline. You couldn't miss it. Year after year, the downtown became less vibrant. Stores boarded up one after the other. You'd drive through your neighborhood and notice more people weren't keeping up with yards grown mangy with weeds. They weren't replacing the siding on their houses, letting it crack and peel. There was less money for such things. Jobs were leaving town, heading to Mexico or overseas or wherever. It didn't matter where they went -- they weren't coming back.

More:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2004/10/31/scranton/index.html

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This is a really interesting article!

[fofer]

1. Sure is!

I'm a Scranton girl myself and was glad to see this article. There are a lot of great people in that area.