Theme: My Part of the World

Wilkes Barre. Nice place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit. ;)

Ok. Maybe that's being a bit harsh. I've lived here all my life, and probably don't recognize the city for the charm it has. Or maybe I'm just bitter because W-B local income taxes are almost three times higher than any other surrounding town, and we don't seem to get any added perks for the added expense.

They're trying hard to revitalize the downtown area. Even have a nifty little slogan called, "I believe..." that they made this big fuss over a few years ago. But really... none of that impacts my life. High end restaurants and weirdo art installments don't do much for me. Bringing Davy Jones to downtown while I'm at work and can't make it... that doesn't help me much either.

What I really want is smooth paved roads, reliable garbage pickup (none of this saying, "We won't take the bag, it's over 30 pounds," when I weighed it and it's 27 pounds! Buncha wimps... if I can carry it out to the curb, the least they can do is shove it in the truck. Hell, I'll pick it up for them if it's too heavy!), a good police force, and clean parks. Recycling bins in the parks would be fantastic. A yearly clutter cleanup like we used to have before Mayor McBelieve was elected, since we have to pay for garbage by the bag and any big item needs to be hauled to the dump yourself. Noise ordinances. I would love a noise ordinance. A road crew that, when it snows, plows, then salts, not the other way around. (Yes, I have seen a salt truck followed by a plow, shovelling up the just-layed salt.) And maybe public transportation that does more than drive to the mall or the casino. And most busses only have one or two passengers. The bus could easily be replaced with some dude driving Miss Daisy to the mall in a LeCar.

But really... I like the area. Just not the politics. It just seems as though my hard earned tax dollars are only going to make the downtown area more appealing to rich yuppie types.