W-b Diamonds Shine In Debut Against Slamm

4 Players Hit Double Figures As Altoona Downs Hazleton

Sunday, January 11, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





When city's center cannot hold, suburbs can't take up the slack &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It is little comfort to know that what has happened to Wilkes-Barre has
happened to most metropolitan centers in the nationWhat has happened includes
an out-migration of population from the central city to "ring communities,"
the accompanying move of industry, retailers and offices, and the consequent
losses of downtown shoppers and of the major municipal tax bases. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the same time, the people of the greater metropolitan area continue to
rely on the core city for identification, basic financial, communications,
education, mass transportation, and social services. Yet, increasingly the
burden of paying for all of these rests ever more heavily on those left behind
in the core city. Clearly, some means must be found so that all who benefit,
share in paying the cost. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Understanding the "why" may help guide us to finding answers. At least two
major forces are blamed. One is the post-Second World War prosperity that
lasted until the early 1970s. From the late 1700s increasing numbers of people
moved from farms to cities- a trend that accelerated with blooming of the
Industrial Age a century later. The 1950-70 decades saw the trend reversed as
more of the newly prosperous families sought green space in the suburbs. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The second force, also a result of that prosperity, has been the maturing
of the automobile age. Sixty years ago, a family was distinguished if it could
afford one car. Today, the rule is closer to a car for every legal adult. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Not only does the nation spend an extraordinarily large share of its
resources on supporting the automobile, but the vehicle has made society
mobile beyond its wildest dreams. It is so mobile that consumers go where the
goods and services are, wherever they are. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Realizing this, retailers formed new clusters in shopping centers, usually
where taxes were lower and parking for those consumers appeared to be simpler
and cheaper. The same factors resulted in industrial parks and office parks. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Among the consequences are that Scranton's downtown moved to Route 6 on the
road to Carbondale, and Wilkes-Barre's shifted to malls and parks on its
periphery. In the Wyoming Valley, there also has been an increase in the
population of communities adjacent to these new business and industrial
centers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Among the consequences that all these changes have imposed on the core city
is its inability to adequately support many of those services and facilities
on which the greater community is so dependent. Desperation to find the funds
with which to keep the core city together has created an almost hostile
attitude by some city administrators to the private education and social
services located within it. Yet, driving them out would only further diminish
a major reason for the core city's existence. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Yet the movement of these services and facilities to segments of the "ring
communities" would transfer a burden to the new host communities for which few
have either the means or the stomach. And the dispersion of such facilities
would only increase the difficulties and costs that already sorely stress them
in the delivery of their services. There is no economy for anyone in such a
move. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Instead, economy lies in creating and sustaining central service areas and
in sharing common services. In the end, economy of operation is one overriding
factor in devising an answer to today's dilemma for the Wyoming Valley. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some municipalities, Philadelphia for one, have and use authority to levy a
tax on all those who work in the city but live outside it. The philosophy
behind the tax is a belief that those who benefit from the city's existence
are obligated to help pay its costs. But most cities are reluctant to anger
either the dwindling number of transient workers or the cities in which they
live and also are paying taxes. They seek, instead, to find an amicable,
mutual solution. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Some say that nothing would be as effective as another energy crisis- one
that would permanently curtail the automobile age. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 However, alternatives to today's reliance on such finite resources as oil
and gas are already being advanced. Others say that the prosperity of the '50s
and '60s is evaporating for many, that it is being replaced by a widening gap
between the haves and have-nots and is altering both these basic driving
forces. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Inescapably,

When City's Center Cannot Hold, Suburbs Can't Take Up The Slack 
It Is Little Comfort To Know That What Has Happened To Wilkes-barre Has 
Happened To Most Metropolitan Centers In The Nation.

When City's Center Cannot Hold, Suburbs Can't Take Up The Slack It Is Little Comfort To Know That What Has Happened To Wilkes-barre Has Happened To Most Metropolitan Centers In The Nation.