Scranton: Not your Grandfather's Blue Collar Town

Scranton: Not your Grandfather's Blue Collar Town

SCRANTON – This northeastern Pennsylvania city is charming. You might even consider it gorgeous, if you appreciate the remarkably well-preserved old-world charm that industrial cities carved into their grids at the start of the 20th century.

In the past ten years, Scranton has gone through a renaissance that brought new life to the old buildings of its bustling past and a surge in construction of downtown apartments and storefronts, according to Jeff Brauer, a political science professor and city-planning expert at nearby Keystone College.

Unfortunately, he said, no one planned for what would happen after the construction ended.

“This is not...