The Industrial Revolution in America found its legs in cities like Scranton. Its abundant natural resources, such as coal and lumber, mad Scranton the ideal location to serve as a railroad hub. Its vibrant industry, transportation and proximity to natural resources and markets enabled Scranton to thrive. As we progress through the Information Age, Scranton has redefined its identity with education, medicine, recreation and culture. This book defines this transformation from 19th Century coal/railroad city to a modern thriving community of the 21st Century.

Over 100 full-color, high gloss photos depict the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania in 2007.Among the photos included are:Roger Clemens' appearance with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre YankeesNay Aug ParkHilton Scranton & Conference CenterCentral Scranton Expressway MuralLackawanna County CourthouseRadisson Lackawanna Station HotelWilliam J. Nealon Federal CourthouseEverhart MuseumUniversity of ScrantonLackawanna CollegeScranton Times-Tribune TowerCity HallAlbright Memorial LibraryGino Merli Veterans CenterSteamtown National Historic SiteSt. Peter's CathedralSt. Patrick's Day ParadeWilkes-Barre/Scranton PioneersStatues and MonumentsPhotographer Alyssa Amori's ultimate hope is to get the book into the hands of as many Scranton service men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan as possible. The book is designed to provide the troops with a much-welcome glimpse of home. Amori is looking for individuals or groups willing to either provide addresses or donations to finance the printing and mailing of the books to the troops. To offer assistance, please email Amori at [email protected]

In Currents in the Electric City, an installment of Belt’s City Anthologies series, the story of Scranton gets told by the people who know it best. Scranton, PA, is more than just the setting for The Office. It's a living city, one with a rich industrial and labor history, that also has a small-town feel. Who is considered “from Scranton” is fiercely guarded even as the city sees immigration from around the world. Neighborhood talk can reveal your family secrets before you even know them yourself, as Barbara J. Taylor writes. Pieces in this anthology talk about desires to leave, ties that bind, and decisions to stay, as well as impressions from newcomers to the Northeastern Pennsylvania hub. As coeditor Joe Kraus notes in his foreword, Scranton was once a prominent stop on the vaudeville circuit—vaudeville translating literally into “the voice of the city.” The chorus of voices that fill the poems and essays in this anthology tell a complicated story of the Electric city that many have heard of, but few know.

A thorough investigation of how Jane Jacobs’s ideas about the life and economy of great cities grew from her home city, Scranton Jane Jacobs’s First City vividly reveals how this influential thinker and writer’s classic works germinated in the once vibrant, mid-size city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Jane spent her initial eighteen years. In the 1920s and 1930s, Scranton was a place of enormous diversity and opportunity. Small businesses of all kinds abounded and flourished, quality public education was available to and supported by all, and even recent immigrants could save enough to buy a house. Opposing political parties joined forces to tackle problems, and citizens worked together for the public good. Through interviews with contemporary Scrantonians and research of historic newspapers, city directories, and vital records, author Glenna Lang has uncovered Scranton as young Jane experienced it and shows us the lasting impact of her growing up in this thriving and accessible environment. Readers can follow the development of Jane’s acute observational abilities from childhood through her passion in early adulthood to understand and write about what she saw. Reflecting Jane’s belief in trusting one’s own direct observation above all, this volume has been richly illustrated with historic and modern color images that help bring alive a lost Scranton. The book demonstrates why, at the end of Jacobs’s life, her thoughts and conversations increasingly returned to Scranton and the potential for cohesion and inclusiveness in all cities.

After incorporation in 1866, Scranton demonstrated an indomitable spirit that made it the Electric City and the Anthracite Capital of the World. Nestled in the scenic Lackawanna River Valley, Scranton carried that spirit through the changing economic landscape of the mid-20th century as its coal, railroad, and textile industries declined. In a cityscape that recalls its past, Scranton continues to find creative uses for its iconic structures. The community of Scranton embraces growth and change while celebrating its rich heritage with traditions like trips to the Saturday farmers' market at the historic Iron Furnaces, rides along the old Laurel Line trolley tracks to a RailRiders baseball game, celebrations of rich ethnic heritage at festivals throughout the year, and many more.

Once a robust producer of coal, iron, and steel, Scranton, Pennsylvania, is perilously close to financial insolvency. A 75-year population decline has eroded its tax base, and city officials have been unable to control costs -- a combination that threatens to bankrupt the city. Scranton was classified as a distressed municipality under Pennsylvania Act 47 in 1992, yet nearly 25 years later its problems remain.This situation stems from decades of increased government spending in the face of a declining population, a shrinking economy, and an eroding tax base. A new study for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University thoroughly reviews the relevant economic indicators and fiscal policies to show how the city fell so far. It analyzes the economic, fiscal, and political factors that contributed to Scranton's decline and that have prevented it from recovering. It is a study in economic and fiscal forensics that provides lessons for other municipalities. We conclude by offering several recommendations to improve Scranton's finances and economic outlook.