Every time I mention I live a short drive from Scranton to my friends back in my native New Jersey, the conversation turns to two things — “The Office” and former President Joe Biden.
When I talk to locals, the conversation usually focuses on how the city is known as an emblem of modern, post-industrial Pennsylvania. It fell on hard times during the the 1990s, drawing to itself a state designation of financial distress in 1992, before slowly recovering and finding surer footing in the 2020s. But how is life in Scranton, really?
The Times-Tribune tasked me, as a reporter working for The Citizens’ Voice who now lives in Wilkes-Barre, with spending a night in the home of America’s favorite fictional paper company. I was to test its groceries, traffic, shops, and night life to assess whether Scranton had become a “24-hour city” and a true destination for future development in Pennsylvania.
As a night owl, my journey to Scranton begins early Saturday morning on Feb. 21 with a 20 minute trip starting just after midnight. I drive up I-81 North and through a thick fog before taking the former Central Scranton Expressway, christened the President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Expressway in 2021, to downtown Scranton.
My early travel gives me an opportunity to take what to me is the most important measure of a downtown – how easily I can get to a store after midnight. There is a Sheetz at the very periphery of downtown Scranton that is just a five minute drive from my hotel that I stop at to visit. As a South Jersey native and lifelong Wawa disciple, it feels like apostasy, but I go into the Sheetz and buy some food, a post-midnight coffee, and the day’s issue of The Times-Tribune.
The lobby in the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in Scranton on Thursday, March 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
I head to where I would stay for the night, the Radisson Lackawanna Station hotel.
For any newcomers to Scranton, the Radisson stands out, sitting in the restored Lackawanna Station. A jewel of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western line, the Lackawanna Station was erected in 1908 and at its height ushered through a dozen trains a day. It declined throughout the 1960s and it shuttered for good after sending out its last passenger train on Jan. 5, 1970. The station sat lifeless for just under 14 years before the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and a group of Ohio investors revived it as the Hilton at Lackawanna Station in December 1983 (with the hotel being rebranded a Radisson franchise in 1995). The hotel was a harbinger for urban revitalization efforts that business and philanthropic interests in Scranton throughout the 1980s.
The hotel bears its history as a proud selling point. The station’s original French Renaissance style, limestone façade has been left wholly intact and sits as one of the defining landmarks of downtown Scranton. When patrons walk in, they are met with what appears to be the original tan and green marble interior of the station in the hotel lobby. A separate track is still operational just outside the hotel and I can still hear whistles sound as trains pass by my bedroom window.
The lobby in the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in Scranton on Thursday, March 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
I arrive at the Radisson Lackawanna early in the morning. I go to the desk to check in, at which point I learned of a daily security deposit the hotel charges, and bring my luggage inside out from the foggy cold.
My schedule gave me just enough time to visit the hotel bar, the Trax Bar & Kitchen, before close. As its name would suggest, the bar is located on what were the tracks of the Lackawanna Station, replete with the station’s marble and ambiance. The bar was busy for much of the afternoon and night Saturday, but it was mostly empty in the early morning.
The room is clean and spacious, with toiletries complementary. The walls are thin during what would sound like an eventful weekend in the nearby rooms, but I’m tired enough to sleep soundly.
The Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in Scranton on Thursday, March 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Come daytime, my first task was learning about the public transit system of Scranton — i.e. the County of Lackawanna Transit System, or COLTS — and seeing how well it connects downtown to major job centers.
I decide that I will try to catch a bus from the closest station to the Radisson Lackawanna to the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. I try to catch a COLTS bus around noon but can’t find the stop, despite a magnanimous Scrantonian trying to point me in the right direction. Regathering myself, I find my bus stop later in the afternoon at the corner of Adams Avenue and Mulberry Street, itself about five minutes away from my hotel.
Improving pedestrian traffic downtown has been a goal in Scranton for much of the last decade.
Jeff Speck, a city planner, floated the idea for reform during a lecture he held in 2018 and the idea soon caught on in city hall. The Cognetti administration in turn published the “Downtown Scranton Connectivity Plan” in 2023 and collected community input the next year. In October, the Scranton City Council adopted a legislative package to launch a $27.3 million renovation project for its downtown traffic designed to improve pedestrian and vehicular safety. Some of the proposed reforms include replacing some traffic lights with four-way stop signs, restoring two-way traffic on certain key roads, and narrowing lanes to compel drivers to slow down and reduce severe crashes.
The COLTS bus for which I’m waiting is a few minutes late and once I get on, my experience is typical of a stranger using a strange land’s public transit.
I don’t know the cost of the fare, I fumble with my change for what feels like an hour. Once I do pay, I do take note of how the bus is clean and the stops are clearly announced, a departure from some other public transit systems to which I’m accustomed. I still miss my stop, of course, getting off one spot early at the Commonwealth Health Regional Hospital situated a few blocks away from the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine.
I cover the remaining distance to the school on foot with a steep uphill climb. I can’t help but think it would have been easier to walk the entire way to Geisinger Commonwealth, which is just 15 minutes by foot from my hotel, than taking the bus. This is perhaps more of a credit to downtown Scranton’s pedestrian accommodations than it is a demerit for its public transit.
Reflecting on that thought, I decide to walk back to my hotel. When I get back, I take a quick walk to buildings from the University of Scranton. The school doesn’t feel as connected to its downtown as Wilkes University does to downtown Wilkes-Barre, but it still feels like one cohesive city.
Perpetual Change plays a Yes tribute concert at the Scranton Ritz on Feb. 21, 2026 (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE/STAFF PHOTO)
Christopher Doyle
Perpetual Change plays a Yes tribute concert at the Scranton Ritz on Feb. 21, 2026 (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE/STAFF PHOTO)
Christopher Doyle
Perpetual Change plays a Yes tribute concert at the Scranton Ritz on Feb. 21, 2026 (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE/STAFF PHOTO)
Radisson Lackawanna (Christopher Doyle/Staff Photo)
Scranton Times Press (CHRI
Christopher Doyle
Scranton Times Building (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE/STAFF PHOTO)
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Perpetual Change plays a Yes tribute concert at the Scranton Ritz on Feb. 21, 2026 (CHRISTOPHER DOYLE/STAFF PHOTO)
Later in the afternoon, I explore the downtown and the life I see in the Electric City surpasses my expectations. The Northeast Pennsylvania Visitors Bureau lists 66 restaurants, cafes, and bars in downtown Scranton and most of them seem more than busy. I stop at one of Scranton’s newer businesses, Friendly Alien Books on Wyoming Avenue. The bookstore is small, with a few families huddled inside reading to their kids.
Brigid Lawrence, who spent the last decade working in journalism at several Northeastern Pennsylvania news outlets, said she opened Friendly Alien Books in June. She described running a book shop a dream of hers since she was a child and spent the last few years preparing for her opening. An avowed fan of science fiction, Lawrence said she decided on “Friendly Alien Books as “something that would just catch people’s attention, but would also capture the vibe.”
Lawrence spoke glowingly about the support she has received operating as a new small-business owner in Scranton, describing it as a “community-based city.”
Friendly Alien Books in Scranton on Thursday, March 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
“It’s been really wonderful so far,” Lawrence said. “It’s been really supportive. The community has really rallied around us.”
Lawrence said she felt her success is part of a broader trend seeing small business flourish in the neighborhood. She noted Picciocchi’s, an Italian restaurant, opened in December 2024 down the street in the Oppenheim Building down the street on Wyoming Avenue; and that Seven Under Golf & Social, a golf-simulator facility and sports bar, opened down the street from Friendly Alien Books that opened just a few weeks ago.
“People are, especially nowadays, very interested in supporting local (business) and lifting up their neighbors and people in their communities who are trying to do cool things,” Lawrence said. “So, there’s been a lot of progress happening downtown.”
Friendly Alien Books in Scranton on Thursday, March 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
I consider stopping at Bartari, an arcade bar near the Radisson Lackawanna for lunch, but the place is so packed as to send me elsewhere.
Eventually, I settle into the Black & Brass Coffee Roasting Company, a coffee house with several locations across Northeastern Pennsylvania that opened its location in downtown Scranton in May. People of all ages are visiting the coffee house at around 4 p.m. while I’m there with students sat on one side, professionals and retirees on another, and families coming in and out with their students.
Alexis Yashinski, who grew up in Scranton, has worked at different Black & Brass locations intermittently for about five years. She said the newly opened Black & Brass brings a unique atmosphere to the Electric City and draws a diverse crowd.
“It’s definitely a different vibe at Black & Brass than at other coffee shops,” Yashinski said. “A lot of different types of community come in, I would say.”
Yashinski said she felt Black & Brass was part of a new crop of small businesses coming to the neighborhood, citing different events happening soon across the strip.
“I feel like before there wasn’t a lot around, but there’s a lot of different businesses now,” Yashinski said. “(There’s) a lot going on.”
Black & Brass itself is on Penn Avenue, situated at an especially busy section of downtown. The neighborhood mall, the Marketplace at Steamtown, another byproduct of revitalization efforts in the 1980s and 1990s that has survived foreclosure and changes in management over the years, is down the road bustling with shoppers on a Saturday afternoon. The Scranton Art Haus, a small, eight-screen movie theater with an adjoining bar and lounge, is across the street and also packed. It held its grand opening around two years ago, in April 2024 and has since become a popular attraction in town.
Yashinski numbers among the Art Haus’ newly won fans.
“It’s kind of unique I’d say,” Yashinski said.
Matthew Myers, a Dunmore resident, was visiting Scranton for a birthday party at the mall with his wife, Danielle O’Malley, and their young son, Jason. He said he liked to visit Comics on the Green, a comic-book shop in the neighborhood; new stores, such as Friendly Alien Books, as well as the different coffee shops.
“It still has a lot of charm,” Matthew Myers said of Scranton during an interview at Black & Brass. “I feel like a lot of people say this city doesn’t have things to do, but there are a lot of things to do.”
“As long as you keep up to date, you’ll always find something to go and do,” O’Malley added.
The Electric City Aquarium and Reptile Den in The Marketplace at Steamtown in Scranton Thursday, March 5, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Jason Myers said he was a fan of the Electric City Aquarium & Reptile Den, an aquarium found inside the mall.
“They have an aquarium and they got sharks,” Jason said. “And we saw crocodiles.”
I finish my coffee and head back to the hotel. My plans for the night is to head to a show at the Ritz Theater of Scranton, where Perpetual Change, is performing a tribute concert for the band Yes that night. Like the Radisson Lackawanna, the Ritz has embraces its history as a selling point. The Ritz was founded in 1907 as the Poli Theater, according to the Northeast Pennsylvania Visiting Bureau. Since 1937, it has retained an Art Deco style, making it a distinctive Scranton landmark. The interior is adorned by photos of figures such as Harry Houdini, who is said to have performed there, as well as a striking picture of stars of eras long past, such as Buster Keaton.
With its history covering more than a century, the Scranton Ritz has assumed different roles over its almost 119 year lifespan. It has evolved from a vaudeville theater, to a cinema, to now a place for live shows and arts. It has reemerged as a force in Scranton nightlife recently. In 2024, the Downtown Scranton Business District organized a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the theater’s grand reopening. Complementing the main stage upstairs is an attachment of stores, including an ice cream parlor, a tattoo parlor, a mead store, and a bar, with all the ventures broadly connected by a Gothic theme.
The Ritz Theater in Scranton on Thursday, March 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A ticket for the show for the night is $25. I buy a drink from a bar outside the theater and head in to see the show.
The Ritz theater makes for an incongruous setting for a rock concert. The band is squeezed into a small stage before a house with a capacity of what can’t be more than a few hundred, less the second-flight seats, which were closed for the night. The multi-color light show Perpetual Change shines a light on the aged murals painted on the theater walls.
The band itself, in my humble opinion, is great and has more than won over the crowd by the time of its first intermission.
Jim Guyette trekked out with his girlfriend, Laurie, to a show in Scranton for the first time that night from his home in Wyoming County. He said he was enjoying the show, noting he got a drum stick Mike Humbert from Steelheart busted that night while playing with the band.
“It was an awesome time,” Guyette said.
It is perhaps unsurprising that the crowd for the show is predominately older, given that the show is covering a band that reached the peak of its powers in the 1970s and 1980s. Still, there are some ambassadors for the future of the Northeastern Pennsylvania music scene on hand.
A mocktail is prepared at Noir Dark Spirits inside the Ritz Theater building on Wyoming Avenue in Scranton. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)
Nicholas Brown, a 26-year-old man and an avowed Dead-head proudly wearing a Grateful Dead T-shirt, said the show was conjuring “great vibes” and praised the performance as a “very moving show.” Originally from Dallas, Texas, Brown moved to Northeastern Pennsylvania around eight months ago and plays guitar and piano. He said he moved to be with his daughter and relished in the local art.
“I chose this area just ‘cause there’s a growing art scene and a bunch of young families that are in the area…and to be able to come to events like this and meet new people and grow that community of people who appreciate good music, good art, good food, all those things,” Brown said. “Between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, this whole valley has definitely a lot of growth happening in that arena.”
After I leave the show, I head to Noir Dark Spirits, a Gothic themed bar inside the Ritz. The bar is bathed in red light and outfitted with decorations like skulls and pelts. The crowd inside Noir skews significantly younger than the crowd in the theater itself. Playing along, I order a black Manhattan from a list of their vampire-theme drinks.
The future of the Scranton Ritz and its attendant businesses like the Noir specifically is somewhat uncertain. Josh Balz, who acquired the historic theater in 2023, told The Times-Tribune in December that he was putting the venue up for sale following a tumultuous 1 1⁄2 years that included an alleged theft from the Ritz.
Pensive, I take a walk to the iconic Scranton Times building, which no longer houses The Times-Tribune staff or print operations and was donated late last year to a charity consulting firm. I take a look at the stilled presses still inside and make my way back to the Radisson Lackawanna.
Ale Mary’s in Scranton on Thursday, March 05, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
With the night still young, I eventually gather myself and head back out into the Scranton night. With a crop of late night bars to choose from, I go to Ale Mary’s. I was told there is a speakeasy in the back of the bar, but it appeared closed. The Saturday late night atmosphere in both the bar and the streets is subdued.
After a couple drinks, I give downtown’s midnight shopping scene another test. It turns out that there is a small convenient store located within a 5-minute walk of the Radisson that I head to buy some groceries for a late-night dinner.
After returning to my hotel room a little after midnight, I think on whether to return back out – plenty of the bars and clubs in Scranton, after all, are open until 2 a.m. I decide to nevertheless give up the ghost for the night.
The next day I check out, buy a cup of coffee from the hotel breakfast lounge, and start my journey back to my apartment. It miraculously does not snow as had been forecast and I take the easy 20 minute drive to return to Wilkes-Barre.
During the drive back, I think to myself about the future of Scranton. We live in especially uncertain times and the bad old days of the 1990s could return for Scranton and other post-industrial cities across America, navigate the economic vicissitudes of changing policies and possibly a new war. Still, I decide Scranton holds promise. Daily staples like late-night groceries are accessible, the commercial and business scenes are maturing, and there is a growing night life in the city. For those looking for a city on the rise — and Office memorabilia — Scranton could be the place for you.