Stemming from the region’s rise during the Industrial Revolution, the downtowns of Scranton and Wilkes-Barre have long been the focal points of Lackawanna and Luzerne counties.
As seats of governments and the early hubs of commerce and employment, the downtowns have had their various ups and downs over the years. Both are currently undergoing an evolution that has seen many older and historic buildings get converted into apartments that generally command higher-end rents. Folks taking up residency in these buildings have included the “Work-from-Anywhere” transplants, the “Medical & Knowledge Class” of professionals, the “Downsizing” boomers and the younger “Early-Career” professionals and entrepreneurs.
Here’s a look at four residents who have chosen to move into downtown apartments.
Fran Langan
• Age: Senior citizen.
• Occupation: A longtime professor at Keystone College, Langan, Ed.D., has worked in a variety of different roles and currently serves as a special adviser to the college president for strategic initiatives.
• Her building: The historic Oppenheim Building on Lackawanna Avenue at the corner of Wyoming Avenue, owned by D&D Realty Group, a firm of Nick Dye and brothers Casey and Adam Donahue, since 2020. This four-story building decades ago was Scranton Dry Goods, the first store in the area to offer modern amenities including escalators, an air-conditioned tea room and garden center. It later housed various offices. D&D has converted it into apartments, created a rooftop bar as a popup in 2024 and added a full liquor license last year, and in January opened 7 Under Golf & Social golf simulator and sports bar on the first floor. D&D also owns the adjoining, eight-story Lewis & Reilly building at 112 Wyoming Ave., where Oppenheim tenants can visit the rooftop for stunning vistas of the city and beyond. The Langans live in a second-floor, corner unit at the Oppenheim with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Wyoming and Lackawanna avenues.
• Why live downtown? Fran and her husband, Jerry Langan, lived for 50 years in a Victorian home in the Green Ridge neighborhood. In an empty-nest downsizing, they moved two years ago to the four-room luxury apartment in downtown Scranton. “We were in a large home and we were the only two people there. And we had large yard and a large outdoor area. We had a lot of indoor and outdoor space and it was major upkeep. My husband was tired of the upkeep. I said I would never move and certainly wasn’t considering downtown (Scranton) initially, but we looked everywhere. We looked at condos and townhouses, but nothing was as spacious and had the high ceilings or the outdoor view. And even though we are overlooking Boscov’s, for example, it’s a vibrant view. It’s a very different kind of view than a suburban neighborhood, but it’s always filled with people and lots of activity.”
• Daily routine: “My husband is retired so he does the downtown scene during the day. He meets people for lunch continuously throughout the week — work friends and old friends. I go to work, but in the evening we take advantage of the very rich restaurant life. We have our favorites and we probably frequent the restaurants more than we should.”
• Connectivity: They own two vehicles as their primary modes of transportation and park them across the street in rented spaces at the parking lot of the Marketplace at Steamtown. “People ask all the time, ‘Where in the world do you park?’ We park across the street in the mall parking lot.” At their former home in Green Ridge, they had two driveways, one in front and one in back, and a detached garage. “Once you decide you’re not living there anymore, you just get used to a whole new way of doing things,” including parking in a garage across the street.
• The “Midnight Milk” factor, on how she handles basic needs like groceries or late-night pharmacy runs within the downtown core: “Those kinds of things you just handle. It’s not problematic. You just plan differently. It’s not an inconvenience at all. It’s just a different way of living.”
• Biggest surprise of living downtown: “I was surprised how friendly everyone was, I was surprised at how you could move into an apartment building and you could make it a home life.” In their first Christmas there, they and neighbors got together and put a Christmas tree up in a common area, and then put up a larger tree this past Christmas. “I think it’s how you make it. When we lived in Green Ridge, we were very friendly with neighbors and we miss them, but we were open to making new friends. You can literally make new friends, if you’re open to that.”
• Her 2026 outlook, on the city’s trajectory and whether the “renaissance” is sustainable: “I think it’s definitely a resurgence. I think that sustainability is always a challenge because the trajectory depends on individuals really understanding the value of the city and then of course utilizing all of the resources in the city and working to sustain all of the small businesses. And I do think there is movement in that direction.”
• The community link, how she interacts with local landmarks: “We’re close to churches, we’re close to the theater, we’re close to any of the landmarks, and the arts community. Every day when I pass the courthouse or any of the older buildings in downtown Scranton, I marvel at the architecture and how nicely everything is being refaced or resurfaced.”
• Favorite “Small Shop”: “Lavish is one of the places that I can always find something and certainly Northern Light coffee shop is a definite go-to for my husband. Boden is a small boutique where you can always find something and Boscov’s draws hundreds of customers daily.”
• Fitness/leisure: “We have a gym in our building and Crunch Gym is right across the street. We have a outdoor bar/restaurant (on the roof), and there’s an eighth-floor terrace (atop the adjoining Lewis & Reilly building) that is just available to tenants. You can see the entire city. You can bring up your beach chairs and get some sun.”
• The price point, value compared to previous residence: “I do think that it’s affordable for what you want to have. We fell in love with the Oppenheim because it was a traditional building and it was an historic building. It was easy to make friends because Casey and the others with D&D are really exceptional. They really care for the building. They really care for the tenants and that’s essential for making an apartment community. I really think they deserve a lot of credit.”
Connor Smith
• Age: 25.
• Occupation: Asset manager at Berkshire Asset Management, 46 Public Square in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
• His building: Riverview West, 11 W. Market St., Wilkes-Barre. The 11-story building owned by D&D Realty Group since 2016 contains a PNC Bank on first floor. Constructed in 1909, it formerly was the First and Second National Bank and First Eastern Bank before it became the PNC Bank building. Over 20 years ago, a water pipe burst on the ninth floor of the building, and the fifth to 11th floors were condemned. The upper floors were vacant for more than a decade. By 2018, D&D had transformed upper floors into upscale apartments. The building offers views of the Market Street Bridge and Susquehanna River. Smith lives on the fifth floor.
• Why live downtown? Formerly of Swoyersville, Smith attended King’s College in Wilkes-Barre and lived on campus. After graduating four years ago, he moved back home to Swoyersville for 10 months, before moving to Riverview West. “The job came first. I started with an internship and ended up full time here. I really liked the offer and really liked the people I worked with, so I stuck with them. Having a place really close to the office was key for me. I did not personally want to move into a house where I had all the maintenance and things that go into it. That just wasn’t for me. I wanted a smaller place, I wanted something nice, more modern, and Riverview fit my needs.” Smith continued: “My primary reasons for living downtown are, I’m a five-minute walk away from work. Affordability; I live in a really nice apartment, all utilites are included. They do a really good job keeping up with it. There’s a good crowd that lives there.”
• Daily routine: He walks three blocks to and from work daily, and “I have a couple of places right outside for lunch or dinner.” Otherwise, he takes short drives to grab lunch. “There’s a couple of places around within a 10-minute distance that I usually like to go to.”
• Connectivity: His primary mode of transportation is a vehicle he owns. “Depending on where I’m going, I’ll stop home and visit my family a couple times a week. The parking access, that’s not really an issue. If I want to go somewhere, I’m 15 minutes away. It’s super easy, just hop in a car and get there. I just like having a car readily available.”
• The “Midnight Milk” factor, on how he handles basic needs like groceries or late-night pharmacy runs within the downtown core: “There’s not many grocery stores around the square. You’re going to have to travel at least a five-minute drive to the nearest one.” He added, “I would say one of the cons is more so, yeah, you’re going to have to get into a car if you want to go somewhere. If I want to go for groceries or a pharmacy, there’s nothing within walking distance, per se.”
• Biggest surprise of living downtown: Smith said office vacancies in buildings have increased in recent years, and he hopes they can get filled up again and produce more foot traffic downtown. “The only thing I’m kind of disappointed in is the vacancies and the (low) foot traffic in Wilkes-Barre. If you occupy those buildings and we get the foot traffic back in here, and you start marketing apartments to people who don’t want to buy homes and want to rent, I think it’s a fixable issue.”
• His 2026 outlook, on the city’s trajectory and whether a “renaissance” is sustainable: “I think it”s possible with some of these buildings that are going up for sale, if they get in the right hands.”
• The community link, how he interacts with local landmarks: “There’s a couple really good spots, there are places to walk around and places to eat at. The Kirby Center has been doing some great shows.”
• Favorite “Small Shop”: He has several, including Cafe Toscana, 1 Public Square, and Franklin’s bar and grill, 53 Public Square.
• Fitness/leisure: “The closest one is Planet Fitness, which is about five minutes away.”
• The price point, value compared to previous residence. “It’s cheaper right now to rent than it is to buy. The cost of maintenance of houses, down payments, property taxes — it’s just not an attractive time to buy. It’s just cheaper to rent. You don’t build up equity by renting an apartment, but you can build up equity if you put your cash into other places, like stocks and bonds, which is what I do.”
Maureen McGuigan
• Age: 51.
• Occupation: Director of Lackawanna County Arts and Culture Department.
• Her building: 200 Adams, the six-story, former Lackawanna County government building that the county vacated and sold in a consolidation move of county offices and departments to the former Globe store on Wyoming Avenue. Originally the Stoehr & Fister Building, it was purchased by Jefferson-Werner LLC, a firm of developer Charles Jefferson, in 2019. The Stoehr & Fister furniture company constructed the 200 Adams Ave. building in 1922-23. Ornamentation on the facade depicts woodworker elves. Since the 1970s, the county overhauled the interior, added offices, cubicles, courtrooms, conference rooms and a series of infrastructure improvements. Jefferson’s renovation restored bricked-up, first-floor window sections on the facade and Biden Street side of the building, brought the Lavish luxury spa, salon and boutique shop to the first floor and apartments in the upper floors. McGuigan lives on the fifth floor.
• Why live downtown? After growing up in South Scranton, McGuigan moved to San Diego and Pittsburgh for a time before coming home to Scranton in the 2000s. She bought a home in South Side and was a homeowner for 14 years, until moving downtown in March 2021. She lives in a fifth-floor unit with her 3-year-old cat, named Suede. “I loved living in my house, but I think there’s a lot of benefits for living in an apartment. I think I’m more of an apartment girl. Owning a house is a lifestyle and for me at that time in my life, with all that was happening downtown, it was so exciting. And I’ve also loved downtown since I was a kid. So the chance to live there was really exciting to me. I love the hub and bub of the city. There’s a liveliness to it. I love meeting people I know on the street and also seeing strangers and meeting new people. I love the vibe. It’s just a microcosm of the world, in our own little way.”
• Daily routine: “My routine is always different. On the weekends, I like to write in coffee shops. I’m close to the gym, too. I go to Crunch downtown. I don’t have a super-regimented regime. I eat out a lot. My social life is pretty active. I work on the square, so it’s nice. The square is very dear to my heart so I love having an apartment where I can look out on a place that has meant so much to me. I love my windows; I know that sounds funny, but some of the buildings downtown are so beautiful. I also love looking at the Electric City sign,” atop the Scranton Electric Building on Linden Street, which she can see from her apartment.
• Connectivity: She owns a car and parks in the nearby Casey parking garage. “You still need a car, but I’m not driving to Northern Light or to the Bog or 16th Ward or the library or Crunch. I own a car and park it in a garage, which is convenient, but I notice that I have cut down on my use of a vehicle.”
• The “Midnight Milk” factor, on how she handles basic needs like groceries or late-night pharmacy runs within the downtown core: “I go to City Market on the corner if I need something. Mostly I drive to grocery stores and come home. I don’t think the downtown is complete yet with amenities, however that’s not a negative, I think. Most people have a car if they’re moving downtown.”
• Biggest surprise of living downtown: The transition to apartment living from a house was easier than she expected. “In South Side, I had a carport. I thought walking groceries in would be a lot harder, but it’s not as bad. I think it was easier than I thought. I have lived in apartments before. Actually the closets — this surprised me in a good way — even though I had a house, the closets are bigger in my apartment. It’s also very quiet (in her apartment building). I thought it would be a little louder.”
• Her 2026 outlook, on the city’s trajectory and whether the “renaissance” is sustainable: “Oh, I do. I think that a lot of these apartments have waiting lists and I think a lot of people want to move downtown and that is great. I think the city is on the rise.”
• The community link, how she interacts with local landmarks: As county arts and culture director, “Maybe it’s unfair for me, because it’s my job, but I’m constantly interacting with them in some way. I also run up to the Everhart (Museum, at Nay Aug Park). It’s really not that far and that is a nice run. You have an interesting landscape to run in. You can even run or walk to the (Lackawanna River Heritage) trail, it’s not that far.”
• Favorite “Small Shop”: “One of the things I like about living downtown is it has made it so easy to be even more committed to shopping local. So many small unique businesses are walkable. It’s a pleasant experience and you find so many unique items. I did pretty much all my Christmas shopping downtown visiting the different stores. I also bought holiday cocktail dresses and got my hair done downtown. If you need a gift in hurry it makes it easier too.”
• Fitness/leisure: “I go to Crunch, but there’s also a Pilates place downtown.” Her office is at the Trolley Museum, so Crunch is on the way home from her office.
• The Price Point, value compared to previous residence: “I had a cheaper mortgage, but for me it’s a whole new lifestyle. If your boiler breaks or your roof goes, you have to have savings. I think there’s a lot of benefits to not have to worry about that stuff. I just didn’t want to have to worry about snow or if something breaks, there’s someone else to take care of it. I just don’t want to worry about that stuff.”
Linda Crognale
• Age: 72.
• Occupation: retired.
• Her building: The Bank, 24 S. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre. Built in 1911 as the Miner’s Bank, the 14-story historic building was a bank for over a century until Citizens Bank closed in 2013. Current owner, developer Mendy Gansburg, has since renamed the building “The Bank” and it now boasts dozens of luxury apartments on seven floors and offices on four other floors. The former bank’s lobby remains vacant. Crognale and her husband, John Crognale, live in a seventh-floor apartment, with their German shepherd dogs, Sarge and Lexi. Linda is retired, after working in an accounts payable and finance department at a property management company. John, 58, works from home as a manager for a commercial heating, HVAC, refrigeration service and maintenance corporation based in New Jersey and with clients in parts of the Northeast.
• Why live downtown? In an empty-nest downsizing, they moved in November to The Bank after living for the prior five years in a home with a mother-daughter setup on nearly 5 acres in Bear Creek. Former homeowners for decades, they previously lived in New Jersey and had moved around. Their son had gone to college in Wilkes-Barre and lives in Northeast Pennsylvania, and that’s how they decided to move to Bear Creek. Now, as empty nesters, they decided it was time to move into an apartment, and the relocation to downtown Wilkes-Barre also meshed with their volunteerism in helping feed the homeless using space at St. Stephen’s Church. “I don’t like the responsibility of a home anymore. That’s a lot of responsibility — snowplowing, cutting the lawn, repairs on stuff that breaks. I don’t have to worry anymore. At my age, that’s what I want — easy. So we sold the house and came here.”
• Daily routine: “We go to Abide (coffee shop). We buy coffee by the cup. We buy it by the grounds to take home. Everything we do is walk. We like walking around downtown and we walk our dogs there. It’s good exercise and we walk along the river. We take the dogs up there. We have two large shepherds that need to be walked three or four times a day.”
• Connectivity: Other than walking, they own a vehicle as their primary mode of transportation.
• The “Midnight Milk” factor, on how she handles basic needs like groceries or late-night pharmacy runs within the downtown core: “I go to the grocery store and it’s never late night. I just drive across the Market Street Bridge, to go to Price Chopper, that’s one of the closest” grocery stores.
• Biggest surprise of living downtown: “Everybody’s very friendly here, that’s the biggest thing. I would have to say how nice everybody is, very cooperative.”
• Her 2026 outlook, on the city’s trajectory and whether the “renaissance” is sustainable: “Things are happening. The whole city just gets involved with all kinds of things. I find that refreshing.”
• The community link, how she interacts with local landmarks: They became members of the Kirby Center and frequently attend concerts there. “The universities are great; we’re right smack in the middle of both of them. And I love the architecture around all of these places.”
• Favorite “Small Shop”: She has several, including Diamond City Vault, Abide coffee shop, Cafe Toscano, Franklin’s and Rodano’s.
• Fitness/leisure: Her building has a gym.
• The price point, value compared to previous residence: “I’d say around here, it’s perfect. I’m saving money. It’s less than my mortgage, so I’m OK with that.”
Connor Smith poses for a photograph in an apartment unit in Riverview West in downtown Wilkes-Barre Thursday, March 12, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Fran and Jerry Langan stand for a photograph in their apartment at The Oppenheim Building overlooking Wyoming and Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton Wednesday, March 12, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Fran and Jerry Langan stand for a photograph in their apartment at The Oppenheim Building overlooking Wyoming and Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton Wednesday, March 12, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Jerry and Fran Langan stand for a photograph in their apartment at The Oppenheim Building overlooking Wyoming and Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton Wednesday, March 12, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Show Caption
1 of 3
Fran and Jerry Langan stand for a photograph in their apartment at The Oppenheim Building overlooking Wyoming and Lackawanna Ave. in downtown Scranton Wednesday, March 12, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton resident Maureen McGuigan poses for a photograph with her cat Suede in her apartment at 200 Adams in downtown Scranton Monday, March 9, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Scranton resident Maureen McGuigan poses for a photograph in her apartment at 200 Adams in downtown Scranton Monday, March 9, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Show Caption
1 of 2
Scranton resident Maureen McGuigan poses for a photograph with her cat Suede in her apartment at 200 Adams in downtown Scranton Monday, March 9, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Linda, left, and John Crognale, outside their residence at ‘The Bank,’ in Wilkes-Barre, on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
John, left, and Linda Crognale, outside their residence at ‘The Bank,’ in Wilkes-Barre, on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Linda, left, and John Crognale, outside their residence at ‘The Bank,’ in Wilkes-Barre, on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
From left: Donna Keyes, director of operations, Linda, and John Crognale, outside their residence at ‘The Bank,’ in Wilkes-Barre, on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Show Caption
1 of 4
Linda, left, and John Crognale, outside their residence at ‘The Bank,’ in Wilkes-Barre, on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)