SCRANTON, Pa. — There are several ways to get into Electric City's downtown area. While many signs guide drivers into Scranton, city officials and folks with Scranton Tomorrow want to make it a little more obvious with a new look.
"We're only a couple hours from Philly, only a couple hours from New York. As those places are increasingly expensive, we're seeing more people move into places like northeastern Pennsylvania," explained Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti. "Everyone in this room knows we have an incredible quality of life here. I don't see how that doesn't continue, but our branding needs to match that."
Scranton Tomorrow and DxDempsey have created this design for new signs that they hope will find their way on to downtown sidewalks and roadways.
The design was inspired by what the city is known for in the history books and on the television screen.
"Our mountains, our Valley, and at the same time, they can be interpreted as a symbol of technology, railways, and music production," explained the president of DxDempsey Michele Dempsey. "The basic font and the white color, the black and white color palette, speaks to the past and softly and gently nods to the office logo, which is our inflection point from coal to cool."
"It really reflects, as she said, our past and our present and our future. So there is some contrast in some of the other things that are taking place downtown, but it's important to remember our past, but really present it in an updated way," added Leslie Collins, president and CEO of Scranton Tomorrow.
Right now the city says it has grant money in place for one sign in Scranton's west side and is working on grants for another three locations.
"We want to get this LSA grant for $200,000. Hopefully, we are looking at Lackawanna Avenue, Wyoming Avenue, and the North, Scranton expressway," said Cognetti.
Eventually, the city hopes to display one of those signs above the Biden Expressway, but the funding is not yet in place.