Alley No.1:Willow Street
By:Dylan Barton

Willow street is an alley that runs between 3rd and 4th streets in the heart of Williamsport, PA. 

Safety Risk Rating: No knives or guns needed (at least during the daytime)

Report of the alley experience: 10/14/14
I walked from Lycoming College down the hill to the nearby alley on a overcast and slightly rainy day. I entered the alley at Academy street and proceeded down Willow toward Market street.

The first thing I noticed when I entered the alley was two homeless men standing outside St. Anthony's a "soup kitchen". I was asked by one of these guys what exactly I was doing, so I told him the idea I had for this blog and the aim of showing the decay of this city. He then started to rant about what ex-mayor Jessie Bloom did to this city. "She brought all of these criminals from Philadelphia here and they brought their drugs and crime with them, it was all about money." While I'm also not a fan of what is called the "Philly-Influx", but I cannot pretend to know exactly why it happened or try to say that drugs and crime weren't already prevalent in Williamsport. I refrained from asking for or taking a photo of this bum, because his surly answer made me question his sobriety and fear a stabbing.

Anyway, I continued walking down the alley and took a few pictures of different signs of decay like broken sidewalk, pot-holes, and graffiti. This isn't a particularly scary alley because it has a mix of residential and commercial properties. I think it is usually creepier in the back alleys of a residential neighborhood, but since this is the first one I decided to travel down for this blog I chose a rather tame one.

Also worth noting is that this alley's close proximity to the center of town likely keeps it visible to those who run the town, so they likely wouldn't want it to look too unappealing to visitors or residents of the city.

This post was done for an assignment in my media writing class, so future posts are likely to still be sporadic with all of the other things I have to do this semester. I will wrap this report up by adding the rest of my photos below.

Blog Postponed

Due to having my radio show, Dylan Does Drivetime, Mondays and Wednesdays 4-6pm, this blog will be put on hold until further notice. If you'd like to hear the radio show it will be broadcast on 91.7fm wrlc in the Williamsport area, and online (best stream can be found by searching on Streamingthe.net ). The blog is not dead however, if I find the time to produce content for it I will.

Williamsport: City of Decay and Abandoned Dreams

A look through the alleys of a former home to wealth and industry

While outsiders have undoubtedly commented on the dilapidated and drug riddled nature of a plethora of neighborhoods around the city, I feel it is more relevant, sentimental, and honest for an insider to detail the extent of this once great city's collapse. Born in the hospital that is now run by Susquehanna Health, living within the city limits for the large majority of my life, I have an intimate knowledge of my hometown. I have heard endless hours of tales of the prosperous and opulent past of this ghost town from family and friends who have bared witness to this continuous downfall. From the information I've gathered and seen for myself, I can say honestly that this city has one hell of a story to tell.

Rather than telling the story of Williamsport from a distance or even interviewing other residents, I think it'll be interesting to take you readers on a trip through the back alleys of the town, to tell part of the story that hasn't been told.

This journey will be documented through both words and pictures to better convey the what I uncover. So subscribe/follow this blog and I'll routinely update it with trips through one alley at a time!  

Thanks to Kevin Morrow for pointing out my lack of proof reading, hopefully I got all of the mistakes.