Harrisburg: Emerging as a Growing city, or in decline? (Altoona: appointed, furlow)

[Minnesota_Mikey]

I have really only been to harrisburg once or twice in college, and I noticed that absolutely love the city. Do you see it ever becoming a major pennsylvanian city in the future?

[mufc1878]

decline.

the city is bankrupt (as in really bankrupt, not just 'broke'), has horrific management, and besides being the capital (so naturally having lots of government functions) and having hershey food co near by, it has really nothing going for it.

I'm currently here but not by choice. Not a chance it ever becomes a major city. The town of Hershey is quite nice if you work at the Med Center or Hershey Co. or are a retiree. Other than that, stay away.

[pman]

actually, it's a good bit nicer than it used to be, so it has that going for it. for a small city, second st is a respectable strip, and it has good train access to ny and philadelphia

[sfchick]

I kind of hate it. It's run down and broke. There are a handful of good restaurants in the area, and people are generally nice, but I have never lived in such a diverse, but segregated place. Harrisburg makes me sad. the end.

[pman]

'Ridiculous' $49M fees fed bond advisers, starved city | PhillyDeals | 01/09/2012

[ki0eh]

The former mayor was a bit too grandiose and the current one a bit too stupid. The area beyond the City limits (for those unfamiliar with PA, the City basically includes only the downtown, a couple of redeveloping residential neighborhoods, and inner city areas, only a small part of the area with a Harrisburg mailing address) generally seems to have steady growth in logistics and generally stable outlook from government, and private employment is not dominated by any single entity, sector or industry. There has even been some spillover service and industry from the shale boom which occurs a minimum two hours' drive away. So despite some significant infrastructure related issues I think the area's outlook should be positive compared to the USA as a whole.

[danwxman]

Harrisburg is emerging. The city has major problems right now, but the amazing thing is despite all that the young professional community is still growing and the downtown and midtown neighborhoods continue to get better.

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by sfchick

I kind of hate it. It's run down and broke. There are a handful of good restaurants in the area, and people are generally nice, but I have never lived in such a diverse, but segregated place. Harrisburg makes me sad. the end.

I disagree. As a matter of fact, the neighborhood I lived in back in Harrisburg (Midtown) was more diverse than the area of Center City I live in now (Fitler Square). Much of Harrisburg's eastern suburbs are also quite diverse. I'd put Hershey in that category as well, because of its large population of educated immigrants and Asian-Americans.

[bonovoxpsu]

Originally Posted by sfchick

I kind of hate it. It's run down and broke. There are a handful of good restaurants in the area, and people are generally nice, but I have never lived in such a diverse, but segregated place. Harrisburg makes me sad. the end.

You've never been to Baltimore, have you? While the food selection is better... It's basically what you described Harrisburg as, only the people in Maryland are generally not nearly as nice.

[DowntownHarrisburg]

I really think the city is on the upswing.

Our city government is badly broken, but they aren't the city. We're the city. The people who live here, work here, play here -- we make up Harrisburg. We jog in Riverfront Park, we enjoy martinis at Privado, we curse the clearly-LSD-inspired ramps on 83, we eat at Tres Hermanos, we take visitors downtown to Second Street on the weekends, we grab coffee at Little Amps, we shop at Broad Street Market ... we are Harrisburg.

The Harrisburg metro was just ranked 9th in the nation for providing high-income jobs. That's not a coincidence; there are a lot of relatively high-income opportunities here for every level of education and skill set.

Look at downtown. Whether or not you actively enjoy the nightlife, it's thriving -- and has been non-stop for the last decade plus. Venues come and go, but there hasn't been a time since late 2001 when downtown hasn't been hopping.

Look at midtown. Without any help from the city, a handful of residents and businesses have reclaimed Third Street from the prostitutes and drug dealers of the 90s, and turned it into the city's arts / cultural center.

Look at uptown. The city has resurrected the Northern Gateway project, turning the dilapidated Seventh Street corridor into a new major artery into the city. This WILL happen, because Vartan is shouldering most of the heavy-duty expense and risk.

Look at Old Uptown. Early-20th and late-19th-century townhomes sit immaculately restored, drawing young professionals into town and paving the way for future innovation, employment, and income. The block where Little Amps opened up used to be barren aside from the schoolhouse and an old beat-down grocery. Now it's hopping.

Even Allison Hill, neglected by the city for decades, has seen substantial improvements over the past two or three years. Buildings are being razed, lots are being cleared, homes are being reconstructed, and we're finally starting to see a glimmer of that neighborhood's long-buried glory.

Major investors have targeted not one, not two, but three city properties for simultaneous refurbishment. The Kunkel building, Furlow building, and old glass factory are all being renovated into upmarket 1- to 3-bedroom apartments aimed at young professionals. We've got our first coworking facility and artist incubator opening up in Midtown this year. No private business is going to invest all that money if they aren't absolutely convinced that they can either sell or rent the units.

How many cities our size have multiple independent cinemas (Midtown Cinema, Moviate)? How many cities our size have a five-block stretch of downtown overflowing with entertainment, dining, and nightlife options? How many cities our size have multiple coffee roasters (okay, St. Thomas Roasters is in Linglestown, but it's still a Harrisburg mailing address)? How many cities our size have a fully-developed waterfront that is 100% pedestrian? How many cities our size have such beautiful housing stock (Old Uptown) at such under-market prices? How many cities our size have this concentration of hirise living?

You can easily put Harrisburg next to Portland and complain about Harrisburg's relative lack of microbreweries. You can put us next to NYC and complain about our relative lack of superclubs. You can put us next to Philly and complain about our relative lack of mass transit. But when you compare us to cities of similar size (say, Altoona), Harrisburg is an amazing, vibrant, stable place to live.

Everyone is welcome to their own opinion of Harrisburg. City life isn't for everyone. But in 14 years of living here, it's been my experience that most of the people who complain about the city fall into one of two categories:

"Pfft, Harrisburg sucks. Try a real city like New York." Yeah, NY is awesome. No argument here. I'd love to live there someday. But with a population of 8 million people -- about 160 times that of Harrisburg -- there's no comparing the two. Harrisburg isn't NY (or Philly, or Seattle, or ...), and anyone who comes here expecting it to be is a moron who deserves to be disappointed.

"Pfft, Harrisburg sucks. Why would you want to live in a city when you can buy a sensible ranch house in the country?" This one always makes me chuckle, because the people living in the city usually ask the same question in reverse.

As for being a major Pennsylvania city, it's possible -- but not in the immediate future. A century from now, perhaps. But that's a big "if". Remember that 70 years ago, Harrisburg had almost double its current population and was poised to become a major financial center. Nobody saw urban flight coming, and here we are. One of the major challenges to growth is that we're geographically blocked in every direction. We'd need to swallow up some of the surrounding townships and boroughs since there's really no more room otherwise.

There's a huge sociological study that could be done on why this country has developed such a hatred towards cities in the second half of the 20th century (the automobile?), and another that could be done on why so many people born after 1980 are flocking back to urban living (gas prices?).

I'll close my rant with an amusing anecdote. True story. I was picking some friends up a Mechanicsburg suburb and heading back into the city. We got on the topic of city living and why I chose to move downtown. I asked why never considered living in the city, and her response was "ugh, too many people. And the traffic!" ... as we were sitting gridlocked on the Carlisle Pike.