Harrisburg: Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia (over state funds) (Penn: houses, school)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think rural PA would resent the big cities less if it were easier to reach them. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh should be the cultural meccas for the rest of the state. But unfortunately, these cities are located at opposite ends of the state and there are not many options for public transportation between the cities. You can take an Amtrak train from Harrisburg to either city and maybe a bus, but at inconvenient times and it will be very slow.
High speed rail from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh could really boost tourism if the populations of the cities could be enticed to explore each other's city.
I live in Williamsport which is equidistant from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. There is a slight advantage in this location because I can reach either city in about the same amount of time, a four hour drive. But personally I hate driving for 4 hours so I rarely visit these cities.
I think rural PA would resent the big cities less if it were easier to reach them. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh should be the cultural meccas for the rest of the state. But unfortunately, these cities are located at opposite ends of the state and there are not many options for public transportation between the cities. You can take an Amtrak train from Harrisburg to either city and maybe a bus, but at inconvenient times and it will be very slow.
High speed rail from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh could really boost tourism if the populations of the cities could be enticed to explore each other's city.
I live in Williamsport which is equidistant from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. There is a slight advantage in this location because I can reach either city in about the same amount of time, a four hour drive. But personally I hate driving for 4 hours so I rarely visit these cities.
I think everyone agrees that PA really needs HSR between its two largest cities that would do nothing but help everyone involved....problem is Keystone west is not as simple to upgrade as Keystone East has been, and your pretty much need to rebuild KW from scratch as opposed to an upgrade like KE if HSR travel times between Philly and Pitt are going to reach maximum potential.
Right now the word out of Harrisburg is "There is no money to rebuild KW" and HSR has such an ugly sigma to it since the Tea Party and Repubs pretty much branded it "Wasteful"
I think rural PA would resent the big cities less if it were easier to reach them. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh should be the cultural meccas for the rest of the state. But unfortunately, these cities are located at opposite ends of the state and there are not many options for public transportation between the cities. You can take an Amtrak train from Harrisburg to either city and maybe a bus, but at inconvenient times and it will be very slow.
High speed rail from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh could really boost tourism if the populations of the cities could be enticed to explore each other's city.
I live in Williamsport which is equidistant from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. There is a slight advantage in this location because I can reach either city in about the same amount of time, a four hour drive. But personally I hate driving for 4 hours so I rarely visit these cities.
I agree, and it works both ways. if it weren't such a hassle to visit places like williamsport, more people from the cities would probably do it as well, and learn more about their state. honestly, I had never visited harrisburg before they upgraded the train line. I went out one day out of curiosity (on the train), saw the capitol, hit a few bars and fell asleep on the ride back. on subsequent trips I hit mt joy (bube's brewery), lancaster (central market, putzed around downtown), and even middletown.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212
I think everyone agrees that PA really needs HSR between its two largest cities that would do nothing but help everyone involved....problem is Keystone west is not as simple to upgrade as Keystone East has been, and your pretty much need to rebuild KW from scratch as opposed to an upgrade like KE if HSR travel times between Philly and Pitt are going to reach maximum potential.
Right now the word out of Harrisburg is "There is no money to rebuild KW" and HSR has such an ugly sigma to it since the Tea Party and Repubs pretty much branded it "Wasteful"
HSR is dead for now [keystone west], but the state is still considering ways to get the current right of way competitive with driving which would be a good start. PA hasn't been swept up in the anti-rail wave as far as I can tell but they aren't talking about throwing big dollars around either.
HSR is dead for now [keystone west], but the state is still considering ways to get the current right of way competitive with driving which would be a good start. PA hasn't been swept up in the anti-rail wave as far as I can tell but they aren't talking about throwing big dollars around either.
pman - How many states "Infrastructure" Give backs did PA and Amtrak pick up...I know FL was one, was CA and OH some others?
Trust me both cities are in the same "power" situation at the state level....
If you want to get technical Fast Eddie Rendell "The Philadelphia mayor" actually admitted during his term as Governor, Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) received more in way of state funds than Philadelphia County.
There is a reason his nickname is Fast Eddie. He helped move USAir out of Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. He bargained to get First Union to move a significant amount of its headquarters to Philadelphia. Those are only two examples of the back door dealing that Rendell has done for Philly. Rendell ran Pittsburgh in the ground any chance he got.
Thanks to Eddie, among others, there is no money for funding available. Period. The state had an open checkbook under Rendell and now we will all be paying for it for decades. It's been total mismanagement and lies.
There is a reason his nickname is Fast Eddie. He helped move USAir out of Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. He bargained to get First Union to move a significant amount of its headquarters to Philadelphia. Those are only two examples of the back door dealing that Rendell has done for Philly. Rendell ran Pittsburgh in the ground any chance he got.
What are you talking about? Give me a break. As if Rendell ran around a hot cauldron with a pitchfork and stabbed the bit of meat inside (Pittsburgh) while wailing at the moon. It's this type of thinking that the OP created this thread to discuss.
There is a reason his nickname is Fast Eddie. He helped move USAir out of Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. He bargained to get First Union to move a significant amount of its headquarters to Philadelphia. Those are only two examples of the back door dealing that Rendell has done for Philly. Rendell ran Pittsburgh in the ground any chance he got.
Thanks to Eddie, among others, there is no money for funding available. Period. The state had an open checkbook under Rendell and now we will all be paying for it for decades. It's been total mismanagement and lies.
huh? Fast Eddie had his name long before he was governor. He had nothing to do with US Air, simple geography and demand did. the first union deal was when he was mayor, what's wrong with him trying to get them to keep jobs in Phil after they bought corestates? woudn't you want luke to do the same should somone buy pnc? specifically, what did Rendell do to run Pittsburgh into the ground? Seems to me Pittsburgh has improved since 2004.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212
pman - How many states "Infrastructure" Give backs did PA and Amtrak pick up...I know FL was one, was CA and OH some others?
PA only received money from FL for Harrisburg which was somewhat disappointing but the study for what improvements might be made west of is finally underway.
Philly is absolutely PA but shares today more commonalities with jersey than most of PA is the point.
From that perspective one could argue that the remainder of PA is far different from the original portion
I presume you're speaking in terms of the modern-day economy, and you're right, although the Pittsburgh area, Lehigh Valley, Erie and much of South Central PA are really doing great things to re-invigorate their economies. More and more, they're on a trajectory to emulate economic restructuring to a much more information-based economy that occurred more quickly in Southeastern PA.
Historically, I believe the cities in PA were much more interconnected culturally and economically -- the divisions began to emerge with de-industrialization when some areas of the state adapted much better than others. Unfortunately, it's going to be hard for the very rural areas of the state to continue to compete, but definitely I see the larger metropolitan areas across the state re-connecting in the future (for example, enhancing travel time between Pittsburgh and Philly, commuter rail from Philly to Allentown/Reading, etc.).
Unfortunately, it's going to be hard for the very rural areas of the state to continue to compete, but definitely I see the larger metropolitan areas across the state re-connecting in the future (for example, enhancing travel time between Pittsburgh and Philly, commuter rail from Philly to Allentown/Reading, etc.).
This is a critical factor in why statewide mass transit essentially doesn't exist in PA. It's obviously not profitable to build line service and stations to smaller communities like Orangeville and Benton. Even getting service to Berwick or Bloomsburg would require a herculean effort. But once those lines are in place, who do they serve? What about the folks in Fowlersville or Lightstreet? At best, they'll need to get in their car and drive 20-30 minutes to the nearest station, then ride the hour+ to Allentown / Harrisburg / Philly / etc.
At worst -- and most likely -- they'll never see more than bus transit, if that.
The future is indeed looking more and more bleak for the rural stretches of Pennsylvania, and the lack of connectivity is the cause.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
