The best cities in PA in order (excluding the big 2)

[toobusytoday]

Bethlehem has 6 four year colleges and two communtiy colleges with 30 minutes of the city, plus an amusement park in nearby Allentown. Philadelphia and NYC are within one and 1 1/2 hours. I didn't even mention skiing within 30 minutes and TWO drive in movie places in the summer.

Guess we had better not bring weather into this or none of the cities would do that well!

[Duderino]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Bethlehem has 6 four year colleges and two communtiy colleges with 30 minutes of the city, plus an amusement park in nearby Allentown. Philadelphia and NYC are within one and 1 1/2 hours. I didn't even mention skiing within 30 minutes and TWO drive in movie places in the summer.

Guess we had better not bring weather into this or none of the cities would do that well!

Agreed about Bethlehem being among the top contenders, along with Harrisburg -- of the larger PA cities I'm more familiar with. They are two cities that are definitely heading in the right direction in terms of development and vibrancy. Reading is still trying to reinvent itself, and I think slowly but surely it will begin to work, given its central role in Philadelphia exurban development.

[SteelCityRising]

I'm going to have to side with MrKrabs and declare it a "tie" between Bethlehem and Scranton for overall family-friendliness and liveability with Harrisburg coming in not far behind. Scranton's nightlife and gay scene is deplorable in relation to those other two cities, which makes it a letdown for single young urban professional yuppie wannabes like myself, but "violent crime" in the city is a woman swatting a fly, missing, and hitting her husband in the face with the swatter. After all, we made national headlines for "crime" recently for a woman cursing at her toilet near an open window and for two Scranton High School teenagers being suspended for skipping class to see Sen. Barack Obama during a surprise campaign stop at a diner across the street. Both Harrisburg and Bethlehem have much higher violent crime rates than the Electric City. I feel comfortable walking the streets of many neighborhoods in Scranton after dark; could you say the same about many of Harrisburg's neighborhoods (beyond downtown/midtown that is).

Scranton is only two hours from either New York City or Philadelphia. While Bethlehem may be even more convenient to both cities, its cost-of-living is considerably higher, making it less attractive for families unless they plan to commute into NJ or SEPA for work. There's a lot of great things happening in this city, and it's a bloody crying shame that nobody is noticing; the city's residents would rather b*tch en masse at weekly council meetings about how much they hate the city.

[Bwads31]

[quote=Duderino;3618477]Agreed about Bethlehem being among the top contenders, along with Harrisburg -- of the larger PA cities I'm more familiar with. They are two cities that are definitely heading in the right direction in terms of development and vibrancy. Reading is still trying to reinvent itself, and I think slowly but surely it will begin to work, given its central role in Philadelphia exurban development.[/quote]

Reading is TRYING, but is still pretty lousy. But there is a 1 Billion (yes with a B) complex (apartments, condos, retail, office) in the works on the river. Hopefully it can get built and improve the city.

[zip95]

Bethlehem and Allentown are basically connected. The total Lehigh Valley metro is approaching a million people....1 hour to philly, 1 1/2 hours to NY.

[pittperson]

Well I personally would chose Erie. It has the lake and Presque Isle State Park so you have a nice beach in your backyard. As pointed out before it has nice private schools and not to shabby public schools. As well as minor league sports and nightlife.

Best for families would be Altoona
For nightlife I'd say Harrisburg and Erie are tied
Overall (as I said before) Erie would be my top choice.

Overall rankings based on the cities you said:
1. Erie
2. Altoona
3. Johnstown
4. Williamsport
5. Bethlahem
6. Scranton
7. Wilkes-Barre
8. Reading
9. Harrisburg
10. York
11. Lancaster
12. Allentown

EDIT: But if we were going to include smaller cities I love Somerset.
Here a photo of Somerset.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by danwxman

There's also quite a strong gay nightlife scene as well, which can't be said for any other city outside of the big 2.

York has the best gay dance club in PA, outside of Philadelphia.

[sheena12]

The best city in PA?

Why the one in which I live. - Wilkes Barre uber alles!

[toobusytoday]

Well, with Allentown, you get not one, but two cities, because Bethlehem adjoins Allentown and the combination of those two cities and our surrounding small towns is unbeatable.

We have 7 four year universities and 2 community colleges, including a PSU branch campus and two well known colleges - Lehigh and Lafayette.

We have a well known water park - Dorney Park Two Great Parks For The Price of One-Amusement Parks in PA | Dorney Park

We have a Class A baseball team - The Iron Pigs The Official Site of Minor League Baseball | Lehigh Valley IronPigs Homepage

We have TWO brand new entertainment Centers - Nightlife - Sands Casino - Resort | Bethlehem plus a casino

One hour to Philadelphia and one and a half hours to NYC

Huge festivals - Musikfest - Largest 10 day free music festival. AND Celtic Classic Festival | 2012 Bethlehem, PA | Celtic Cultural Alliance | Highland Games and Irish Music Festival AND Mayfair Festival of the Arts AND one can't forget.. The Great Allentown Fair

Night life? Did I mention all of the colleges? Those college students are NOT studying all the time!

BTW, if you haven't been to the Lehigh Valley in ten years, this is not the same place......

[pman]

I've been to bethlehem, lancaster, and harrisburg from that list (somerset is too small to be considered a city..it woudl be more comparable to a doylestown or butler in size).
overall, it's hard to say, bethlehem is nice and has a lot going for it and relatively low crime so it may deserve to top the list.
I like harrisburg's downtown better than lancaster's but lancaster overall seems to be improving at a faster rate. it's closer to philly (63-73 min train ride) and not al that far from baltimore if one wants crabs (either kind probably).
I've heard mixed things about erie though I've never been myself and presque isle does look nice. also heard mixed things about williamsport (some people love it, some people think it's terrible, I'd guess it's somewhere in between)