Best PA Downtown? (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown: crime, homes, schools)

[ScranBarre]

Here are your options (populations based upon year 2000):







Scranton (pop. 76,415)








Wilkes-Barre (pop. 43,123)




Allentown (pop. 106,632)





Bethlehem (pop. 71,329)




Easton (pop. 26,263)






Harrisburg (pop. 48,950)






Lancaster (pop. 56,348)




Reading (pop. 81,207)


York (pop. 40,862)







Philadelphia (pop. 1,517,550)




Williamsport (pop. 30,706)




State College (pop. 38,420)




Altoona (pop. 49,523)



Johnstown (pop. 23,906)



Washington (pop. 15,268)






Pittsburgh (pop. 334,563)



Erie (pop. 103,717)

[FightinPhils]

They're all good in their own way....but I would say for the small cities, Harrisburg...and the bigger cities Pittsburgh.

[Ohiogirl81]

You couldn't find a picture of downtown Erie taken on a sunny day?

[rainrock]

Nice job SWB.

IMO the best downtown has to be Philadelphia. Its renaissance has been incredible over the past 15 years. Once completely shunned by wealthy suburbanites it has become the weekend place to be for not only wealthy suburbanites but for a ton of people from DE.,NJ.,MD.,Va., and even NYers looking for Manhattan without the insanity of 40 million tourists.

2 sq. mile area of center city has a daytime population of 300,000 and a residential population of 90,000(all very wealthy) 500 bars and restaurants. Center City is basically becoming a mini me Manhattan. Theres still small stretches of retail stores in center city(right around historic sites) that don't fit the gentrifying mold but for the most part downtown Philly is spectacular.

Favorite downtown is pretty subjective but Best downtown is not. I love Pittsburgh,Harrisburgh, SWB and without sounding too pompous or highfalutin downtown Philadelphia has the best, most vibrant, most diverse downtown in the state. Manhattan is in a class of its own. Chicago would be second. Philadelphia can be thrown in with SF,Sea,Boston in that next tier of best downtown in the USA, it has improved that much. Overall the city might not be world class but downtown Philadlephia is quickly if not already world class quality.

[virangos]

I think Rainrock hit this pretty much on the head.
As far as smaller city/towns go I was always kind of partial to Mechanicsburg.
Nice photos SWB, Keep them comming.

[mystree]

I can only say I've only been to Erie and Pittsburgh,but all the pics look great. At first glance I would choose any of these areas to live,but with extended research hard to tell. I'm going to pick Erie because I know it so well,but they all look awesome.

[Icy Tea]

Philadelphia has made some impressive gains over the last 20 or so years ( except for crime and bad schools) and their downtown area is generally nice but its still greatly lacking in retail shopping. Reading Terminal Market is the one great place to eat and shop. The Gallery Mall is a ghetto dump, Wannamakers is gone and the shopping is all in King of Prussia 20 miles away. We did the flower show at the convention center last year and saw the lack of businesses nearby, just buildings in limbo. Plus it closes down early,a coworker went to an art school there a few years ago and said it was a ghost town after 8PM. A great downtown needs everything to click and Philly isn't there yet.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by Icy Tea

The Gallery Mall is a ghetto dump,

I don't disagree.

Wannamakers is gone and the shopping is all in King of Prussia 20 miles away. We did the flower show at the convention center last year and saw the lack of businesses nearby, just buildings in limbo.

Here I do disagree.

http://www.centercityphila.org/shopping/default.aspx (broken link)

Looks to be close to 2,000 retail and restaurants options in center city. King Of Prussia is a formidable retail destination but to say there is no shopping in Center City-that its all in KOP- is woefully incorrect.

Icy Tea, through no fault of your own, you are the poster child as to why Philadlephias reputation is so poor. First time visitor whose time is spent around sketchy Market East + the Convention Center. That area is indeed underperforming but its 1/10th of what makes up center City. But that unfortunately is the area where most people spend their time due to the proximity to the Convention Center. If you walked 6 blocks to Walnut Street + Rittenhouse Square theres a huge shopping presence where sq.footage pricing is on par with the highest end shopping districts in the country.

Plus it closes down early,a coworker went to an art school there a few years ago and said it was a ghost town after 8PM.

Most retail closes down relatively early in downtown areas, except perhaps Manhattan. There is a thriving nightlife scene in Center City. Ghost town after 8 Pm. No. Anyone living in center city will back that up. Ranked third best nightlife on the east coast after NYC and South Beach.

I will say its a fair weather city. Lousy weather, winter, the city has a much slower pulse but you can say that about any city in the northeast. Nice weather comes along , center city is extremely vibrant.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

You couldn't find a picture of downtown Erie taken on a sunny day?

Sorry! LOL! I actually had quite a difficult time in finding the photos that I did. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg were all easy to find online photographs of due to their prominence in the state, and I have my own library on PhotoBucket for Scranton and Wilkes-Barre from which to draw countless images from, but the rest of the state's cities are apparently "camera-shy." Considering that PA is the fifth-busiest state forum on City-Data in terms of volume and the sixth most populous state in our union, one would think that we'd have more urban photographers in our midst besides just yours truly. C'mon everyone! I want to see more of what this fine state has to offer! Bring it on!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by mystree66

I can only say I've only been to Erie and Pittsburgh,but all the pics look great. At first glance I would choose any of these areas to live,but with extended research hard to tell. I'm going to pick Erie because I know it so well,but they all look awesome.

Bear in mind that these are also just the flashy, vibrant "tourist-friendly" images of each city. Stay tuned for an eventual photo tour highlighting effects that urban sprawl has had upon each city in terms of urban blight and decline. I think doing this tour in black-and-white (if I could find the capability) would be an awesome way to contrast it against vibrantly-colored photos of the nearby thriving suburban areas.