Tell me about PA smaller cities (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: insurance, crime rates, houses)

[BPt111]

PA largest smaller cities

Allentown, Erie, Reading, York, Harrisburg, Chester

Secondary Cities

Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, Hazleton, New Castle, Lebanon, Easton, Johnstown, McKeesport, Coatesville,


Pittsburgh area

Duquesne, Braddock, Penn Hills, North Braddock, McKees Rocks, Munhall, Rankin



I heard Chester, York, Harrisburg, Reading have crime rates and poverty. Harrisburg have a nice nightlife downtown but certain parts are dangerous.


Tell me about PA cities.

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by BPt111

Pittsburgh area

Duquesne, Braddock, Penn Hills, North Braddock, McKees Rocks, Munhall, Rankin


I heard Chester, York, Harrisburg, Reading have crime rates and poverty. Harrisburg have a nice nightlife downtown but certain parts are dangerous.


Tell me about PA cities.

Is this a crime thread?


Pittsburgh area

Duquesne, Braddock, Penn Hills, North Braddock, McKees Rocks, Munhall, Rankin


Yes. Crime and poverty.


Erie

Crime and poverty is getting worse.

[PreservationPioneer]

Why turn this into a negative thread about crime? All cities have crime. Most of the smaller cities in PA have less than larger cities, per capita.

I think the OP was looking for information about the smaller cities, in general. For instance, what does each city offer that others do not? What are the positives of a small city vs. a large city? How can we make this thread about the small cities in PA, and NOT make it about suburban living OR larger city living? I feel like there is very little talk here that is actually about living in PA's small cities. Most of the talk revolves around why suburbs are better than cities, or about rivalry between Pgh and Philly.

Anyway, here's my take on small cities in PA:

There is less going on than the larger cities, obviously, and also less wealth to balance the poverty. There is less of a corporate presence, and fewer jobs in the smaller cities (especially ones not in the metro of a larger city). The small cities near Pgh and Philly rely on that job base to some extent. There are usually fewer vibrant neighborhoods in the smaller cities (for instance, there is rarely something to compare to the vitality of center city Philly or the South Side of Pittsburgh in a smaller city like Altoona). However, there are usually fewer totally blighted and depressed areas, like the large swaths of slums in Pgh or Philly. That said, some smaller cities, like McKeesport, New Castle, and Chester DO have large blighted areas, and some smaller cities like Harrisburg and Bethlehem have trendy, vital urban neighborhoods within the city. Downtown York and Lancaster have cultural amenities and walkable urban streetscapes, like larger cities, but on a smaller scale. Smaller cities in PA are often very urban and historic and walkable in character, in contrast to smaller cities in other states, which seem to have less of that "old city" character.

Another thing about smaller cities in PA that strikes me as odd is that they can be surrounded by affluent suburban sprawl, and yet be completely depressed (Washington comes to mind). The city leaders will often blame the conditions of the city on "lack of jobs," but what is supporting the suburban sprawl growth, if not jobs?

[toobusytoday]

I think a lot of people do not realize that abutting the city of Allentown is the city of Bethlehem. Many people that live in the area don't know where one starts and the other stops. Within the city limits of those two cities are four small private colleges, including Lehigh University. Allentown has two Philadelphia sports farm teams - The Iron Pigs for the Phillies and the Phantoms for the Flyers. Both city's have great venues for bands. Bethlehem has an excellent walkable downtown and a unique Arts and music area in SteelStacks — Bethlehem, PA Location wise, you can get to Manhattan or Philadelphia in under two hours or you can be in the mountains within an hour. It's a great place to live!

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

I think a lot of people do not realize that abutting the city of Allentown is they city of Bethlehem. Many people that live in the area don't know where one starts and the other stops. Within the city limits of those two city's are four small private colleges, including Lehigh University. Allentown has two Philadelphia sports farm teams - The Iron Pigs for the Phillies and the Phantoms for the Flyers. Both city's have great venues for bands. Bethlehem has an excellent walkable downtown and a unique Arts and music area in SteelStacks — Bethlehem, PA Location wise, you can get to Manhattan or Philadelphia in under two hours or you can be in the mountains within an hour. It's a great place to live!

I been to Downtown Allentown it is walkable alot of people from NYC moving there. I saw pictures of York with brownstone homes

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

Another thing about smaller cities in PA that strikes me as odd is that they can be surrounded by affluent suburban sprawl, and yet be completely depressed (Washington comes to mind). The city leaders will often blame the conditions of the city on "lack of jobs," but what is supporting the suburban sprawl growth, if not jobs?

Urban sprawl is an epidemic in Pennsylvania. I could say the same thing for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as what you noted here about Washington, PA. Both of those core cities are rotting to the core and have been in a population nosedive for generations while there are THOUSANDS of expensive newer homes in subdivisions in surrounding townships. If even a small portion---maybe 10%---of those wealthy people moved back into the cities, then they'd be rejuvenated rapidly.

I think it's due to "changing preferences" (or so they say) in the housing market. So many people look at the little old houses with two or three bedrooms and one bathroom in most of our state's cities and say "too small", so they instead build huge McMansions in places like Cranberry Township (Pittsburgh), Summit Township (Erie), Dallas Township (Wilkes-Barre), South Abington Township (Scranton), and even Richland Township (Johnstown) and Hempfield Township (Greensburg). It's hard for older city cores to compete with the suburbs for new residential growth in our Commonwealth.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Urban sprawl is an epidemic in Pennsylvania. I could say the same thing for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as what you noted here about Washington, PA. Both of those core cities are rotting to the core and have been in a population nosedive for generations while there are THOUSANDS of expensive newer homes in subdivisions in surrounding townships. If even a small portion---maybe 10%---of those wealthy people moved back into the cities, then they'd be rejuvenated rapidly.

I think it's due to "changing preferences" (or so they say) in the housing market. So many people look at the little old houses with two or three bedrooms and one bathroom in most of our state's cities and say "too small", so they instead build huge McMansions in places like Cranberry Township (Pittsburgh), Summit Township (Erie), Dallas Township (Wilkes-Barre), South Abington Township (Scranton), and even Richland Township (Johnstown) and Hempfield Township (Greensburg). It's hard for older city cores to compete with the suburbs for new residential growth in our Commonwealth.

What is a Township ? lol sorry I am from wealthy CT I am in interested in PA I known NY, PA, CT MA, RI but not much for PA in term of northeast region.

[Flamingo13]

Do a search on the cities you are asking about. READ them and them ask specific questions.

Originally Posted by BPt111

PA largest smaller cities

Allentown, Erie, Reading, York, Harrisburg, Chester

Secondary Cities

Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport, Hazleton, New Castle, Lebanon, Easton, Johnstown, McKeesport, Coatesville,


Pittsburgh area

Duquesne, Braddock, Penn Hills, North Braddock, McKees Rocks, Munhall, Rankin



I heard Chester, York, Harrisburg, Reading have crime rates and poverty. Harrisburg have a nice nightlife downtown but certain parts are dangerous.


Tell me about PA cities.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

Do a search on the cities you are asking about. READ them and them ask specific questions.

It doesn't matter on what specific city

[jFug]

I'll talk about Erie.


Erie is a city of around 100,000 in NWPA.


Some of the city's main employers include GE Transportation, UPMC Hamot, Erie Insurance, St. Vincent Health System, as well as the county, city and state governments.


Erie includes attractions such as Presque Isle State Park, the Erie Art Museum, the maritime museum, the Erie Playhouse, Warner Theatre, the Millcreek Mall, Waldameer Park, the Bayfront Convention Center, etc.


Erie's bayfront and downtown have seen major revitalizations and continue to be developed.


The city, unfortunately is mildly, economically depressed. Jobs are being cut and the population I declining, although the county's population has remained the same.


Erie, for a city of it's size, is pretty diverse. A lot of refugees call Erie home.


While Erie is not officially separated into neighborhoods, we do have "de facto" neighborhoods including Downtown, the bayfront, Frontier, Little Italy, Glenwood Hills, the Lower East Side, the Upper East Side, etc.


While crime in city is on the rise, it is mostly contained to a small area.


And while Erie is no Miami Beach, it does see a lot of tourism from May-September. A lot of these tourists are from PA, WV, OH or NY. But I've seen people from overseas.


The Erie metro area (which is home to 280,000 people) is served by several higher education facilities including Gannon Univ., Mercyhurst Univ., Penn State Behrend, Edinboro Univ., and LECOM.


Erie is served by Erie International Airport (ERI) located west of the city.