Rank Pennsylania's Major Cities (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: lofts, low crime, how much)

[SteelCityRising]

Inspired by a thread I just perused on the Ohio forum, I thought it would be neat to see how fifteen prominent cities in our state fared when benchmarked against one another. Please rank the following ten cities in order from best (#1) to worst (#15). Include a brief description of why you voted as you did if you so choose.

• Allentown
• Altoona
• Bethlehem
• Easton
• Erie
• Harrisburg
• Johnstown
• Lancaster
• Philadelphia
• Pittsburgh
• Reading
• Scranton
• Wilkes-Barre
• Williamsport
• York

[SteelCityRising]

Here's how I decided to vote:

1. Bethlehem: As evidenced by my Historic Bethlehem Photo Tour, I've taken quite a keen liking to this city of 76,000 in the epicenter of the vibrant Lehigh Valley. The city is bisected by the Lehigh River into a historic-themed North Side replete with tourist-oriented shops and a more youthful-oriented South Side home to Lehigh University, an upcoming casino, an artists' colony, and nightlife. I know parts of Bethlehem can be seedy, but I spent several hours hoofing it down random side streets in all parts of town and did not feel uncomfortable even once. Bethlehem truly is the best kept secret in Pennsylvania, and it shows.
2. Scranton: The Electric City, home to 70,000 friendly residents, will most likely be my future hometown when I finally flee the 'burbs. Scranton may be the hub of Northeastern Pennsylvania, but it still has an intimate flair to it; a city of neighborhoods would be a proper way to define it. One can scour my many photo tours of the fabulous Victorian architecture in the city's affluent Green Ridge and Hill Section neighborhoods, the mom-and-pop merchants lining Main Avenue in West Side, and the new shops and restaurants downtown to get a true taste of this home of NBC's "The Office" and several upcoming feature films.
3. Wilkes-Barre: If it weren't for its relatively high crime rate, this city of 40,000 about twenty minutes to the south of of Scranton would actually edge out its sister city in my humble opinion. The downtown is very well-defined, compact, historic, and up-and-coming. The core of the city is bound by North Street and the King's College campus to the north, Wilkes University and South Street on the south, a wide boulevard to the east, and the Susquehanna River on the west. Unfortunately the housing stock in much of the city is very outdated---after all, outside of the historic district much of the coal mining era's poor underclass lived here, hence the tiny plain white houses that dot most city streets. Today's young families have no interest living in such neighborhoods.
4. Pittsburgh: I have only been to Pittsburgh twice, but from my visits and my research on this forum it certainly has won my heart over. There's no words to describe the feeling you get when you step off the incline car and peer out over the city skyline from Mt. Washington, and the view of the nighttime skyline as you exit the Fort Pitt Tunnel is truly astounding. Pittsburgh continues to be a very underrated city, and its continued decline perplexes me.
5. Philadelphia: Words can't describe how much I love Philadelphia. Center City, home to 100,000 residents, is the third most densely populated downtown core in the nation outside of New York City and Chicago. I absolutely love the historic appeal that oozes out of every pore in the City Brotherly Love---only Boston truly gives it a run for its money in terms of national historical significance for large cities. I've also heard that Manayunk, Northeast Philadelphia, Queen Village, and Chestnut Hill are safe, tranquil neighborhoods. Unfortunately a large swath of the rest of the city remains home to high school dropouts who congregate on street corners, smoke pot, gun each other down, etc. White flight into the Main Line has left some entire city blocks replete with decaying rowhomes. Philadelphia has so much potential---hopefully Mayor Nutter can turn the tide and herald a rebirth.
6. Harrisburg: Our state's capital has been revitalizing itself very nicely as of late. I'm very excited about many of the upcoming developments I have seen on danwxman's //www.city-data.com/forum/penns...ea-thread.html . Supposedly the city's public school system leaves much to be desired and several neighborhoods are crime-ridden, but by and large the city is on the upswing. It amazes me that Harrisburg still doesn't have its own city sub-forum on this site or isn't at least included in my formerly-proposed South Central Pennsylvania sub-forum.
7. Williamsport: Just as with Bethlehem, I was blown away by my first-ever visit to this city, as evidenced in my Williamsport Photo Tour . Unfortunately most stories about Williamsport, also known as "Billtown," seen on the local news are about stabbings or shootings from an influx of Philadelphia lowlives, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how urbane this relatively rural city of 30,000 truly was. Located right downtown was a Wegman's, upcoming movie theater, upcoming Kohl's, performing arts center, bus station, and various other conveniences that made urban living possible---why I found no advertisements for downtown lofts was beyond my realm of comprehension.
8. Easton: I have never been to Easton, but from what I have heard from others and have seen from satellite imagery it will be a city I plan to scope out soon.
9. Erie: I've been meaning to vacation in Erie for quite some time. I've heard Presque Isle State Park is truly amazing, and the prospect of driving along incredibly scenic U.S. Route 6 for most of the trek is inspiring. Erie seems to have close proximity to both Cleveland and Buffalo, yet it receives so very little recognition. It would be neat to have an Erie city sub-forum on this site, but oddly enough there are very rarely any inquiries here about Northwestern Pennsylvania.
10. Lancaster: Lancaster would have ranked higher on my list if the surrounding countryside wasn't being ravaged as I speak for unchecked urban sprawl. The last time our church went to the Sight & Sound Theater we saw nothing but horrific congestion near the Rockvale Square Outlets along U.S. Route 30, and I've heard that other parts of town are nothing but chain stores, tract housing, congestion, etc. It was neat to visit President Buchanan's home in the heart of the city, but from what I remember there wasn't much to be desired about the city proper of Lancaster, especially when benchmarked to other more historically charming cities in our state nearer to the top of my list.
11. York: York had a lot of historic-looking brick rowhomes, which appealed to me, but it also had a lot of seedy-looking neighborhoods and vagrants who spoke only broken English. It reminded me of a larger version of Hazleton, in my neck of the woods, only with some more historic flair and from what I hear also more crime.
12. Reading: This city might rank highly in violent crime statistics, but I love heading down to see the minor-league Phillies play, shop at the outlets, etc. As more and more Philadelphia commuters move into Berks County (so much so that it is now officially designated as part of the Philadelphia suburbs by the U.S. Census Bureau), Reading is only destined for an upswing.
13. Allentown: I know Allentown has its supposedly upscale, friendly neighborhoods, but what I consider to be a drab and unremarkable downtown coupled with a relatively high crime rate drags its ranking way down in my opinion.
14. Altoona: Tied with Johnstown. The economy here just leaves much to be desired. Beautiful countryside means nothing if you are a college graduate working at the local Wal-Mart.
15. Johnstown: Ditto above.

[Katarina Witt]

I haven't been to all of those listed. Are these the largest cities in PA or is there some other reason for placing them on this list? Of course, I favor Pittsburgh, and we took our honeymoon at Presque Isle, so I have a soft spot in my heart for Erie. I don't have much experience in eastern PA. Philadelphia, of course, is PA's largest city and has a lot of history.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I haven't been to all of those listed. Are these the largest cities in PA or is there some other reason for placing them on this list? Of course, I favor Pittsburgh, and we took our honeymoon at Presque Isle, so I have a soft spot in my heart for Erie. I don't have much experience in eastern PA. Philadelphia, of course, is PA's largest city and has a lot of history.

These are generally speaking the fifteen most economically significant cities in PA. I would have also liked to have included Lebanon, State College, Pottsville, Hazleton, New Castle, Sharon, and a few others, but then the list would be ridiculously long.

[PeterRabbit]

1) Philly
2) 'burgh
3) Erie
4) Harrisburg
5) Altoona
6) Johnstown

Unfamiliar with the rest.

[rainrock]

1.Philadelphia- There are times like this week(crime wave) where I want to completely disown the city and its ever-changing demographic but it still is the core of the 4th largest metro economy in the usa and on a nightly basis probably has more cultural options then the rest of the state combined.

2.Pittsburgh-
3.Harrisburg
4.Scranton- Beautiful city, scenery, my pop was born in WB.
5.Allentown- Lehigh Valley

[W-B proud]

Top 5. 1. Philly 2. Pittsburgh 3. Wilkes-Barre (my beloved home town) 4. Allentown 5. Bethlehem

[FightinPhils]

I'm ranking these in order of how desirable I feel these cities would be to live in:

1. Scranton - low crime, nice neighborhoods, low cost of living
2. Bethlehem
3. Pittsburgh
4. Wilkes-Barre - may be high crime for NE PA, but overall a safe city
5. Easton
6. Erie
7. Lancaster
8. Williamsport
9. Philadelphia - high crime, high taxes...nice place to visit, many nice areas, lots to do, still wouldn't want to live there
10. Johnstown
11. Altoona
12. York - have heard crime is high and a history of racial problems
13. Harrisburg -crime
14. Allentown -crime
15. Reading -crime

[Ohiogirl81]

Presque Isle (Erie) is trumped barely by Point Park (da 'burgh) and the Liberty Bell. Nothing else in this benighted state comes close. Call it a hometown bias.

[BjhMachine]

1. Bethlehem - I have to agree with ScranBarre (great thread topic, btw). I'm a bit biased as an alum of Lehigh Univ, but its really a great city. The historic center of the city is great. The college influence on the south side (as well as the future casino). Musikfest.
2. Pittsburgh - always impressed when I go there. My wife is from western PA, so I get to Pgh once or twice a year. The view from Mt. Washington over the Triangle is really amazing. And the history, culture, and people are great. What a transformation this city has gone (and still going) through. And as much as the green-clad drunks on the other side of the state argue, no fans are as dedicated as 'Stillers fans.
3. Philadelphia - because of its size and influence within the state. It certainly has a rough side to it, but there are so many good things about the city. Go Phils!
4. Harrisburg - if you haven't been there in a while, its better than you probably remember. The restaurant and bar scene is really great, and I love the homes in the north part of the city. The schools in the city are not good, but the surrounding areas have many options for solid places to live.
5. Lancaster - I am going to include the surrounding county here because I don't think the city is representative of its metro. Lots of suburbia, but its a nice quiet, safe area to live. They really need to do something about the congestion though. Two lane roads cannot handle that many people (and tourists).
6. Scranton - I've only been here once and had a mixed impression of it. Although, I love The Office.
7. Reading - suburbs are ok, but the city looks rough. My wife use to spend a good deal of time at a plant near downtown and didn't feel safe coming out to her car at night. Hopefully the influx of Philly 'burb commuters will help the area.
8. Allentown - a bit sketchy. When I was in Bethlehem for school, we rarely went over to Allentown. When we did, we questioned why we had in the first place. Howevere, I've heard good things about the new baseball stadium.
9. Williamsport - seems isolated and declining. Although I haven't been there in 3-4 years.
10. Easton - other than Crayola and Lafayette (booo!), what is here?
11. York - also sketchy. Although York county has some nice areas.

As for not including smaller towns like Lebanon, New Castle, Hazleton, I agree. How about State College?

I've never set foot in Erie, Altoona, Johnstown, or WB so I cannot comment on them.