Favorite mid-sized PA city skyline? (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: sales, 2014, rent)

[UDResident]

Originally Posted by AlexisT

The entire city of Harrisburg is 11 square miles, 3 of which are water. Allentown is 18. The densities are comparable, at ~6K/sq.mi.

Maybe now but Harrisburg used to have almost 90,000 people at one point.

[PreservationPioneer]

Nobody has mentioned this, but the reason PA cities tend not to have very tall skylines is because they are densely built with residential districts in the downtown areas. Most midwestern cities are basically parking lots with tall buildings in the middle. PA is lucky to have real cities that have urban neighborhoods integrated into the core.

[UDResident]

Originally Posted by sunspotzz

Erie has a hight restriction so thats why no buildings stand out. Its is a city that need some TLC. Erie's population has been going down for the past 30 or so years, but Millcreek is growin at a nice speed. The downtown area is just so spread out compared to most other citys(do to it being around since the late 1700s) With all that said, we dont get the recognition a city of 300'000 (Metropolitan Area) should.

You do realize I hope that the majority of the cities in this thread are older than Erie? Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, Scranton/WB, and Harrisburg/York/Lancaster especially.

Erie is by far the most disappointing skyline (and city) in the state. Not only is it on a Great Lake but it is across that Great Lake from Canada. Not only that but it is larger in area than the other small to mid-sized cities. Only Scranton is close in area. Those other cities don't simply seem more built up than Erie because they're landlocked. They are more built up. Erie's large size and prominent location mean that it needs some legitimate, non-suburban-office-park looking skyscrapers to look like a real city from outside of the city.

That city definitely should be a lot more populated and built up than it is. Somebody mentioned the eastern cities being isolated (hardly)? I'd say that's exactly Erie's problem. The only two cities it is really close to are Buffalo, Cleveland, and smaller Canadian cities. Erie's best hope is probably for London and Hamilton, ON to continue to grow and (most likely Hamilton) to get an NHL franchise one day. Then Erie could develop a relationship with those cities similar to the one between Buffalo and Toronto.

[UDResident]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Nobody has mentioned this, but the reason PA cities tend not to have very tall skylines is because they are densely built with residential districts in the downtown areas. Most midwestern cities are basically parking lots with tall buildings in the middle. PA is lucky to have real cities that have urban neighborhoods integrated into the core.

Definitely. Only New Jersey, New York are as dense and urban as PA in most of their cities.

Delaware really only has one that's as dense and urban as PA cities, and that's Wilmington.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by UDResident

Allentown is definitely small for its population size but I think the City Center development should start to change that if it all gets built.

I just looked at the map and several blocks of historic urban architecture were demolished to make way for this development. I thought that kind of bad urban planning went out of style after the 1970s, but I guess I was wrong.

Take a look at this view of Hamilton Street in downtown Allentown. Notice the beautiful historic buildings on the right side of the street. They were all demolished. What a disaster.

[UDResident]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

I just looked at the map and several blocks of historic urban architecture were demolished to make way for this development. I thought that kind of bad urban planning went out of style after the 1970s, but I guess I was wrong.

Take a look at this view of Hamilton Street in downtown Allentown. Notice the beautiful historic buildings on the right side of the street. They were all demolished. What a disaster.

Oh I know, and believe me I'm not happy about that either. What I am happy about though is that the taller buildings are replacing mainly ugly, post-war crap. I'm also happy that the whole idea is to build up the downtown and get more people living there, in taller buildings. Allentown is the 3rd largest city in the state (and is within a metro of almost 1 million people), and it seems the whole idea behind the development is to give the city a downtown worthy of that.

When it comes to the arena, it's all about the location. If you do a street-view of the intersection where the arena is going to be, and you look at it from across the street, you'll see why they chose that side and not the the side with the unbelievably ugly building on the corner across the street diagonally.

The way I view this development is that it's taking Allentown's downtown from being that of a local, small city to one of a bigger city that just happens to be smaller in population due to its smaller area. In the future, I could see Allentown legitimately being PA's 3rd city, with actual skyscrapers to complement the PPL Building, and a larger, more built up and vibrant downtown than even Harrisburg.

[trackstar13]

Originally Posted by UDResident

You do realize I hope that the majority of the cities in this thread are older than Erie? Allentown and the Lehigh Valley, Scranton/WB, and Harrisburg/York/Lancaster especially.

Erie is by far the most disappointing skyline (and city) in the state. Not only is it on a Great Lake but it is across that Great Lake from Canada. Not only that but it is larger in area than the other small to mid-sized cities. Only Scranton is close in area. Those other cities don't simply seem more built up than Erie because they're landlocked. They are more built up. Erie's large size and prominent location mean that it needs some legitimate, non-suburban-office-park looking skyscrapers to look like a real city from outside of the city.

That city definitely should be a lot more populated and built up than it is. Somebody mentioned the eastern cities being isolated (hardly)? I'd say that's exactly Erie's problem. The only two cities it is really close to are Buffalo, Cleveland, and smaller Canadian cities. Erie's best hope is probably for London and Hamilton, ON to continue to grow and (most likely Hamilton) to get an NHL franchise one day. Then Erie could develop a relationship with those cities similar to the one between Buffalo and Toronto.

So an NHL team in London or Hamilton will revive the Erie economy and bring people back to the area? This is silly and sport teams have very little impact on a local economy and even less impact on a a neighboring cities economy.

Also, you keep talking about landlocked cities and how they are built up, did you ever think that Lake Erie might get in the way of some of this construction? Erie county is by far the largest county in PA in terms of area, but most of it is water and can't be built on or developed. Additionally, building on a bluff or shoreline is possible, but you have to contend with erosion and with how flat Erie is if there were skyscrapers all over the place on the lakeshore it would take away from the view. I recently moved to the area and I was amazed at how much better the area looks since they tore down the GAF factory and that was not even very tall. The key to developing a Great Lakes city like Erie is strategically placing the taller buildings and considering the lake view from various positions within the city. Since they have already built a rather tall Sheraton on the water, I would love to see some taller buildings around Dobbins Landing, but I still think there is a limit to the height they should be built because it is nice to see the Bay and Presque Isle Park from various spots in the city.

Oh and to your last point about age, what does age of a city have to do with the skyline? Pittsburgh has an amazing skyline, but according to your logic because it was incorporated before New York, Boston, etc. so we should automatically declare that Pittsburgh has a better skyline. The age of a city can influence the skyline, but there are some rather "new" cities in the U.S. with amazing skylines, i.e. Seattle, Miami, etc.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by track2514

So an NHL team in London or Hamilton will revive the Erie economy and bring people back to the area? This is silly and sport teams have very little impact on a local economy and even less impact on a a neighboring cities economy.

Well, perhaps we can all learn to swim the 27 miles back and forth to Canada to attend these games in London, which UDResident seems to think is the Promised Land and the Answer to All Our Prayers.



London and Hamilton are nice cities, but good grief ...

[trackstar13]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

Well, perhaps we can all learn to swim the 27 miles back and forth to Canada to attend these games in London, which UDResident seems to think is the Promised Land and the Answer to All Our Prayers.



London and Hamilton are nice cities, but good grief ...

Yes maybe I will get a raise if Hamilton gets an NHL team and maybe I will sell my house for a massive profit due to the influx of related jobs and potential housing shortage. Oh wait and then I woke up from my dream.

[toobusytoday]

Allentown actually has a great skyline when you are coming from the West and heading East towards New Jersey on route 78. In the summer when Dorney Park is open, it's neat to see the big rides of the park on the west end of town and then the city skyline. I wish I could get a picture of it, but it's impossible to stop on the highway to get the long view picture.