While Harrisburg wasn’t Pennsylvania’s first capital city, it’s the one that’s stuck around. Colonial-era legislatures gradually convened farther and farther west, passing through Philadelphia, York and Lancaster before settling on Harrisburg thanks to its keystone position in the Keystone State; boats could arrive by the mighty Susquehanna River, and constituents from as far west as Erie or Pittsburgh would have a shorter journey to the capital. A past full of riverside industrial boom, decline and plans for modern revitalization mirrors the stories of towns stretching from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. The industry of history-making, however, has always anchored Harrisburg, making a pocket where new business districts and community groups can meet the city’s modern needs in preserved historic districts, even as the rest of South Central Pennsylvania is rocked by more sweeping changes to rural and suburban landscapes.
Terra cotta tiles glint Imperial Green in the sun, drawing eyes to the dome at the apex of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex. Perched above a grand granite staircase, it is the third and final statehouse that has loomed at the crest of Harrisburg’s own Capitol Hill. Architect John Huston fashioned the dome after the centerpiece of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and designed it to be a palace of art. Collaborations between premier artists of the early 20th century and modern-day preservationists ensure that it is precisely that.
Surrounding office buildings and the historic Capitol itself are headquarters for thousands of government employees working for local, state and federal offices. When legislators aren’t in session, the complex is quiet, echoing with the infrequent footsteps of tour guides, political aides and bureaucrats. An influx of lawmakers and last-minute lobbyists ensure that the Capitol is at its busiest in the weeks before annual budgets are finalized each July.
Government work is not the only game in town. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has branched out into central PA. UPMC Harrisburg was a major regional hospital long before its acquisition by the network in 2017, and it now also functions as a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine teaching hospital.
Downtown Harrisburg is home to lively pubs and eateries and a beautiful riverfront.
The dome of the capital building dominates Downtown Harrisburg and is always bustling.
Join family and friends for artisanal, farm fresh plates at The Millworks in Midtown.
Commute from New Cumberland to Harrisburg over the John Harris Memorial Bridge.
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Blocks of historic homes and Harrisburg's 2020 Comprehensive Plan
While block layouts and architectural styles from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are common throughout Harrisburg, neighborhood vibes and average housing upkeep levels are much more varied. Midtown Harrisburg is among the most prominent neighborhoods in the city, full of rowhomes, twin homes and semi-detached Victorian and Second Empire houses that line up along well-traveled sidewalks and between beloved local businesses.
Around Italian Lake Park, buyers can find long suburban blocks of historic homes connected by sidewalks and shaded by plenty of mature trees. “There’s a really big population of investors. Some flips, but you won’t get the best return on your investment that way. It’s usually buy, fix, hold, rent. A lot, a lot, a lot of properties are owned by landlords,” says Christine Waters, a local business owner and member of the TeamPete Realty Services, Inc. who has lived in Harrisburg for more than 20 years. The median home price in Harrisburg is $220,000, significantly lower than the national median reported by the National Association of Realtors of $416,700. Investors and owner-occupants seeking affordability help account for an especially fast-moving market; homes in Harrisburg typically sit on the market for around 27 days, considerably less time than the national average of 44 days.
The City Beautiful movement of the early 1900s built public parks and city infrastructure, countered blight and improved water quality in Harrisburg, supporting a population that skyrocketed in size through the midcentury. Since its peak, residency has fallen by nearly 50%. The list of causes includes familiar harbingers of blight in neighborhoods and cities across the Rust Belt: loss of manufacturing and steel industries, redlining practices and high-speed suburbanization and flight from city centers.
More recently, the city suffered through major, decade-spanning financial mismanagement revealed by a 2009 audit. A tangled web of misconduct resulted in the first securities charge ever levied against a United States municipality by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission and the placement of the state capital under receivership. As corruption choked city offices and a nine-figure debt mounted, much of the city fell into disrepair. The debt hung around Harrisburg’s neck for nearly a decade after the City Council’s failed bid for bankruptcy.
Thanks to the Harrisburg Strong recovery plan, the capital has caught its breath and is striding toward new goals. The City of Harrisburg 2020 Comprehensive Plan seeks to re-create the successes of past revitalization efforts and meet the community's housing, transportation and community space goals. The Vision Program, a 2022 reconfiguration of Second Street, reintroduced two-way traffic and added roundabouts and raised pedestrian crossings to a neighborhood street that was once a fast lane out of the city. Legislation targeting absentee landlords is one way the deterioration of Harrisburg’s historic housing is being safeguarded, and historically underserved neighborhoods like Allison Hill have received special revitalization focus, including being chosen for the statewide Blueprint Community PA Program. Downriver, Microsoft has made waves in the nuclear industry by tying its future energy needs to the undamaged but currently inactive twin of the melted-down reactor at the former Three Mile Island Nuclear Generator Station, but energy operations are still years away.
Many single-family homes in Midtown feature charming historic architectural styles.
Historic rowhouses line historic streets in Midtown.
Rowhomes can be found just a block away from the capital complex in Downtown Harrisburg.
Twin style homes in Midtown often come with small side yards and fences.
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Recreation along the Susquehanna River and the PA Farm Show
In rural stretches around the city, state game lands and Dauphin County parks preserve the deep, hilly forests of Penn’s Woods. Within Harrisburg, recreation runs along the Susquehanna River. Cyclists, dog walkers and lunch-break strollers traverse the 20-mile Capital Area Greenbelt trail, passing the hedge-bound Sunken Garden pocket park and plenty of Front Street traffic before crossing the Walnut Street Bridge to City Island, where tourists pay for riverboat cruises. The island’s kayak launches are of larger local concern, starting paddlers on long downriver journeys or island-hopping explorations between untouched forests and picnic groves. Major league baseball fans might conceivably root for the Bucs, Phillies or Orioles, but the crowds at Senators games in Harrisburg’s FNB Field make the city’s Minor League loyalties clear.
Museums and concert venues, hotel conventions and community street fairs – the capital city is a crucible of cultural events and attractions. The country’s largest indoor agricultural expo brings the countryside to the city at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex each winter. Goat snuggling zones and plenty of resources for farmers abound, but fair foods prepared fresh by Pennsylvania farmers are always the star of the show. Waters shares some tips on how longtime locals make the most of the show: “The Pennsylvania Dairy Association is famous for their milkshakes, then they have the potato farmers that are famous for their potato donuts. When you have younger kids, everybody goes – you walk by the animals, the cow poops, your kid gets freaked out, it’s great. But otherwise, go the Friday before it opens. Free parking, get in line, get the food and get out.”
Sit back, relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery at Riverfront Park in Downtown Harrisburg.
Catch the action at FNB Field on City Island in Downtown Harrisburg.
Harrisburg is home to the Farm Show Complex with yearly events and shows hosted.
Residents of South Harrisburg can enjoy the Susquehanna River, which borders it to the west.
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Shopping and dining in and around Downtown Harrisburg
High-rise heavy blocks in downtown Harrisburg house the bulk of the city’s businesses, including diverse restaurants and nightlife spots along Second Street’s Restaurant Row. Cafes and holes-in-the-wall cater to lunch breakers on the blocks immediately surrounding the Capitol Complex. Small corner stores and restaurants are central to neighborhoods outside of downtown, from the Cuban cafe across the street from Shipoke’s playground to the Midtown Scholar Bookstore, a center for browsing bibliophiles and frequent community events in its namesake neighborhood. It’s easier to find a house of worship for many major world religions than it is to find a major supermarket in Harrisburg, including a historic Catholic cathedral near the Capitol Complex topped with a green dome of its own. Most big box and grocery shopping is done across the Susquehanna in Camp Hill.
JB LoveDrafts is one of the many bars and restaurants on Second Street in Downtown Harrisburg.
The Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center, hosts musicians and comedians throughout the year.
The Midtown Cinema has been a staple independent cinema in Harrisburg since 2001.
The Millworks menu pairs perfectly with their selection of beer and wine in Midtown.
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Highways and Amtrak trains through Central PA
Front Street is a one-way, multilane thoroughfare that pulls traffic from a number of regional highways through the city. The Pennsylvania Turnpike runs south of Harrisburg, and Interstate 81 is an alternate, toll-free east-west connector to the north. Interstate 83 connects to York and Baltimore to the south, while U.S. routes 22 and 15 point northwest toward State College and northeast toward Scranton respectively. Capital Area Transit, or CAT, buses take riders through the city and surrounding Dauphin and Cumberland counties. Plenty of sidewalks and very few shared bike lanes mean it’s easier to walk than cycle around. The Keystone Amtrak route runs from Harrisburg’s downtown station to Philadelphia and New York City, while cross-state travelers pass between eastern neighborhoods and industrial zones on the Pennsylvanian route. Harrisburg International Airport is less than 10 miles southeast of the capital down Front Street.
Midtown area commuters can take the Capital Area Transit bus into Downtown.
The Harrisburg Amtrak station connects to major cities like Philadelphia and New York.
Travel internationally with a small airport feel from Harrisburg International Airport.
Buses are the preferred method of getting around in Downtown Harrisburg.
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The Harrisburg School District under receivership
The Harrisburg School District earns a C from Niche. Almost all of the currently rated schools in the district earn a C-minus or lower, making Harrisburg High School – SciTech Campus’s B-plus ranking and focus on STEM college preparatory programs stand out. The Burg’s public school woes are no secret; the district has a history of financial, testing and personnel shortfalls that resulted in it being placed under state receivership. Private schools like the A-plus-rated Harrisburg Academy offer alternatives. Higher-education is available in and around the city, from Harrisburg University and the Harrisburg Area Community College to branches of both Penn State and Temple.
Higher education in Harrisburg can be through Penn State Harrisburg Campus.
A private education in Harrisburg is located through the Harrisburg Academy.
Stay close to downtown Harrisburg and get your degree from Harrisburg University.
Older students of South Harrisburg go to Harrisburg High School.
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Crime, weather and floodplain insurance discounts in Harrisburg
From January through July of 2022, the Harrisburg Police Department reported a total of 557 violent crimes in Harrisburg to the FBI’s crime database, which rose to 572 instances during the same seven-month period in 2023. The city’s property crime increased similarly from 544 instances to 552 instances during the same time frame.
In summer, high temperatures peak in the 90s, while winter lows trend toward single digits. Four seasons come to Harrisburg each year, all of which are marked by precipitation.
The Susquehanna River sparkles along Harrisburg’s western border, nearly a mile wide and pocketed with forested islands. It also poses significant flood risk. Parks, streets and homes along the river and Paxton Creek fall into higher risk flood zones after hurricane-based storm surges or unusually heavy rain. The City of Harrisburg promotes tiered flood insurance discounts for homeowners living in different Special Flood Hazard Areas mapped by the National Flood Insurance Program.
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