[RP TownTalk] harrisburg pa and LVT

[marc stauffer]

dear towntalk,
as one who was born and bred in harrisburg, pa and who remains a 
property owner in that godforsaken town; i submit that the introduction 
of the LVT was only one small part of a much larger and comprehensive 
effort to get the city back to some life.
it is true, that beginning in the mid 80's people who had left the city 
for the white suburbs started moving back in, new businesses and 
cultural facilities sprung up, the imaginative redevelopment of the 
city's few amenities happened, and downtown harrisburg has become 
within the past 5-6 years something of nightlife mecca for the area and 
a place for hipster types to live.
however, the revitalization of the city had much more to do with a 
general disgust for the city and fear of it by almost all those who 
lived and worked in it, the tireless efforts of an incredibly 
ambitious, dedicated, yet controversial, mayor (stephen reed who has 
been in office for some 20 continuous years) who gained much more power 
than previous mayors had to work with, a reluctant but sympathetic city 
council, the financial backing and support of those individuals and 
larger businesses (Rite Aid, Harsco, AMP) in harrisburg that could make 
significant projects happen, and a whole lot of public money that went 
into public redevelopment projects. and the project has largely paid 
off, the city is more vibrant than at anytime in the past 40 years, it 
is financially solvent, and people generally view it with regard rather 
than fear and loathing.
in my view, the revitalization of harrisburg is much more analogous to 
the current state of things in DC: while the scale of projects in 
harrisburg is much smaller, the tactics and particular problems (city 
housing a government seat) are similar. and they still share a common 
problem with their school systems; neither town has figured out how to 
make their schools work after trying numerous ways to fix them.
thanks,
marc stauffer