In April, TheBurg reported on a cross-section of leaders initiating a re-boot of the early 20th century City Beautiful movement in Harrisburg. This 2.0 version aims to boost civic engagement and coordinate the efforts of individuals and organizations interested in improving the city’s neglected infrastructure and carrying out greening projects. As the group’s efforts are still being formulated, it may be useful to examine what other small American cities are doing to revive their own prospects.
Recently, I traveled down to the Low Country in South Carolina to take a recess from the City of Harrisburg.
As I traversed I-95 into Virginia, past the crawling traffic of D.C., and into the Richmond corridor, I decided to take a pit stop in the Cary neighborhood of the former Confederate capital. A compact retail corridor dubbing itself “A Mile of Style” greeted me: upscale and affordable clothiers; a quaint bookstore with contemporary and relevant books and magazines; open-air cafes serving both common and foodie fare lined both sides of this urban streetscape. Storefronts were well kept, the parking meters were operational, the recycling bins were appropriately located and bikes and cars shared the newly paved roadway. This was the case in another stop a few hours away in Carrboro, N.C., a neighborhood just outside of Chapel Hill.
It was at once incredibly difficult but imperative to put this in perspective. Harrisburg, even in the Midtown neighborhood, is far from the dynamic, pulsing cultural hub the above places represent. Moreover, it was striking, coming from Harrisburg, to witness what a well-maintained, well-functioning and integrated urban place can be.
Now, neither is perfectly analogous to our city according to standard census statistics (Richmond has a larger population and Carrboro has a smaller one). However, a category does exist that we fall into that could provide a blueprint for our future endeavors.
Forgotten Cities
What are “Forgotten Cities?” According to Lorlene Hoyt, assistant professor of urban planning at MIT, “Forgotten Cities are old (more than 5,000 inhabitants by 1880), small (between 15,000 and 150,000 residents as of the 2000 census) and poor (median household income of less than $35,000).”
Harrisburg shares this distinction with 150 other cities, 21 located in Pennsylvania, which houses the most “Forgotten Cities” in America (Carlisle, Chambersburg, Lancaster, Reading and York, to name a few). Hoyt found stunning similarities in their decline, “described by five elements,” all of which apply in some sense to Harrisburg’s own perceived degeneration: shock, slippage, self-destruction, stigmatization and shame.
These terms are clearly relevant and need to be summarized.
- Shock is often characterized by plant closings and/or rapid demographic change (read: white flight).
- Slippage occurs when a sustainable tax base exits, resulting in a “decline in public service delivery, with an increase in mismanagement, nepotism and even receivership in some extreme cases,” says Hoyt.
- Self-destruction is marked by both physical and symbolic disinvestment in the city through rising crime among residents and through corruption, such as payoffs or favor-trading, in municipal offices.
- Stigmatization refers to the city’s negative image, portrayed in media outlets and in suburban neighborhoods. For example, this could be due to blighted areas or a rise in crime, problems exploited by the media. “Why would anyone live there?” becomes a recurring undercurrent of news coverage, a question the Patriot-News implicitly posits in its new column, “Why Harrisburg?”
- Shame is the last step, when a majority of citizens feel disconnected and despondent over the future of their home.
All of this may sound jarringly familiar to Harrisburg residents, but Hoyt’s overriding research suggests that cities can shake off their negative auras when they decide to work collectively.
Hoyt named a few cities that honestly have stared down their situation and adopted a new model of revitalization, namely Youngstown, Ohio, Reading, Pa., and Lawrence, Mass. While some of these places were not directly focused on greening initiatives, civic improvement is the concept that all of these “Forgotten Cities” turned to in order to create a sense of renewal.
Small City, Big Results
Youngstown offers a stunning example of city residents and government officials teaming up with a local university (Youngstown State University) to change the conversation. The result was a 1,200-person rally for the city’s strategic vision, Youngstown 2010, a plan that details a major overhaul of this city’s agenda to become “smaller, greener and cleaner.”
On paper, this would seem like an obvious motto for a Rust Belt city, but the enormous work it takes to generate support and advocacy for a new, positive model for an old place is grueling psychological and physical work.
Just imagine trying to get 1,200 Harrisburg leaders and citizens in a room. Then, conceptualize all of them supporting a new, idealistic plan. It’s difficult, but Youngstown proved it can be done in a place that is somewhat larger in population and has a lower estimated household median income than Harrisburg.
The civic commitment spurred a nascent non-profit, the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC), to move into action and become a significant hub for transformational change. The organization’s approach is flexible, but all its work falls under the umbrella of boosting neighborhoods in a sustainable manner.
In just four short years, the group has helped return 212 lots (33.92 acres) to productive use with 13 new gardens and with the Iron Roots Urban Farm serving as both an enterprise and an educational facility where 25 market gardeners have been trained to set up their own community gardens. The most recent urban farming project is the renovation of a historic home to serve as a processing and indoor training facility.
Urban farming is just one initiative for this organization, which also provides green job training, owner-occupied rehabs of homes, distribution of recycled paint and thorough conceptual neighborhood studies with Ohio State University and a technical university from Germany. YNDC sees neighborhoods in their entirety, ensuring that both newcomers and Youngstown mainstays work together on the array of problems and opportunities. This is slow work, but, from 2011 to 2012, the group saw a funding increase of 300 percent from foundations, banks and government grants, hopefully a harbinger of more good work to come.
In Our Backyard
Closer to our home soil, there are two “Forgotten Cities” that have made strides in the area of greening and civic engagement—Carlisle and Lancaster.
The Carlisle Road Diet was an organized effort among Dickinson College, the Department of Transportation, residents, local and state politicians, the Keen Transportation trucking company and others to curb air pollution and mediate traffic problems in downtown Carlisle. In 2011, after receiving a $2.8 million grant from the state, the four-lane thoroughfare, High Street, was trimmed to two, bike lanes were installed, lights were synched, more visible pedestrian crosswalks and signals were installed, and signage diverted heavy truck traffic away from Carlisle proper.
According to Matthew Candland, Carlisle’s borough manager, anecdotal evidence suggests the Road Diet is a success. “I would say 75 to 80 percent of the comments I hear from community members are positive,” he said.
The keys to success, Candland said, were to slow down traffic, reduce noise and create a more pedestrian-friendly town. He believes the project has done exactly that and has generally created a calmer feel for visitors, Dickinson students and community members alike. While a contentious move at the time for reserved Carlilians, the enhanced look, completed in late 2011, has received awards from the Clean Air Board of Pennsylvania and the Institute of Transportation Engineers.
Candland also said that the borough now is working with the state and other partners to create a world-class stormwater management plan and that it is in the process of reviewing a community garden ordinance that would benefit the paradigm and practices of this sustainable endeavor.
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Lancaster’s asset lies in its rich soil. Therefore, the city and county are a natural haven for local food restaurants, as well as home to the Lancaster Fresh Food Cooperative that works with 83 farmers in the county and sells to restaurants and grocers in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Lancaster also boasts Central Market, a thriving farmers market and the oldest in the country. Yet, Lancaster is not content to rest on its bounty.
The city, under Mayor Rick Gray, adopted a Green Infrastructure Plan, the first of its kind in Pennsylvania. Strategies are mainly focused on stormwater management to deter runoff into the Chesapeake Bay Watershed via the construction of more green roofs, increasing urban tree canopy and installing permeable pavement.
Jeff McNesby, stormwater program manager for Lancaster, was hired to begin implementing the 25-year strategy. He said that towns and counties he worked for previously were constructing green infrastructure projects like rain gardens and permeable pavement as demonstration projects, but that he was attracted to this position because Lancaster is committed to doing it on a large scale.
“We’ve spent in the millions so far,” he said.
McNesby believes that permeable pavement is one way to battle the problem of stormwater runoff. The pavement is porous, so, when rain enters the concrete, it seeps into a stone reservoir underneath, then eventually into the subsoil.
“What I’m most excited about is the public-private partnerships. It’s a win-win,” he said. “If we install permeable pavement for homeowner’s alleyways, they get an upgraded alleyway, and we save money and prevent stormwater from entering our sewage system.”
Additionally, Lancaster soon will unveil a plan to begin installing green roofs on private residents’ homes, McNesby said.
“I’m proud that, if you drive around town, you can now look at dozens of projects that demonstrate the firm commitment we’ve made to this plan,” he said.
In addition, the city has already spent $18 million on improving its sewage infrastructure.
While this isn’t sexy work, the mayor and his administration realize that expanding sustainable operations fosters collaboration and improves quality of life.
Fritz Schroder, director of LIVE Green Lancaster, partners with the city on the community outreach side—holding public forums, workshops for businesses and community residents and lessons in the school system. He believes the green infrastructure plan complements Lancaster’s desire to become a cultural fulcrum in Pennsylvania and provides “another reason to get involved” to improve the quality of life.
Lancaster’s initiatives are beginning to bear fruit.
In 2011, Gallup’s Well-Being Index, which tracks what constitutes a quality livelihood, ranked Lancaster as the top mid-sized city in this category, besting places like Boulder, Co. and Portland, Maine.
More relevant to Hoyt’s study, statistics confirm Lancaster is on the rise with a 5.9 percent increase in population (est. 2011, 60,058) and an 11 percent increase in median family household income (est. 2011, $33,115) since 2000, drawing it close to exiting the “Forgotten Cities” category.
Losing the “Forgotten” Tag
What can we learn from these examples? For me, memorable stops like Carborro and Carytown are the serum of inspiration, and local leaders and politicians should try to learn from what they’ve done. In addition, they should look to “Forgotten Cities” that are overcoming the odds. These revitalizing places can and should provide a wealth of resources to help Harrisburg and City Beautiful 2.0 plot their next moves for a more sustainable community.
There is no single prescription, no silver bullet or white knight for generating innovative and systemic solutions. Nevertheless, in Harrisburg’s case, our fundamental assets—vast historic architecture, Riverfront Park, the Broad Street Market, access to fresh, local food and a surfeit of nonprofit organizations—position our community to progress substantially in the years to come.
