Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

What’s the Big Idea? There’s no lack of great thinking, doing in our Harrisburg community.

Early summer means high school and college graduations, and graduations mean commencement speeches. I often enjoy reading or listening to commencement speakers and their advice to young people about to take on the world.

In some ways, it would seem difficult to give interesting, let alone unique, advice to graduates. Somehow, however, I rarely grow tired of hearing or reading about the myriad nuggets of wisdom from some of the best speakers around the country.

Far from being relevant only to graduates, much of the advice is applicable to all of us. Some of the best advice I have heard over the years is: “Find what you love to do and do it well,” “Be passionate” and “Think big.” You can’t accomplish what you can’t dream or envision, and you are rarely successful or satisfied in a job, career or location that you find unrewarding or that brings out your inner cynic.

As I have mentioned before, Harrisburg itself may be entering a unique period that enables us to put away our well-worn cynicism, discover an inner passion to improve the city (if not the world) and think big.

While a resolution to the debt and fiscal crisis remains tantalizingly close at hand, a number of entrepreneurs and community leaders have already decided that Harrisburg has a bright future ahead.

There are lots of people starting to “think big” in Harrisburg. Reading the latest commencement wisdom, I reflected on the many things that have been (or which will be) covered in the pages of TheBurg this year.

WebpageFX announced its technology company and 35+ employees’ move to Front Street in Harrisburg by early next year. Little Amps opened its second location in as many years. The MakeSpace went from idea to reality to its second location in about 18 months. The Susquehanna Art Museum, after years of planning and waiting, embarked on development of its new site on N. 3rd Street. St@rt-Up opened with a dozen or so clients in Midtown. Josh Kesler announced plans for a major development near the Broad Street Market. Yellow Bird Café became an overnight sensation and must-try hot spot. FNB bank moved from the suburbs to downtown Harrisburg.

Brickbox developed more than 200 apartment units downtown, including in the long vacant Furlow building, and is currently developing the former Barto Building into luxury condominiums. Hamilton Health Center embarked on expansion plans to complement and build upon its very important success to date in Allison Hill. Char’s opened the first riverfront fine dining restaurant along the banks of the Susquehanna, demonstrating that getting flooded can sometimes be an invitation to even greater opportunity and even tastier cuisine.

Stash opened a super-cool boutique vintage clothing store. Federal Taphouse expanded into the city. Habitat Re-store opens this summer in a former brewery on Paxton Street. The 1500 Project became the first-of-its-kind development project, complete with “jazz on the roof” and offering 40-plus new residential condominiums on 6th street. D&H distributing installed a major new solar project in Uptown.

All in all, these businesses and projects add up to big moves and big plans for a small community.

On the community front, City Beautiful 2.0 is attempting to reinvent the movement of the early 1900s that created many of the city’s best parks and public spaces. Our collective ability to “think big” holds the promise to transform our city in similar ways.

What kind of city do we want to live and work in over the next decade? How about the next five decades? What do we need to do to reinvent our city? How do we attract more residents and businesses? How do we take advantage of our best resources and attributes and move us all forward?

If TheBurg hasn’t yet covered your big idea or commitment to Harrisburg, please tell us about it. We want our readers to know.

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