It never ceases to shock me how unabashedly people bash the city of Harrisburg.
Yes, shock. I’m shocked at what people say.
People say this place is a pathetic slum that is ruined beyond repair. People say the residents of this city are degenerates. People call for boycott and rally vehemently for others to despise this capital city. The fever pitch too often sounds like a lynch mob ready to set fire to the pyre they’ve built at the base of this place.
The hate comes in many forms. Sometimes, it’s nasty comments left anonymously under bleeding headlines. Sometimes, it’s proudly owned and freely distributed on social media. Other times, it’s proclaimed face to face.
In those instances when someone unabashedly bashes Harrisburg to my face, it’s as if I deserve to hear it because I choose to live in the city.
It’s extremely unsettling.
When did this happen? When did the people of this region determine it was okay to spurn and spit on the capital city and kick it while it’s down?
Yeah, it’s down. No one’s denying that. But down doesn’t mean worthless.
There’s a lot of value here, not just in the history and establishment of this place but in its people.
Harrisburg is rich with potential. It’s a small city with big-city virtues like diversity, culture and options. These are all lying right beside its issues, problems and challenges.
The fact of the matter is the difficulties that Harrisburg faces are the same for American cities across the nation.
That’s what’s especially shocking to me when I hear the vitriol. It’s as if the people of this region have never read about municipal financial struggles or heard of urban revitalization.
It’s as if people around here haven’t read any of the numerous articles or seen the countless documentaries on the struggles of cities across the nation. Everywhere, cities are recalibrating and rebuilding.
If more people were aware how ordinary Harrisburg is in this regard, perhaps they would see the narrowness of their contempt.
Perhaps if more people realized how common it is for cities to make comebacks, more people would be supportive and engaged in Harrisburg’s renewal.
Harrisburg did it before. It was dismissed as hopeless. Then with persistent ambition and collaboration, it became something else. It became beautiful and special.
A hundred years ago, so much effort was directed at making Harrisburg better that so much about it became new and innovative—the roads, the parks, the streetlights, the transit, the architecture, the engineering. When it was shiny new, the public loved it and applauded Harrisburg as a 20th-century model city.
Then, like many places, the shine dulled and the innovation became outdated. Like cities across the nation, people turned their backs on this urban core and saluted the suburbs as the next best thing.
However, that attitude is changing once again.
Just like before, more and more people want to live, work and play in cities. They want the urban vibe and the convenience. They want the concentrated options and the unique experiences that only a city can give.
Despite the hyperbolic, fallacious claims of the ignorant haters, Harrisburg’s got all that.
The sport of hating Harrisburg irresponsibly overlooks the incredible opportunity this entire region has to reconstruct a really cool city.
I think we have to ask ourselves: Why so much hate towards Harrisburg?
This entire region would do well to examine the source of this hate. When people who aren’t from around here visit or move in, they, too, are wholly shocked at the bashing of Harrisburg.
Therefore, it seems as if it’s something entrenched in this region. So, what is it?
It’s time to recognize some very real prejudices directed at this place and its people. When people point to Harrisburg and declare it ugly, despicable and vile, what’s the true source of their distaste?
Because, quite frankly, it just doesn’t make sense to hate one place and its people so much, especially a capital city along a river.
Tara Leo Auchey is the creator and editor of today’s the day, Harrisburg. www.todaysthedayhbg.com.
