Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities

Cities

Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities/1

Erie is an industrial city on the shore of Lake Erie in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city with a population of 104,000. Erie's Metropolitan Area consists of 281,000 residents. The city is the seat of government for Erie County.

Erie is in proximity to Cleveland, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Once teeming with heavy industry, Erie's heavy manufacturing sector now consists mainly of plastics and locomotive building. Known for its lake-effect snow, Erie is in the heart of the Rust Belt and has begun to focus on tourism as a driving force in its economy. More than four million people each year visit Presque Isle State Park, for water recreation, and a new casino named for the state park is growing in popularity. Erie is known as the Flagship City because of the presence of Oliver Hazard Perry's flagship USS Niagara. (Read more...)

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Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities/2

Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth most populous city in the United States and seventh most densely populated city in the U.S. It is the county seat of Philadelphia County. It is colloquially referred to as "the City of Brotherly Love" (from Greek: Φιλαδέλφεια, [pʰi.la.ˈdel.pʰeː.a], Modern Greek: [fi.la'ðɛl.fi.a], "brotherly love" from philos "love" and adelphos "brother"). Residents often informally call the city "Philly." The city is recognized as a strong candidate global city with strong evidence of world city formation.

In 2005, the population of the city proper was estimated to be over 1.4 million, while the Delaware Valley metropolitan area, with a population of 5.8 million, was the fifth-largest in the United States and the 45th largest city in the world. A commercial, educational, and cultural center, the city was once the second-largest in the British Empire, (after London) and the social and geographical center of the original thirteen American colonies. During the 18th century, it eclipsed New York City in political and social importance, with Benjamin Franklin taking a large role in Philadelphia's early rise to prominence. It was in this city that some of the ideas, and subsequent actions, gave birth to the American Revolution and American independence, making Philadelphia a centerpiece of early American history. It was the most populous city of the young United States and served as the nation's first capital in the 1790s. (Read more...)

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Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities/3

Pittsburgh is the second largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with a population of 334,563 and the 20th largest metropolitan area in the United States with a population of 2,358,695. It anchors both the Appalachia region and the Ohio River Valley as their largest metropolis. Pittsburgh is the county seat of Allegheny County. Built on land surrounding the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, where they merge to form the Ohio River, Pittsburgh features a skyline of 151 high-rise buildings, two inclined railways and a pre-revolutionary fortification. Residents of the city are called Pittsburghers. The downtown area is located on the triangular parcel at the confluence of the rivers. Pittsburgh is noted for bridges of all types throughout the city and is commonly known as the "The City of Bridges" or "The Bridge Capital" of the U.S.

Though Pittsburgh's economy was traditionally fueled by heavy manufacturing to the detriment of local air and water quality, today it is largely based on healthcare, education, technology and financial services, while Forbes magazine called it one of the cleanest cities in the world. Robotics, for example, is such an emergent sector of the local economy that The Wall Street Journal dubbed the city "Roboburgh." (Read more...)

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Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities/4

Scranton is the county seat of Lackawanna County in Northeastern Pennsylvania, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 76,415 (2006 estimate: 72,861). Scranton is Pennsylvania's sixth most populous city. Scranton is the geographic and cultural center of the Lackawanna River valley. It is the largest city located in a contiguous quilt-work of former anthracite coal mining communities including the smaller cities of Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, and Carbondale. Scranton was incorporated as a borough on February 14, 1856 and as a city on April 23, 1866.

Present-day Scranton and the surrounding area had been inhabited by the native Lenape tribe, from whose language "Lackawanna" (or "le-can-hanna", meaning "stream that forks") is derived. Gradually, settlers from New England came to the area in the late 1700s, establishing mills and other small businesses, and their village became known as Slocum Hollow. Isaac Tripp, known as the first settler, built his home here in 1778 which still stands in the Providence section of the city as a testament to this era.

The city is also notably known as the setting of the current NBC sitcom The Office. (Read more...)

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Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities/5

Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, 60 miles (97 km) miles east of Pittsburgh and 47 miles (76 km) west-south-west of Altoona, Pennsylvania. The population was 23,906 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria and Somerset counties. As of July 1, 2006, the metropolitan statistical area has a population of 146,967.

Johnstown, settled in 1770, is perhaps most famous for its three floods. The "Great Flood" of May 31, 1889, occurred after the South Fork Dam collapsed 14 miles (22.53 km) upstream from the city during heavy rains. At least 2,209 people died as a result of the flood and subsequent fire that raged through the debris. Other major floods occurred in 1936 and 1977. (Read more...)

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Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities/6

Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 71,329, making it the eighth largest municipality in Pennsylvania.

Bethlehem lies in the center of the Lehigh Valley, a 731 square miles (1,893 km²) area that is home to more than 650,000 people. The Lehigh Valley region embraces a trio of cities (Bethlehem, Allentown and Easton) within two counties (Lehigh and Northampton), making it Pennsylvania's third-largest metropolitan area. Smaller than Allentown but larger than Easton, Bethlehem is the Lehigh Valley's second most populous city.

There are three general sections of the city, North Bethlehem, South Bethlehem and West Bethlehem. Each of these sections blossomed at different times in the city's development and each contains areas recognized under the National Register of Historic Places.

In July 2006, Money magazine included Bethlehem as one of its "Top 100 Best Places to Live." (Read more...)

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Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities/7

Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 106,632. It is the county seat of Lehigh County.

Located on the Lehigh River, Allentown is the largest of three adjacent cities that make up a region of eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey known as the Lehigh Valley, with the cities of Bethlehem and Easton nearby. Allentown is 60 miles (95 km) north of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the United States, and 90 miles (145 km) west of New York City, the largest city in the United States.

Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom, a highly popular amusement park, is located near Allentown. In addition, two four-year colleges, Cedar Crest College and Muhlenberg College, are located in Allentown. Air transport to and from the city is available through Lehigh Valley International Airport. (Read more...)

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Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities/8

Warren is a city in Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,259 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Warren County. It is home to the headquarters of the Allegheny National Forest and the Cornplanter State Forest. It is also the headquarters for the Chief Cornplanter Council, the oldest continuously chartered Boy Scouts of America Council.

Warren was initially inhabited by Native Americans of the Seneca nation. French explorers had claims to the area but control was transferred to the British after the French and Indian War. After the Revolutionary War, General William Irvine and Andrew Ellicott were sent to the area to lay out a town in 1795. The first permanent structure in Warren, a storehouse built by the Holland Land Company, was completed in 1796. Lumber was the main industry from 1810–1840, as the abundance of wood and access to water made it profitable to float lumber down the Allegheny River to Pittsburgh. David Beaty discovered oil in Warren in 1875 while drilling for natural gas in his wife's flower garden. Oil came to dominate the city's economy. (Read more...)

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Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities/9

Lancaster, is a city in the South Central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is the county seat of Lancaster County. With a population of 55,351, it is the 8th largest city in Pennsylvania, behind Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Scranton, and Bethlehem. The metropolitan area population stands at 494,486 making it the 102nd largest metropolitan area in the US.

Locally, Lancaster is pronounced as LANK-ih-stir, rather than the more common pronunciation LAN-cas-ter.

Named after the English city of Lancaster by native John Wright. Its symbol, the red rose, is from the House of Lancaster. Lancaster was part of the 1681 Penn's Woods Charter of William Penn. Lancaster was laid out by James Hamilton in 1734. During the American Revolution, Lancaster was the capital of the colonies on September 27, 1777, when the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia, which had been captured by the British. After meeting one day, they moved still farther away, to York. Lancaster was capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812, after which the capital was moved to the Harrisburg. (Read more...)

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Portal:Pennsylvania/Cities/10

State College is the largest borough in Centre County, with a population of 38,420 as of the 2000 census. It is most notable for being the home of The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). State College grew around the University, originally founded as a "Farmers' High School" in 1855. The areas around State College contain historic landmarks and villages, as well as large tracts of farmland. The region is often called "Happy Valley", a term which originated during the Great Depression, since State College was not hit as hard by the economic downturn as other areas were. State College is in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians and is bordered by several mountains, including Mount Nittany, the namesake of the Nittany Lion.

State College's largest employer is Penn State, as well as AccuWeather, which is based in the town. The town has several cultural events each year, notably the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. In 2009 State College was ranked as the safest metropolitan area in the United States by Congressional Quarterly. (Read more...)

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