What is the WORST city or town in Pennsylvania? (Philadelphia: real estate, crime rate)

[johnp292]

Originally Posted by 2nd trick op

I grew up in and around Berwick (BHS, class of 1967) and still spend many of my weekends there. It needs to be recognized that the root cause of the community's problems is that it has been driving its more-motivated sons and daughters away for decades, and of a succession of blue-collar employers (American Car & Foundry, Wise potato Chips, Berwick Industries/Offray) has peaked, declined and left, usually in search of cheaper labor.

The absolute low point came in the early and mid-1970's when militant opposition, led by local Fundamentalists, developed in response to a school-construction program. Public meetings were packed by the expected collection of barflies and hyenas who tied to shut down any attempts at progress. It was emblematic of the problem that the newest Junior High facilities dated from the 1920's, and most of the locals still referred to the Senior High (built in 1958) as the "new" high school. The provincials even succeeded in electing a few of their fellow point-and-grunts to the School Board, but the worst of the dumps were eventually closed under the Fire and Panic Act.

It was around this time that the community began to turn the corner. The PP&L nuke station brought a construction boom; the only visible drawback was that the local realtors always seemed to emphasize property in the adjoining (and forward-thinking) Central Columbia School District. And little-by-little, the picture improved for those willing to look outside the Borough of Berwick. The local hospital remained dominated by foreign-born physicians geard to the "Medicaid mentality", but expansion at Geisinger offered better opportunities for those willing to go a few miles further. Even the community's obsession with high school football was tuned into a modest positive. And we managed to keep the community's dominant bank independent and growing when First National of Berwick morphed into First Keystone.

So for those of us willing to look a little further ahead, in both distance and time, life here has remained pretty good. The problem is the group at the bottom who still don't get it -- the people who pay union dues and work for $10/hr in hopes of a "permanent" job at a downsized Wise Foods that night one day, like some brewers, find an outside contractor to produce the product elsewhere. The town has made a lot of progress, but it is awash in methedrine, much of it peddled to drifters who seem to be drawn to the least-disciplined and lowest-paying jobs, and the least-motivated locals, who can't seem to grasp that the ethic of the Forties and Fifties is as dead as Abbot and Costello.

Quite the insightful summation of Berwick. I worked in Berwick Offray's corporate office for a couple of years (not by choice, they transferred me there from Scranton), and found Berwick to be a somewhat pleasant but very backward town. I did not live there. It did seem like everyone worked at either Wise, BO, or the hospital. In fact on the rare occasions that we had job openings in the office, the applicants almost always came from one of those two places. Berwick Offray tended to treat all its employees, even in the office, with the "you're lucky we let you work here" mentality, which is why I left as soon as I found a better job. The company could never understand why it couldn't attract quality applicants for its data center. It was because that skill set doesn't exist in Berwick, and nobody wants to commute to or move there.

[badguykc]

My vote is for HARRISBURG (PA's bankrupt, boarded-up, crime-ridden version of Detroit) being Pennsylvania's worst city.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Braddock
Wilkinsburg
New Kensington/Arnold
McKeesport
Johnstown
Altoona
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Williamsport
Titusville
Clearfield
Warren
Farrell
New Castle
York

[blauskies]

Originally Posted by badguykc

My vote is for HARRISBURG (PA's bankrupt, boarded-up, crime-ridden version of Detroit) being Pennsylvania's worst city.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Braddock
Wilkinsburg
New Kensington/Arnold
McKeesport
Johnstown
Altoona
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Williamsport
Titusville
Clearfield
Warren
Farrell
New Castle
York

Is Codorus Creek in York still called "The Inky Stinky"? Still was never as bad as Shamokin Creek in Shamokin, the creek that was rust colored and had no life and probably won't for years.

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[I_Like_Spam]

Braddock is a real dump, definitely worse than Wilkinsburg that has a few redeeming neighborhoods.

[Pahn]

Originally Posted by badguykc

My vote is for HARRISBURG (PA's bankrupt, boarded-up, crime-ridden version of Detroit) being Pennsylvania's worst city.

HONORABLE MENTION:
Braddock
Wilkinsburg
New Kensington/Arnold
McKeesport
Johnstown
Altoona
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
Williamsport
Titusville
Clearfield
Warren
Farrell
New Castle
York

Come on, Titusville isn't that bad. York is terrible, it's a shame it's so historic.

I've never been to the other places.

[585WNY]

HANDS DOWN I've got to give it to Johnstown, I'm sorry to say.

First of all, Johnstown has got to be the most isolated "city" (if you can call it that) in the world. I had to drive 50 miles on failing infrastructure through rolling hills and mountains just to get to this outpost of disappointment. Once I finally arrived in what mimicked civilization, all I saw was trash. The people, the area, everything. Trash. The neighborhoods looked deserted and extremely run down. Many houses were abandoned. Everyone looked lifeless, as if all opportunity to succeed has escaped them. This was apparent when I saw more than a few of them drinking in public. Luckily the "city" is not large so I arrived "downtown" quickly. Downtown was another disappointment in this desolate mountain village as it was a ghost town of poorly kept, hideous architecture. Did I mention the river was disgusting? The most exciting aspect of my regrettable visit was the chance to see the Johnstown Inclined Plane, which I will admit was kinda cool. Overall though, the entire area was filthy, underwhelming and gave me an ominous feeling. Not sure why, but it was in the air...

A not too distant 2nd goes to Williamsport. What a dump. You know it's time to close shop when the most exciting thing you have to offer is a Wegmans. The best part about this place was it's easy access to the interstate so I could get out.

[blauskies]

Originally Posted by 585WNY

A not too distant 2nd goes to Williamsport. What a dump. You know it's time to close shop when the most exciting thing you have to offer is a Wegmans. The best part about this place was it's easy access to the interstate so I could get out.

Williamsport would really be a dump if they did not have Lycoming and Penn College, which Penn State really invested heavy in. Last time I was in Williamsport, I noticed they really cleaned up a lot of the hood and urban decay that use to be around the campus, built a lot of buildings too.

[pman]

Originally Posted by blauskies

Williamsport would really be a dump if they did not have Lycoming and Penn College, which Penn State really invested heavy in. Last time I was in Williamsport, I noticed they really cleaned up a lot of the hood and urban decay that use to be around the campus, built a lot of buildings too.

yeah, not sure how much credibility I could give to a list that has williamsport above chester. williamsport doesn't seem all that bad and crime stats indicate that it's not all that dangerous. it's far more attractive than chester whose downtown is as bustling as johnstown. williamsport also seems to be improving rather than declining.

[TwinbrookNine]

Drove through Erie a couple years ago. Yuck We called it "Little Detroit."

[escilade18]

Originally Posted by pman

yeah, not sure how much credibility I could give to a list that has williamsport above chester. williamsport doesn't seem all that bad and crime stats indicate that it's not all that dangerous. it's far more attractive than chester whose downtown is as bustling as johnstown. williamsport also seems to be improving rather than declining.

The thing that Chester has over Williamsport is location. If one left at the right time they could be in center city within 30 minutes, while Williamsport is very isolated. Although comparing the cities in a vacuum, Williamsport is nicer than Chester (which reminded me of Mon Valley cities)