Posted December 22, 201212 yr Binghamton, NY population 2010: ~47,000 / metro ~250,000 (population 1950: >80,000) ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Scranton, PA population 2010: ~76,000 / metro ~564,000 (population 1930: >143,000) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Harrisburg, PA population 2010: ~49,000 / metro ~529,000 (population 1950: >89,000) Capital of Pennsylvania
December 22, 201212 yr Harrisburg is the best of the three but all are gems. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 23, 201212 yr Looks like Harrisburg is more active than Scranton which is more active than Binghamton. But all three have some terrific old architecture -- especially Scranton and Binghamton which have probably lost less than Harrisburg by being off the beaten path. That wasn't always the case. From a railroad perspective, all three had frequent passenger service to East Coast cities, terminating in the New York City/New Jersey docks area. Harrisburg still has it, which was improved recently with 110 mph service. Scranton may get its service back sooner, as there are active plans and even an interim route extension of NJ Transit tracks westward on the right of way that went to Scranton. Binghamton probably has less capital improvements needed to restore rail service to New York City, but there are no plans to extend the joint NJT/Metro North service west from Port Jervis. At least Scranton has an electric trolley and top notch railroad museum. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
December 24, 201212 yr bing'n is quite interesting. it is blue collar at heart, yet has IBM and wealth too. i was up there briefly recently. make sure to have a spiedie if you go there!
December 26, 201212 yr Great pictures. I have have a friend who is from Scranton and a friend who currently lives in Harrisburg, so I have been to both cities quite a bit. I much prefer going to Scranton as I think it is a much nicer city overall. Outside of the downtown area, Harrisburg is pretty rough. Scranton also has some great food for a city of its size, especially pizza and hot dogs. I must say though, the PA State Capitol is a beautiful building.
August 18, 20159 yr Bump. We stayed in downtown Harrisburg this past weekend when we did the whole Hershey Park / Chocolate World thing with the kids. We also wen to the Indian Echo Caverns, which I highly recommend. The downtown area really caught me by surprise. Very active, with tons of great restaurants, at least judging by where we chose to eat - Momo's BBQ, The Federal Taphouse, and Fire House - all come with my endorsement, especially Momo's. Harrisburg has done a great job preserving its older buildings. You really get that older city vibe walking around the downtown area.
August 19, 20159 yr I have always been amazed by how intact downtown Scranton seems to be. I think it is partly because all of northeastern Pennsylvania was in a long-term economic nosedive during the urban renewal era when the downtowns of more prosperous cities all across America were being ripped apart. Binghamton is nice too. It seems like a cross between a Pennsylvania city and an Upstate NY city. It is one of the few upstate population centers to be located outside the Empire Corridor.
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