Posted September 20, 200816 yr Lancaster, Pennsylvania August 25-26, 2008 Over the past forty years or more I've been in or around Lancaster a few times. This was the first time I made an effort to look around, and although I didn't cover anywhere near all of it I was impressed. According to the 2000 census, Lancaster has about 58,000 residents. I know of cities with two or three times that many people, that would love to have Lancaster's dense urban core and downtown activity. Many have destroyed their history, but Lancaster's is to a great extent alive and well. In addition to its density and history, Lancaster's friendly, thoughtful people are among its greatest assets. The chairs are a temporary installation; local investors are working to build a streetcar line downtown, and they intend to put a streetcar on display here to build public interest. A parking garage! What better way to get an overview and get oriented? Look at all the buildings! There are surface lots here and there, but most parking is in garages and the real estate is used for buildings. Some are old, some are newer, but there's density. About halfway down the street on the right is the Pennsylvania Academy of Music, the last performance space commission executed by renowned architect Philip Johnson. Lancaster's people are justifiably proud to have this venue. The 1852 Fulton Opera House, or Fulton Theatre, presents quality professional theatre performances and draws audiences from a large area. Starving Artists Cafe offers a varied menu of good food prepared fresh daily on site. My lunch was a chicken salad sandwich on a lightly-toasted croissant, and French onion soup. The artworks on the wall are priced at $10 each. Penn Square anchors the center of downtown Lancaster and is the site of Central Market, the Heritage Center, and the city's two tallest buildings. The Lancaster County Convention Center and Marriott at Penn Square are being built within the facade of the former Watt and Shand Department Store and are scheduled for opening in Spring 2009. Central Market is America's oldest farmers' market building. The market is open Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Since the 1730s farmers have been bringing their produce to this site to sell to the public. Some families have held their Central Market stands since before 1900 The Old Courthouse is imposing both in scale and in style. Surprisingly, I haven't been able to find any information about it on the internet. An incongruous juxtaposition; modern public transit and a nineteenth century carriage step. Lancaster has frequent passenger service from trains connecting Harrisburg with the Northeast Corridor at Philadelphia. The smoke deflectors date from the steam era, and were installed to minimize soot and cinders blowing in the windows in summer. Wash me, please!
September 21, 200816 yr LOVE this! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 22, 200816 yr And the countryside around it is beautiful too. Nice pix! Loved the train station photos.
September 22, 200816 yr sweet. gotta love it. i had a college roommate from there i was only there once but you made me want to go check it out. looks like they have really taken advantage of their historic assets.
September 24, 200816 yr Great work Rob. I was just in York last Sunday. I guess I'll need to post the pics as a compliment to this thread.
September 24, 200816 yr Great work Rob. I was just in York last Sunday. I guess I'll need to post the pics as a compliment to this thread. I passed through York going to and from Lancaster, but both times it was too late in the day and I was already worn out. From what I saw from the car, it looked like Lancaster's grittier cousin. I look forward to the photos.
October 21, 200816 yr Great photos Rob, that last shot is by far my favorite. http://www.robertpence.com/pa_lancaster/20080826-035.jpg ^That one reminds me of the opening credit sequence to "The Office."
October 22, 200816 yr Much bigger than I had expected. Too bad the sprawl is eating into the countryside :( Did you see any Amish in the city?
October 22, 200816 yr I didn't see any Amish downtown that I remember, although I might have not noticed some. I grew up on the fringe of Northeast Indiana's Old-Order Amish territory, and I'm so used to seeing black pants and blue shirts or blue dresses, and bonnets and straw hats and suspenders that they sometimes don't catch my eye - unless they have something special going on. Look beyond the traditional drab garb, and some young Amish men are strikingly good-looking. Most of the sprawl I saw was along Lincoln Highway West, in East Lampeter Township. While there, I learned that the boundaries between city and township are very precisely defined, and the operation of public entities like police follows those boundaries rigidly. Given the population growth in the area, I think they need to start looking seriously at integrating more of those township functions at the city/county level. East Lampeter is beginning to look like the Breezewood interchange with gobs of motels and fast-food chains. I saw two large Red Roof motels that looked fairly new, across the road from each other. The Super 8 that I stayed in for two nights wouldn't have been allowed to stay open in any jurisdiction with a public health department. It was filthy. The bedbugs came home with me, too, and I had a hell of a time getting rid of them. From what I read in the paper, that area around the 30 West interchange is experiencing in a wave of tagging, general vandalism and petty theft from cars in motel parking lots. It's mainly kids looking for excitement, and the police department with jurisdiction there still operates at the township level and isn't up to the job of making it stop. In one case I read about, a group of teenagers tagged interior walls in the public areas of several motels and restaurants during business hours, in the presence of staff and guests. They struck fast, running in and out and doing their damage before anyone realized what was going on. Property owners estimated the cost of cleaning and repainting at upwards of $20K. The downtown density creates the impression of a city much larger than we in the midwest are used to. Lancaster's official population is about 60K, but the downtown looks more like an Indiana or Ohio city 3 or 4 times that large.
November 15, 200816 yr vERY NICE PICTURES.I am a Retread which is the name of our motorcycle club.We have a rally there every year for the past 20 years& I always look forward to next year again.We are there for only 3 days but we put most of our time riding in the country. P.S. keep up the good work all of you. bgl444
November 15, 200816 yr :wave: Very nice pictures.I am a Retread which is a group of motorcyclists that have had rallys for the past 23 years at lancaster.Which I might add have been wonderful memories.We certainly haven't covered half of things to do yet,always looking forward to next year. Allof you are doing a wonderful job of getting out there & posting your unique pictures. Thank you All Bgl313
November 15, 200816 yr Great photos. What cute town! I really like the fact that they have a operational train station, thats so cool! I'd love to take a train across the country. The closes I've come is Via from Montreal to Toronto!
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