I’ve lived in and around downtown Harrisburg more or less continuously since the late 90s. Sure, there was that five-year stint when I tried to do “the adult thing” and buy a sensible house in a sensible suburb, but that’s behind me now. I’ve learned my lesson.
This blog has been up and running since June 2002, when downtown Harrisburg’s nightlife & entertainment renaissance was in its infancy. Some of the older posts have been lost due to a database crash, and others have been removed Just Because. And while the site’s focus continues to evolve over the years, the foundation and root subject has always remained life in and around Harrisburg. Hence the long-running slogan: live from downtown.
The city of Harrisburg has always been a quandary. In the early 20th century, we were poised to become a major financial market. Harrisburg was a booming city, with a population tens of thousands higher than it is today and seemingly unstoppable growth. Crime and mismanagement decimated the city to its present-day seemingly-impassible 50,000-resident barrier, and the city spent the better part of the century wondering what happened.
But beginning around the turn of the century, Harrisburg’s fortunes seemed to change once again. Downtown was effectively demolished and turned into the nightlife & entertainment district that it is today. Investors turned to major, blighted properties (such as City Towers) as catalysts to trigger reinvestment into the city. Customers poured money into Second Street as fast as the investors could take it, and the city began to show signs of life once again.
And while the seemingly-unstoppable buzz was continuing full-throttle downtown, midtown’s residents and small business owners banded together to reinvent their part of the city as well. While downtown is unquestionably the dominant place for martini bars, night clubs, and dining, midtown has emerged as the city’s arts & cultural district. So much so that they’ve attracted significant big-dollar housing and commercial investors.
In short, the old city was given a new personality.
And this personality is what floor9.com aims to reflect.