Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
Young people have a stake in the future of downtown Harrisburg. On Wednesday, PennLive continued the conversation about how to revitalize the city by reaching out to college students. The roundtable was livestreamed on PennLive’s YouTube channel. The third in a series of Harrisburg Downtown Development Roundtables featured Harrisburg University students Chris Jones, Kelsey Wardell, Rhys Argust, Jasmine McAliley, and Scott Stephens Jr. with their General Education professor Angela Britcher. The Foundation for Enhancing Communities sponsored the roundtable and upcoming ones as part of a community discussion series. Wednesday’s discussion yielded several key takeaways about Harrisburg: There needs to be more to do The students agreed there’s not enough entertainment and retail shops, such as grocery and drug stores, in the city. They’re also frustrated by the constant churn of business closings including Rite Aid, Arooga’s and the Original Hot Dog Factory. “There’s not a lot available for young people, especially people who lack transportation,” said Argust, a freshman forensic biology major from Philadelphia. “Having some access to entertainment or things to do would make it a more lively place.” McAliley, a senior esports management major, added walking to Midtown isn’t convenient, especially at night due to safety concerns and bus schedules. “In the day to day, there’s a lot of times the city feels empty. It’s quiet by 9 p.m.,” said Stephens, a senior Interactive Media major from Philadelphia. What’d they like to see Bring in a cat cafe, maybe an artist studio or an arcade. McAliley would like to see an e-sports facility for competitive gaming. Argust suggested an arcade like a Dave & Buster’s where people of all ages, not just the 21+, could go. The students emphasized the need for therapeutic places to go such as a cat cafe or an artist studio, which could be used for kids classes or adult sip and paint nights. Jones, a student advisor from Lititz, said it would be great if Harrisburg had businesses like Lancaster including Lancaster Cupcake, a pottery place and retro arcade. “Here we just kind of lack memorable things to do,” he said, adding he wouldn’t know where to take a friend from out of the area. Build up Strawberry Square The students say they’d like to see Strawberry Square better utilized, noting it has several vacant spaces. Jones said the complex has been shrinking since he started attending HU as businesses including a bank, Bam’s Crabs and Rite Aid closed. Stephens said local high school students aren’t incentivized to want to attend college in the city when they see all of the empty storefronts, including those in Strawberry Square. “It’s a problem because it makes you feel like what is the point of staying? A lot of people’s mindsets are like why would I stay there?” he said. “There are so many open buildings and rooms in there that could be turned into maybe an artist studio or a tutoring center to help the inner city kids,” Argust said. Will they stay? The answer is essentially no. The students, for the most part, admitted they don’t have any real reasons to stay. “There’s nothing to keep me here. It’s too expensive when I could get a better rate in a city that has more to do,” Argust added. Stephens said he doesn’t see the point of living in the city if you have to constantly leave to find things to do or go grocery shopping. Chiming in, Wardell, a forensics major from Lititz, agreed with Stephens, saying she drives 20 minutes to grocery shop at the Sharp Shopper in Lower Swatara Township. “Why would I stay in Harrisburg? I like Harrisburg. I’m happy to stay in Harrisburg, but right now it’s not worth it to stay in Harrisburg,” she said.
