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INTRODUCTION
to the
Council of Georgist Organizations

• Once considered the second most distressed cities in the nation, Harrisburg, since 1982, has sustained economic resurgence that has garnered national acclaim. Harrisburg has twice won the top United States community honor as "All-American City" along with the top state recognition from the state Chamber of Business and Industry as Outstanding Community in Pennsylvania.
• In 2002 the City issued 1,567 building permits. They represent a total of $269.7 million in new investment, the highest total for any year in City history, and eclipses the record set several years ago.
• In the current era, Harrisburg has issued a grand total of 28,666 building permits reflective of $3.2 billion in new investment -- new investment in a city which, when today's efforts began, was listed by the United States as the second most distressed city in the nation.
• By the end of 2002, the number of businesses on the City's taxrolls had risen to 5,976 -- the highest number ever recorded. This is in sharp contrast to the number which existed not so long ago -- 1,908.
• Construction of an 18-story office tower with interior parking will be underway at 17 North 2nd Street, next to the Hilton. Its 321,000 square feet of new space includes 8 floors of Class A office space in a city where the Class A occupancy rate is now averaging 97%.
• Groundbreaking was held in 2002 at 211 North Front Street for the new 187,000 square foot Class A office complex, with 8 aboveground floors. It opens this year.
• In April 2003, a new 34,000 square foot office center is opening in the 1500 block of North 6th Street. Plans for an additional new office center of 136,000 square feet in the next block have been approved.
• A $5 million structure will be placed in the 1400 block of North Cameron Street, where a major computer server operation will subsequently be based.
• The Homeland Center is undertaking $2.4 million in renovations. They are a premier example of a longstanding enterprise that has accommodated its growth within the City, employing neighborhood residents, and providing a major benefit to the area around them.
• The Belco Community Credit Union plans a major expansion of their Second Street headquarters.
• Waypoint Bank dedicated over $400,000 in improvements to their downtown headquarters this year.
• Commerce Bank completed their $4 million project last year, opening their largest branch bank to date.
• M&T Bank will be moving their district headquarters to Harrisburg.
• Arcus -- one of the fastest growing information technology firms in the nation -- expanded their headquarters here and renovated additional space.
• In South Allison Hill, where restoration of homes continues year-round, the Mount Pleasant Plaza -- a new retail center -- is nearing completion at 13th and Derry Streets. The site represents $2 million in neighborhood retail investment and over a dozen new full-time jobs.
• The downtown continues its exciting resurgence and is today one of the top two restaurant and entertainment sites in the Mid-state. In the central business district and citywide, twelve new restaurants have opened or announced their plans to open this year alone.
• Plans have been approved for a new 40,000 square foot office center at 1100 South Cameron Street - and two more new structures on Industrial Road -- and a 14,500 square foot office and warehouse in the 1100 block of Cumberland Street.
• Reuse of existing buildings and renovation is happening Citywide - and examples include the NF String Co is adding production and machinery space, H&R Block is establishing a financial services complex in Allison Hill, the vacant complex in the 1100 block of Market Street is being redone into an antique, art gallery and residential project.
• On a vacant tract of land at 24th and Swatara Streets, new homes have been built and all have been sold to new owner-occupants.
• At Capitol Heights -- where an entire neighborhood is being built on cleared lots, phase one has been highly successful. Phases two and three are now being advanced for at least another 58 new homes, all for home ownership.
• Another 60 new homes will be added to Market Place Townhomes.
• In the 200 block of Hanover Street, a 12-unit building is being converted into three single family homes.
• In a four square block area near Sixth and Maclay Streets, the Maclay Street Apartment complex is slated for a massive overhaul and upgrade, from which 104 new homes and 183 restored units will occur.
• Extensive streetscape improvements -- involving antique-styled streetlights, new sidewalks, trees, and other upgrades -- have now been completed along dozens of blocks along major neighborhood streets known as Capitol Corridors.
• Combined, the number of newly built and restored residential units in the current era by City programs exceeds 5,000 -- making Harrisburg the single largest residential developer in the mid-state.

• In 1982 the total assessed value of taxable real estate in Harrisburg was $212 million. In January 2003, it was over $1.6 billion, which is reflective of the additions to the taxrolls from new investment.
• The number of vacant structures has been reduced by 85%.
• The overall multi-year cumulative drop in the City crime rate now stands at 54%.
• Cumulatively, the Harrisburg fire rate has now dropped 76.3%, the lowest rate ever recorded.
• Harrisburg continues to own and operate the largest municipal parks system and has the most extensive recreational and special events programs of any municipality in the mid-state. The City sponsors or co-sponsors over 200 special events each year.
• The first two of what will be as many as 50 murals placed in public areas citywide, were dedicated. Several more are slated for this year.
• The Whitaker Center completed it third anniversary. More than one million people have visited it since it opened.
• The following facilities were also opened in the past several years: the National Civil War Museum, the Danzante Cultural Center, the Olewine Nature Center, the Susquehanna Arts Museum, the Midtown Cinema, and the Pennsylvania National Fire Museum.
• In the next twelve months design work will be completed on the National Sports Hall of Fame and for the National Museum of African-American History -- two new national-scale facilities to be created in Harrisburg.
• The City retains National Police Accreditation, the highest recognition in the nation for law enforcement operations. Of over 21,000 police agencies country-wide, only 484 have achieved or retained accreditation.
• Harrisburg is the only community in the state to have been thrice upgraded in its flood insurance rating, producing an overall 15% reduction in base flood insurance premiums for all city-based property owners.
• Harrisburg has been designated as a "Tree City USA" by the National Arbor Day Foundation for the fifteenth consecutive year.
• Harrisburg is the only local municipality in Central Pennsylvania to subsidize the area's mass transit system.
• Harrisburg received the "Distinguished Budget Presentation Award" from the Government Finance Officers' Association of the United States and Canada for the twelfth consecutive year, and was awarded the "Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting" by the Government Finance Officers' Association of the United States and Canada for the fifteenth consecutive year. These are the two highest financial awards in the nation.
• Harrisburg co-founded and is the principal contributor to the metro area's first ever Capital Region Economic Development Corporation.
• Harrisburg owns and operates the Resource Recovery Facility, the region's only alternative to landfills, where waste is burned and steam and electricity are generated to provide energy and electricity to the region.
• Harrisburg finances and operates the Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant which serves seven local municipalities, and the Harrisburg Water System, which serves three local municipalities.
• Harrisburg has the only paid fire department in the mid-state, which is on-call for emergencies outside the City too.
• Harrisburg Community College - a commuter school with its main campus in Uptown Harrisburg on land donated by the City - last year opened its Community Center for Technology and Art on North 4th Street. Its new master plan involves expansion into another full square block area, where new facilities, open plaza areas, and laboratories will exist.
• The planned new university in Harrisburg - The Harrisburg Polytechnic Institute - has achieved major progress. The Commonwealth has committed the first $12 million toward capital costs with more expected later. The $7 million renovations will soon begin in the 200 block of Market Street where the Institute's Preparatory School and Technology Business Incubator will be placed. The facilities will be open by late spring next year.