How does a man who has spent his life in a town of fewer than 1,400 people become a big fan of cities? Well, he becomes a businessman — and then the governor.
On Tuesday, Governor Tom Wolf delivered the keynote address at Keystone Crossroads’ Urban Ideas Worth Stealing conference in Harrisburg, a half-day event to discuss how to improve cities across Pennsylvania. And his message was clear: Cities have been getting a raw deal.
“The public policy environment in Pennsylvania and in most places in the United States is absolutely, positively hostile to cities,” Wolf told an audience of politicians, urban planners, academics, transit experts, bureaucrats, and preservationists, citing his experiences working in York County. “If we had a level playing field ... we’d have a great system. But public policies actually mitigate against healthy development for cities.”
Read the full version of this reportat Keystone Crossroads' website. Keystone Crossroads is a new statewide public media initiative reporting on the challenges facing Pennsylvania's cities. WPSU is a participating station.