A Saturday jog down Front Street: Couples walking their dogs, dogs being forced to run when you probably don’t even want to run yourself and grown men acting like dogs.
Midnight on 2nd Street: Strangers becoming best friends in the bathrooms and old pals rekindling over a round of shots.
Green Street at sundown: Neighbors greeting neighbors after the 9-5 grind.
These represent aspects of city life in Harrisburg. Each instance involves a distinct feeling relative to the time frame and the location. I make the argument that without the people involved in each of these moments, the moment would be fleeting and irrelevant.
Harrisburg embodies a specific type of brand. Whether this brand is determined by factors including quality of living, politics, millennial influx or job growth, it still comes back to the people. If you had to explain to someone what Harrisburg’s “brand” was, what would you say?
From an outsiders’ perspective, Harrisburg is typically followed with a rhetorical, but often literal, question of “where is that?” Noted for later as that small city, in the middle-of-no-where PA, holding claim as the state’s capital.
From an insider’s perspective, Harrisburg is Nick and Tashia.
A friend and I met this couple, funny enough, while walking Green Street near sundown. It didn’t take much for these two to offer up conversation and a smile, along with their porch seats and a glass of OJ.
When Tashia asked where we lived, I marveled in my answer. “I live down the street,” I explained, “we’re neighbors!”
Nick and Tashia have lived in the same house on Green Street since 1969. Having resided in Harrisburg for nearly 50 years means they’ve had a lot of neighbors; some have come and gone, others have stayed. But I’ll tell you one thing, this couple invited us to sit and stay awhile – something they’ve become familiar with during their extended stay in the city.
Yet here’s what I found most surprising: this couple never once hesitated or questioned, instead they welcomed and engaged. Green street was more theirs than ours, yet they acted as though it was never their street to begin with. Harrisburg for them is a place of new beginnings, having moved here from Poland. A place for family, having raised their children here. A place to stop and say hello, having learned the value of relationships.
I can no longer imagine a better welcome to any location than a cold glass of OJ and good company.
Without Nick and Tashia, Green Street remains a street.
With Nick and Tashia, Green Street opens itself up to opportunities, made possible by people.
Cherishburg 