State College is in danger of losing its charm, character

There are few towns between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with the perfect balance of charm, character and vibrancy of State College. Those of us who call it home have been fortunate to live in a small American town with one of the best public research universities in the nation that’s providing a reliable economic, artistic and intellectual foundation.

When I think about what is special about State College, I recall those haircuts my toddler son had in Rinaldo’s barbershop — where he still gets his hair cut today as a Penn State junior. I think of my daughters performing on the stage of the State Theatre and marching in State College High and Penn State homecoming parades. And I recall celebrating special moments with family and friends at Cozy Thai.

There are few better places to people-watch than a window booth at the Corner Room, sitting across from the stone and iron gate entryway to Penn State. A gate that has stood in place for three-quarters of a century. The only place better to sit might be by the large wall of windows upstairs at the Allen Street Grill. From there you can watch students and local residents mingle on the street below with great authors, celebrities, Noble laureates and presidential motorcades. Schlow Centre Region Library has gone through significant changes over time, and I think they have all been for the better. We have Appalachian Outdoors, the Penn State Downtown Theatre and the nicely designed McClanahan’s on the first block of South Allen Street.

Change can be good if it is done right. Just look at the terrific re-imagining of Harper’s on College Avenue. The Tavern, Douglas Albert Gallery, Irving’s and the Old Main frame shop have their own special charms. But those remaining places in town that help make it so special are over-shadowed by the addition of buildings better suited for Penn State’s East Halls than downtown State College. Giant, often boring 12-story structures are squeezing 500, 600 and 750 students inside.

Everyone has condemned Beaver Canyon for all the 35 years I have lived in State College. But today we are watching the worst of that canyon expand up and down that street and others nearby. We continue to allow huge buildings with 700-plus students living inside. They often empty out onto narrow sidewalks. The sidewalk in front of the massive new Metropolitan at a key intersection of our town allows only two people to walk side by side. That’s all.

Pedestrians in this pedestrian-heavy town must dodge the green metal park benches, U.S. mailboxes, trash cans, sidewalk trees, telephone poles, bicycle racks, street signs and parking meters that are an obstacle course on those narrow sidewalks. In many busy places around town a pedestrian and a stroller or wheelchair can’t even pass at the same time.

The previous building where the Metropolitan now stands was leveled by an out-of-control car speeding through that intersection. There is not a lot of space for pedestrians to duck for cover there the next time. This is along a street where officials have spent decades debating how to handle all the student jaywalkers darting dangerously across the busy road. We just added hundreds more students to that location but not a wide sidewalk and small public spaces that could be part of the solution to that problem. Arriving soon and on the horizon:

▪ The Residences at College and Atherton: This will be a 12-story high-rise that fills most of a block of West College Avenue.

▪ A seven-story building is under construction at 260 E. Beaver Ave.

▪ The Rise: This 12-story apartment building is under construction at 532 E. College Ave.

▪ A tall student apartment building is proposed for the corner of East Beaver Avenue and South Pugh Street.

▪ A hearing was held recently for a 529,000-square-foot, 12-story building on the site of the current Garner Street parking lot. That high-rise would be phase one of a potential two-phase project.

The good news is that many borough officials and developers have often made good decisions in the past. State College routinely lands on top 20 lists for great communities to live. With a half dozen towering undergraduate student buildings on the way, the absolute best decisions need to be made going forward.

1) We need many more small open spaces in the downtown district. Force them into the designs of new high-rises.

2) We need an emphasis on housing spaces for young professionals and older residents. The thousands of new units aimed at Penn State undergraduates are far too much.

3) I applaud efforts to put in businesses and offices on the ground floors of these new high rises, but we need more diversity than five additional Subways and shops selling bongs. How about encouraging a multiplex movie theater for a town with tens of thousands of young people living within a mile? An antique store? A real bookstore in addition to the ones selling textbooks and Penn State bumper stickers? More and larger live performance space? We need business and living spaces that draw people in their 30s, 40s and 50s. And we need restaurants that sell alcohol rather than bars that sell food.

4) Ban all narrow sidewalks in front of future buildings.

The shadows from the new group of tall buildings that will soon line our streets are in danger of obscuring what many of us most like about State College. Visitors and graduating students will not come back to State College for decades to come because they fondly remember a 12-story apartment building. They will return here and new residents will move here because they are drawn by the character and charm of the town.

This story was originally published February 2, 2018 at 7:41 PM with the headline "State College is in danger of losing its charm, character."