Reading is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania, with a population of about 88,000 people (behind Philly, Pittsburgh, Allentown, and Erie). It’s allegedly the poorest city in America, but it certainly doesn’t look like it. I have been to Youngstown, Flint, East St. Louis, Camden, and Detroit. Reading certainly doesn’t resemble those places. The historic building stock is intact, and much of it beautifully preserved. Overall, Reading is a pretty city, and has many architectural jewels. The only thing Reading lacks is the vibrancy and young professional scene that can be found in other urban places.
Jonathan Denson visited Reading as part of his documenting abandoned historic buildings in Pittsburgh and beyond. The above paragraph is what he gathered about the city, and I have to say he’s right. We have a city filled with exuberant residents who are excited for the rebirth, architecture that we should be proud to possess, and I am looking forward to what we can do with the aforementioned.
Reading is stuck between a rock and a hard place. It toils with a rich, historical past, and the potential of a progressive, vibrant future. Due to a lack of direction, the city of Reading is confused, lost, and yet filled with so much hope. A friend of mine said that if Reading is the heart, then Berks County is the body. I thought that was the perfect metaphor – we need to take care of our heart. Outside of the city, we have rich lands filled with agriculture, history, and again, wonderful communities. We need to find a balance between these things; the past and the future, city and farms, and everything in between. While I shake my head at so much negative press, I see so much hope from the community and the people that I get to interact with on a regular basis.
Can you see the beauty in the city? We need residents that see it, and help maintain it. Entice residents to live in the city where they can be safe, active, and proud of how far we’ve come. Yes, it can be quite affordable to live in the city (unlike other cities), but we need to have those other key factors to hold on to tenants. Offer incentives for city-dwellers, make it more walk/bike friendly for our urbanites, and retain them with entertainment, businesses, arts, and more. We’re getting there one step at a time, but some may say not quickly enough.
Reading needs to be more inviting to entrepeneurs, the small, independent businesses that can give back more than we expect. Offer up incentives, whether that’s tax breaks or free rent for a certain amount of time. We need to show them we’re serious about revitalizing downtown and the surrounding parts of the city. I, for one, wanted to open a stationery shop in downtown. I met with someone at the Chamber of Commerce who did their darndest to discourage me from the downtown area and then offered not much help or follow up after our initial meeting. I was disappointed, and have put it on the back-burner while pursuing those dreams from my home studio. We can no longer depend on big business or chain shops, we need people who live, work, and love in this city. We need to be resident-dependent, a self-sustaining city, there are many of us out there who are willing. But we need the support from the city, it’s administration, and the community. We’re all in this together and we need to start acting like it.
