0166. Little League World Capital (USA 093--new)
After having driven right past Williamsport on my way to Canada a few months ago, I knew I needed to come back here...
Williamsport is the only real "city" in north-central Pennsylvania--and the official World Little League Capital... don't care for baseball--just figure I should provide that information.
Downtown has a sort of odd feel--two streets feel like "big city" with fancy little cafes and restaurants and stately marble buildings (not to mention a very impressive series of murals). But a half a block away it all changes...
Apparently, Williamsport took a different approach to dealing with urban decay. Rather than just let old, abandoned buildings slowly rot--or pouring millions of city dollars into rejuvenating them--folks here just tore them down and sold the land to anybody, ANYBODY who would develop it.
...And just like Sunbury, Williamsport totally squanders its riverfront by putting a big, ugly freeway right along the river...
...But I shouldn't be too hard on the city...head north, and the city disappears within a few blocks--well, it doesn't disappear--the houses are just so well camouflaged among the trees that you can't see them from a distance... I followed a winding pathway up the hill all the way to the top...
...Nice that folks really appreciate trees here--but maybe they could just cut a FEW of them down so I could enjoy a nice view of the city and river valley...?
...Nice to see black and white folks mingling more freely than what I've seen in a lot of other cities...
Overall, cool city, despite its shortcomings...
