Towards a Vision for the Future: The Need for Growth Management Strategies

John Mullin, UMass Amherst

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This article was reprinted with permission from the Director of the Institute of State and Regional Affairs at Penn State Harrisburg.

Abstract

A look at Pennsylvania from a national perspective indeed illustrates that it is the Keystone State. Parts of it are eastern and tied into megalopolis. Indeed, the Lehigh Valley is now part of the Regional Plan of New York. Parts of it are upper-south in character, parts are thrust into the Midwest, and parts are now in the economic sphere of Baltimore and Washington. (I think the fact that most surprised me while I researched this paper was that Gettysburg will be less than thirty minutes away from the new Washington Metro connection in Frederick). What all this points to is that the Commonwealth, tied as it is to different regions of the nation, is likely to be undergoing significant change in the years to come.