Lancaster

Lancaster is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population among Pennsylvania's municipalities. The Lancaster metropolitan area population is 507,766, making it the 104th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. The first long-distance paved road in the United States was the former Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, which connected the cities of Lancaster and Philadelphia. Two of the most common products needed by pioneers to settle the Frontier were manufactured in Lancaster: the Conestoga wagon and the Pennsylvania long rifle. The city of Lancaster was home to several important figures in American history, including Thaddeus Stevens, William Henry, Merether Lewis, and Winfield Woolworth. Lancaster is located 59 miles (95 km) southwest of Allentown and 61 miles (98 km) west of Philadelphia. On October 13, 2011, Lancaster's City Council officially recognized September 27 as Capital Day, a day recognizing Lancaster's one day as the capital of the United United States in 1777. In 2009, a community organization installed and monitoring 164-circuit cameras in Lancaster, which closed in 2009, which engendered some local opposition. In 2010, the city was one of the winning communities for the All-America City award in 2000, which was given to the community of Walford, Pennsylvania, which is home to the F. W. Woolworth Company.

History

Lancaster is the primary city name, but also Neffsville are acceptable city names or spellings, Eden, Fruitville, Oyster Point, Roseville on the other hand no longer accepted or obsolete and are no longer used as a designation. The official name is City of Lancaster. Lancaster was named after the English city of Lancaster by native John Wright. During the American Revolution, Lancaster served for one day as the temporary capital of the United States. The current Lancaster County Prison - known locally as Lancaster Castle - was built in the city, but shares no visual similarities with the Lancaster Castle in England. The first long-distance paved road in the U.S. was the former Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike, which connected the cities of Lancaster and Philadelphia. Meriwether Lewis visited Lancaster to be educated in survey methods by the well-known surveyor Andrew Ellicott. The Fulton Opera House was named for Lancaster native Robert Fulton, a renaissance man who created the first fully functional steamboat. In 1879, Franklin Winfield Woolworth opened his first successful "five and dime" store, the F. W. Woolworth Company. Lancaster was one of the winning communities for the All-America City award in 2000. In 2009, a community organization installed and began monitoring 164 closed-circuit cameras in Lancaster, which engendered some local opposition. On October 13, 2011, Lancaster's City Council officially recognized September 27 as Capital Day, a holiday recognizing Lancaster's one-day as capital of United States in 1777. The city was home to several important figures in American history, including Thaddeus Stevens, William Henry, James Buchanan, and Franklin Woolworth. The Conestoga wagon and the Pennsylvania long rifle were manufactured in Lancaster and named for the Conestogo River, which runs through the city.

Geography

Lancaster is located in the Piedmont region of Pennsylvania. The hottest recorded temperature in the city was 103 °F (39 °C) on July 23, 2011. On average, the city receives 42 inches of precipitation a year. September is the wettest month of the year and February the driest. The snowiest winter on record for Lancaster was the winter of 2009-10 when 72 inches of snow fell. The sun reaches its lowest point in the sky of 26° between December 11 and December 31. The longest days of the the year are June 19 to June 23, reaching 15 hours and one minute. The shortest days are between December 18 and December 25, when day length is nine hours and 19 minutes. The city has a total area of 7.4 square miles (19 km²), of which, 7.2 square miles of it is land and 0.14% is water. It has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) if the 0 °C (32 °F) is used or a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) If the 3 °C is used, Lancaster falls within the Dfa category. The highest recorded January temperature was 77 °F on January 26, 1950, and the coldest July temperature 42 °F on July 4, 1918. It receives 203 days of sun a year, with the sun reaching its highest point in sky of 73° from June 10 to July 2.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, the city was 55.2% White, 16.3% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 3.0% Native Hawaiian, and 5.8% were two or more races. The population density was 7,616.5 people per square mile (2,940.0/km²). There were 23,024 housing units at an average density of 3,112.1 per square miles (1,201.3/cm2). The racial makeup of the city of Lancaster was 61.55% White, 14.09% African American, 0.44% Asian, 2.46% Pacific Islander, and 3.94% from other races. There were 20,933 households, out of which 31.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 95.2 males, and there were 91.4 males for every 100 males and over. The median income for a family was $29,770, and the median income of a family of four was $34,623. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the "pensioner" and the "council" in the city is $13,955. In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.5% from 18 to 24, 13.9%. from 25 to 44, 17.7%. from 45 to 64, and 10.5%.

Economy

Lancaster's downtown has increased the number of specialty shops, boutiques, bars, clubs, and galleries. Park City Center is the largest enclosed shopping center in South Central Pennsylvania. Lancaster Central Market is the oldest continuously operated farmers market in the United States. Tanger Outlets is home to about 65 stores. The Shops at Rockvale contains over 100 stores and restaurants. The top employers in the city are: Lancaster's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city's only commercial and industrial park, Burle Business Park, and Lancaster International Airport. The city is located on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which runs between Philadelphia and New York City. It is also home to the Pennsylvania State Fair, the Pennsylvania Museum of Natural History, and the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, which is held each year in the summer. It also has the Lancaster Museum of Art, which was established in 1875. The Lancaster Museum is located in the historic Lancaster Building, which dates back to the 17th century. It was built in the Gothic Revival style and is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Lancaster is also the home of the Lancaster Opera House, which opened in 1881. It has been known as the "Pennsylvania Theatre of the Stars" since the 19th century, and was the first opera to open in the state. Lancaster has a population of about 4,000. The town is located near the Pennsylvania-Pennsylvania state line, and it is the only city in Pennsylvania that has a post-secondary school.

Arts and culture

Lancaster is home to the oldest continuously run farmers' market in the United States. The city has a thriving art community with over 40 galleries and artists' studios. LancasterARTS, a non-profit organization founded in 2002, promotes contemporary arts and crafts. The Lancaster County Quilts and Textile Museum celebrates the hand-sewn quilts and other textile items produced by the region's Amish communities. The historic estate of James Buchanan, the 15th President of the U.S., is located in the historic Vine Street Historic Site. The National Museum of Nature and Science is located on the grounds of the historic Lydia Smith House, also known as the Children's Museum of Lancaster. The Museum of Mennonite History is located at the Lancaster County Historical Society Museum and displays artifacts from the region and the Mennonites of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is also the home of the Lydia Smith Museum and Heritage Center, which displays artifacts and exhibits from Lancaster County and the surrounding area. The museum closed in 2011 after more than 100 years of operation. The U.N. has designated Lancaster as a World Heritage Site and a National Register of Historic Places site. It also has been named a National Historic Landmark by the City of Lancaster and the National Park Service. It has been listed on the National Register for more than 30 years. It was named after William Walton Griest, a former Pennsylvania representative, and is the second-tallest building in the city. Lancaster has a number of historic landmarks, including the Fulton Opera House, which is one of three theaters designated as National historic landmarks.

Sports

Lancaster is the hometown of Major League Baseball alumnus Tom Herr. The city hosts the Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic, an international, professional bicycle racing event held each June since 1992. Lancaster has both a men's and a women's semi-professional soccer club. USA Field Hockey announced their intentions to move their national training center for the United States women's national field hockey team to Lancaster County. The 2015 U.S. Women's Open was held at the Lancaster Country Club. The Lancaster Red Roses of the Eastern Professional Baseball League are the most well-known of Lancaster's defunct teams. They played from 1906 to 1909, and from 1940 to their last season in 1961. The Red Roses were also the name of a basketball franchise in the Continental Basketball Association from 1946 to 1949. The last professional basketball team to call Lancaster home was the Liberty Storm of the now-defunct Global Professional Basketball League in 2009. A close cousin of American football, rugby, is represented by the Roses Rugby Football Club of the Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union, of which the Roses RFC were the 2005 champions. The Dutchland Derby Rollers, an all-female roller derby team which plays to raise money for various charities, is currently ranked #23 in the world by Derby News Network. In 2010, more than 2,500 riders participated in the Covered Bridge Metric Century bicycle race, which was part of the 2006-2007 UCI America Tour and the 2007 USA Cycling Professional Tour. Lancaster is home to the Central Penn Panthers, a member of the junior-level Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League.

Government

Lancaster operates under a mayor / council form of government. Danene Sorace is the 43rd mayor of Lancaster city. Registered Democrats held a 13,000 voter registration advantage over registered Republicans in the city as of June 2009. U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama easily won the city of Lancaster, receiving 76% of the vote during the 2008 presidential election. Lancaster is the headquarters of the Constitution Party. James Buchanan, the fifteenth president of the United States, was born in Lancaster in 1809. He took up residence near the courthouse on N. Duke Street. In 1848 he purchased Wheatland, a Federal style mansion in the suburbs. He was elected president in 1856. The city has a full range of services including public safety, health, housing, parks, streets & highways, Water operations and sewer operations. It is part of Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district, represented by Republican Lloyd Smucker of nearby West Lampeter Township. The Governor of Pennsylvania is Democrat Tom Wolf of neighboring York County, first elected in 2014. The state's senior member of the US Senate is Democrat Bob Casey, first elections in 2006 and 2010, and the state's junior member is Republican Pat Toomey, firstelected in 2010. The City Council is composed of seven members: President Ismail Smith Wade-El, Jaime Arroyo, Amanda Bakay, Faith Craig, Janet Diaz, Xavier Garcia-Molina, Pete Soto. It has a mayor/council system.

Education

The School District of Lancaster runs the city's public schools. Lancaster Country Day School is one of the region's largest independent nonsectarian schools. La Academia Partnership Charter School, opened in 1998, is the only public charter school in Lancaster County. Lancaster area hosts several colleges and universities, including Consolidated School of Business, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster General College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Lancaster Theological Seminary and Millersville University of Pennsylvania. It is also home to the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, Central Pennsylvania College, Elizabethtown College and the Harrisburg Area Community College. The Lancaster County School District is the second oldest school district in Pennsylvania. The local high school campuses are McCaskey and McC askey East. The high school is located in the Manheim Township School District, which was established in 1836. The school district is supported by a 7th and 8th grade middle school, a 5th and 6th grade intermediate school, and five elementary schools. It also has a four-year public high school located in Lancaster. The district's high school, Lancaster Catholic High School, has a long history in the county; it was founded in 1926. It currently falls under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Harrisburg. The county's elementary schools are located in Lancaster County, Lancaster Township, and Lancaster City, Lancaster. It has a 4-year high school and 5-year middle school.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania = 14.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 20. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 20. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Lancaster = 3.8 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 58,039 individuals with a median age of 32.8 age the population dropped by -3.18% in Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 8,030.86 residents per square mile of area (3,100.60/km²). There are average 2.51 people per household in the 20,311 households with an average household income of $32,795 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 11.10% of the available work force and has dropped -4.99% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 18.92%. The number of physicians in Lancaster per 100,000 population = 179.2.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Lancaster = 41.6 inches and the annual snowfall = 25.4 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 117. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 202. 87 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 21.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 49, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania which are owned by the occupant = 42.70%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 16.7 years with median home cost = $119,200 and home appreciation of 1.50%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $14.64 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,792 per student. There are 16 students for each teacher in the school, 616 students for each Librarian and 392 students for each Counselor. 3.04% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 9.83% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 4.05% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).