Editing Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (section)

===20th century===
[[File:Anti-nuke rally in Harrisburg USA.jpg|thumb|An [[anti-nuclear]] protest in Harrisburg in 1979, following the [[Three Mile Island accident]]]]
In the early 20th century, the city of Harrisburg was in need of change. Without proper sanitation, diseases such as [[Typhoid fever|typhoid]] began killing many citizens of Harrisburg. Seeing these necessary changes, several Harrisburg residents became involved in the [[City Beautiful movement]]. The project focused on providing better transportation, spaces for recreation, sanitation, landscaping, and parks for those living in cities, as research showed that a person with access to amenities would be a happier person'''.'''<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=William H. |date=1980 |title=HARRISBURG'S SUCCESSFUL CITY BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT, 1900–1915 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27772668 |journal=Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=213–233 |jstor=27772668 |issn=0031-4528}}</ref> In December 1900, a reformer named [[Mira Lloyd Dock]], who had recently encountered well-ordered urban centers on an international trip to Europe, gave a lecture on "The City Beautiful" to Harrisburg's Board of Trade.<ref name="auto"/> Other prominent citizens of the city such as [[J. Horace McFarland]] and [[Vance McCormick]] advocated urban improvements which were influenced by European urban planning design and the [[World's Columbian Exposition]]. [[Warren Manning]] was hired to help bring about these changes. Specifically, their efforts greatly enlarged the Harrisburg park system, creating Riverfront Park, Reservoir Park, the Italian Lake and Wildwood Park. In addition, schemes were undertaken for new water filtration, burial of electric wires, the paving of roads, and the creation of a modern sanitary sewer system. The efforts to improve the city also paralleled the construction of an expanded monumental [[Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex|Capitol complex]] in 1906 which led, in turn, to the displacement of the Old Eighth Ward, one of the most ethnically and racially diverse communities in Harrisburg.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Rachel |date=2020 |title=History and Memory of the Old Eighth Ward |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/pennhistory.87.1.0164 |journal=Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies |volume=87 |issue=1 |pages=164–178 |doi=10.5325/pennhistory.87.1.0164 |jstor=10.5325/pennhistory.87.1.0164 |s2cid=212820800 |issn=0031-4528|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The decades between 1920 and 1970 were characterized by [[deindustrialization|industrial decline]] and population shift from the city to the suburbs. Like most other cities which faced a loss of their industrial base, Harrisburg shifted to a service-oriented base, with industries such as health care and convention centers playing a big role. Harrisburg's greatest problem was a shrinking city population after 1950. This loss in population followed a national trend and was a delayed result of the decline of Harrisburg's steel industry. This decline began almost imperceptibly in the late 1880s, but did not become evident until the early 20th century.

After being held in place for about 5 years by WWII armament production, the population peaked shortly after the war, but then took a long-overdue dive as people fled from the city. Hastening the [[white flight]] to the suburbs were the cheap and available houses being built away from the crime and deteriorating situation of the city. The reduction in city population coincided with the rise in population of the Metropolitan Statistical Area. The trend continued until the 1990s.<ref>Eggert, Gerald G., Harrisburg Industrializes: The Coming of Factories to an American Community. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993. p339</ref>

The [[Pennsylvania Farm Show]], the largest indoor agriculture exposition in the United States, was first held in 1917 and has been held every January since then. The present location of the Show is the [[Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center]], located at the corner of Maclay and [[Cameron Street|Cameron]] streets.

On March 28, 1979, the [[Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station|Three Mile Island]] nuclear plant, along the [[Susquehanna River]] located in Londonderry Township which is south of Harrisburg, suffered a partial meltdown. Although the meltdown was contained and radiation leakages were minimal, there were still worries that an evacuation would be necessary. Governor [[Dick Thornburgh]], on the advice of [[Nuclear Regulatory Commission]] Chairman [[Joseph Hendrie]], advised the evacuation "of pregnant women and pre-school age children ... within a five-mile radius of the Three Mile Island facility." Within days, 140,000 people had left the area.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/tmi/stories/decade032889.htm A Decade Later, TMI's Legacy Is Mistrust] ''[[The Washington Post]]'', March 28, 1989, p. A01.</ref>

[[Stephen R. Reed]] was elected mayor in 1981 and served until 2009, making him the city's longest-serving mayor. In an effort to end the city's long period of economic troubles, he initiated several projects to attract new business and tourism to the city. Several museums and hotels such as [[Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts]], the [[National Civil War Museum]] and the [[Hilton Hotels|Hilton Harrisburg and Towers]] were built during his term, along with many office buildings and residential structures. Several minor league professional sports franchises, including the [[Harrisburg Senators]] of the [[Eastern League (1938–2020)|Eastern League]], the [[Harrisburg Heat (1991–2003)|Harrisburg Heat]] indoor soccer club, and [[Penn FC]] of the [[United Soccer League]] began operations in the city during his tenure as mayor. While praised for the vast number of economic improvements, Reed has also been criticized for population loss and mounting debt. For example, during a budget crisis the city was forced to sell $8&nbsp;million worth of Western and American-Indian artifacts collected by Mayor Reed for a never-realized museum celebrating the [[American West]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/05/160151-harrisburgs_western_artifacts.html |title=Harrisburg rounds up Western artifacts for auction&nbsp;– The Patriot News&nbsp;– Brief Article (May 2007) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917155734/http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnews/2007/05/160151-harrisburgs_western_artifacts.html |archive-date=September 17, 2011}}</ref>