When people think of Lancaster County, they generally think of farm stands, quilts, buggies, and the Amish.
When people visit Lancaster City, however, they’re often pleasantly surprised to find a collection of excellent galleries, an up-and-coming arts scene, great coffee houses, fine dining, strong greening and sustainability initiatives, and a community committed to the continued growth of Lancaster as a thriving and vibrant city.
I’ll admit that when I first came here over 4 years ago, I had a bit of a snicker at the “I love city life” bumper stickers I saw from time the time. Coming from Christchurch, New Zealand, a city of about 350,000 people (Oh, how cosmopolitan I thought myself!), Lancaster seemed quiet. I may’ve been guilty of using the word “Dying”.
I’m the first to admit that I was incorrect in my assumptions. The community and energy that embodies downtown Lancaster is something special.
Over the past 4 years, the continued growth and development of Lancaster City has been great to watch. I’ve been particularly impressed by the work of neighborhood organizations such as the James Street Improvement District and the East King Improvement District. Likewise, the amount of green, local, and sustainable efforts in the city, such as that of the Susquehanna Sustainable Business Network (Insert shameless plug — Kiwi is currently working with SSBN on their Social Media campaign), Live Green, and Buy Fresh Buy Local.
And, because Lancaster City is relatively closely knit, word gets around pretty quickly. Which brings me to my point…
The driving forces behind Lancaster’s success -a sense of community, regular (interesting) events, sharing experiences, discussions, communication- are an essential part of what makes Social Media so popular, and so powerful. That’s why a number of Lancaster businesses, organizations, and initiatives have had such great success with services such as Twitter, or Facebook -which are the two channels that downtown Lancastrians seem to be flocking to.
Discussion within our own communities is great. It’s powerful, and it brings results. But, in my opinion, the best is yet to come. All of us have connections outside of Lancaster. Some of them reach into neighboring counties, others to larger cities on the east and west coasts. Some reach all the way around the world to Christchurch, New Zealand. (By the way, Prince Street Cafe, my family still talks about your baked oatmeal). As more and more people flock to Social Media services, these connections are going to be mirrored in our online interactions. And, with technology breaking down or eliminating distance and cost barriers, it makes sense then that any organization backed by a strong offline community can benefit immensely from a strong online one.
So, kudos to those already making their mark in Social Media and through other online methods. If this isn’t you (yet), it can be. There are lots of good examples to follow, even (and especially) here in Lancaster.
wonderful post. i myself am a lancastrian (millersville to be precise, now living in DC). i work for a contractor who implements social media campaigns with homeland security, fema, and others. im excited to see that my hometown is catching on.
the city (who knew that lancaster had a city?) does have quite a lot to offer. there are a lot of exciting small businesses in the area. rachels cafe is one of my personal favorite lunch spots
exciting post. thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Peter!
We’re fans of Rachel’s too.
For me, coming from New Zealand about 4 years ago, it’s been pretty amazing to see the changes that downtown Lancaster has gone through.
The uptake on Social Media is impressive in businesses in the central city and is, I think, driven by a strong and growing “buy local, be local” movement.
I’m always thankful the for welcome I’ve received here, as well as being given the opportunity to take part in the continued building of a community that now reaches both on and offline.