Downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Downtown
Downtown Harrisburg with City Island in foreground
Downtown Harrisburg with City Island in foreground
Country United States
StatePennsylvania
CountyDauphin County
CityHarrisburg
Area code(s)717 and 223

Downtown Harrisburg is the central core neighborhood, business and government center which surrounds the focal point of Market Square, and serves as the regional center for the greater metropolitan area of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States.

Harrisburg's downtown Center City comprises the original 80-acre (320,000 m2) borough laid out in a grid pattern by John Harris in 1785. East–west streets are named and north–south streets are numbered. Market Street, running east–west, is the dividing point between north and south street designations.[1]

Harrisburg's Central Business District includes the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex and other state government offices, the Dauphin County Courthouse and other county government offices, City of Harrisburg offices, Pennsylvania State Museum, federal government offices, and other, non-government related commercial retail and office development. Some residential development, both in apartment high-rises and in the upper floors of mixed commercial/residential use buildings, is also located in the downtown area.

Downtown is bordered in the northwest by the mixed commercial/residential use Capitol District, in the west by the Susquehanna River, in the southwest by the largely residential Shipoke neighborhood, in the south by Interstate 83, in the east by Amtrak and Norfolk Southern Railway lines, and in the north by Midtown Harrisburg, a mixed-use commercial and residential neighborhood. Forster Street is usually considered the boundary between Downtown and Midtown Harrisburg. City Island, located in the middle of the Susquehanna River directly west of downtown, is typically considered part of Downtown Harrisburg.