Hazelton, PA- An Eastern Pennsylvania City literally surrounded by Old Coal Fields

Hazleton was originally settled in the early 19th century, primarily by people of English and German descent. It was officially incorporated as a Borough in 1851 when it had 2,000 residents  and later as a city in 1891. The discovery of anthracite coal in the surrounding areas in the early 19th century led to Hazleton becoming a bustling coal mining town. The coal mines attracted a large number of immigrants, particularly from Eastern Europe, Ireland, and Italy. Because of this influx of immigrants, Hazleton’s population drastically changed during the “boom period” starting in 1890 when the population w as 12K to 36K in 1920. The population peaked in 1940 at 38K. By the mid-20th century, the demand for anthracite coal declined, leading to the beginning of a period of decline in Hazleton. Fortunately a major influx of Hispanic immigrants primarily from Dominican Republic has stabilized the City. Hazelton’s population bottomed out at 23K in 2000 but thanks to a major influx of Hispanics the population grew to 30K, having grown by 20%  in only a decade.

Hazelton has a solid urban fabric with good density and two in-tact business districts: Broad Street (the Historic Dwtn) and Wyoming St (a solid secondary urban biz district) perpendicular to Broad St. Some decent mixed-use fabric also along Diamond and Poplar St to the south. But Hazelwood is incredibly gritty, which makes sense as the town is literally surrounded and often constrained by old coal mines. While Hazelton has good retail amenities, its cultural options are limited. Sidewalks are often in poor condition and the town has no bike infrastructure but the City has lots of quality walkable schools and well dispersed park amenities. Housing, while affordable, is not diverse and limited to those with higher incomes.

Click here to view my Hazelton Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

• Excellent gridded street fabric with short blocks.
• Good density here
• Good generational diversity with large number of households with children.
• Good number of walkable schools throughout Hazelton generally with decent ratings. Large school campus just outside the City limits on the NW corner of town where the Public High School and middle/elementary School and Catholic High School are located. Just walkable to many Hazelton residents.
• Good amount of housing authority run building providing lots of permanent affordability options.
• Better retail amenities including several supermarkets and tons of Hispanic grocerias, plenty of drug stores, several boutiques and clothing stores, some gift shops, several banks, an Ollie’s Bargain store & lots of thrift shops, tons of salons, plenty of dessert joints and bakeries, plenty of gyms, a couple dollar generals, a dwtn library & post office, a major hospital and plenty of doctor’s offices, and several churches.
• Decent amount of the quality historic commercial bldgs exist on Broad street. Residential is very worker housing and not terrible attractive.
• Parks aren’t spectacular but a good number of small-medium sized parks that are well distributed throughout.
• Decent pedestrian activity thanks to Hazelton’s density and high % of residents w/o cars.
• Good mix of uses as there are lots of corner stores and restaurants/bars outside of the two main streets.
  

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

• There is a local bus service with a fare number of lines but service is infrequent.
• Sidewalks are consistent but often in poor condition and without modern ADA infrastructure on the residential streets. Better sidewalk and ADA infrastructure on the main streets.
• While Hazelton has its own modest dwtn its far from Dwtn Wilkes-Barres and Scranton; 35 & 50 minutes respectively. 1 Hr by bus to Wilkes-Barres.
• No bike infrastructure to speak of.
• Very Hispanic City, so much so that I wouldn’t consider this a diverse City as Hispanics make up 70% of the population.
• Limited economic diversity as well as 25% of the population is living in poverty.
• Crime itself doesn’t seem to be a major problem in Hazelwood but a very gritty city with a fair amount of blight.
• Zillow listed rentals are pretty limited although I suspect there are plenty of unlisted rentals available. Product is generally in the low-mid 1Ks with a decent # of 2 & 3 beds.
• Decent array of for-sale product but generally pretty affordable and not a ton diversity. 2-beds sell btwn 50K-260K and 3 & 4 beds sell btwn 60K- low 300Ks.
• Tree canopy is so so. Better tree cover on the edge of development.
• Cultural amenities are limited to several Hispanic & Italian restaurants, several bars & lounges, a couple cafes and art galleries, a small local history museum.
• Any modern in-fil that exists is very autocentric.”