Harrisburg sits on the east bank of the Susquehanna. The West Shore is the other side of the river, mostly in Cumberland County: Camp Hill, Lemoyne, Wormleysburg, New Cumberland, Mechanicsburg, and the townships around them. For commuting, people treat the two as one area. For taxes and the feel of a street, they are not.

Getting across

In and around the city, four road bridges cross to the West Shore. The Market Street Bridge runs from downtown to Lemoyne and Wormleysburg by way of City Island. The Harvey Taylor Bridge crosses at Forster Street. I-83 crosses on the John Harris Memorial Bridge, which most people call the South Bridge, and I-81 crosses at the north end of the city on the George N. Wade Memorial Bridge.

PennDOT expects to start replacing the South Bridge in early 2027, and it plans to rehabilitate the Market Street Bridge between 2027 and 2034, with some phases sending eastbound traffic over the Harvey Taylor Bridge. If your commute would depend on either one, that is worth knowing before you choose a side.

The Walnut Street Bridge is for walking and biking, and it only reaches City Island. Part of its western half was lost in the 1996 ice flood and never rebuilt.

The city side

The State Capitol was dedicated in 1906 and the building is open for tours. Broad Street Market in Midtown dates to 1860 and describes itself as the oldest continuously operating market house in the country. A fire in 2023 closed its brick building, and vendors have been working from the stone building and a tent since. The market expects the brick building to reopen in 2027.

Riverfront Park follows Front Street along the water, and the Capital Area Greenbelt, a twenty mile loop of trail, runs through it and on around the city. City Island has FNB Field, where the Harrisburg Senators play, along with a small railroad and a riverboat.

Every January the Pennsylvania Farm Show fills the complex on Cameron Street. The state describes it as the largest indoor agricultural exposition in the country.

The West Shore side

Getting everywhere else

Harrisburg International Airport (MDT) is southeast of the city, near Middletown. Amtrak's Keystone Service runs from Harrisburg station to Philadelphia and New York.

From Camp Hill to Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is about fifteen miles. How long that takes depends on the bridge and the hour, so drive it at the time you would really leave before deciding.

What it is like to live here

The city side is older and more walkable, with rowhouses, Midtown, and the river a few blocks away. Most of the West Shore is suburban, with more houses on larger lots. Plenty of people work on one side and live on the other.