The vast majority of the problem in Harrisburg stems from a really stupid and incomprehensible deal to build the new incinerator. The receiver wants to sell off the parking garages for a one-time hit even though they are one of the few "easy money" operations in the city. The mayor and city council can't agree on much, but it doesn't matter because they are under so many restrictions imposed by the state.
The incinerator is so tied to the problems that if you are caught taking household waste from Dauphin County (where Harrisburg is located) to a disposal site outside of the county you'll be slapped with a $1000 fine. They have two full-time "trash police" looking for trucks crossing the county line. For example, I emptied out a storage area just across the bridge. Even though EVERYTHING in it originated from my house in a different county, because I rented a truck to move it and Dauphin was the county of "origin", I couldn't even get rid of a plastic porch table. If I had taken the truck home for the night, there wouldn't have been a problem. The transfer station wouldn't take the table.
The current mayor and council had nothing to do with the incinerator deal but it has fucked up the city. Corbett seized the opportunity to strip the mostly Democratic elected officials of power for his own demented purposes - oh, and guess who got to appoint the receiver. Fracking is destroying our streams, watersheds, wetlands, and the tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay (including the Susquehanna river). They've pretty much stripped all rights of opposition from local municipalities and given the state over to the fracking industry that funded Corbett's campaign. Short term gain, long-term pain.
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