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11 Most Endangered
Lancaster County
Year Listed: 1999
Location: , Pennsylvania
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development
Significance
Famed as a center of "Pennsylvania Dutch" culture because of its population of Amish, Mennonites and other plain religious sects, Lancaster County is a place where farming is still a way of life, where small-town America still thrives, and where residents cherish a strong sense of community. Long known as the "Garden Spot of America" for its lushly productive farmland, the county also boasts a stable industrial base and a strong traditional character largely defined by the early settlers, predominantly of German, Scots-Irish and Welsh ancestry, who flocked here in the 18th and 19th centuries. But on the threshold of a new century, Lancaster County is besieged by the forces of sprawl. With its population mushrooming, the region is experiencing explosive suburban growth, the arrival of a phalanx of big-box superstores and retail "power centers," the decline of existing town centers and the threat of a new superhighway.
Updates
The rural beauty of Lancaster County is today threatened by relentless suburban sprawl. In fact, the state ranks second in the nation in land consumption per capita. Strip malls, fast-food restaurants, suburban housing developments are quickly overrunning one of Pennsylvania’s most picturesque places. The future of the Plain Sect community and the Amish are in question as development continues out of control. In 2005, a plan resurfaced by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for the Route 23 Corridor. In the 1970s, the partially built roadway was abandoned and planted over. As congestion has increased, Route 23 again is seen as a way to address traffic and a large increase in population growth. The 14-mile long corridor is the latest and most pressing threat to Lancaster County’s unique character.
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