Day 19: Nittany Lion Shrine - State College, PA

Eric Fredericks • Friday July 20, 2007

State College is a great college town tucked away in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania, and is home to Penn State University. It is one of the beautiful, quaint small towns that you associate with the Eastern United States. It always makes it near the top of best places to live list, and was recently named the best place to live for singles by Money Magazine.

The Nittany Lion Shrine, pictured above, is an incredibly popular icon of the Penn State campus. People are constantly lined up to get their picture taken in front of the shrine. I really liked the way this photo turned out.

Interstate 99 expansion is severely threatening the quaintness of the valley. There’s already sprawl occurring along the interchanges. State College is already pretty auto-oriented, but new developments have bike lanes and good access to transit—something that is not often seen outside the West Coast.

The downtown is quite nice but also includes student-oriented bars and restaurants. You can see more of State College in the photo gallery. I’ve included an honorable mention photo of one of their information kiosks after the jump. >>Continue Reading This Article>>

Old Pennsylvania Turnpike Tunnels to Become Bike Trails

Eric Fredericks • Sunday October 16, 2005

Today’s quick hit comes from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Old sections of the Pennsylvania Turnpike are planned to be transformed into bike trails. The proposed trail site is located in South-Central Pennsylvania, near Breezewood. Initial plans call for “improvements ranging from lighting the tunnel, to repaving one lane of travel, to creating trailheads, signage and bathrooms, all at an estimated cost of $2.66 million.” A completion date for the project has not been established.

I read about this project earlier this year and thought that it was a creative idea. Almost any project involving bike trails is a good project in my book, I just hope that they design the tunnels with adequate lighting and quality interior design. The trails will not be utilized if users feel uncomfortable in the tunnels.