Hazleton

The modern economy runs on logistics and food processing. The CAN DO industrial parks, including Humboldt, host Amazon, Cargill, American Eagle Outfitters, and other large employers. In 2006, under Mayor Lou Barletta, the city passed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance, which federal courts later struck down as unconstitutional. The 1897 Lattimer Massacre, in which deputies fired on striking miners, took place just outside the city in Hazle Township, and actor Jack Palance was born nearby at Lattimer Mines. The city is home to Penn State Hazleton and the large Hazleton Area School District.

Hazleton sits about 30 miles south of Wilkes-Barre, near the meeting of Luzerne, Schuylkill, and Carbon counties. Its housing stock is dense, with anthracite-era rowhomes and frame houses that remain some of the most affordable in the region. It continues to serve as an immigrant gateway.