Hourglass

Hourglass provides local, reliable information on Lancaster County issues, ensuring informed decisions, and making Lancaster a better place to live and work.

Lancaster County is growing, evolving and changing. 

With each chapter our community can move in two directions—we can improve our quality of life or we can threaten the things that make us proud to call Lancaster home. 

With your support, Hourglass keeps a close eye on these “legacy” issues, or issues that will impact our community far into the future. We provide thought leadership on smart growth, city vitality, public education innovation, and the protection of our environmental resources through innovative programming, forums, videos, podcasts, and publications. 

Your investment in Hourglass allows us to provide community education, inspire innovative ideas, and foster conversations that ensure Lancaster County remains an incredible place to live and work. Donations of $150 and more qualify for an annual Hourglass membership, which includes invitations to all of our events (such as our monthly First Friday Forums held at the Ware Center) and access to all of our publications.

Thank you for your support!

Who We Are

People ask, ‘What do you do?’ That question is not easy to answer because we do many things. The Hourglass isn’t like other nonprofit organizations, and that’s a good thing. We aren’t narrowly focused on a single topic or interest; instead we are concerned about the interrelated complexities of growth and change that impact the lives of people throughout Lancaster County. We believe it’s possible to have growth and prosperity without losing our unique character and enviable quality of life.

The Hourglass Foundation was formed in 1997 as a think tank to facilitate effective growth management by providing comprehensive research, objective analysis, and fresh ideas on important legacy issues – the tough issues that others often avoid due to their size and complexity. We are also a community watchdog; monitoring emerging issues, stimulating discussion, and creating high standards for decision-making. Additionally, we try to keep the public informed about emerging issues through forums, white papers, surveys, newspaper articles, e-newsletters, and our website.