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Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere
Am I the only one that feels like there is a ton of development in Erie right now for such a small rust belt city? It really surprises me.
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I think that Erie is gaining momentum that has been slowly building for a decade-plus. Like how Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo are experiencing resurgence in their urban cores, I'd say Erie has been going through a smaller version of that. I think you also have to keep in mind that while Erie City proper only has a population of around 100k, the official CSA numbers over 360k (which arbitrarily only includes the Pennsylvania counties of Erie and Crawford, and not the areas of se NY and NE OH which are in actuality part of Erie’s metro area). With those areas included, Erie serves as the regional hub for well over a half million people. Also, Erie’s population swells significantly from May thru September, with over 2M out of town visitors to the beaches at Presque Isle. So, while the city of Erie itself is relatively small in population, that number in itself is a rather poor metric for development potential.
A new mayoral administration took over a year ago (the previous one coasted on autopilot for 12 years as the city bled off jobs with no replacements) and a downtown development corporation (backed by big $ interests) recently formed. There has been renewed interest in the region, with a good bit of press (NYTimes, NPR, Atlantic, Brookings, etc.) about how the area is working to turnaround and emerge from a heavy manufacturing-based economy to one that focuses on technology, medicine, insurance, higher education, and tourism... it's long possessed significant sector attributes in those areas, but they have come more to the forefront in the past 10 years or so. An impressive comprehensive plan completed a couple years ago by a also shed light on some of the hard truths facing the region and provided a roadmap for change. Summary here:
https://czb.org/wp-content/uploads/2...erie-large.pdf
Couple this with a great natural location on the Great Lakes, 6 universities (now with more jobs in the region waiting for grads) and an influx of immigrants who contribute to an already diverse smaller city... and some good things seem to be happening there.
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