Metropolitan Area Research Paper:

Erie, Pennsylvania

Part I. Introduction
The city of Erie, Pennsylvania is located in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, in what is know
as the chimney,, right beside lake Erie, and is surrounded by several suburbs including Millcreek and
Fairview. Erie has continued to change and evolve since its establishment as a city, but some of these
more recent changes might be detrimental to the quality of life and happiness of the citys residents. Between the declining population, rising poverty rate, heightening crime rates, and the exodus of manufacturing jobs, the city of Erie has struggled to maintain a respectable quality of life for its residents. In order to right the ship and reverse these trends, Erie has been attempting to increase tourism to the area.
Though Erie has seen recent struggles, it can recover by utilizing tourism.
The city of Erie has experienced a declining population since the census in 1960, where it reached
its peak population of 138,440. Ever since the census count in 1960, the population of Erie has dwindled
to 99,452 in the 2014 census count. A population of 99,452 is the first time since 1920 that the city of
Erie has had a populous of less than 100,000 residents. This declining population could lead to issues
with funding for the city of Erie because, as population decreases, the amount of funding that city receives will also decrease.1 This population decrease is also leading to an increased poverty rate, which
stands at 27.8% today. With Eries population in 2014 being 99,452, that means about 27,648 of these
individuals are considered to be in poverty. 2 In a city that is fairly small, having this many people in
poverty can cause many problems for the city. This high poverty rate could be the result of several large
businesses leaving the city, or diminishing their presence in the city, such as Erie Malleable Iron, GE
Transportation, and Industrial Paper, taking countless of jobs with them. Erie Malleable Iron and Industrial Paper left the city of Erie in the early 2000s and took roughly 1,000 jobs.3 GE Transportation has

Weiss, Gary. Eries Population Sinks to Lowest in Nearly a Century. GoErie, May 21, 2015. http://

www.goerie.com/article/20150521/NEWS02/305219909/eries-population-sinks-to-lowest-in-nearly-acentury#.
2

Quick Facts. United States Census Bureau, n.d. http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/

LFE041214/4204949548,4224000,4204924864,00.

Crissey, Mike. With Factories Leaving, What Becomes of Erie. Pittsburgh Post Gazette, November 13, 2001,
Vol. 75, No. 106. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20011113&id=
H6sxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gnADAAAAIBAJ&pg=1977,3846402&hl=en.

been steadily laying off employees in Erie and recently announced a layoff of 1,500 Erie workers. 4 This
loss of jobs is detrimental in any community, but Erie suffers heavily from these job losses considering
its background and focus on the manufacturing industry. In the early 2000s, one out of three Erie residents was employed in the manufacturing industry, but this is changing and can be seen when Mike
Crissey relays Bob Spladinas comment that, rebuilding Erie for the 21st century may be a bitter pill to
swallow for a community that cut its teeth on manufacturing.35 Sadly, Eries struggles do not stop with
the high poverty rate or population decrease; Erie also has a high crime rate compared to other U.S. cities.
Erie is considered to be only safer than 16% of U.S. cities, and has a crime rate higher than 91% of Pennsylvanias cities and towns of all sizes. The chances of being a victim of violent crime annually in Erie,
with violent crimes consisting of murder, rape, robbery, and assault, are 1 in 219. The chances of being a
victim of property crime annually, with property crimes consisting of burglary, theft, and motor-vehicle
theft, are even greater with 1 in 31 people becoming victims.56 It can be observed through these statistics
that Erie is clearly a city in decline, and that, instead of evolving, this community has been devolving.
Erie is in desperate need of halting this decline, and is looking to do so through increasing tourism to the
area.
To attract tourism, the city of Erie built the Presque Isle Downs and Casino in 2007 and established the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) soon after in 2008. The casino was used to
bring in tourists that would end up putting money into Eries economy, something the city desperately
needs with its harsh decline. The ECGRA is tasked with investing money received from the revenues of
the casino in economic and community development.6 7 This money is provided for several key areas: local government development, impact investing and regional assets funding. To create local government
development the ECGRA, invested a total of $346,648 among 28 municipalities and seven authorities,

Crissey, Mike. With Factories Leaving, What Becomes of Erie. Pittsburgh Post Gazette, November 13,
2001, Vol. 75, No. 106. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20011113&id=
H6sxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gnADAAAAIBAJ&pg=1977,3846402&hl=en.

Cuneo, Pat. Pat Cuneo: GE Layoffs Test Workers, Our Community. GoErie, November 10, 2015. http://
www.goerie.com/pat-cuneo-ge-layoffs-test-workers-our-community.

5 Crime
6

Rates for Erie, PA. Neighborhood Scout, n.d. http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/pa/erie/crime/#data.

Who We Are. Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority, n.d. http://www.ecgra.org/who-we-are.

nonprofits, and intergovernmental agencies that now creatively cooperate and coordinate with one another
on projects, including technology implementation, composting and recycling upgrades, structural and
public safety improvements, and historic preservation. 6 Next, the ECGRA also invests in, nine place
shaping culture-, heritage-, and entertainment-based non-profits, in order to attract, retain and mobilize a
higher concentration of talented and productive people. Lastly, the ECGRA provides funding for 501(c)3
organizations located in Erie County that, demonstrate how their event or public space drive tourism and
improve quality of living in Erie County.68 By funding these key areas, the ECGRA is working tirelessly
to improve the quality of life for residents of Erie, Pennsylvania. Through the money they receive from
tourism and spending at the casino, the ECGRA provides funding for countless organizations that help
increase community and economic development. However, although the ECGRA is working hard to enact positive change for the city of Erie, they will have their work cut out for them considering the city of
Erie has continued to decline in population and rise in poverty over the years that they have been active.
The city of Erie has experienced several forms of decline over the years through its population
decline, rising crime rates and poverty rates, and loss of manufacturing jobs. These factors show that Erie
is struggling as a community, even with the steps taken to fund community and economic development
through tourism. Erie faces many challenges and issues, which differ greatly from the challenges faced in
its surrounding suburbs.

Who We Are. Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority, n.d. http://www.ecgra.org/who-we-are.

Part II. Socio-Economic Profile of the Metro Area

Table 1 29
Table 2, Table 3, Table 4, and Table 5 710

Table 1

Quick Facts. United States Census Bureau, n.d. http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/

LFE041214/4204949548,4224000,4204924864,00.

Erie City Data. US2010, n.d. http://www.s4.brown.edu/us2010/segregation2010/city.aspx?cityid=4224000.

Index of Dissimilarity

Table 2

Isolation Index

Table 3

Index of Exposure to Other Groups

Table 4

Index of Exposure to Other Groups

Table 5

The city of Erie and its surrounding suburbs of Millcreek and Fairview differ in several ways with
respect to the socio-economic make-up of residents. Through an examination of the data in Table 1, as
well as statistics on measuring segregation from Brown University, the socio-economic differences between the central city and suburbs can be observed. The central city and suburban area differ in income
and poverty characteristics, and the breakdown of the population. Tables 2-5 consist of data used by
Brown University to determine the levels of segregation in an area. Table 2 is called the index of dissimilarity, which, measures whether one particular group is distributed across census tracts in the metropolitan area in the same way as another group. 711 In this table, a higher value shows that two groups
tend to live in a different census tract, with values of 60% or higher being very high, values of 40 or 50
being moderate, and values of 30 or lower being very low. Then there is the exposure index, which is
comprised of two parts, the isolation index and the indices of exposure to other groups. The exposure
index measures residential segregation by referring to the racial composition of where the average member of a given group lives. The isolation index, represented in table 3, is, the percentage of same-group
population in the census tract where the average member of a racial/ethnic group lives; in other words, it
is the exposure of the group to itself. This index ranges from 0-100, where zero means there is a small
group that is very dispersed and 100 means group members are completely isolated from other groups.7

Erie City Data. US2010, n.d. http://www.s4.brown.edu/us2010/segregation2010/city.aspx?cityid=4224000.

Table 4 and table 5 are the indices of exposure to other groups. In these indices, a higher value means the
average group member lives with a higher percentage of members from another group. These indices of
exposure to other groups are dependent upon, the overall size of the other group and each groups settlement pattern. 7 These differences portrayed by these statistics will provide an excellent introduction
into the issues the central city and suburbs experience.
The city of Erie boasts a population of 99,452 people, of which 75% are white, 16.8% are black,
6.9% are hispanic, and 1.5% are asian.2 This shows that a significant portion of the population is white,
which, according to Zubrinsky, could spell trouble for diversification of the city considering whites often
prefer predominantly white neighborhoods and will fight against change in their respective neighborhoods.812 This lack of diversity can also be seen in Brown Universitys measurements of segregation. Ac cording to Table 2, Erie has low to moderate levels of segregation, with the most segregation occurring
between blacks and whites. Table 3 shows that whites tend to expose themselves to other whites rather
than any other group. This is not true for all races, however, considering blacks, hispanics and asians all
have low levels of exposure to their own race. Lastly, tables 4 and 5 show the exposure of groups to other
groups.713 These tables show that blacks, hispanics, and asians have high levels of exposure to whites,
while whites have very low levels of exposure to all races. This data supports the claims by Zubinsky
Charles that whites prefer to live with other whites, while non-whites prefer more racial integration in the
neighborhood.8 Along with lacking diversity, the city of Erie also has a 27.8% poverty rate, which is almost double the national level. Also showing lower-income population in Erie is the median household
income, which is $33,000, and the median value of owner-occupied housing, which is $83,800. The national median household income, which is $53,482, and the national median value of owner-occupied
housing, which is $176,700, work to show the impoverishment of Erie in relation to the nation.214The
low-incomes of Erie residents could be the result of the major industries present in the city. Manufactur-

Quick Facts. United States Census Bureau, n.d. http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/

LFE041214/4204949548,4224000,4204924864,00.

Erie City Data. US2010, n.d. http://www.s4.brown.edu/us2010/segregation2010/city.aspx?cityid=4224000.

Charles, Camille Zubrinsky, Can We Live Together? Racial Preferences and Neighborhood Outcomes, in
Xavier de Souza Briggs, Ed. The Geography of Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in Metropolitan
America. Washington D. C.: Brookings Institution Press 2005. Ch. 3.

ing accounts for 22.4% of the work force; trade, transportation and utilities accounts for 23% of the work
force; and professional and business service accounts for 10% of the work force.915 These three industries
tend to have lower wages and thus Erie will continue to have increased poverty levels. The city of Erie,
through the observation of these statistics, can be seen to be impoverished, and moderately to highly segregated. However, this socio-economic profile of the city of Erie is drastically different from that of its
major suburb, Millcreek.
Millcreek township, Pennsylvania is the main suburb of the city of Erie. Millcreek contains a
population of 54,012 residents, with 94.7% being white, 1.8% being hispanic, 1.8% being asian, and 1.5%
being black. This population breakdown shows a tremendous difference between the central city and its
surrounding suburbs, containing even more segregation than, an already fairly segregated city. Although
possibly more segregated, Millcreek has much better income and poverty characteristics than the city of
Erie. The poverty rate in Millcreek is 10.4%, which is significantly lower than the poverty rate in the city,
and slightly lower than the national poverty rate. Along with a lower poverty rate, Millcreek also has a
higher median household income, which is $56,379, and median value of owner-occupied housing, which
is $149,900. The suburb of Millcreek also holds a higher educational attainment for residents, with
93.4% receiving a high school diploma and 35.3% receiving a bachelors degree or higher.216 The combination of these statistics show how the suburbs and central city are different in their population breakdown, and income and poverty characteristics.
The city of Erie and its suburb of Millcreek differ in several ways. By observing relevant statistics it can be seen that the city of Erie has very high poverty levels, while Millcreek contains fairly low
poverty levels. Another way the city and suburb differ is their population breakdown. This difference in
population breakdown is best explained by Squires, Goering and Zubinsky Charles in their articles on
urban sprawl and segregation.

Quick Facts. United States Census Bureau, n.d. http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/

LFE041214/4204949548,4224000,4204924864,00.

Establishment Data: State and Area Employment Not Seasonally Adjusted. Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d.
http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/tabled2.pdf.

The suburbs of Millcreek contain a poverty rate lower than the national rate and half the amount
of Eries rate. This difference in poverty levels between the central city and the suburbs is due to a lack of
jobs in the central city and urban sprawl occurring, which takes jobs to the suburbs. The city of Erie suffers from a lack of jobs and has been losing countless jobs since its population began declining in 1960.
With GE Transportation announcing more layoffs recently, it seems as though this trend will continue.
GE Transportation announced that it will lay off 1,500 employees, which is about half of the current work
force at the plant. However, this lay off will have a tremendous ripple effect across the city because, The
Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership estimates that more than 10,000 jobs in the Erie area are
either employed directly by GE Transportation (4,500 at Lawrence Park plant) or indirectly through products and services purchased by GE and its workers. 417With this many jobs leaving Erie, it will be difficult to avoid an increase in the citys poverty rate. The loss of such a large amount of workers can be very
detrimental to a city whose, well-being is too vulnerable to swings in GE Transportation's business cycles and the real possibility that the company's footprint in Erie could wane. 4 This loss of jobs is a key
factor as to why Erie is stuck in a continual decline, with poverty rates reaching levels almost twice that
of the national rate. Millcreek is much different and currently has a poverty rate that is less than half of
Eries poverty rate. It also has a higher median household income, median value of owner-occupied housing, and percentage of population in the labor force. Millcreek has 65.1% of its population in the labor
force while Erie has 60.5% of its population in the labor force.218Millcreek does not have a lack of jobs
because of the idea of urban sprawl presented by Squires. Squires explains that sprawl causes businesses
to move from the city to suburbs because of, the amenities and profit-making potential those locations
offer, as well as the inexpensiveness of developing in the suburbs.1119Businesses will continue to move

Quick Facts. United States Census Bureau, n.d. http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/

LFE041214/4204949548,4224000,4204924864,00.

Cuneo, Pat. Pat Cuneo: GE Layoffs Test Workers, Our Community. GoErie, November 10, 2015. http://
www.goerie.com/pat-cuneo-ge-layoffs-test-workers-our-community.

11

Squires, Gregory, Urban Sprawl and the Uneven Development of Metropolitan America, in Squires, Gregory.
Urban Sprawl: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses. Washington D. C. Urban Institute Press,
2002.

out of cities as long as it is more profitable to operate in suburban areas. The central city and suburbs are
vastly different in income and poverty characteristics, but they also differ in their population breakdowns.
Millcreek and Erie both have segregated populations, which can be observed in the statistics from
Brown University, as well as statistics from the Census. Millcreek and Erie contain a high percentage of
white residents, but Millcreeks percentage is much higher than Eries percentage, as well as the national
percentage.2 This large percentage of whites within the Millcreek population shows that the suburbs are
more segregated than central cities. Goering shows support for this claim stating, the well-documented
migration of middle-income whites and blacks to the suburbs of most metropolitan centers only aggravated segregation by race and class in metropolitan areas. 1220Urban sprawl and suburbanization, due to
government policies, is the direct cause of this mass exodus of residents to suburban areas. The federal
government promotes urban sprawl through the creation of different policies that, favor investment in
suburbs and disinvestment from central cities. These policies provided incentives for businesses and
middle-class Americans to move to suburbs while deterring poor Americans from doing so. Government
policies have also favored concentrating the poor in central cities. 1321The central city and suburban area,
in this case, differ dramatically in income and poverty characteristics and population breakdowns. These
differences, along with the rest of the statistics presented, work to show how urban sprawl increases the
level of segregation in communities, creates a lack of jobs in the central city, and increases the number of
jobs in the suburbs. This lack of jobs in the central city has resulted in Erie having a very high poverty
rate because residents of the city are not easily able to find work. In the suburbs, however, the poverty
rate remains low due to the movement of businesses and jobs to the suburban area.

Part III. Real World Issues

The residents in the central city face very different issues than the residents in the suburbs. To
examine these differences, I will observe three issues facing central city residents and compare them to

12

Goering, John. Expanding Housing Choice and Integrating Neighborhoods: The MTO Experiment. in
Xavier de Souza Briggs, Ed. The Geography of Opportunity: Race and Housing Choice in
Metropolitan America. Washington D. C.: Brookings Institution Press 2005. Ch. 6.

13

Drier, Peter, John MollenKopf, and Todd Swanstrom, Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-first Century,
Lawrence KS; University of Kansas Press, 2nd edition.

three issues facing suburban residents. These issues will be drawn from news articles on Eries city
newspaper website. Some of the issues that central city residents of Erie, Pennsylvania face are poverty,
crime, and preservation of buildings considered to be historical. I chose to examine these issues because I
believe they are the key issues facing the central city residents. These issues show the decline of the city
and how it will continue to decline if these issues are not addressed. On the other hand, suburban residents in Millcreek, Pennsylvania face issues such as zoning, schools/education, and budgets. I chose to
examine these issues because I believe they show the stark differences between the concerns of suburban
and central city residents and zonings negative impacts. By comparing and contrasting the issues in the
central city and suburbs, it can be observed that the central city is declining due to urban sprawl.
Poverty is one of the key issues facing central city residents in Erie. The city of Erie can be seen
as being impoverished through several statistics; the median household income, which is $33,000, and the
median value of owner-occupied housing, which is $83,800, are about half the amount and value of the
national medians, and the poverty rate is twice as high as the national rate.222Jim Martin also shows this
issue of poverty in his news article in which he explains the cost of living in the city of Erie. Martin explains that the Economic Policy Institute determined the cost to comfortably live in Erie was $61,951 a
year.1423 As can be seen from the Census data, this cost of living is drastically higher than the median
household income in Erie, which means that a significant portion of central city residents cannot afford,
or can barely afford, to live in the city. Another issue facing Erie residents is crime. Crime in the city of
Erie is worse than most other US cities per capita, and is less safe than 84% of US cities. There is a 1 in
219 chance of being a victim of violent crime in Erie. There is also a 1 in 31 chance of being a victim of
property crime in Erie.524This issue of crime can also be seen through the observation of Tim Hahns
news article and Kevin Flowers news article. Hahn writes in his 2014 article about the increase in violent crime in Erie in 2013 and reveals that it had increased 12% from the previous year according to the
2

Quick Facts. United States Census Bureau, n.d. http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/

LFE041214/4204949548,4224000,4204924864,00.

Crime Rates for Erie, PA. Neighborhood Scout, n.d. http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/pa/erie/crime/#data.

Martin, Jim. Family of 4 Needs About $62,000 to Live Comfortably in Erie. GoErie, August 28, 2015. http://
blogs.goerie.com/biz-buzz/2015/08/28/family-of-4-needs-about-62000-to-live-comfortablyin-erie/.
14

FBI.1525Eries current crime levels are higher than most other US cities, and it can be seen that crime rates
have continued to be a major issue in the city of Erie over the years. This increase in crime over the years
is not being handled properly because it has persisted for several years. Flowers explains in his article
that the Erie city police will be employing the same number of officers this year as it did last year.1626 This
seems illogical because, in order to solve this issue of crime, the police in the city must have a higher
presence to deter crime. The final issue facing central city residents is the preservation of buildings considered to be historical. Kevin Flowers writes that the city council of Erie has determined to develop a
committee that will be tasked with protecting historical buildings in the area from being demolished.
1727 This

issue of preserving historical buildings is also present in Daniel Straubs article where he argues

that preservation, encourages the overall community to remember the highlights and treasures of its past
while preparing for a sustainable futureSecond, preservation of significant buildings and places is a
cultural benefitIn addition to solidifying a community's past, preservation can help strengthen a city's
future. Historic buildings help create vibrant, cultural downtowns that draw tourism, art and celebration
events, festivals and other activitiesFinally, preservation is an economic benefit. 1828By protecting older houses, warehouses, or buildings from being demolished, the city is not allowing for the creation and
utilization of new space, and will struggle to attract new residents with its aging homes and buildings.
These central city issues that residents face show the decline of the city of Erie, and how Erie can continue to decline without addressing some of these issues. Although the city is facing some very serious issues, residents in the suburbs face drastically different issues from the residents in the central city.
School/education is one of the key issues for suburban residents. Many argue that better education leads to a better job and a higher quality of life, and I believe this focus on education is one of several

15

Hahn, Tim. FBI Data: Eries Violent Crime Rate for Part of 2013 Up from Previous Year. GoErie, February 20,
2014. http://www.goerie.com/fbi-data-eries-violent-crime-rate-for-part-of-2013-up-from-previous-year.

16

Flowers, Kevin. Erie Police to Continue with Current Staffing Under 2016 Budget Proposal. GoErie, December
6, 2015. http://www.goerie.com/erie-police-to-continue-with-current-staffing-under-2016-budget-proposal.

17

Flowers, Kevin. City Council Takes First Step to Create Committee That Could Delay Demolition of Historic
Buildings. GoErie, December 3, 2015. http://www.goerie.com/city-council-takes-first-step-to-createcommittee-that-could-delay-demolition-of-historic-buildings.

18

Straub, Daniel. Erie Should Preserve Its Historical Foundation: Daniel Straub. GoErie, December 6, 2015.
http://www.goerie.com/erie-should-preserve-its-historical-foundation-daniel-straub.

reasons Millcreek has better income and poverty characteristics than Erie. Jamison Hixenbaugh explains
in his article the recent teacher contract approval for Millcreek teachers. Teachers will receive a 2.5%
salary increase over the four year contract, as well as a new medical plan.1929By providing these teachers
with good benefits and increasing their morale and happiness, Millcreek is hoping to better its educational system by providing students with teachers who enjoy teaching and are incentivized to perform well at
their job. Erica Erwin further explains this issue of education in her article discussing the $2.6 million
surplus of funds for the year for Millcreek schools. Millcreek schools did not always experience this surplus, as they are still recovering from poor auditing practices in the past.20 30The school district is attempt ing to be more frugal and safe with its money in order to best spend it to better education, which, in turn,
will hopefully bring in more businesses and create more jobs and lead to higher quality of life in the area.
Another issue facing suburban residents in Millcreek, PA is zoning. Zoning can greatly impact the lives
of suburban residents. Recently, as John Guerriero describes, Millcreeks zoning board decided to delay
on a decision to bring in a new, low-cost, grocery store called Lidl to the community.2131This delay due to
zoning is detrimental to the community because bringing in Lidl would create jobs, and provide low-cost
groceries for residents. The last issue facing suburban areas is the budget for the 2016 fiscal year. As the
year winds down, more and more communities are evaluating and passing their budget plans for 2016,
and this includes Millcreek. Millcreek township supervisors just recently announced that their 2016 budget does not include a tax increase for residents.2232 The budget is such a hot issue in Millcreek due to the
lack of a tax increase, as well as the fact that this is the money that will be spent on the community for the
entire year. Developing a budget that addresses the most important areas of the community is essential
and, by spending the money in the right areas, Millcreek will be able to become a better place to live.

19

Hixenbaugh, Jamison. Millcreek School Board Approves Teachers Contract. Erie News Now, November 23,
2015. http://www.erienewsnow.com/story/30591519/millcreek-school-board-approves-teachers-contract.

20

Erwin, Erica. Millcreek Schools End 2014-15 with Surplus. GoErie, November 25, 2015. http://
www.goerie.com/millcreek-schools-end-2014-15-with-surplus.

21

Guerriero, John. Millcreek Zoning Board Delays Decision on Grocery Store. GoErie, December 3, 2015.

http:// www.goerie.com/millcreek-zoning-board-delays-decision-on-grocery-store.
4

Cuneo, Pat. Pat Cuneo: GE Layoffs Test Workers, Our Community. GoErie, November 10, 2015. http://
www.goerie.com/pat-cuneo-ge-layoffs-test-workers-our-community.

These issues faced by central city and suburban residents are vastly different from one another.
Central city issues in Erie are rooted in the citys decline and possible further decline if it is not able to
address the rising crime and poverty. Squires supports this claim stating that sprawl causes cities to lose
jobs, which, in turn, will lead to increasing poverty in the city. This increase in, and concentration of,
poverty will then lead to higher crime rates, which greatly diminishes the appeal of living there.1133It can
be observed that Erie has lost countless jobs, especially recently with the announcement by GE Transportation that it would be laying-off roughly 1,500 workers.434This decline is not new for Erie, in fact, its
population has been declining since the 1960s. If the city of Erie is going to turn things around it must
happen now. If nothing is done to address these issues of increasing poverty and crime in the city, this
steady decline will slowly but surely destroy the city of Erie. Suburban issues in Millcreek show a much
more positive aspect on the metropolitan area and are rooted in bettering the community in any way possible for its residents. By bettering education through providing good teachers and properly utilizing the
surplus money for education, Millcreek is looking to raise the education of it's population in hopes of creating a more qualified workforce and greater human capital. When applied to the diagram provided by
Capraro, education, children, and families are essential to the bottom ring, which is the creation of human
capital for a workforce.23 35The lack of a lot of poverty and crime in Millcreek allows the township to concern itself with issues that will help better the community rather than work to stop the community from
being destroyed. Eries central city resident issues stem from a long period of decline for the city and, in
order to enact meaningful change, Erie must begin to find solutions to the issues of poverty and crime in
the city. Millcreek's s suburban resident issues are geared toward avoiding decline in the community, and
provide examples for the city of Erie to use to halt its more than half of a century of decline.

Part IV. Issue Section-Case Study

11

Squires, Gregory, Urban Sprawl and the Uneven Development of Metropolitan America, in Squires, Gregory.
Urban Sprawl: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses. Washington D. C. Urban Institute Press,
2002.

22

Last, John. No Tax Increase in Millcreek. Erie News Now, November 24, 2015. http://
www.erienewsnow.com/story/30598021/no-tax-increase-in-millcreek.

23

Capraro, James F. Community Organizing+Community Development=Community

Transformation. Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 26, Number 2, pp. 151-161 2004.

The city of Erie struggles with several different factors that have lead to its slow decline over the
years. The loss of jobs, lack of quality education and segregation are all factors that have had a serious
impact on the decline of the city of Erie. These factors also all contribute to the high poverty in Erie, and
I will support this claim using Euchner and McGoverns levels of analysis framework to show what contributes to the high poverty rates. The United Way of Erie County is the key stakeholder in the city of
Erie when it comes to the issue of the regions high poverty.2436The United Way works hard to reduce
poverty through, improving community conditions and creating opportunities for a better life for everyone. 25 37They offer countless different programs and initiatives that they believe improve community
conditions, by starting with a foundation of emergency and basic needs, United Way helps empire every
person to reach milestones that help on their path from birth to adulthood.25 The United Way is not the
only stakeholders in this issue, just the primary one. There are also other non profit organizations that
work to reduce poverty in the city38of Erie, but very few besides the United Way have the funding to
make a meaningful impact on Eries poverty rate. In fact, the United Way does not currently do enough to
have a meaningful impact on Eries poverty rate, considering the poverty rate is currently at one of its
highest levels, 27.8%,2and has been rising over the past few years.24
In order to begin analyzing the causes of poverty in the city of Erie, first it is necessary to understand the levels of analysis framework Euchner and McGovern use. They state that there are 4 levels of
analysis when it comes to causes of poverty: the individual level, the family level, the societal level and
the political level. At the individual level, they argue that a lack of education, lack of access to jobs,
abuse of alcohol and drugs, medical problems and disabilities, and depression and other psychological
problems are all factors that can lead to poverty. Next, at the family level they argue that families that
suffer from neglect, abuse and violence also can lead to poverty. When looking at the societal level, Euchner and McGovern explain that the market system creates poverty and that, the existence of poor peo2 Quick

Facts. United States Census Bureau, n.d. http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/

LFE041214/4204949548,4224000,4204924864,00.

24

Weiss, Gary. Poverty Rates Rise for Erie, Erie County. GoErie, September 19, 2014. http://
www.goerie.com/article/20140918/NEWS02/309189928/poverty-rates-rise-for-erie-erie-county.

25

Who We Are - United Way. The United Way of Erie County, n.d. http://www.unitedwayerie.org/who-we-

are.

ple is critical for the smooth functioning of capitalism. 1039Finally, at the political level, they observe
how the adoption of certain policies leads to impoverishment due to decentralization and deindustrialization.10 By examining poverty in Erie at the individual and societal levels of analysis, I will be able to
show how all of these factors contributed to Eries decline and its extremely high poverty rate.
At the individual level of analysis, I will examine the factors of a lack of education and a lack of
jobs and how they contributed to the substantial poverty rate in Erie. A lack of education is a key factor in
in Eries high poverty rate because inner-city schools do not offer quality education to most students, so
many city residents have very little to offer employers skill-wise. Euchner and McGovern go on to explain that education is not limited to a formal education; therefore, they are implying that school is not a
necessity to get a decent job, and that having high skill sets is just as important as a formal education.10
Jobs are essential to escaping from impoverishment, but with a lack of education providing very little in
terms of human capital for employers, it can be observed that businesses neglect areas that do not offer a
quality workforce. Euchner and McGovern argue that the best anti-poverty program is a well-paying job,
but often people in poverty have very low levels of skills which make them susceptible to being laid-off
when the company they work for is struggling.1040This is especially true in Erie and can be seen in the
recent lay-offs proposed by GE Transportation, which will result in 1,500 people losing their jobs.4 The
fact that Eries education is not providing employers with a qualified workforce is another reason for .
By not having a well-qualified workforce, businesses are not attracted to coming to the area, and thus the
city of Erie continues to seem trapped in a perpetual decline due to the lack of quality education and decent jobs, which also work to raise poverty levels. To escape poverty poor people must have a source of
income, but with a lack of decent jobs, due to a lack of education, it seems impossible to escape unless the
city of Erie takes action against poverty by first attacking these factors of a lack of education, which leads
to a lack of jobs.

Cuneo, Pat. Pat Cuneo: GE Layoffs Test Workers, Our Community. GoErie, November 10, 2015. http://
www.goerie.com/pat-cuneo-ge-layoffs-test-workers-our-community.

10

Euchner, Charles C., and Stephen J. McGovern. Urban Policy Reconsidered: Dialogues on the Problems and
Prospects of American Cities. New York: Routledge, 2003. Ch. 2.

At the societal level of analysis, I will examine the segregation factor on increasing poverty. Euchner and McGovern state, segregation intensifies the experience of poverty in minority
communities.41 10 Segregation is a key factor in increasing the poverty rate in the city of Erie, and this
can be seen when Euchner and McGovern discuss over-concentrations of poverty. They first show that
minorities are often the victims of high poverty rates, and then go on to show that hyper-concentrations of
poverty in one neighborhood or area will dramatically increase the overall poverty rate.10 With jobs leaving Erie, and moderate levels of segregation existing, according Brown University which can be seen in
tables 2-5,742 it can be argued that Erie will see hyper-concentrations of impoverished individuals because
they are unable to leave the city due to their poverty. This creates what seems like and endless cycle of
high poverty in Erie and the families who are unable to leave and find decent jobs in other places.
Through my examination of these factors within Euchner and McGoverns individual and societal
levels of analysis framework, I believe it can be observed that these factors have all contributed to the
high poverty rate in Erie. The lack of education, lack of jobs, and segregation all play a major role in increasing poverty as well as contributing to the steady decline Erie has been experiencing. This analysis
also shows the possibility that Erie could remain stuck in this constant decline due to the citys incredibly
high poverty rate, which discourages businesses from moving to the city, as well as new residents.

Part V. Conclusions
The city of Erie, Pennsylvania has experienced, and is experiencing, several struggles that have
played a major role in the citys decline. The high levels of poverty, loss of countless jobs, existence of
crime rates higher than most US cities, and population decrease are all major issues for the city of Erie
and show how the city has fallen into this decline. Using Euchner and McGoverns levels of analysis in
regard to poverty, I was able to observe that the city of Erie is in dire need of a change because of the existence of poverty at several levels of analysis. Through an in-depth examination of poverty, it can be
observed that Eries poverty rate is almost double the national rate for a reason. Poverty is the underlying

Erie City Data. US2010, n.d. http://www.s4.brown.edu/us2010/segregation2010/city.aspx?

cityid=4224000.
7

10

Euchner, Charles C., and Stephen J. McGovern. Urban Policy Reconsidered: Dialogues on the Problems and
Prospects of American Cities. New York: Routledge, 2003. Ch. 2.

factor for all of the struggles Erie faces, whether it be the loss of jobs, population decline, segregation, or
sprawl. The high level of poverty in the city of Erie is the driving force behind these factors that contribute to Eries decline. Businesses do not come to Erie because of the lack of a qualified workforce.
With high levels of poverty, it is difficult for individuals to finish schooling, which means there are very
few specialized workers. People are leaving Erie due to the lack of work, which leads to socio-economic
segregation because, typically, only high income individuals and/or families have the ability to leave the
central city, while lower-income individuals and/or families, due to a gross lack of funds, are forced to
remain in the deteriorating city looking for work that is not there. All of these factors driven by poverty
lead to very little economic interaction across classes, as well as very little interaction across races. Based
on my research, I believe that Erie, Pennsylvania contributes to the pattern of socio-economic segregation
through poverty. The city of Erie is declining, and, to reverse this continual trend, a solution to the enormous poverty rate must be found. By attempting to solve the poverty issue, the city will, in turn, address
each factor poverty drives, which will eventually lead to vast improvements in Eries quality of life. This,
however, is fairly optimistic considering Erie has been slowly but steadily declining for many years.

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