Metropolitan Area Research Paper:

Erie, Pennsylvania

Zane Wright
December 4, 2015
Intro to Urban Studies
Prof. Burnell

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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

1 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-sinksto-lowest-in-nearly-acentury#.

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

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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 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 motor3 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.

43 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.

54 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.

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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.67 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, 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

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

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

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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.

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

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Part II. Socio-Economic Profile of the Metro Area

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

Table 1

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

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

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Index of Dissimilarity

Table 2

Isolation Index

Table 3

Index of Exposure to Other Groups

Table 4

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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

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

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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 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. According 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.713These tables show that blacks, hispanics, and asians have high levels of exposure to whites,

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

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

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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 lowincomes of Erie residents could be the result of the major industries present in the city. Manufacturing
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

148 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.

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

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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.
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

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

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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 out of cities as long as it is more profitable to operate in suburban areas. The

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

LFE041214/4204949548,4224000,4204924864,00.

184 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.

1911 Squires, Gregory, Urban Sprawl and the Uneven Development of Metropolitan America, in Squires,
Gregory.
Press,

Urban Sprawl: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses. Washington D. C. Urban Institute
2002.

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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

2012 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.

2113 Drier, Peter, John MollenKopf, and Todd Swanstrom, Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-first
Century,

Lawrence KS; University of Kansas Press, 2nd edition.

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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
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

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

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year.1423As 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
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. 1626This
seems illogical because, in order to solve this issue of crime, the police in the city must have a higher

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

2414 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-livecomfortably- in-erie/.

2515 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 .

2616 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-budgetproposal.

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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.1727This 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 reasons Millcreek has better income and poverty characteristics than Erie. Jamison Hixenbaugh

2717 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.

2818 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.

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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. 2030The school
district is attempting 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

2919 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.

3020 Erwin, Erica. Millcreek Schools End 2014-15 with Surplus. GoErie, November 25, 2015. http://
www.goerie.com/millcreek-schools-end-2014-15-with-surplus .

3121 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 .

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recently announced that their 2016 budget does not include a tax increase for residents. 2232The 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.
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

324 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.

3311 Squires, Gregory, Urban Sprawl and the Uneven Development of Metropolitan America, in Squires,
Gregory.
Press,

Urban Sprawl: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses. Washington D. C. Urban Institute
2002.

3422 Last, John. No Tax Increase in Millcreek. Erie News Now, November 24, 2015. http://
www.erienewsnow.com/story/30598021/no-tax-increase-in-millcreek.

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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.2335The 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

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

3523 Capraro, James F. Community Organizing+Community Development=Community

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

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

LFE041214/4204949548,4224000,4204924864,00.

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poverty through, improving community conditions and creating opportunities for a better life for
everyone. 2537They 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%,239and has been rising over the past few years. 24In 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

3724 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.

3825 Who We Are - United Way. The United Way of Erie County, n.d.
http://www.unitedwayerie.org/who-we-are.

39

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that the market system creates poverty and that, the existence of poor people is critical for the smooth
functioning of capitalism. 1040Finally, 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.1041This 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 .

404 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 .

4110 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.

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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.
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.4210 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 2-5,743it 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

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

cityid=4224000.

4310 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.

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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
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

Wright 23

life. This, however, is fairly optimistic considering Erie has been slowly but steadily declining for many
years.

Wright 24

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