Is Erie Ghetto? (Lawrence Park, Wesleyville: apartment, homes, asbestos)

[lindadougan047]

I had to respond to the postings on Eries Ghettos, or poor neighborhoods, Im older and i was born on Eries lower East side, after marrage i lived in chapel hill off of hershey road, for the last 10 years if not longer, ive lived on west 16th and poplar, west 18th being the main area here. There are some very nice people here, im completley safe and have never had a problem, i moved to corry once and liked it so much here, i came back and moved into the same apartment, with the same neighbors that have lived here for years, luigis has been taken over by a nice family and has realy made it an enjoyable place to eat and visit with friends, the sisters of saint josephs neighborhood network are working wonders with the area, im ot saying were wealthy but not all of us are living on the street, as it had been several years ago, its slowley changing for the better, come on down and see for yourself, and you wont need a gun.

[lukipeni]

Originally Posted by saturdayskids

I think a "poor area" isn't only classified by 'I wonder how much these people make' but also classified as an area that you wouldn't enter after midnight, and would be nervous driving your car in.


There's no area like that in Erie that I've ever come into contact with.

If there's anywhere in Erie that you would consider a ghetto, please inform me so I can take a trip there this weekend and see what people in Erie consider a ghetto. I'd be extremely interested. Unless it's a trailer park or something

You could first try going to the Franklin terrace. I left Erie 12 years ago and I am returning this summer. I used to drive taxi cab in Erie, and let me tell you what, I hated "The Terrace"!

[Ohiogirl81]

^^You won't recognize it. It's in the same place, but it's been cleaned up, and has a different name (which I'm not remembering at the moment).

When I was a kid in the early 60s and lived across East Lake Road from Franklin Terrace, I thought it was the most beautiful place in the world!

[gummer]

Erie does have some very nice neighborhoods but if you check the "data" on the very site you're posting on you would see that 60% of Erie lives under the federal poverty line. Just in the one zip code area of downtown Erie, 99% of the residents are renters. That's a sure sign of ghetto right there. Wikipedia describes ghetto as not being defined by color or crime alone. It is defined by economics. In that sense Erie is most definitely ghetto.

And if you're not from Erie, as I am not from here, the first thing that hits you in the face when you come to this town is the level of rudeness in the locals. I spent years working in a business close to Presque Isle and have met many tourists. I've had so many of them tell me they should nuke this place off the map. Erie is not the worst place to come to, there are others far worse than this. Salamanca is one of them. Now if you want to see something depressing, take a drive around THAT town lol.

[eok]

Originally Posted by gummer

And if you're not from Erie, as I am not from here, the first thing that hits you in the face when you come to this town is the level of rudeness in the locals.

Different people mean different things by rudeness. Some people consider it rude to honk your horn to let your ride know you have arrived. Other people consider drive-by shootings to be rude. Can you give some examples of what you mean by the rudeness of the locals?

[dmcsherlock]

So many pages, so much time wasted over who among you can sound the most politically correct.

The person is asking: Are there violent and ravaged neighborhoods in Erie? Are there violent black neighborhoods that white people should stay out of?

Yes or no. Let people give their opinions and quit admonishing them for being politically incorrect. There are bad white people and bad black people and if we can't get straight talk on City-Data about places to live and visit, where else do we go?

[RebelPhotog]

My job puts me in some bad places after dark. I don't like being in Erie during the day. I don't go there at night. Period.

[eok]

I hope this question isn't too off-topic. Can anyone tell me how high utility bills are in or near Erie? Does your electric bill say how many cents per KWH it is? Does your gas bill say how many cents per CCF or whatever? And does it have various surcharges, etc.? Does anyone who has moved there recently have an impression of whether the utility costs are higher or lower than most places?

[BelieveInCleve]

Well sorry for bringing up this old thread but it's the 1st time I've seen it and I just had to say something about this.

Earlier in this thread there was a member named mrb69 who was trying so hard to prove that Erie was "nothing". I know he's already been proven wrong, but knowing him from the Ohio forum I have to discredit him even further. He's a 16-17 year old high school kid from an average area in Columbus OH. He spends his time on the internet trying to prove how "ghetto" Columbus is by posting on multiple sites making sure everyone knows Columbus is "hood"..., he also has an entire photo album of every abandoned house/business he could find in Columbus and say's that's what the whole city looks like. If you know Columbus, that's absolutely false. Columbus is a growing thriving area that's pretty average, has it's bad areas just like every other large city. Basically what I'm saying is don't believe this kid because he's blinded by his "agenda", which is making sure everyone knows how "hood" Columbus is while putting off other areas as "nothing".

Now to Erie. Erie is not ghetto, but it does have "hoods" and "ghettos". I'm somewhat familiar with the city and there's definitely some areas that you could consider "ghetto". More than anything though it's just a depressed city with a high poverty and vacancy rate. Has it's good, average, and bad areas and for the most part it's pretty average.

[3CardMonty]

With the possible exception of The Boston Store and some of the Gannon off-campus apartments, most of downtown is a dump. Almost anything east of State Street and North of 38th (Mercyhurst Campus where the 'burbs begin) is an absolute cesspit as you get closer to the lake, all the way out to, and including, Harborcreek. I don't feel nervous driving through (but I stay away from side streets in those neighborhoods; I once had a hefty black mama with a penknife decide that she wanted a ride to the Country Fair while I was stopped at a red light trying to turn onto 12th from Ash.) but I would definitely avoid walking around alone at night on the lower east side, and would dread living there.

No, we don't have the crime rate of a metropolis like Detroit or NYC, but knowing that the crime statistics in the city of Erie mean it's more likely that you'll be living next door to a crack den or have your apartment robbed than it is you will be murdered or raped is of little comfort. In the past few months, the area has had a string of convenience store robberies, and in fewer than six months there have been several shootings and stabbings, at least one fatal, outside of east side 'nuisance bars' the city is currently legislating to shut down.

Employment in the city is a joke, with the area's two hospitals taking 1st and Nth place in a recent poll of the 25 area business with the most employers. Also on the list were a number of Temporary agencies who primarily pay minimum wage or just above it. Manufacturing has all but moved out of the area to make way for 'Service Industry' positions, which means if corporate decides to give all us waitresses that $0.30 raise, maybe we can all have more money tip each other more when we go out to eat at Longhorn. And if grandma just picks up a few more shifts greeting people at the Wal-Marts then maybe we'll make rent this month... (you see where I'm going with this).

A community college is currently in the works, it's primary funding expected to be in the form of Casino taxes. So keep gambling into the college fund, I guess. Nevermind that the average cost to the student in loans is roughly 10k per year and that most jobs in new and expanding fields (technology, computers, etc) require a minimum 4 year degree and don't exist in our area. You can never have enough electrician's apprentices. Besides, if even 1 in 4 of those students actually gets a job (and isn't on TAA, collecting unemployment and having the state pay his tuition for those 2 years), the median income is going up. Who cares about the other 3 paying upwards of $150/month and still working at McDonalds? And we've created jobs for at least 30 or so teachers.

Just like the 30-60 jobs we could have created if the proposed plans for the Tires-to-Energy plant, which would convert the rubber in used automotive tires through a process most lay-persons would refer to as 'melting', hadn't been scrapped due to environmental impact and air quality, which is already being poisoned by the Coke bottling factory (using wonderful water, some of the cleanest in the state) which has failed its last few EPA tests.

That water? If you live in Millcreek, expect to pay about $60 more per year. For most Millcreek residents, that isn't breaking the bank, but for those on a fixed income, or living below poverty levels, where's the big rush to improve upon success by updating a system that's already providing some of the purest water available.

Erie is my home. I can't say I wouldn't like living anywhere else, but I sure don't like the thought of leaving. We're large enough to have an impact at the state level, but not so large as to be either self-sustaining nor to face the same issues as larger cities like Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. Our economy seems insulated by relatively low cost-of-living compared to larger cities in the surrounding area much as our weather is insulated by the lake, which can be a major draw for tourist dollars during the summer months. Erie isn't a ghetto in its entirety, but aging low-income housing built in the 40's through the 60's isn't getting any younger, even if its new low income families are. Local politics is a dollars and cents game where the biggest supporter often manages to secure the lowest bid. The lack of jobs in growth industries means more unemployment and the expatriation of our college graduates to larger cities, while few decent paying jobs for blue-collar workers means higher poverty levels and a greater dependence on social services that aren't being paid into by the college grads who've flown the coop. There is a lot to be fixed here, but all in all, it's just about as good or as bad as anyplace else.