I moved from Youngstown, Ohio to Erie, a town I knew little about, in 2019 to begin a job I knew even less about: events and marketing manager at the Erie Downtown Partnership (EDP). My background in community development, concert production, and event promotion seemed a great fit for the role, but I did not know if I would enjoy living and working in Erie. As I have recently transitioned to a new job, I have been thinking a lot about 2019, moving to this city for my previous role, and what attracted me to Erie in the first place.
At the time, I didn’t care too much. I wanted a change of scenery, and I was deciding between a job offer in Pittsburgh and this job offer in Erie. After completing my second interview at EDP and having a good feeling about the job, I spent the rest of the day wandering the Bayfront, Presque Isle, and the surrounding neighborhoods to get a feel for the city I may soon call home. It was on this day that I realized Erie had everything I was looking for.
A few things immediately struck me about the Gem City: its manageable size, its accessibility, and its concentration of amazing resources and institutions. Growing up in Ohio, I was used to much more urban sprawl. Cities that experienced most of their population boom in a post-industrial America dominated by cars tend to be shackled to some less than convenient (and often sinister, racist, redline-influenced) planning practices: highways cutting neighborhoods off from urban centers, little to no thought given to public transportation infrastructure, and 30-minute vehicular commutes to traverse across town for groceries and shopping…