It’s no surprise to anyone that Erie is a dying city. I’ve been hearing it for years, along with things like “get out of here while you still can”. But when I heard that Amazon was looking for a location for a second headquarters, and they were looking for communities to send them applications for their cities, immediately the place I’ve lived in all my life popped in my head. I’m not alone. I have read several letters by citizens who want Amazon to build here. And, on September 14, it was announced Erie was going to apply.
I know nothing about running a business. I know nothing about politics or keeping a community stable or economics. But from what I know about Erie, I still think it would be a good place for Amazon to potentially settle in.
The first reason is its location. Erie is within two hours of three major cities: Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. It is also very close to Canada (you can see it across the lake on a clear day). Erie has a small airport but is again close to many major airports in these other cities. We have a lot of visitors on our small stretch of Interstate-90. And because we are a medium-sized city, the traffic in the city is not all that bad. It may not seem like it on a Saturday morning on Peach Street, but I’ve been in larger cities occasionally and yes, it could be much worse.
The second reason is the universities. Erie is quickly becoming a college town. We have four universities: Edinboro, Gannon, Mercyhurst, and Penn State’s Behrend College. As a student at Mercyhurst who is already looking for a potential job, having a major company move into my college town new and open for graduates to fill it would be so convenient. The programs in intelligence, communications, business, and the arts from these universities are top-notch and graduates would thrive in a place like Amazon. (Plus think of all the Amazon Prime traffic they would get from the thousands of students!)
The third reason is the people. The people in Erie are very loyal and proud of their city. There are so many small businesses all around the city. We have several venues for performing arts, three sports teams, a zoo, an amusement park, competitive high schools, and the peninsula. We may be a blip on a map, the tiny jut sticking out of Pennsylvania, but we are a living, breathing community starting to be desperate for something big to happen.
Hey, it’s a bit of a shot in the dark, since we are going up again major, thriving cities. And the fact that in my recent job searches Amazon jobs keep popping up has a tiny bit to do with this too. I will be watching closely, no matter what the outcome. Perhaps this will do some good for us. If not Amazon, then someone else.
