Making a Small City Smaller: A Transplant's Love Letter to Erie

Dave Tamulonis

Oh Erie, how do we love thee? Dave Tamulonis counts the ways. As a somewhat recent transplant to Erie, Dave examines all that our small city has to offer that cities of similar (or even larger) sizes tend to lack, like short commutes, a robust music scene, and well-established cultural institutions.

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.

Erie seemed dense by comparison, with relatively flat and bike-friendly roads leading from most neighborhoods directly into the heart of the city. The amount of time I've saved by having a 7-minute commute (by bike) to work is invaluable. I was also impressed by the amount of green space. I've lived in the West Bayfront neighborhoods in various spots throughout my time in Erie and have always been a short walk away from two of the city's most incredible parks (Bayview and Gridley) along with the beautiful Bayfront itself.

While most of my columns bemoan our lack of pedestrian infrastructure, we are lucky to have what we do in a city with a population of only 100,000 or so, including our many opportunities. Because of our geography and current built environment, we are in a position where improving what we have is not as heavy a lift as it could be. Working in community development in Ohio, we had several major challenges with accessibility such as long walk routes to schools and institutions that the sprawl made more difficult to tackle. One reason that post-industrial cities with a larger footprint are less able to handle issues like a shrinking tax base is because the city still must manage and render services to such a large area with those dwindling resources. Economies of scale and efficiencies become harder to achieve over time as the population declines. Similarly, Erie has the institutions of a large city built for many more people, but those institutions have worked very hard to remain in place and serve the current population and surrounding area. Institutions like the Warner Theatre, Erie Playhouse, expERIEnce Children's Museum, Erie Art Museum, the Jefferson Education Society, and our amazing SeaWolves and Otters have pivoted and positioned themselves to continue to deliver amazing entertainment and education for our community. Erie's population is also fully invested in our collective success. The popularity of the Erie Community Foundation's Erie Gives Day is proof that ordinary citizens and philanthropists alike see the value in supporting these institutions and their continued service to our community.

Now that the more technical benefits are out of the way, it's time to discuss something that only became apparent to me after several months of living and working here; something that I think is Erie's greatest asset as a destination or potential home to young professionals: the amazing people that live and work here. This may be the nature of the line of work I found myself in, but I believe Erie has a very low ceiling for community involvement. I found it very easy to engage with all of the amazing things happening in Erie and quickly build a social circle of like-minded people and close friends. If you are interested in making something happen, getting involved in something, or just learning, chances are you can find someone doing that particular thing at a pretty high level, easily reach out to them, and get involved. This goes for the music scene (which I'll touch on later), our robust theater scene, professional opportunities, civics, hobbies, faith communities, special interests, sports, and tons of other areas.

Erie has many professional social opportunities that prioritize networking and casual connections. It's very simple to join the Emerging Erie Fund, Young Erie Professionals, or Radius CoWork and immediately be plugged into the top 75 or so important things that are happening in the city, socially or professionally. It may be taken for granted, but I believe this to be a resource (and attitude) that is very hard to come by in other similarly sized cities. While we often lament gatekeeping in our professional circles, I've seen much worse entrenchment and stagnation elsewhere. Erie also has a strong social club scene, something that was an entirely new concept to me, and any club I've visited has been very welcoming. I don't have children, but I see numerous opportunities for after school education programs, community centers, summer recreation programs, and public spaces for children to play and connect in. An abundance of social engagement opportunities for all ages is a sign of a healthy city. People here are also very friendly and welcoming, eager to bring you into their world and explain it.

One great example is the Erie music scene. A healthy music scene should have 1. Easy-to-access, entry-level opportunities for aspiring artists. 2. An abundance of venues and opportunities to perform and hone your skills  3. A great network of bands in communication with each other, open to expanding their networks and sharing opportunities 4. Equal opportunities for cover artists and original musicians to make money performing, and 5. Clear paths to advance to playing at larger venues for wider audiences.     

Erie has an incredibly dense and talented music scene for the size city we live in. Part of that is due to the robust system of support we have in place for each new artist that comes into the pipeline. Several open mic events are held around town on a weekly basis, there are many music education institutions and residencies, songwriting workshops take place regularly, and an overall attitude of openness and encouragement gives new artists the confidence to step into these spaces and try new things. There are entry level gig opportunities for artists and bands that perfect their songs at open mics at venues like Philly on the Rocks, Room 33, City Gallery, and Lavery's Bunker. A summer built around outdoor events has created a culture in Erie that respects and accepts live music as a key component of the social fabric of our community. Cultural institutions and nonprofits like the Erie Art Museum, LEAF, Erie Downtown Partnership, Erie Downtown Development Corporation, and Presque Isle Partnership all create paid opportunities for local musicians to perform. Artists are paid (relatively) well for gigs at this level and can justify investing their free time and energy into improving as musicians and songwriters. There are also opportunities to perform at higher levels with professional production in higher capacity venues. Artists can graduate to perform at Centennial Hall, Liberty Park's 8 Great Tuesdays, Blues and Jazz Fest, Big Bar, Oliver's Beer Garden, and Celebrate Erie. The scene is far from perfect, but our music ecosystem is built to foster new talent and support existing talent with regular opportunities which is far more than can be said about even some cities that are larger than us. I remember talking to friends and music colleagues from the hyper-competitive and over-saturated Nashville scene who were incredibly jealous at the frequency us Erie musicians can play and get paid, not to mention how much farther that gig money goes with the much lower cost of living in Erie.

It also helps to have a thriving local arts and culture media landscape. The Reader that you hold in your hands right now contains monthly critical reviews of local releases, a dense calendar of local music and theater performances, and a yearly awards edition celebrating the best of Erie's performers and artists among many other categories. The critical recognition and celebration of local artists is important for legitimizing the creative work done in the region and helps set a bar others entering the scene can aspire to. All subjective awards are polarizing, but it's just as important to have healthy, good-natured competition in a scene as well as an atmosphere of mutual respect that encourages collaboration.

One of the most consistent points I hope to drive home with this column is the advantages and opportunities for livability that small cities like Erie can provide. A small city is neither a suburb nor a major city; it offers proximity to resources, accessibility, and big city institutions and entertainment without the drawbacks like traffic, high cost of living, and overcrowding. I think lifelong Erieites tend to suffer from the same malaise anyone will in their hometown if they stick around long enough. I had the same feelings about Youngstown, Ohio before moving here. My message to the lifers is that I hope this article reframes your hometown for you through the eyes of someone in a unique position to appreciate its strengths. Erie is a wonderful place to call home and I'm happy to be here.

Dave Tamulonis is an educator and musician living in Erie. He is the director of grants at the City of Erie and lives in the West Bayfront with his wife Marissa, dog Esthera Minerva, and cat Cherry Blossom.