I lived in Phoenix, Az. for over 26 years and moved to California for about 8 years and the crowded area and cost of living convinced me to look for an area to spend my retirement years. My son had move to Erie
about nine years ago from Scottsdale, my first reaction was why would he move to an area that I had the perception was a declining economic location with severe weather conditions. After visiting Erie on a few occasions I began to research the demographics of the area after a major casino/race track invested $250 million dollars in Erie. I down loaded the feasibility study submitted to the State of Pa. and found that Erie was within 500 miles of 50% of the population of the United States, had beautiful beaches that attracted millions of tourists, had over 4,000 hotel rooms (currently over 5,000), had many attractions such as Family Sports Park, Waldemeer Park, Splash Lagoon, had a great medical community, four universities, professional theatre and plays,
GE employs over 5,000 people, many, many golf courses and a series of community events and concerts that tie the community together. Couple this with a small town atmosphere with plenty of things to do in a beautiful country setting with country living, at A VERY REASONABLE COST OF LIVING AND REAL ESTATE.

Erie has been chosen as the gambling center of Pa. with a new up-dated race track and casino that has attracted tourists from the surrounding states and Canada. The State of Pa. has supported the re-vitalization of the Erie downtown, Erie has a new up-scale Convention Center with a connected hotel on the Bayfront. Erie is on the move and is in the process of changing from a large manufacturing focus to a tourist attraction and a great place to raise a family who enjoys the four seasons. Check out http://www.whyerie.com and investigate whether this City
and area works for you.