Retired vet looking at Erie mostly cuz it’s cheap to live. Thoughts? (York: cheap apartments, to rent)

[folkguitarist555]

The living out in Seattle for years and that place is ridiculously expensive now the average median price for a one bedroom is $1760 now. I’m on a pension and not rich Most of the Seattlites out in Washington. A lot of people including myself, I’ve been pushed out of Seattle as a result of the high cost of living.

I got a few spots on my list from upstate New York to Ohio to West Virginia and also Erie Pennsylvania and Johnstown Pennsylvania. Along a few others.

Can anyone chime in and give me the lowdown on Erie. Is it a safe place? Do they have a decent bus system? Other people friendly enough and welcoming? Is the crime out of control and gangs? Good food?

From my research on city data and craigslist it looks like Erie‘s got really cheap apartments for like all the way down to 500 and 600 bucks. I will go as high as about seven or 750 for an apartment if I have to not wind up in a bad part of town. Also it looks like car insurance rates are really cheap in Pennsylvania as well. Is this true?

I need to escape the ever increasing rents and cost of living that America is falling into.

So if anybody has any thoughts on Erie, I appreciate it. Thank you

[Wells5]

What happened to your plan on moving to the southern tier? First thing you should know is that Erie is in the "snow belt." That whole area is inundated with snow in the winter. There is also significant crime there. There are nice little towns around Erie like Corry, Edinboro, Harborcreek Township and others.

[bridge12]

Don't listen to the folks who think that city = crime. The west side of Erie has some great walkable neighborhoods. I wouldn't kid yourself that it's going to have great public transit, but the bus service is decent for getting to downtown and the mall. And the system itself is pretty modernized with real-time arrival and easy payment. One big thing to keep in mind is lots and lots of snow, especially in the late fall/early winter when it's lake effect season. Ironically, keeping in the city will be better as it's closer to the lake and usually receives a bit less than inland. Not to mention, better maintained roads and bus as opposed to the boonies.

Bus service: https://ride-the-e.com/

[trackstar13]

Erie is a pretty nice place to live and close to lots of farms, parks, and of course a big lake. In terms of cost of living Erie is definitely the cheapest place I have ever lived and the biggest challenge for most is finding a good paying job to enjoy the low cost of living. The downtown has seen a recent rejuvenation and I really like the new Flagship City Food Hall that has many options from local food vendors all under one roof. There are lots of excellent breweries and distilleries in the area and for a city Erie's size some excellent food options. In terms of places to live, I live in the city near Frontier Park on the west end and it is nice to be close to Presque Isle and downtown at the same time so I like it. Erie is relatively safe and most of the city neighborhoods are safe. The one peculiar thing I have noticed about cost of renting vs. owning in Erie is the huge difference in price. My mortgage payment including taxes and insurance is significantly less than half of what it would cost to rent my house. I have not really witnessed something like this in other cities I have lived.

When I moved to Erie 10 years ago not much was happening in the city or the bayfront, but that has completely changed and the area feels much different now with the new Erie Insurance headquarters building, renovated minor league baseball park, renovated Warner Theater, North Park Row renovations and Flagship City Food Hall, new bayfront hotels and restaurants, West Erie Plaza renovations, and new downtown housing options. Erie has really started to feel more like a city lately and it is great to see progress happening despite the obvious gentrification concerns.

[North Beach Person]

https://www.weather.gov/safety/winte...e%20atmosphere.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzLV6MyRMN4

[Ohiogirl81]

That's just a little squall!

[folkguitarist555]

Originally Posted by bridge12

Don't listen to the folks who think that city = crime. The west side of Erie has some great walkable neighborhoods. I wouldn't kid yourself that it's going to have great public transit, but the bus service is decent for getting to downtown and the mall. And the system itself is pretty modernized with real-time arrival and easy payment. One big thing to keep in mind is lots and lots of snow, especially in the late fall/early winter when it's lake effect season. Ironically, keeping in the city will be better as it's closer to the lake and usually receives a bit less than inland. Not to mention, better maintained roads and bus as opposed to the boonies.

Bus service: https://ride-the-e.com/

My friend moved away from Erie after only one year there. She says they didn’t get much snow. This was 6 months ago she moved. She felt unsafe downtown at night. That’s where she lived. But then again she’s a little paranoid to begin with. She mentioned that there was loud blaring rap music from cars at all hours downtown. Well I think there is a VA hospital as well in Erie. I mean it does check a lot of the boxes in regard to what I am looking for. But I don’t want to move to somewhere run down.


I don’t drive when it snows. So I’d be busing it. I’d look to live downtown if possible. But it’s one of a few considerations I have in regard to retirement I’m not all of them are in Pennsylvania. But Erie being as cheap as it is and not huge and crowded with a VA Hospital right in town with cheap rent and low car insurance is really hard to beat
And it’s not too terribly small. Or too big. Plus there’s buses.

[bridge12]

Originally Posted by folkguitarist555

My friend moved away from Erie after only one year there. She says they didn’t get much snow. This was 6 months ago she moved. She felt unsafe downtown at night. That’s where she lived. But then again she’s a little paranoid to begin with. She mentioned that there was loud blaring rap music from cars at all hours downtown. Well I think there is a VA hospital as well in Erie. I mean it does check a lot of the boxes in regard to what I am looking for. But I don’t want to move to somewhere run down.


I don’t drive when it snows. So I’d be busing it. I’d look to live downtown if possible. But it’s one of a few considerations I have in regard to retirement I’m not all of them are in Pennsylvania. But Erie being as cheap as it is and not huge and crowded with a VA Hospital right in town with cheap rent and low car insurance is really hard to beat
And it’s not too terribly small. Or too big. Plus there’s buses.

Yeah, right downtown can sometimes get noisy because people like to show off cars. That being said, once you are a few streets off the "main drag" so to speak, it's much quieter. And I'd live just west of downtown, closer to the lake the better, rather than the east side (which is genuinely more run down, though there are a few nice pockets). I'm surprised your friend said they didn't get much snow! To be fair, as I said, there is a HUGE difference in snow between the city and suburbs. The city is right on the lake so it tends to be warmer in November through January until the lake freezes over, so oftentimes the lake effect snow is actually rain along the lake shore. Specifically, if I were you, I'd target the area west of state street and north of 10th street to look at. It's the nicest part of the city, a mix of apartments and single family homes (some are multiunit), pretty walkable/busable to downtown. The area around Erie cemetery isn't bad either and pretty close to the VA clinic (but maybe not as walkable).

[Pahn]

If you want cheap, come buy my house in Oil City. It’s small town living, but very affordable.

[folkguitarist555]

Originally Posted by Pahn

If you want cheap, come buy my house in Oil City. It’s small town living, but very affordable.

I got zero knowledge of oil city. What’s it like? Your right. Medusa price if a house is $50k. Wow. Unheard of. Is it a run down ghetto or something?