A hint of life in the City of Erie (Pittsburgh: 2009, mortgage)

[scottrpriester]

Alot of people post questions like "is Erie like this" or "is Erie like that". Here is some insight to what life is like for many in my former hometown. Very sad.


GoErie.com: Local News - The face of poverty in Erie

[Internet Superman]

I had made some comments in the past about Erie and also Pittsburgh and no one pays me any mind.

I have relatives in Erie that works and has good jobs and they can afford their mortgage but cannot afford the taxes. And they have good jobs!

Last summer, I took one family member up a couple of boxes of vegetables from my garden and they left it on the front porch to rot - because they said they didn't know where it came from and maybe it was delivered to the wrong house. They didn't want any charity or handouts.

I have seen both sides of Erie. Two of my one cousins nephews works at GE and as of November 15th - they no longer have a job! GE Transportation has the best record for profits of all the divisions of GE. But GE Transportation had no orders this year for new locomotives and they are about ready to finish filling the outstanding orders and then the place might actually close for good - because it is just too big to keep open with no money coming in. The layoff right now will affect 1,400 workers at GE.

There is a machine shop up the street that did support work for GE, they announced last month that they are leaving 240 workers go as of Oct 31, 2009 and closing their doors forever.

It's a trickle down effect, one person looses their job directly and 4 other people looses their jobs someplace else because no one has any money and the people working in the stores - who depends on the business from the employees of GE to come in and spend their money - will not have any money when their unemployment runs out.

The same is true in Pittsburgh. You can't just move to Pittsburgh or any other town in Pennsylvania right now and expect that when you get there that you will find work. Not just a good paying job, but any job.

Just like the Jobe's in the Grapes of Wrath. They wern't looking to make money, they just wanted to make enough money to be able to afford to eat. When you can't even make enough money to buy food and keep a roof over your heads, then it is time to get out.

That's the basic problem with immigration. People immigrates from other places, they are so desperate for work that they will work for any amount of money. In time they will drive down the amount of money that a employer is willing to pay until they drive the economy down to the point of where it is as bad as or worse then the place that they were running from and they end up going back to where they came from or they move on to another place and start the process all over again.

The Competition for Low-Wage Jobs - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com

[Internet Superman]

Read this - Our high, high standard of living | Wise Bread

[scottrpriester]

Originally Posted by Internet Superman

I had made some comments in the past about Erie and also Pittsburgh and no one pays me any mind.

That may be because your posts turn in to short stories.

[Internet Superman]

I guess you want a simple answer to a complex question.

Like how to make Plutonium from common household items?

Philo' Farnsworth from the movie UH 62 gives a recipe for homemade plutonium that calls for ingredients at hand: an egg beater, a car battery and a bowl of strawberry Jell-O, put in a microwave for twelve minutes at 8000 degrees, and "leave your house for several hours".

[scottrpriester]

Originally Posted by Internet Superman

I guess you want a simple answer to a complex question

I don't want to have to read a novel for a simple point to be posted. I think you should change your screen name from "Internet Superman" to "Irritating Superman".

[Ohiogirl81]

A good story, but I don't see it being unique to Erie.

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

That may be because your posts turn in to short stories.

Not to mention misspellings, poor grammar, fallacies and red herrings.

[scottrpriester]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

A good story, but I don't see it being unique to Erie.

Well, lots of people ask what life is like in the city, I think it gives a good glimpse of the state of the city.

[pman]

not to nitpick, but Pennsylvania isn;t the only place where it's tough to find a job now. many, though not all, the former boomtowns that people just up and moved to are worse. that said, I hadn't heard that about GE, which is depressing. I hear they are working on Amtrak to try to offer them upgaded locomotives that emit fewer particulates and use less fuel. Amtrak owns a few hundred locomotives so it would be a sizable order, not enough to keep them in business forever, but enough to keep them on the job...isn't this what the stimulus money is for? GE also said their erie plant might be able to develop a diesel electric hyrbid.

[scottrpriester]

Originally Posted by pman

not to nitpick, but Pennsylvania isn;t the only place where it's tough to find a job now.

I wasn't trying to paint that kind of picture. There have been many posts on the topic of "Is Erie like this" or "Is Erie like that".......I just thought that article gave some insight on what's going on in the city.