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It's a safe bet to assume nobody else has started an Erie, Pennsylvania vs. Lowell, Massachusetts thread, so I decided to do so.
The skinny: Erie and Lowell are two small cities of approximately 100,000 residents. Both cities are historically industrial centers for their regions. Erie is well-known for locomotive-building and plastics processing, whereas Lowell is synonymous with textiles. Both have suffered from deindustrialization and urban flight, and have had to adjust their economies accordingly. Based on past history, I would have to say that Lowell wins hands down in this category, due to being the first planned industrial city in the United States.
Erie and Lowell are both ethnic melting pots. In modern times, Lowell has a large Asian population (consisting mainly of Cambodians from what I have gathered), and Erie boasts sizable Hispanic (with Puerto Ricans being the dominant group) and Bosnian communities. Erie's historic Little Italy, centered mainly around West 18th Street between Sassafras and Cherry Streets, is home to many great, long-standing Italian businesses. In the days of the mills, hard-working immigrants from basically all corners of the world settled in Lowell for a fresh start, as well as to raise their families. Erie is no different: many second and third-generation Italian, German, Polish, Russian, and Irish families still call The Flagship City home, as did their grandparents/great-grandparents many decades ago. As for Lowell, in the words of Mickey O'Keefe: "The Irish built them canals." Tie.
Both Erie and Lowell boast great urban higher-education institutions (Downtown Erie has Gannon University, and Lowell is home to UMass Lowell) as well as great parks (Presque Isle State Park in Erie, and Lowell National Historical Park in its' Massachusetts counterpart). Tie.
Crime-wise, both cities are relatively safe for their size. However, Erie saw 12 murders in 2010 (after many years of single-digit counts), compared to Lowell's 1 (down from 13 in '06). Based on the statistics on this very website, I would have to say Erie wins in this category. Then again, I have only visited Lowell as opposed to being a current Erie resident, so please feel free to politely dispute this.
In the sports category, it's too close to call. Locally, the Otters (OHL Hockey), Seawolves (AA Eastern League baseball), and Explosion (indoor football) are Erie's hometown teams. Lowell is home to the NY-Penn League baseball Lowell Spinners and LeLacheur Park, and the former home of the American Hockey League's Lowell Lock Monsters/Devils, who played their home games at Tsongas Arena. Regionally, Erie mainly roots for the Pittsburgh teams (Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins) with a few Buffalo/Cleveland fans (to say nothing of a rather sizable Detroit Tigers fanbase, due to the Seawolves being Detroit's AA affiliate). As for Lowell, I would have to be blind not to notice the proliferation of Tom Brady and Wes Welker (among other Patriots) jerseys that dot the city's pubs and watering holes during NFL season, as well as a large number of Lowellians' Red Sox caps during baseball season. It is also a safe bet to assume that many Lowell residents drive around with Celtics or Bruins stickers on their cars as well It is also worth noting that Lowell is the hometown of boxing brothers Micky Ward (known for his classic battles with Arturo Gatti) and Dick Eklund (unfortunately and sadly known more for his addiction to crack cocaine than for his "knockdown" of Sugar Ray Leonard in '78). Again, a tie.
Lowell in my opinion has an edge over Erie as far as public transportation goes, given its' proximity to Boston and having its own MBTA Rail Line serving the city. Additionally, I find Erie's EMTA bus drivers to have about as much friendliness and personality as that two-week old eggplant sitting in your Grandma's refrigerator.
Both cities are close to major population centers. Erie is located in Northwestern Pennsylvania, sandwiched between Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh (as well as within reasonable driving distance to both Columbus, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan, two major Midwestern metros). However, Lowell's closeness to Boston probably gives it the edge in this category as well.
I confess that I am not familiar with Lowell's nightlife/bar scene (maybe someone from that area can add to this), but I can tell you that Erie has quite a lot going for it in that category. Several blocks of State Street (Erie's main north-south downtown street) have been christened the "State Street Entertainment District", and are home to such local favorites as The Cell Block, Sherlock's, Plymouth Tavern, and JR's Last Laugh Comedy Club. The Boardwalk Complex on North Park Row is also a popular party destination. In all fairness to the good people of Lowell, I'll leave it up to the community to pick a winner in this category.
WINNER: I can't pick one. That's what makes the Erie vs. Lowell thread a good one. Let's see what my fellow CDers have to say.
Lowell is the classic mill city ( literally came from a 5 family village before the mills). It has decent nightlife and has even a few suburbs, despite being so close to Boston. Erie existed before it's mill era moreso than Lowell so it hs some architecture from before say 1830. I have to say Erir has a nicer location and a very unitlized waterfront, but Lowell has beautiful Canals that Course through the town. Lowell was also on the path to revitalization before Erie, Lowell fed of the Massachusetts Mirical in the 90s- early00 s
Based on it's engineering program and intergration with the City I would have to say Umass edges out it's competiter.
Erie is more Dominte of it's region as a whole, and has more of an Identity as anyone ouside of Lowell lumps Ot with Lawrence, Haverhill and other Merrimack mill towns.
Forgot something, Lake Erie is a much better amenity than the Merrimack River (today anyway). But Lowell has a State forest just Northwest of Downtown, as well as white water rafting right through the center of the city on the Concord River. Erie must have a better reputation in its state, its pretty hard to have a worse reputation than Lowell in its own state.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Originally Posted by btownboss4
Forgot something, Lake Erie is a much better amenity than the Merrimack River (today anyway). But Lowell has a State forest just Northwest of Downtown, as well as white water rafting right through the center of the city on the Concord River. Erie must have a better reputation in its state, its pretty hard to have a worse reputation than Lowell in its own state.
Lawrence, Lynn, Springfield, & Brockton got it worse than Lowell. At least Lowell has an interesting downtown, the college, and has recently enchanced its historical areas. Lowell also has a large Asian population so there's a lot of great Thai and Vietnamese restaurants there also and Beer Works!
its pretty hard to have a worse reputation than Lowell in its own state.
Holyoke, Springfield, Brockton and Fall River seem to pull that off well. I think Lowell has a better (and improving) reputation than most cities in MA outside of Boston. Still, it's not great, but it's getting better.
I don't know anything about Erie. I do, however, really like Lowell. I would imagine that given Erie's location away from other major cities (Lowell is close to Boston and has two neighboring cities of comparable size) that Erie is MUCH more of a regional center than Lowell and as a result, feels quite a bit larger.
What makes Erie better if you had a family? does it have signifagantly better schools?, its about as Dangerous as Lowell.
The City of Erie School District has been talking about closing schools, and a couple of years or so ago faced a $26 million deficit. I would look into Millcreek, Harborcreek, or General McLane schools over the City schools.
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It is also worth noting that Lowell is the hometown of boxing brothers Micky Ward (known for his classic battles with Arturo Gatti) and Dick Eklund (unfortunately and sadly known more for his addiction to crack cocaine than for his "knockdown" of Sugar Ray Leonard in '78). Again, a tie.
