An Advisory Services Panel of the Urban Land Institute was in Erie, PA, July 29 to August 3, 2018. Eight ULI members interviewed 70 community stakeholders, toured Erie’s downtown and neighborhoods, and responded to nine questions posed by the Erie team. The partners involved in bringing ULI to Erie included the Erie Downtown Development Corporation, the Erie Community Foundation, Erie Insurance, the Jefferson Educational Society, and the City of Erie. Initial recommendations were presented at the end of the week, and, today, the final report is being released.
While the ULI report is mostly focused on development within the EDDC footprint, the City gleaned some key take-aways in terms of organizational structure and implementation of Erie Refocused. Much of the guidance ties into the bigger picture of urban development and is in lock-step with current and future initiatives and plans.
Thanks to the vast experience of the team that visited Erie, City Planner, Kathy Wyrosdick, spent much of the fall following up with the ULI team on their insights. Attached are some specific actions we will be taking in regard to the following recommendations:
- Understand and embrace the economics of the downtown market and factors that are driving Erie’s economy.
- Create an inventory of land assets, including blighted, vacant, and delinquent properties. Streamline process to convert properties into productive uses.
- Cultivate a culture of inclusion, communication, and accountability for the public, private, and nonprofit sectors as the EDDC and the city lead the effort to reimagine Erie.
- Adopt a set of guiding principles for the redevelopment of downtown.
- Redevelop the EDDC footprint with a variety of mixed-use projects.
- Create a new organizational structure in the city and strengthen the Planning Department
- Enhance financial capacity to do public/private partnerships and identify internal and external funding sources.
- Reimagining Erie Task Force and community engagement initiatives to create a Mayor’s Task Force and to perform more targeted outreach to community leaders.
According to EDDC CEO John Persinger, “The Advisory Panel was impressed with the alignment of interests in Erie with the creation of the EDDC; a new, enthusiastic Mayor; an engaged, knowledgeable County Executive; an active Business/University/Hospital leadership group; an engaged Community Foundation; and active neighborhood leadership. But they stressed that we are at a tipping point. It is our opportunity, as a Community, to continue to work together to move the needle forward.”
Mayor Schember cited his optimism for the community, saying that he believes our brightest days are in front of us. He stressed that, “This team of experts that came from all across the country and is dispatched to cities and countries all of the world, wrote that ‘Erie’s waterfront and natural amenities are a strength matched by few markets’, and that with the 4 million tourists that visit Presque Isle State Park annually, we have an enormous opportunity impact our downtown.” He also noted that the report highlighted that our “New Americans can provide a cultural opportunity and economic activity through unique retail and restaurants.”
To read the ULI report in its entirety, visit the EDDC website (www.erieddc.org) or the Urban Land Institute website (https://americas.uli.org/).
