Money’s Top 100 Best Places to Live (population < 300,000) is out and two Pennsylvania “cities” made the list this year. The quotation marks are there because they’re not really cities. They’re townships: Abington Township (#29 – a suburb of Philadelphia) and Millcreek Township (#79 – a suburb of Erie). Here’s what Money had to say about Millcreek Township:
From fishing and boating on Lake Erie in the summer to hunting, hiking, and skiing during the cooler months, there’s always something to do in Millcreek.
There are miles of beaches at Presque Isle Park, plus many creeks that provide rich spots for steelhead trout fishermen. And when a craving for city culture hits, Pittsburgh is just a two hour drive away.
The comments on the article, most of which are from current or past residents or either Millcreek or the City of Erie, are pretty interesting, including some that lampoon the article for stating that Pittsburgh is only an hour away. Since that’s not how the article reads, either the article was amended or a few of the commenters misread the article.
What do you think… does Millcreek deserve to be considered as an entity separate from the City of Erie? What would Millcreek be if it didn’t have the amenities of Erie (baseball, hockey, zoo, festivals, museums, live theatre, etc.) or is a better public school system and lower crime rate enough for Millcreek to stand alone?
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The Moonie Washington Times covered the Global Intelligence Forum that was recently held in Ireland, mentioning both Mercyhurst College and Erie being Tom Ridge’s hometown.
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There’s an article in the Payson Roundup out of Payson, Arizona about a two-week Great Lakes cruise from Chicago, Illinois to Rhode Island. The cost of the cruise ($4,295) includes your cabin on the 98-passenger Grande Mariner cruise ship, meals, snacks, beverages, and hotel rooms, when applicable. Interestingly, and quite different than any cruise I’ve ever been on, this is a BYOB cruise. Alcohol is permitted, but it is not sold on the ship. You have to bring your own. Of course, this cruise ship is also much smaller than what most people picture when they think of a cruise ship. The company that offers this cruise also offers quite a few other cruises, too. Check out Great Lakes Cruises for more information.
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According to weather.com, there’s about a 30% chance of isolated thunderstorms from now through Saturday. As much as I hate to wish rain upon us, according to the USGS, we could use a few raindrops. We in Erie County, along with 17 other counties in Pennsylvania, are currently under a drought watch. And that’s in addition to the two counties (Columbia and Montour) that are in a drought emergency and five (Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Northumberland. and Adams) that under a drought warning.
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For quite some time now, Mike Janisch of Dunkirk, New York, has been waiting to obtain permission to erect a wind tower on his property. And, after a recent town meeting, it appears he’s going to have to keep waiting. Speaking on Mr. Janisch’s behalf were Mark Rand, who already constructed a wind tower and on his property and invited the town board to come see the structure for themselves. Also speaking at the meeting was Erieite Lisa DiFrancisco, of North Coast Energy Systems, who told the town board that she’s had experience dealing with municipalities on this topic in the past.
Does anyone know if there are any private residences in Erie County that have a wind tower on the property? The only one I can remember seeing is the one at Presque Isle State Park near the Stull Center.
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The University of Michigan apparently had a problem with the size of Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, namely that it had more seats than its Ann Arbor bowl. So, despite tuition hikes squeezing students and the economy forcing layoffs at the university, the U of M decided it had to spend $226 million to add 3,700 seats. A small price to pay to say yours is bigger. For now…
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To add insult to injury, Penn State was recently ranked a shocking fifth in the nation for tailgating.
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Tour de France
Sprint finishes at the Tour de France are often a crazy with dozens of riders hammering the pedals shoulder to shoulder at speeds over 30 mph. But yesterday’s finish on the 11th stage featured a first – a rider headbutting another. Aussie rider Mark Renshaw thought rival Julian Dean was drifting into his path by the finish line, so he gave Dean a few shots with his head. This move allowed Renshaw’s teammate to win the stage. Renshaw was quickly disqualified by the tour officials. Renshaw has already been offered a contract by the Philadelphia Flyers.
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NCAA Hockey
The NCAA has awarded its “Frozen Four” Division I Men’s Ice Hockey championship to Pittsburgh for 2013 and to Philadelphia in 2014. Uh, no pressure there, Mercyhurst.
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Other Stuff
(LeBron) James Drain hits Cleveland. Will the Cuyahoga River re-ignite now that LeBron James is moving to South Beach?
The term “city” really has a flexible meaning in PA. It’s not only used to reference municipalities that are incorporated as a city.
Technically, Allentown, the state’s 3rd largest “city”, isn’t a city at all. It is incorporated instead as a “Home Rule Municipality”, the same charter Edinboro and Cambridge Springs are incorporated under (the latter two are referred to as boroughs, but that designation is in name only).
Millcreek would be nothing without Erie. Yet, Millcreek politics don’t reflect this, and in fact are very parochial and nostalgic. It is this very type of thinking that holds the region back–every municipality wants to maintain their own identity, but they do it at the expense of cooperation that in the end would be beneficial for all.
>or is a better public school system and lower crime rate enough for Millcreek to stand alone<
Neither of those issues made me choose to buy a house in Millcreek and not the City of Erie. It was the fact that the same house in Erie would be about $3000 in taxes per year, whereas in Millcreek I pay about $1300. That's almost $150 more per month in a house payment just to cover those taxes.
Not exactly sure what all that gets you either, aside from a higher water bill.
I don't know how you can estimate what Millcreek would be like "without" Erie. I mean they are frickin' land masses with folks on them, they've been stitched together since the last tectonic plate shifts. They've grown up together… how could you envision or comprehend what a Millcreek would look like in the middle of Crawford County or something, I don't get it.
It's a much different argument then saying something like "Edinboro would be nothing without EUP".. yea that I can get, EUP is something that could be dissolved and would have drastic effects on Edinboro.
I think you have it the other way around – Erie would be nothing without Millcreek. Many people who work in Erie, live in Millcreek. Erie has tried to annex the township many times and I applaud the township for resisting.
The same thing happens here – the city tries to annex unincorporated land just as a resource and tax base grab. Anyone remember Kearsarge?
I think it was hysterical that the article mentioned Pittsburgh as only two hours away and blew off Erie totally – The only reason Pittsburgh can say that is the rise in the speed limit – It used to be over 3 hours away at 55mph.
I’ve lived in both Millcreek and the City of Erie and they both have their pros and cons. But to say that Erie would be nothing without Millcreek is just… weird. What is there to do in Millcreek, other than shop, eat at chain restaurants, or watch airplanes land and take off?
As for the tax difference… Erie has a paid fire department. Additionally, 41% of the property in the City of Erie is not on the tax rolls, and those tax exempt properties all benefit Millcreek residents (hospitals, institutions of higher learning, the zoo, the sports venues, the playhouse, the Warner, the museums, the main library, the court house, and countless other smaller nonprofits), therefore the residents who do pay taxes have to shoulder the burden. Move most or all of those places to Millcreek and watch what happens to their taxes. Ditto a paid fire department.
I hear ya Lory, although it’s not my fault that Erie let so much land go the way of tax exemption, especially around all the property the schools gobble up.
If the fires in millcreek are getting put out in the same fastidious manner as Erie then congrats to Millcreek finding a method that’s more efficient.
Hell, Millcreek just ranked in the top 9% for fire protection so it can’t be all bad… http://www.millcreektownship.com/iso/index.htm
inkedup, of the white collar professionals I work closely with (at a City of Erie business), 1 lives in Summit, 2 live in McKean, 1 lives in Fairview, and 2 live in Millcreek. An additional 1 co-worker and 2 interns live in Erie, but guess what, they rent.
>What is there to do in Millcreek, other than shop, eat at chain restaurants, or watch airplanes land and take off?<
Presque Isle, Nice Compost Center, Asbury Woods, Walnut Creek Access, 4 large parks, 14 neighborhood parks, a golf club (thanks erie), almost every single retail outlet of any decent size, etc…
Municipal Consolidation-why Erie and Millcreek should merge
A municipality should consider consolidation of an area if it satisfies the following criteria:
1. the area must be adjoining to the municipality’s boundaries
CHECK
2. the area must be reasonably compact and well interconnected
CHECK (short commutes)
3. the area must be developed for urban purposes or must be so situated that it constitutes a necessary land connection between developed areas. Communities have a history of working together.
CHECK, borders are very much unidentifiable, mutual aid, Council of Govt’s, etc
4. Appointed and elected officials know their peers in neighboring municipalities and have already developed good relationships with them.
CHECK
5. Communities perceive a mutual benefit to sharing services that is reasonably equivalent for all parties.
NAY, general ignorance of populous due to brain drain
6. Cost savings outweigh a perceived loss of control by the participating parties. This is an issue that becomes less difficult to negotiate if there is a previous working relationship between the municipalities.
NAY, our local politicians are power hungry and most would not likely sacrifice their own jobs for the greater good
7. The existing services provided by the communities are comparable, or there is a recognition that service to residents could be improved if the communities worked together.
WASH
Social Criteria:
1. Shared Newspaper, Television, other media, covering both municipalities
CHECK
2. Shared domain of USPS mailing address: does one municipality utilize the name of the other for mail purposes?
CHECK
3. When out of town, do citizens of one municipality utilize the name of the other for their own origin identification?
CHECK
4. Medical, do citizens primarily use the medical institutions located in the the other municipality?
CHECK
5. Do families send their children to private schools int he other municipality?
CHECK
6. Do municipalities share public amenities related to sports, art and entertainment?
CHECK
Nick… I’m not sure what areas you were looking in, but I did a little research re: taxes for similar homes in Erie and Millcreek.
I found a home in Southland Village in Millcreek and a house in Glenwood Hills that are similar – 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 car garage, central air, lots almost exactly the same square footage. The taxes on the home in Glenwood Hills are listed as $4,780. The taxes on the home in Millcreek are listed as $4,820. The main differences are that the Glenwood Hills home is older, brick, has about 100 more square feet of living area, and has one more fireplace than the newer, vinyl-sided Millcreek home. Oh, and the Glenwood Hills home doesn’t look like every other house on its street. ;)
I’m sure if I looked, I could find an example of similar homes where the Erie taxes are higher. But my point is that I don’t think the taxes are as astronomically different as many people believe them to be.
Don’t get me wrong… I like Millcreek. I lived in Millcreek for a lot of years. And if you want to compare municipal governments, I’ll give the win to Millcreek hands down. But for entertainment and activities, Erie gets the win. Oh, and Erie also gets the win for (for the most part) having sidewalks. The lack of sidewalks in Millcreek has always been a huge pet peeve of mine.
“Oh, and the Glenwood Hills home doesn’t look like every other house on its street.” – Great line! Best homes in Erie are in the Glenwood area, Frontier and even the lower West side. All unique, with character and history. The supposed ‘hero’ developers operating in Millcreek, etc are destroying our quality of housing stock one driveway at a time. Sadly, our citizenry is rather naive and conformist and are willing to pay for and live in mediocrity.
Yes, the article was originally written saying that Pittsburgh was only a short one hour drive from Millcreek.
It has since been changed.