We all plan for our futures, but we rarely plan for all of our futures. Destination Erie fills this need for Erie County. It is the first attempt by our region to think and work together on our future in a comprehensive way. And it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to combine good data and Erie values into an approach to building a future that works for all of us.

Over the last three years, more than thirty-five hundred residents from every corner of Erie County lent their ideas and efforts to help create the Destination Erie Regional Plan, a 25-year strategy for Erie County’s future.

The Destination Erie Regional Plan accomplishes two goals:

•ItdefinesourDESTINATION by describing the future Erie County residents have said they want; and,

•ItprovidesuswithaROAD MAP, a set of recommendations and initiatives that we will need to undertake to reach our destination.

Before we can start Erie County’s journey towards its DESTINATION, we need to know where we are now.

The Destination Erie Consortium examined the trends and conditions that are driving the future of Erie County and the five-county Erie Region (Erie, Crawford, and Warren Counties in Pennsylvania, Ashtabula County in Ohio, and Chautauqua County in New York) and found:

The Erie Region faces significant challenges. As the chart to the left shows, growth in our population, workforce and jobs have all been flat and we lag behind the state and nation in important areas. The rate of poverty in Erie County exceeds that of Pennsylvania as a whole and more than one out of four Erie County children (28.0% in 2013) live in poverty.

Even though our population hasn’t grown, we continue to spread out, using more and more land and building costly additional infrastructure, to the point where only 15% of our neighborhoods can be considered affordable in terms of housing and transportation costs.

Our economy is not diverse enough and higher-paying sectors and industries are under-represented in our region. And the high-skilled portion of our workforce is smaller than that of the rest of the country and many are nearing retirement.

At the same time, the Erie Region has significant strengths and assets. The portion of our population made up of full- or part-time university students is 25% larger than that of the country as a whole and these students can become our workforce of the future.

We have real depth in a number of industries and the potential for even greater strength in others through local research and development.

We attract 4 million visitors every year to Presque Isle alone and have the natural resources necessary to attract visitors year-round.

We have a strong civic infrastructure network made up of 1,400 non-profits and volunteer groups with revenue and expenditures of more than $1.2 billion annually.

The Destination Erie Regional Plan outlines how we can use our strengths and assets to overcome the challenges we are facing.

ERIE COUNTY has crossed the finish line to create the Destination Erie Regional Plan, but we are just at the starting line to put the plan into action. Implementing the Destination Erie Regional Plan will take years of combined effort of Erie County residents, businesses, institutions, and governments. It will require creativity, investment, and advocacy to build and maintain this effort and take full advantage of the opportunities it provides.

But it will be worth it. Over the next 25 years, we will be able to see the Erie County of the future emerge from the Erie County of the present.

In recognition of this opportunity, the effort to implement the Destination Erie Regional Plan has been named Emerge 2040: A Focused Partnership for the Erie Region’s Future.

Emerge 2040 will extend the collaboration that was built through Destination Erie and will work to inspire and catalyze action throughout the Erie Region toward the shared vision for our future described in Destination Erie.

Emerge 2040 will keep Erie County’s communities talking with one another to identify opportunities to become more efficient and more effective.

The graphic to the right, shows that from 1980-2010 we built almost 20 new homes for every net new person added to Erie County. Residential construction and the infrastructure needed to support it have not been matched by an increase in taxpaying households. This is just one example where we may have allocated resources more efficiently had our communities been working together more closely toward a shared regional vision.

Des·ti·na·tion (dĕs’tə-nā’shən) n.1. The place to which one is going2. The ultimate purpose for which something

is created or intended From Latin destinatio(n-), “Make firm,

establish for a particular purpose.”

A DESTINATION and a

By 2040, Erie County will be a nationally celebrated success story. We will be known for our unique heritage, our natural settings, our strengthened, diversified economy, and our livable urban, suburban, and rural neighborhoods.

By 2040, Erie County will have successfully addressed the key challenges facing us today, including our need for a regional economic strategy and our high rates

Our DESTINATION: Erie County 2040

Why Erie County Needs a Regional Plan

How Does Our County/Region Measure Up?

PA 3.4%

Median Household Income

US 23.03%

Increase in Number of Workers 1980-2010

US 20.8%

US 19.43%

PA 26.4%

Erie County 23.6%

PA $159,300

Erie County $111,300

PA $50,398

Increase in Number of Jobs 1980-2010

Portion of Labor Force with High Skill Level

Percentage of People (Age +25) with at Least a Bachelor’s Degree 2010

Median Home Value

Erie County $43,595

Erie County -0.1%

Erie Region 2.79%

Erie Region 0.43%

Erie Region 16.1%

Populaton Loss/Gain 2000-2010

A twenty-five year strategy to create a more sustainable, resilient, and prosperous Erie County

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

– Yogi Berra

OVERVIEW AND SUMMARY

and concentrations of poverty. Our region will have overcome barriers to regional collaboration and coordination and will have created new synergies among local and state governments, universities, local institutions and foundations, and businesses.

Our ongoing success will be built on leveraging our assets, correcting our shortcomings, and focusing our priorities on protecting, preserving, and building upon the things that make Erie County great.

This document provides an overview and summary of the Destination Erie Regional Plan. To read the whole plan and find out more about the Destination Erie effort, please visit www.Emerge2040.com.

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New Residents v. New Residences in Erie County, 1980-2010

www.Emerge2040.com

Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.

– Peter Drucker

EMERGE2040A Focused Partnership For The Erie Region’s Future

Reaching Our DESTINATIONROAD MAP

The Building Blocks for ERIE COUNTY’S FUTURE

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The graphic to the right lays out the 42 Destination Erie Recommendations, which are labeled by the topic that each addresses, as the building blocks for Erie County’s future. They are organized according to how the recommendations support and further the five values of the Destination Erie Vision: Thriving, Educated, Livable, Green, and Connected.

The plan focuses on eight topics: Economic Growth & Job Development (EGJD) Goal: Foster a prosperous and equitable economy by building partnerships that cultivate entrepreneurism, grow and attract businesses, and recruit and retain talent

Education & Training (E&T) Goal: Maintain a plentiful, prepared, and globally competitive workforce by implementing cutting-edge, collaborative education and training models

Vibrant & Safe Communities (VSC) Goal: Protect and revitalize Erie County’s cities and towns by targeting investment, building upon existing assets, and fortifying neighborhoods

Land Use, Transportation & Infrastructure (LUTI) Goal: Promote sustainable growth patterns and efficient resource use by coordinating land use, transportation systems, and infrastructure investment throughout the region

Environment (ENV) Goal: Guarantee Erie’s environmental legacy for future generations by becoming better stewards of the region’s exceptional natural habitats and resources

Arts, Culture & Recreation (ACR) Goal: Stimulate prosperity, vitality, creativity, and community by leveraging the region’s history, natural attractions and arts and cultural heritage

Community Health (CH) Goal: Improve the region’s health outcomes by better coordinating approaches to community health and inspiring greater wellness and more active health habits

Regional Collaboration & Leadership (RCL) Goal: Maximize and leverage the region’s capacity to realize its vision for the future by cultivating leadership and implementing new models for collaboration

For more information about these recommendations, please visit www.Emerge2040.com.

Create and expand local businesses and pair them with Erie County anchor institutions to create stable, family sustaining employment opportunities and build wealth. (EDJG)

Create countywide access to high-quality early care and education to ensure Erie County children are ready to learn when they enter school. (E&T)

Adopt a regional strategy to address decaying and abandoned properties through data collection, code enforcement, and the creation of a Housing Court. (VSC)

Cultivate civic involvement to engage the talent and commitment of Erie County residents. (RCL)

Implement a coordinated strategy to develop, expand, and promote year-round visitor attractions to boost the impact of regional tourism as an economic driver. (EDJG)

Expand efforts that provide resources and support to community organizations developing and implementing neighborhood strategic plans. (VSC)

Create an environment that is conducive to entrepreneurism and entrepreneurial success to build an economy with higher growth potential. (EDJG)

Create seamless career pathways that strengthen the local workforce and ensure family-sustaining employment for all residents. (E&T)

Provide Municipal Planning Assistance so Erie County’s communities can make informed decisions about their futures. (LUTI)

Nurture the economic and cultural contributions of our immigrant populations. (ACR)

Ensure that all Erie county residents have access to high quality primary and dental care. (CH)

Create an historic preservation plan for protecting and appropriately reusing Erie County’s historic properties. (ACR)

Establish a broad, active, and accountable, community-health partnership focused on developing and implementing the Community Health Improvement Plan. (CH)

Implement Erie County’s Cultural Master Plan. (ACR)

Identify ways to support and expand traditional local manufacturing sectors. (EDJG)

Build the capacity of law enforcement agencies to prevent crime and violence. (VSC)

Create a Green Infrastructure Matching Grant Program. (ENV)

Create a framework for regional coordination of public safety and emergency preparedness efforts. (RCL)

Undertake a city-led, multi-jurisdictional, and collaborative update of the Erie Waterfront Master Plan. (RCL)

Improve collaboration among municipalities to achieve cost-savings and support regional assets. (RCL)

Develop and link the region’s network of trails. (LUTI)

Optimize traffic signal efficiency and provide multi-modal connections to improve transportation mobility and access. (LUTI)

Develop a countywide network of community partnerships among schools, universities, local nonprofits, and government agencies to meet the year-round educational needs of residents of all ages. (E&T)

Address the underlying issues that create barriers to housing diversity in neighborhoods throughout the County. (VSC)

Protect the rich cultural and environmental resources in Lake Erie and on Presque Isle and seek national and international designations reflecting their importance. (ENV)

Organize a Lake Erie Tri-State Alliance to ensure the collaborative implementation of regional strategies. (RCL)

Establish a Community Land Bank. (VSC)

Provide enhanced multi-modal freight access to improve economic competitiveness. (LUTI)

The Destination Erie Regional Plan is based on values that Erie County residents hold in common and focuses on building upon the things we are doing in Erie County that are already working.

As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it.

– Antoine de Saint-Exupery

MEDIUM-TERM LONG-TERMSHORT-TERM

Develop a Global Education Curriculum and diversify school staffing. (E&T)

Develop an Erie Climate Action Plan. (ENV)

Create a dedicated funding stream to preserve open spaces to protect Erie County’s character, quality of life, and natural habitats (ENV)

Create a peer-to-peer exchange to coordinate planning and identify opportunities to share resources among Erie’s water and sewer utilities. (RCL)

Ensure access to broadband Internet service to empower Erie County’s residents and businesses. (LUTI)

Improve the public transit system countywide to provide Erie County residents with more transportation options at a lower cost. (LUTI)

Rebuild the NWPA Workforce Investment Board to coordinate and expand opportunities for career guidance, training, and job placement. (E&T)

Establish a clearinghouse to provide connections to technical assistance and funding for home repairs and energy-efficiency improvements. (VSC)

Begin a Public Health Accreditation Program. (CH)

Support local agriculture and “buy local” initiatives to eliminate food deserts and other barriers to healthy diets. (CH)

Establish a Renewable Energy Accelerator to drive Erie County’s energy future. (ENV)

Support local manufacturing of products targeted to the Natural Gas Industry’s needs to maximize natural gas’s local impact. (EDJG)

Capitalize on existing curricula and faculty at local universities to create a regional multi-institutional center for Applied Information Solutions to grow the region’s “intelligence and data-mining” industry. (EDJG)

Create a cultural tourism plan that leverages the region’s assets, history, and past and current role as a community of diverse nationalities. (ACR)