Erie's Economy, Unemployment and Population All Slowed in the 2000s

By 2003, the population of Erie had decreased from its 1960 heyday by 27% and the decade that followed would see it fall even further. A considerable falling population has financial and political implications for any region. With the loss of what a city is built on, community start to lose their identity and their purpose. Residents feel a sense of loss and abandonment both by their employers as well as their governments.