Summary of Historic Little Italy Neighborhood Redevelopment Plan (2005)

by Matt Monteson & Anthony Simonetti
(Gannon University MPA Program – With SSJNN Assistance)

This study focused on several of the same issues that have been identified repeatedly as problems in the Little Italy neighborhood – unsafe streets – especially after dark, drugs, prostitution, absentee landlords who don’t maintain their properties, low home ownership, alcohol abuse and “slum bars” in the neighborhood, high unemployment, and to a lesser extent, the lack of local jobs. The most important assets were identified as the Little Italy Neighborhood Watch organization and the increased level of attention by the Erie Police Department. Other cited assets include: the local churches, the neighborhood service providers, and local businesses and business owners.

The study was supported by thirty-two survey returns (out of seventy distributed randomly throughout the neighborhood), thirty-four interviews of people at one of the soup kitchens, a focus group meeting, and regular input from the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

The primary conclusion of the mostly academic study was that if anything was going to be done to revitalize the Little Italy Neighborhood, it would have to be done by the local stakeholders – business owners and residents, not an outside group – especially not the City of Erie which already had too many other, more pressing issues to deal with. The authors recommended using the Neighborhood Watch Group as the prime organization to spearhead this focused local effort to take back the neighborhood. Others, both public and private, were encouraged to collaborate with the Neighborhood Watch Group to deal with the identified issues. To be successful in this redevelopment effort, the residents and other stakeholders are advised to:

	Empower the stakeholders.
	Arrive at a consensus as what the mission and goals with a proactive mindset.
	Develop an easily-implemented plan that is broad and will serve the entire community.
	Meet regularly over the next several months to insure a continued focus.
	Have a project chairperson to lead the effort and create smaller subcommittees to achieve the goals set by the overall committee.

Clearly, with no specific goals or implementation strategies defined, this was more a study of the plight of the neighborhood than an actual redevelopment plan.