Good place to be a kid or adult with family, not s
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4/22/2013
I grew up in Corry. It's a former industry town, the industry has left and it's trying to find its new thing. Kind of in transition from being industrial to artsy/touristy, and struggling. A pretty town for the most part, it's full of trees and a pretty little downtown, and has a couple good restaurants -- a bar&grill and a coffee house -- and some nice little antique shops and a used book store. It used to have a drive-in theater, but that closed a couple years ago. Other than that there's not much going on there culturally.
The schools are pretty good, and there are a couple nice parks in town for the kids. I thought it was a great place to grow up. I spent most of my time as a kid running around in the woods and creeks with my friends, sled-riding in the winter, etc. Good place to grow up, and I know a lot of people who came back to raise their families. But there are barely any single 20- or 30-somethings in town, and the ones there never left and are kind of "trailer trash" ish. Most people I know grow up there, then leave for college/young-adult years, and many never come back but those who do come back to raise their families.
The folks are nice enough, and the cost of living is dirt cheap -- mostly because there are barely any jobs and the town isn't very close to anything remarkable. Erie is an easy 40-minute drive, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo are 2 hours ish, and the very scenic Allegheny National Forest is 40 minutes east. Corry's claim to fame is its railroad history, and it has a nice little museum featuring it. I think Corry could be a really cool, nice little town, if it 1) had the money, and 2) had the confident, creative leaders to make it that way. As it is, the population is steadily declining, and most folks who live there are older people or families with young or teenaged children.
Someone could be able to start their own business there if they were diligent and knew what they were doing, but other than that there is just not much work to be had there these days, which is mostly why it's going the way of many other post-industrial small towns. However, I appreciated my childhood there, and still think it's a good place to grow up. In all my childhood, we never felt the need to lock our doors or anything, it's that safe. It's the kind of place where people still talk about the 2 murders that happened there in the past 30 years. Quiet, backwater, quaint, safe, sleepy, pretty are words I'd used to describe it, but if you're looking for good jobs, diverse culture or an interesting scene for singles or young people, you're better off looking elsewhere.
Andy | Pinedale, WY