Harborcreek Township, Pennsylvania

4 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 10 HARBORCREEK TOWNSHI P , PENNSYLVANI A of Lake Erie, in Pennsylvania’s northeastern Erie County. It’s just east of Erie, a large city of nearly 100,000. “We’re a first ring suburb of Erie,” says Pepicello. “We don’t have a downtown. We’re not a borough. We don’t have those. We’re more drivable than walkable. But we do make significant investments in parks and related amenities.” Harborcreek Township has nine parks, actually. They have everything from sports parks, where kids can play soccer and baseball and softball, to parks that are located on the shoreline. Two significant parks are on the beautiful shoreline of Lake Erie: Shades Beach and Shorewood Park. Those parks provide public access to the waterfront. “There just isn’t much of that anymore,” Pepicello says. “So it’s very important for us to preserve that and allow public access. We also have several big parks that are just about open space and hiking trails, including 6-Mile Creek Park and Highmeyer Park. So if you want to hike? We have it. If you want to play youth sports? We have it. If you want to be down on the waterfront, on a boat or having a picnic? We have all of those things.” Harborcreek Township makes more of their revenue on earned income than they do on real estate tax. “We are trying to appeal especially to young families who have jobs, who work wherever, but live in Harborcreek,” Pepicello explains. “It doesn’t matter where you work, we want families to move to Harborcreek. So we invest a lot of money in our park system because parks attract young families. They also add to the quality of life, which is important. For those two reasons, we are very conscious of our efforts and we spend a lot of money and time on our park system.” That doesn’t mean seniors are left out. Harborcreek also includes several patio homes, condos, and 55+ apartment living options as well. Pepicello is the first to admit that Harborcreek looks much different than it did a few decades ago. “If you were to come to Harborcreek Township 20 years ago, I think you would see a