What's the street scene like in Minneapolis and Erie?
Erie has a lot of clubs. There is a bar or a church on ever single corner of the town. The downtown is making a big ome back, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Most of that comeback is because of Ridge and all the money he gave to the area, which was in serious decline through the 70's, 80's and 90's. The unemployment rate is about 8.5% and the mayor has been indicted for major federal offenses and ethics violations.
Sounds like Altoona. Johnstown looks like a post Soviet city.
Erie is very corrupt, as Al said, but it is not as bad as, say, Buffalo appearance or people wise.
Going to Buffalo is seriously like going to London during the blitz.
Acctually, post Soviet is a better description, but I wanted to be original sounding. 
Hey, Buffalo's great. Downtown can be a little shady depending on where you end up...
Actually, Altoona, aka, "the land of the Altoids" isn't all that bad. I've described Johnstows as "Altoona, but wthout the class."
I've always prefered Johnstown over Altoona.
