I was sent an email by a company called Lawn Love. It ranked the top 200 Geekiest Cities in the United States.  Erie did not qualify because of its small population.  But it got me to thinking. How geeky a city is Erie?

The cities were ranked by four geeky categories.  One category is Access to Stores That Sell Collectables. That means comic books and action figures.   Well, Erie has a store named Books Galore.  It’s located on Upper Peach. It's been selling comic books for decades.    

"We've been open for 40 years.  This is our 40th anniversary actually,” says Manager Cole Schenley.  

New comic books are released weekly. Every Wednesday there's a line of customers waiting for the doors to open.  It's an Erie tradition.

"There's a lot of genre/fiction fans that love to flock here.  I think that's a big part of our city and our city's history really,” says Cole.  

A collectables shop called Actiontoyman has been located on West 26th Street since 2010. You want an action figure? This is the place to come.

"We're very open about our nerdiness.  We're very open about our geekiness,” says Owner Patrick Short.

Patrick says Erie is a geeky city.  He says his store makes Erie a destination city for out-of- town geeks. He has a registration book for visitors to sign.  People have come from all across the country and all over the world.

"A lot of people come in and say 'We're here to go to Waldameer and Actiontoyman.’ ‘We're here to go to Splash Lagoon and Actiontoyman.’  ‘We're here to go to the beach and Actiontoyman.'  We've heard that more and more over the years,” says Patrick.

Another category for the rankings is Community Involvement. Judges looked at the number of groups that get together for role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons..or board games or trading card games.  A Pokemon league meets weekly at Gateway Games on West 26th Street.  Sarah Bell is the co-owner with her husband.

"Friday nights we do Magic: The Gathering.  Saturdays we do Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments.  Sundays we have our Dungeons and Dragons Adventure League.  Tuesdays we do Final Fantasy trading cards and Wednesdays, the Erie Board Game Group has their Wednesday Board Game Night here,” she said.

Erie is also home of the annual ComiCon at the Bayfront Convention Center.  Hosting a ComiCon is a must in order to be called a Geeky City.  Erie Promotions sponsors the event. This is the seventh year for Erie ComiCon.

"There's a lot of geeks in Erie,” says Mark Concilla, President of Erie Promotions. “They travel to a Pittsburgh, Cleveland, or a Buffalo to come to this type of event.  So we put one together here."

Ranking or no ranking, Erie is a geeky city.

Another category for ranking as a geeky city is Access to Costume Stores for Cosplay.  Erie used to have a specialty costume shop called "Costumes by Vi."  Unfortunately, the owner recently died and the shop was closed.