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Pittsburgh is NOT a tourist-tic city, most "Tourist" are there primarily for other reasons 1st. After living in NYC, Philly and DC, I'm over the moon that its not a city over run with Tourist.
The Burgh is a much city for living not vacationing.
In the immediate future Columbus has it better, as the stats favor them and they've become fairly popular. However, in the long term, as the growth machine in Pittsburgh continues to spool back up after so many decades of population loss, Pittsburgh will have the brighter future. It has more relics/amenities of a larger city that will help give it greater momentum going forward.
In the immediate future Columbus has it better, as the stats favor them and they've become fairly popular. However, in the long term, as the growth machine in Pittsburgh continues to spool back up after so many decades of population loss, Pittsburgh will have the brighter future. It has more relics/amenities of a larger city that will help give it greater momentum going forward.
The problem is that if you don't get a dose of population growth, those relics/amenities become a financial albatross.
Population and job growth is one thing, but Pittsburgh has a lot of intangible qualities that Columbus can't touch-- among them cultural amenities, historical significance, urban environment, natural beauty and general distinctiveness. There's very little about Columbus that stands out as being distinctly "Columbus" that couldn't be mistaken for or found anywhere else (at least, nothing that would seem obvious to the casual visitor). Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is loaded with unique attributes. Pittsburgh has been a big city for a LONG time, and with age comes a certain maturity and atmosphere that newer cities lack. Considering how relatively close the two cities are to each other makes the contrast all the more stark.
But growth in Pittsburgh is already gaining speed, so that's not a concern.
Pittsburgh has the advantage of having been a larger metro for a longer period of time. The infrastructure for growth is already in place, it just needs a few upgrades. It also has professional sports and big city amenities. The disadvantage for Pittsburgh is that the city is not growing, not enough to call it booming if you will. Pittsburgh will attract a different kind of populous, one that is more removed from the mainstream glitz and glamour of the trendier cities. Pittsburgh will attract artists, researchers, investors, community/social work advocates, finance, and largely health care professionals. Columbus's growth mimics a sunbelt city with corporate expansions/relocations, new shopping strip centers, residential high rises, and from the ground up construction projects. At this point all the cards are in Columbus's hands for the brighter future. Pittsburgh is more urban, which seems to be in for younger millennials and empty nesters, but as others have implied, the jobs and quality of life factors also must be in place to keep them there.
But growth in Pittsburgh is already gaining speed, so that's not a concern.
Not really. The metro area at-large is barely growing, and the city's population has skyrocketed from "bleeding uncontrollably" to "leveling off". Still somehow, though, even with decades-long population loss rental prices are soaring here.
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