Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
More Sunbelt bashing. At least people want to live there. Nobody wants to move to Pittsburgh.
1. Not sure how you got "Sunbelt Bashing" out of that video. Mr. Carter was just comparing the economic merits of older, post-industrial regions v. post-WWII high-growth regions in the South and West. Contrary to popular wisdom, some economic metrics do not necessarily reflect well (generally speaking) on the Sun Belt (i.e., per capita income growth). There's nothing malicious about pointing that out -- it just happens to be a fact.
2. I'm not going to comment on a highly subjective characteristic as to which is "better," but plenty of people move to Pittsburgh. The primary reason for population loss in the city is due to natural decrease. It is pretty clear that will level off very soon.
In all honesty though I can see a future where older midsized like St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Baltimore etc. become trendy, historical, highly educated, quality urban centers in high demand while many of the fast growing, sunbelt boomtowns essentially become low wage, low quality of life, sprawling ghettos.
That professor from Northwestern University said, "Water is going to be more important than oil in 20 years." Oil can be rephrased as energy, and include coal and natural gas. Pittsburgh has lots of fresh water, coal and natural gas. In other words, Pittsburgh has water and energy. Pittsburgh will be a very important U.S. city within 20 years.
By all means, though, stay where you are. If you don't want to live in Pittsburgh, then you can pay somebody who does to provide you with the water and energy that you need, thereby enriching the city that you refuse to move to.
Pittsburgh was ranked in various recent years as THE #1 most livable city in the USA by Forbes magazine, Newsweek magazine, the Economist magazine, and #1 by Rand McNally's places rated almanac. I have numerous friends here in Maryland who have moved there to attend universities.
Unfortunately, Metro Pittsburgh air pollution is also now ranked as the 3rd worst in the USA by the American Lung Association (although its air quality is greatly improved, being even worse in prior years).
Pittsburgh was ranked in various recent years as THE #1 most livable city in the USA by Forbes magazine, Newsweek magazine, the Economist magazine, and #1 by Rand McNally's places rated almanac. I have numerous friends here in Maryland who have moved there to attend universities.
Yeah, rankings are stupid and pointless until they mention your city, right? Kidding.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Duderino
1. Not sure how you got "Sunbelt Bashing" out of that video. Mr. Carter was just comparing the economic merits of older, post-industrial regions v. post-WWII high-growth regions in the South and West. Contrary to popular wisdom, some economic metrics do not necessarily reflect well (generally speaking) on the Sun Belt (i.e., per capita income growth). There's nothing malicious about pointing that out -- it just happens to be a fact.
2. I'm not going to comment on a highly subjective characteristic as to which is "better," but plenty of people move to Pittsburgh. The primary reason for population loss in the city is due to natural decrease. It is pretty clear that will level off very soon.
I got this from the video too. Although there are overall trends, it's worth noting that the "Sunbelt" and "Rust Belt" regions, for lack of better terms, are not monolithic: they contain economic diversity within themselves respectively, which also contain various factors that could play into future success/failure. I don't think a city strictly being located in one region or the other necessarily guarantees anything.
People like to live in the sunbelt, but there is no jobs. Tourism and retirees only take you so far.
Where I live tourism is minimal except for a couple big music festivals and a potential Formula 1 race. There also aren't any notable amount of retirees, probably due to very high property taxes. The economy is anchored by state gov't, a large university and high tech...healthcare, in which my spouse and I both work is also doing well. I'm skeptical about your oversimplification of the economy of a massive region here.
I think we've had this conversation before though...jobs created through rampant federal spending is your idea of a sustainable economy, right?
And let's get serious, if you're viewing a global water crisis as a boon for Pittsburgh, your sorta missing the bigger picture.
Last edited by Sizzle-Chest; 02-07-2012 at 11:12 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Kidding.
