Pittsburgh MSA migration "churn" with other MSAs and μSAs (2009-2010)

[BrianTH]

Having grown up in Detroit, I've always recognized Cleveland as being much more of a sibling city than Pittsburgh. In other words, Detroit and Cleveland are both Great Lakes cities, and Pittsburgh is not.

On the other hand, I don't think that means Pittsburgh is a sibling of NYC or Philly by default. As always, my feeling is Pittsburgh has many cousins, but no real siblings, among major cities.

[JoeP]

As I've stated many times before the Northeast is a region, some of it is East Coast, a lot of it not. Pgh has a lot in common with its Eastern neighbors and some in common with the inland eastern cities. It would be more obvious if there were another comparably sized metro in inland NE.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by JoeP

It would be more obvious if there were another comparably sized metro in inland NE.

Agreed. Generally it can be tough persuading people Pittsburgh shouldn't just be lumped in with some other group of large metros, but there is a fundamental truth there (that Pittsburgh is in its own little distinct region, for reasons of topography, economic history, migration patterns, and so forth).

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Agreed. It's a NooooooVA thing. I really wouldn't mind the sprawl if there were ample "traditional town centers" within it. For example there's also a lot of sprawl in Southeastern PA; however, traditional walkable cores are left and right there as well to help break up the monotony of tract housing, big-box stores, parking lots, and chain restaurants. From where I lived in Reston I was a hellish drive to Winchester, Fredericksburg, or Old Town Alexandria to get a taste of that whenever I missed being in a traditional urban center (which happened daily). People clapped their hands and lauded Vienna there (all the overpriced few blocks of it), but most PA transplants I knew who moved to a place like Fairfax County had a terrible time adjusting to what felt like Cranberry Township on steroids. The attempts at creating new "town centers" (i.e. Dulles Town Center, Reston Town Center, Fairfax Town Center, etc.) STILL were strictly auto-dependent.

Pittsburgh has horrendous sprawl as well, but at least we also have many more walkable suburban areas---Sewickley, Oakmont, Verona, Blawnox, Aspinwall, Sharpsburg, West View, Dormont, Mt. Lebanon, Canonsburg, Coraopolis, McKees Rocks, Etna, Millvale, Bellevue, Avalon, Forest Hills, Wilkinsburg, etc. NoVA itself had a higher population than all of Metro Pittsburgh, yet it had far fewer walkable suburban areas---Winchester, Old Town Leesburg, Fredericksburg, Old Town Fairfax, Vienna-ish, Falls Church City, some of Arlington---not much else---and all of these places (save for far-flung Winchester) were more expensive as a result of their walkability. In Pittsburgh you don't have to sacrifice walkability due to expense.

Houses are not overpriced if people are standing in line to buy them at those prices. Why is that so difficult for you? Not everything that you can't afford is overpriced. The market determines the price. The only overpriced homes are those that do not sell because they are priced higher than the market.

None of the cities you name are more expensive because people can walk to some stores. Vienna, Arlington, and Falls Church are more expensive because they're closer to town, closer to the subway, closer to the major roads, all of which makes for shorter commutes. Few people in any of those towns walk anywhere. It's proximity to jobs, Tysons Corner, and DC, that makes the houses more expensive than houses farther out where the commute would be longer. Downtown in any city is more expensive, for obvious reasons, proximity to jobs. Prices in NOVA aren't determined by where people can walk, but rather where they can drive in less time. Shorter commutes!

You really might want to think about taking a basic course in economics and one in urban planning because you don't seem to understand either of those subjects.

[BrianTH]

Walkability does in fact lead to a price premium (PDF):

http://blog.walkscore.com/wp-content...sforCities.pdf

As for market economics, prices can be driven artificially high if there are supply constraints such that supply does not track potential demand. And as it turns out, there are many relevant supply constraints when it comes walkable neighborhoods with good public transit, including but not limited to various regulations prohibiting the relevant forms of development.

Fortunately, there is now lots of help available for areas which want to update their regulations to allow walkable development, and here is one example:

Examples of Codes That Support Smart Growth Development | Smart Growth | US EPA

[alastad]

Originally Posted by SammyKhalifa

Yeah. I'm from over in that area (Wintersville O) (so I suppose you could count me as a green +). I made the drive for a good while, and I know plenty of people who do the commute to the airport area; but still Weirton is the LAST place I think I'd consider. Greg42 might be right that it's probably somewhere along 22 on the way into town, but still.

I still think it's funny when I used to tell people I lived in OHIO. You'd think I had told them I lived in Turkmenistan or something. People don't realize that Steubenville is only like 40 miles from downtown.

My Bf is originally. From. The. Steubenville. Weirton wheeling. Area and he is always complaining. A about. The cost of living here in Pittsburgh. And so I was wondering. If u. Couldtell me what are some of the communities. Here in the burgh u would say r pretty close to average. Cost of living in the valley