Interesting talk about population, density, water, etc. (Pittsburgh, Dublin: apartment, houses)

[BrianTH]

Again courtesy of Pop City:

TEDx Pittsburgh talk: 2.4 million

I think it makes a good case that population size/growth is not really the central issue for the region, although sprawl has been an issue, plus a lot of other interesting points. One fun set of facts:

- Here are few representative European regions:
- Pittsburgh Region: 2.4 million
- Copenhagen Region: 2.4 million
- Zurich Region: 2.4 million
- Vienna Region: 2.2 million
- Turin Region: 2.2 million
- Dublin Region: 1.6 million
- Like Pittsburgh, they are not growing in population.

[kettlepot]

But after watching the video, what I would want to know is, how far have those European cities had to sprawl to house that population? A city really needs a certain density, at least in some neighborhoods so that you really feel like you are living in a city. Never having been to Pittsburgh, how many of the neighborhoods within the city really feel like urban neighborhoods? I hope it's a lot of them.

[KingKrab]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

But after watching the video, what I would want to know is, how far have those European cities had to sprawl to house that population? A city really needs a certain density, at least in some neighborhoods so that you really feel like you are living in a city. Never having been to Pittsburgh, how many of the neighborhoods within the city really feel like urban neighborhoods? I hope it's a lot of them.

Pittsburgh is like Charlotte, sprawly, low dense, and strip malls. In the city majority of the "urban" neighborhoods are subdivision housing.

No, seriously. Pittsburgh is unique in that it is a city of many different types of neighborhoods. Many of them feel very urban. But do to the terrain there are pockets that don't feel urban at all. The population density is much more scattered in pockets than a large overall population density map that consists of majority of the population in the center and then it just pans out slowly in a 360 degree radius from downtown like most American cities.

Many of the neighborhoods feel urban in their own way. Only a few don't feel as urban such as Greenfield, Morningside, and Squirrel Hill NORTH, not Squirrel Hill south like many on this forum believe.

[ex-burgher]

Pittsburgh is no Charlotte which had a population of only 100,000 in 1940 so it doesn't have as many urban walk-able neighborhoods - nowhere near. The urban neighborhoods that do exist are outrageously expensive as there has been so much demand for these types of areas since Charlotte has grown so much in the last 20 years. I'd love to live in one, but we're forced to live in bland suburbia. Sure would love to move back to Pgh so I can live in greater density.

[wpipkins]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Again courtesy of Pop City:

TEDx Pittsburgh talk: 2.4 million

I think it makes a good case that population size/growth is not really the central issue for the region, although sprawl has been an issue, plus a lot of other interesting points. One fun set of facts:

I read the article on the popcity website yesterday. It was interesting.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

Never having been to Pittsburgh, how many of the neighborhoods within the city really feel like urban neighborhoods? I hope it's a lot of them.

I think of Pittsburgh as having lots of "semi-urban" neighborhoods. These are neighborhoods which are not dominated by high-rise apartment buildings (although there may be some low-rise apartment buildings), but the lots are relatively small, and there may be some or many rowhouses. The streets are often laid out as a compact grid with sidewalks, and there is often at least a small neighborhood commercial district within walking distance.

[bradjl2009]

I'm surprised to see how comparable we are in population to some European cities that are considered global cities.

[Geeo]

The water issue was the interesting thing to me about the presentation. Amazing that it has to be transported hundreds and hundreds of miles to supply the needs of a place like Phoenix. I don't think 4 million people were ever meant to live in one place in the desert. And with the population of the southwest continuing to grow and the water supply continuiing to shrink, I don't see a very happy future for them.

I also liked the new terms he used: instead of "rust belt" and "sun belt," it should be "water belt" and "drought belt."

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

I'm surprised to see how comparable we are in population to some European cities that are considered global cities.

The U.S. has a lot of cities that are not quite mega-cities, but are nonetheless very large by European standards. That's how a city like Pittsburgh can end up relatively far down the U.S. list despite being comparable in size to the largest city in several European countries.

Incidentally, here are a few more (either not much above or below):

Warsaw 3 mill
Budapest 2.8 mill
Lisbon 2.7 mill
Prague 2.3 mill
Stockholm 2.2 mill
Helsinki 1.8 mill
Oslo 1.6 mill

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Geeo

The water issue was the interesting thing to me about the presentation. Amazing that it has to be transported hundreds and hundreds of miles to supply the needs of a place like Phoenix. I don't think 4 million people were ever meant to live in one place in the desert. And with the population of the southwest continuing to grow and the water supply continuiing to shrink, I don't see a very happy future for them.

Atlanta has water issues too, as a result of being so high up in their watershed.