Migration data for the City of Pittsburgh (Penn Hills, Plum: houses, neighborhoods)

[BrianTH]

Pretty fascinating if this is your thing:

The PUB - Pittsburgh Urban Blog





The data comes from the 2005-09 ACS. Overall the two lists are pretty different, with some overlap (e.g., there is a lot of churn with Wilkinsburg). I suspect you can see the effects of the universities and hospitals on inflows, but they aren't matched in terms of outflows: the City is taking in people from all over the world, but sending people out mostly locally.

[Blackbeauty212]

But I thought Pittsburgh was suppose a Midwest City????? Where's the migration to/from Cleveland, St Louis, Cincy, Indy, and Minneapolis....

[HeavenWood]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

But I thought Pittsburgh was suppose a Midwest City????? Where's the migration to/from Cleveland, St Louis, Cincy, Indy, and Minneapolis....

Cultural transition zones are cultural transition zones.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

But I thought Pittsburgh was suppose a Midwest City????? Where's the migration to/from Cleveland, St Louis, Cincy, Indy, and Minneapolis....

There is more Great Lakes churn if you look outside just the City (meaning to the entire Metro), and Cook County (aka Chicago) made this list.

That said, I have come around to the view that the future is taking on an increasingly eastward slant. I sort of see the City as a rough proxy for the young folks dynamic, and with the help of the universities there is obviously a lot more churn with Acela-land these days, which very likely will influence migration patterns well into the future.

As I have also mentioned before, I think the migration churn with California and internationally also tends to make Pittsburgh feel more East Coast, even though that isn't direct East Coast churn.

[Gnutella]

Originally Posted by HeavenWood

Cultural transition zones are cultural transition zones.

I still see Pittsburgh being more aligned with the Northeast than the Midwest. Was it settled by English settlers prior to the Revolutionary War like other Northeastern cities? Yes. Did it develop its own economy prior to 1800 like other Northeastern cities? Yes. Did it manufacture mostly advanced materials like other Northeastern cities? Yes. (Did it manufacture mostly finished products like Midwestern cities? No.) Does the built environment feature a lot of rowhouses and buildings that sit tight to the streets like you'd find throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland? Yes. Are its migration patterns strongest with the Northeast megalopolis? Yes. Is it located in a Northeastern state? Yes.

Just because it manufactured a lot of stuff and uses "pop" instead of "soda" doesn't make it a Midwestern city. Yeah, there are some Midwestern attributes, but there are more Northeastern attributes as I've illustrated above, and I'd argue that there are more northern Appalachian attributes as well. Besides, there are no Midwestern cities that fit all six of the criteria I listed above. Pittsburgh does.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

I still see Pittsburgh being more aligned with the Northeast than the Midwest. Was it settled by English settlers prior to the Revolutionary War like other Northeastern cities? Yes. Did it develop its own economy prior to 1800 like other Northeastern cities? Yes. Did it manufacture mostly advanced materials like other Northeastern cities? Yes. (Did it manufacture mostly finished products like Midwestern cities? No.) Does the built environment feature a lot of rowhouses and buildings that sit tight to the streets like you'd find throughout Pennsylvania and Maryland? Yes. Are its migration patterns strongest with the Northeast megalopolis? Yes. Is it located in a Northeastern state? Yes.

Just because it manufactured a lot of stuff and uses "pop" instead of "soda" doesn't make it a Midwestern city. Yeah, there are some Midwestern attributes, but there are more Northeastern attributes as I've illustrated above, and I'd argue that there are more northern Appalachian attributes as well. Besides, there are no Midwestern cities that fit all six of the criteria I listed above. Pittsburgh does.

I agree with you completely.

[BrianTH]

Of course the Northeast coast also had around a 100 year headstart in terms of European colonization and development (give or take), and Pittsburgh was not a seaport. That doesn't make it Midwestern, but it doesn't have the same history as the Northeastern coastal cities either.

[Evergrey]

I will conjecture that almost all of the City residents moving to Penn Hills and Wilkinsburg are arriving from adjacent neighborhoods in the northeastern portions of the city ("Greater Homewood"). Interestingly, despite receiving the largest numbers of city residents, both Penn Hills and Wilkinsburg experienced sharp population declines over that period. While the whole region experiences the "Pittsburgh Birth Deficit", I assume that there are waves of migration going on here... where residents of Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills are moving out to Plum and Monroeville while Homewood and Lincoln-Lemington residents are moving into Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I will conjecture that almost all of the City residents moving to Penn Hills and Wilkinsburg are arriving from adjacent neighborhoods in the northeastern portions of the city ("Greater Homewood"). . . . where residents of Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills are moving out to Plum and Monroeville while Homewood and Lincoln-Lemington residents are moving into Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills.

I suspect all that isn't true of the Regent Square/Whitney Park section of Wilkinsburg, and maybe some other parts.

[sskink]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Of course the Northeast coast also had around a 100 year headstart in terms of European colonization and development (give or take), and Pittsburgh was not a seaport. That doesn't make it Midwestern, but it doesn't have the same history as the Northeastern coastal cities either.

If you can claim "Washington Slept Here", you're more East Coast than not.