What Pittsburgh Can Teach the World (Butler, Homestead: waterpark, homes, living in)

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by claremarie

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal the other day about PA's status as a student importer and graduate exporter -- not just Pittsburgh, but the entier state -- and what can be done about the mass exodus of PA-educated college graduates. The bottom line seems to be that unless there are good jobs available, the state cannot expect to keep the graduates of its colleges and universities from taking their degrees and settling elsewhere.

But that's sort of going on everywhere. Here in California, we're losing people because of housing and the general high cost of living. When I worked at a small local bank, whose clientele was upscale professionals, I saw lots of doctors closing practices due to malpractice insurance rates, insurance paymetns taking forever and not covering basic office visits, having to deal with arcane insurance stuff at all and various other reasons. One can argue there is a brain drain going on here, too.... so I have to say Pittsburgh's not alone in facing these problems -- they're all over!

(And drat -- my spell checkers not working, so please foregive any mispellings.... I'm jsut a hirrid tyepist. )

[Katarina Witt]

The twentysomethings must be going somewhere, since the population of the US is growing in general. Colorado usually has a positive domestic immigration rate. Twentysomethings like to move around and see the world, too, so many of them are moving from state to state.

I read an article recently in the PG (I think that's where I read it) that only a small percentage of CMU grads stay in the area as well.

I agree with Elder18. I think the mayor's office has some 'task force' or some such to work on keeping/attracting twentysomethings. The first step is to acknowledge the problem. It doesn't help to just say "oh, doctors/engineers/etc are different". With all the elderly in the area, it ought to be a haven for every kind of doctor except OB and pediatrics. People get sicker as they get older.

[kpoeppel]

People, businesses, and jobs are generally migrating away from states with high taxes (the northeast and west coast) to states with low taxes (the mountain west and the south). PA has one of the highest corporate net income taxes in the nation, which is limiting new businesses (and new jobs for young professionals).

Making business taxes competitive in Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania

The good news is, PA has a competitive property tax system for businesses (mentioned on the website above). Somehow the state government must be more efficient; easier said than done. Perhaps PA could see what other, lower-tax states are doing to keep costs down. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Gerbil]

I think it's important to recognize problems and also to understand them properly. Of course I want to keep and attract more people to the city. But I also understand that anywhere you go, some people will leave.

CMU students come from all over the world, and they pay a lot to attend that school. Of course they're going to seek out the highest salary they can get after graduating. Salaries here aren't as high on average. I'd like to see them go up, but the cost of living is so low that I don't think they will go up very much anytime soon. It would take some kind of artifical intervention to make them go up.

I don't think "brain-drain" is our problem. It may once have been, but I don't think it is now. Our domestic out-migration is average, we just don't have enough in-migration to counter it.

[claremarie]

Salaries here aren't as high on average. I'd like to see them go up, but the cost of living is so low that I don't think they will go up very much anytime soon. It would take some kind of artifical intervention to make them go up.

The key issue doesn't seem to be salaries, but jobs. An economy that isn't growing (or not growing very much) just isn't generating enough good jobs for these college grads. A number of posters on this forum have commented that their desire to stay in, or return to Pittsburgh, is thwarted by the lack of suitable employment. But this has been a problem since the 1970s.

[kpoeppel]

Originally Posted by claremarie

The key issue doesn't seem to be salaries, but jobs. An economy that isn't growing (or not growing very much) just isn't generating enough good jobs for these college grads. A number of posters on this forum have commented that their desire to stay in, or return to Pittsburgh, is thwarted by the lack of suitable employment. But this has been a problem since the 1970s.

I agreee. See my post (and link to "Pittsburgh Future") above. Pennsylvania has a generally poor business climate, with property tax law being the exception. PA must be more competitive when it comes to business taxes.

[Katarina Witt]

pittnurse70:

I read an article recently in the PG (I think that's where I read it) that only a small percentage of CMU grads stay in the area as well.

From Gerbil:

CMU students come from all over the world, and they pay a lot to attend that school. Of course they're going to seek out the highest salary they can get after graduating.

pittnurse70:

Well, I was in Pittsburgh this weekend and I read an article about how only a small percentage of medical students stay in Pittsburgh once they are done with their education. Now there is some proposal to forgive 10% of medical student loans per year of practice in PA.

JoeP Dr's are specialized. Most would logically have to go somewhere else.

So we have an excuse for why the CMU grads don't stay and why the doctors don't stay. We discussed the issue of producing too many teachers for the jobs availbale. So who stays?

[Gerbil]

It's not like everyone who comes here for school is in one of those categories. There are a bunch of colleges here that teach a wide range of subjects.


I remember a while back there was some push in the state legislature to make changes to the business tax structure. I wonder what ever became of that. I do feel like a lot of state policies hold the cities back. Pittsburgh's not the only PA city with problems.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by subdivisions

I've also noted the conflict between city and county previously - it's something we've even talked about briefly on this forum in the past. I personally think that Pittsburgh would be well served if they annexed the rest of Allegheny County. I don't know how that could happen, but I think they should try. I feel like, in a way, that city residents are providing suburban residents with "urban welfare" - they get to come use our stadiums, drive on our roads, use all the amenities of Pittsburgh, and those of us who actually live here get to shoulder the burden in the form of property tax. It isn't fair, especially since Pittsburgh is not doing well financially.

First of all, I don't know where you get off calling them "your stadiums." Those stadiums are funded by everyone in the Pittsburgh region (against their express will, I might add) and also by state taxpayers. Plus people pay money to use those stadiums, and when they buy a ticket, a portion of that ticket price is various taxes. Same goes for the concession sales inside the stadiums.

Not to mention all of these amenities you speak of -- many of which people pay to enjoy, by the way -- draw tourists into the city where they spend money and generate revenue. They plug your parking meters. They pay your ridiculous 50% parking tax whenever they pull into a parking garage. They help keep businesses afloat so the city can then tax those businesses and the people who work in them -- suburban commuters too. The Convention and Visitors Bureau has an entire department devoted to drawing people to the city's cultural attractions. The CVB's Office of Cultural Tourism estimates that one art exhibit alone at the Carnegie Museum of Art ("Light!") generated 2.5 million dollars of revenue for the city. As for "using your streets," everybody gets to use everybody else's streets in this country. It's a principle known as "freedom of movement." I assure you that Pittsburgh's financial woes have nothing to do with providing "urban welfare" to non-residents.

[Katarina Witt]

I am finding myself in the amazing position of agreeing with Drover, not just once, but twice in a matter of days!!

#1)

I think limited merger for providing basic services is a good idea; but otherwise I'm not too fond of "one-size-fits-all governance." The more local, the better.

#2)

First of all, I don't know where you get off calling them "your stadiums." Those stadiums are funded by everyone in the Pittsburgh region (against their express will, I might add) and also by state taxpayers. Plus people pay money to use those stadiums, and when they buy a ticket, a portion of that ticket price is various taxes. Same goes for the concession sales inside the stadiums.

Not to mention all of these amenities you speak of -- many of which people pay to enjoy, by the way -- draw tourists into the city where they spend money and generate revenue. They plug your parking meters. They pay your ridiculous 50% parking tax whenever they pull into a parking garage. They help keep businesses afloat so the city can then tax those businesses and the people who work in them -- suburban commuters too. The Convention and Visitors Bureau has an entire department devoted to drawing people to the city's cultural attractions. The CVB's Office of Cultural Tourism estimates that one art exhibit alone at the Carnegie Museum of Art ("Light!") generated 2.5 million dollars of revenue for the city. As for "using your streets," everybody gets to use everybody else's streets in this country. It's a principle known as "freedom of movement." I assure you that Pittsburgh's financial woes have nothing to do with providing "urban welfare" to non-residents.

Perhaps, Colorado could teach the world, or at least Pittsburgh, something. We have a cultural facilities tax that supports not only the major cultural events centers in Denver but also the "concerts in the park" stuff and community theater and other arts in the suburbs as well. The entire metro area pays for this via a sales tax. Before you say that would never fly in Pittsburgh, let me explain that we have to vote on all our taxes and this passed by a popular vote in all the counties that it applies to. If it could happen here, in a state that hates taxation, it could happen there.