America's Fastest Dying Cities (metro, suburbs, downtown, Atlanta)

[ladarron]

1. New Orleans
Lost:-171,782
2008 Population(Est.):311,853
Decline Since 2000: -35.5 percent
Change From 2007-2008: +8.2 percent

2.Cleveland,Ohio
Lost:-42,823
2008 Population(Est.):433,748
Decline Since 2000: -9.0 percent
Change From 2007-2008: -1.0 percent

3.Buffalo,NY
Lost:-21,273
2008 Population(Est.):270,919
Decline Since 2000: -7.3 percent
Change From 2007-2008: -0.5

4.Pittsburgh,Pa
Lost:-23,779
2008 Population(Est.):310,037
Decline Since 2000: -7.1 percent
Change From 2007-2008: -0.5 percent

5.Dayton,Ohio
Lost:-12,010
2008 Population(Est.):154,200
Decline Since 2000: -7.2 percent
Change From 2007-2008:-0.7

6.Hialeah,Fla
Lost:-15,673
2008 Population(Est.):210,542
Decline Since 2000: -6.9 percent
Change From 2007-2008:-0.1 percent

7.Toledo,Ohio
Lost:-19,956
2008 Population(Est.):293,201
Decline Since 2000: -6.4 percent
Change From 2007-2008: -0.8 percent

8.Rochester,NY
Lost:-12,560
2008 Population(Est.):206.886
Decline Since 2000: -5.7 percent
Change From 2007-2008: -0.2

9.Birmingham,Ala
Lost:-13,250
2008 Population(Est.):228,798
Decline Since 2000: -5.5 percent
Change From 2007-2008:-0.4 percent

10.Jackson,Miss
Lost:-9,800
2008 Population(Est.):173,861
Decline Since 2000: -5.4 percent
Change From 2007-2008:-1.1 percent

[Bydand]

As much as I hate to admit it, I thought Detroit would be on the list, but after looking it only lost 4.1% from 2000 to July 2008.

New Orleans I think really shouldn't be on the list. Katrina kind of kicked it right in the chops and it is still struggling from a natural disaster and growing the last couple years as people come back. I don't think it is a "dying" city. More like a city that was left for dead, and beating the odds by still being around and gaining health.

[johnatl]

Originally Posted by Bydand

As much as I hate to admit it, I thought Detroit would be on the list, but after looking it only lost 4.1% from 2000 to July 2008.

New Orleans I think really shouldn't be on the list. Katrina kind of kicked it right in the chops and it is still struggling from a natural disaster and growing the last couple years as people come back. I don't think it is a "dying" city. More like a city that was left for dead, and beating the odds by still being around and gaining health.

I agree. And as the Crescent City recovers, it is becoming a pretty expensive place to live. Prices to rent or buy have skyrocketed there.

[Infamous92]

I think New Orleans should've been exempt from the list.

I'm really surprised to see Birmingham, Pittsburgh, and Hialeah on the list.

[WanderingImport]

I agree. New Orleans shouldn't be on the list. I am surprised to see places like Hialeah, Birmingham and Jackson on the list though.

I've heard that in the past few years, Birmingham's downtown has been doing some revitalization and trends have started to go in a positive direction. Not quite sure how the recession has affected this though.

[noland123]

As far as Birmingham and Pittsburgh it might be alluding to the Steel Industry in why there is a decline,I am not sure why Hialeah except for the soaring cost rise in the Real Estate Market.

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by noland123

As far as Birmingham and Pittsburgh it might be alluding to the Steel Industry in why there is a decline,I am not sure why Hialeah except for the soaring rise in the Real Estate Market.

The major industry in Birmingham hasn't been steel for quite some time. Its a major bank market.. up there with Charlotte and Atlanta.

[garmin239]

Note that this list is just city proper and does not include the metro area. If you included the metro area, you wouldn't see losses like that.
Just throwing that out there since people seem to be pretty anal about using the metro area as a judgement on this site.

[LovinDecatur]

Originally Posted by garmin239

Note that this list is just city proper and does not include the metro area. If you included the metro area, you wouldn't see losses like that.
Just throwing that out there since people seem to be pretty anal about using the metro area as a judgement on this site.

As they should be. Limiting the statistics to the city limits is pretty meaningless in the case of most metros.

[UrbanLover]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

As they should be. Limiting the statistics to the city limits is pretty meaningless in the case of most metros.

Of course this is just my opinion.......

If the actual city is shrinking, but the suburbs are getting bigger then that is a red flag and a immediate negative because there is a huge chance that the metro area revolves around the car culture and not relaiable transit.