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From South Park: "You're being ignorant; that's ignorant". Uh that's not entirely true. Most metro areas in the US actually have a net loss when it comes to Americans moving to other cities. The Pittsburgh area's problem is that for the past 10 years, just like in Europe there are more deaths than births. This is showing signs of reversing in the future as births were up 1.1% and deaths were down 0.7% for 2008 according to the Post-Gazette. Many of the people leaving now are baby boomers, the population of 20 + 30 somethings is stabilizing now that they can take the jobs. We also have a lack of immigration which has it's pros and cons. This is all why we are losing population now for the most part in the past few years. Plus, the vast majority of people I've met who've visited or moved here say they were reserved about it a little but love it here.
Another thing is the sprawl development of the Sunbelt can't last forever and has started to crash in the recession. There is only so far away from the center city you can build.
I notice you haven’t disagreed with me that Charlotte’s prospects are brighter than Pittsburgh’s. And excuses aside, the fact is Pittsburgh is one of the few metro areas in the country with a negative growth rate, and there’s no sign of that changing. And you’re right about Pittsburgh’s immigrant population, it is low. The same is true of the metro areas overall lack of diversity, which may play a large part in many people choosing not to live there despite its favorable economy. Not to be combative, but the fact is, there’s really nothing that suggest Pittsburgh’s population trends will turn around. In fact, just the opposite...
...”Over the next couple of years, the region might fare relatively better in terms of population losses given the weakness in the national economy and the lack of job growth in other regions and the real estate problems in states such as Florida and Arizona. However, the long term economic push-pull factors for interstate migration that created the decades- long pattern of net out-migration from western Pennsylvania are still in place. Once the recession ends, they will re-assert themselves and therefore it is likely the pace of population loss in the region will pickup again…” Full Link:Population Slide Continues in City and Region
I love NYC and if I ever hit it rich (sell the novel and movie rights and get lots of $$$) I will want an apartment in NYC!!!
But unless that happens (or I win the lottery) I just can't see being able to afford to live where I would want to live . . .
Yes, I love NYC . . .
Waaaaiiittt a minute.
So are you saying if it wasn't for affordability you (and a lot of people) wouldn't be in Charlotte?
See, the reason we pulled back on our move (for another year...at least to think about it more) is because we want to make sure the lower cost of living isn't the ONLY reason we're (likely) moving back.
I don't think it is. But your comments (you'd get out of there) has me wondering...
I notice you haven’t disagreed with me that Charlotte’s prospects are brighter than Pittsburgh’s. And excuses aside, the fact is Pittsburgh is one of the few metro areas in the country with a negative growth rate, and there’s no sign of that changing. And you’re right about Pittsburgh’s immigrant population, it is low. The same is true of the metro areas overall lack of diversity, which may play a large part in many people choosing not to live there despite its favorable economy. Not to be combative, but the fact is, there’s really nothing that suggest Pittsburgh’s population trends will turn around. In fact, just the opposite...
...”Over the next couple of years, the region might fare relatively better in terms of population losses given the weakness in the national economy and the lack of job growth in other regions and the real estate problems in states such as Florida and Arizona. However, the long term economic push-pull factors for interstate migration that created the decades- long pattern of net out-migration from western Pennsylvania are still in place. Once the recession ends, they will re-assert themselves and therefore it is likely the pace of population loss in the region will pickup again…” Full Link:Population Slide Continues in City and Region
Are you even from Pittsburgh? You sure can find a lot of stuff for someone in NC. Well first, nobody in Pittsburgh really cares about us being fairly white. Most people I know like being mainly White. What is wrong with a mainly white metro area an increasingly diverse nation? If there can be mostly black and hispanic areas, why can't there be a mostly white area? We like to be different like that. While there are a few people on the Pittsburgh forum who whine about diversity, most people don't care and like the Irish, Italian, Polish, and German influences on the region. A lot of transplants are somewhat surprised by the amount of European influence still going on. ALso, not to be racist, the areas that have the highest percentage of Whites are also usually rated high on livability surveys. And yet again, the death rate is high and it is likely the birth deficit will be gone soon as the retirees have died and now that the boomers are retiring, many young people can find jobs here.
Can you stop bashing my town now. Nobody about those stats you give and all that matters are the opinions of transplants to the city and those of us born there.
Are you even from Pittsburgh? You sure can find a lot of stuff for someone in NC. Well first, nobody in Pittsburgh really cares about us being fairly white. Most people I know like being mainly White. What is wrong with a mainly white metro area an increasingly diverse nation? If there can be mostly black and hispanic areas, why can't there be a mostly white area? We like to be different like that. While there are a few people on the Pittsburgh forum who whine about diversity, most people don't care and like the Irish, Italian, Polish, and German influences on the region. A lot of transplants are somewhat surprised by the amount of European influence still going on. ALso, not to be racist, the areas that have the highest percentage of Whites are also usually rated high on livability surveys. And yet again, the death rate is high and it is likely the birth deficit will be gone soon as the retirees have died and now that the boomers are retiring, many young people can find jobs here.
Can you stop bashing my town now. Nobody about those stats you give and all that matters are the opinions of transplants to the city and those of us born there.
I apologize for the basing. You are absolutely right in your statements. I don't think that some people are smart enough to realize that although people are white, we have different cultures, i.e. Italians, Danish, Scotish. Not much similarity other than being European. Diversity can be a good thing or even a bad thing. I remember when I lived in Minnesota and all the "uninformed" citizens pled for poor refuges from Africa to move to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area so they could have more racial diversity. While I thought they were idiots for their liberal thinking, they thought I was a racist. I was just someone that has experienced lots of things in life. The Somalians and other African groups began to pour in. Welfare roles got huge, crime started going off the charts, and now many of the Somalians in that area are being trained as Moslem extremists. The formerly great Minneapolis schools took a big downward dive. So much for diversity always being a great thing. The numbskulls in Duluth, Minn. wanted to make an abandonded Air Base into a refuge camp for Haitians. Many of us remember what a great (just kidding about being great) experience it was when Jimmy Carter let in the boat people.
I like diversity. I like to see people from India, Japan, Korea, Turkey, South American countries, Europeans, and South Pacific nationalities, and 'legal' Mexicans.
These are not the people generally are doing the most of the murdering and making or streets unsafe and bleeding us and depleting our taxes. If I were a certain other race, I could say that I would prefer to live with my own people, but as a white, saying the same would just be horrible. So, I will say that I prefer to live around people that respect my privacy, don't turn the neighborhood into a place with crackhouses, don't drive down the streets at all hours with rap music shaking my house at 2:00am, single welfare mothers with uncontrollable brats, teens walking down the street with pants sagging below their butts while holding their 'junk'. We have turned into a culture of hypocrites that have lost touch with reality. I prefer to live mostly with my own but am glad to have the aforementioned around. The chart makes me think that Pittsburgh might be a good place to move. Charlotte has serious issues resulting from the local diverse mix. Diversity is good depending on the mix. I have never heard anything negative or bad about Pittsburgh since the old factors that caused so much polution in past years closed years ago.
And guys, I totally understand about being far away from family. Let's face it . . . I have a huge extended family here in CLT and felt I needed to move back here b/c of my parents and their increasing health issues as they become older. However, when I lived in KS . .. it was a a little over a 2 hour direct flight back to NC . . . and about a 14 hour drive, wh/ I often did in one day (by myself).
Des Moines, for ex., is a really nice city. Very robust cultural and arts scene there.
Oh - I forgot to add - don't know what the jobless rate is in State College, PA, but this is def on hubby and my list of places we would move. It is simply a lovely area and wonderful folks living there.
As you can see, I would move to Montana - so obviously, blizzards don't bother me. I know that is not typical.
And yes, KS is landlocked but there are lovely lakes around . . .
I couldn't live in many of those cities b/c I like being close to the Ocean and being warm....lakes don't do it for me at all....but other cities that are at least doing better than the Charlotte area and have a lot of the same characteristics are Raleigh, NC, Atlanta, GA, Columbia, SC, Mobile, AL, Knoxville, TN, Greenville-Spartanburg, SC, and Houston, TX...so there are other cities out there where work is a little more abundantly available than here, and are yet still southern cities w/ a nice warm climate...there is no way I could live in MT and my company is headquartered in Missoula, MT...also, KS, IA, OK are all too far from the ocean for me and all get too cold in the winter compared to here....remember though, even though other areas are doing better and may have similar costs of living, overall, the entire economy is doing poorly, so if you have a job, I definitely wouldn't quit it to go somewhere that may be "better" w/out having a job offer there.
I've only been looking for a couple of months, but in terms of potential employment hits, I've found far more in Raleigh, NC. I moved here just because I'm staying with a relative, but I'm already ready to leave. Charlotte's nice, but that doesn't matter when you're unemployed.
So are you saying if it wasn't for affordability you (and a lot of people) wouldn't be in Charlotte?
See, the reason we pulled back on our move (for another year...at least to think about it more) is because we want to make sure the lower cost of living isn't the ONLY reason we're (likely) moving back.
I don't think it is. But your comments (you'd get out of there) has me wondering...
I am not the person to listen to when it comes to discussions about where to live, I guess, LOL!!! NC is home; I am a native. And NC girls always come home sometime b/f they die. So I always knew I would move back here. However, I am up for more adventures. I don't see moving as most folks do. I love experiencing what other areas of the country are like. Some areas I would HATE to get stuck in, tho!!!
I miss Kansas City terribly at times. But then . . . I loved Santa Monica and wanted to stay there . . . and Virginia - I lost my heart several spots in Virginia . . . and Charleston - I still dream of owning a shop and living upstairs . . . but Charlotte is home. I live a comfortable life here.
So even tho I am happy being in Charlotte . . . I could be very happy in many spots in the USA (don't much like the NW - not enuff sun). I enjoy discovering what there is to discover in each new place I go. And people are people everywhere.
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From South Park: "You're being ignorant; that's ignorant". Uh that's not entirely true. Most metro areas in the US actually have a net loss when it comes to Americans moving to other cities. The Pittsburgh area's problem is that for the past 10 years, just like in Europe there are more deaths than births. This is showing signs of reversing in the future as births were up 1.1% and deaths were down 0.7% for 2008 according to the Post-Gazette. Many of the people leaving now are baby boomers, the population of 20 + 30 somethings is stabilizing now that they can take the jobs. We also have a lack of immigration which has it's pros and cons. This is all why we are losing population now for the most part in the past few years. Plus, the vast majority of people I've met who've visited or moved here say they were reserved about it a little but love it here.
