Aside from Pittsburgh, what major 'rust belt ' city has recovered the best? (largest, compared)
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Not sure where you got this impression of Milwaukee. There is relatively little "suburban sprawl" within city limits, especially residential suburban-style development. The vast majority of post-World War II housing was built on 40- to 50-foot lots on grid street blocks, many with alleys and rear garages (see, for example Google aerials of Southwest Side around 60th and Oklahoma or West Side around 76th and Burleigh). It's true that a good amount of central city housing has been demolished, but new housing construction in and near downtown has been very strong in recent decades, and the city is doing okay population-wise.
Lots of it was even prewar but I mean it’s drop from 742,000 to 577,000 is not representative of the center city because they went on an annexation spree of inner suburbs they didn’t happen in most Rustbelt cities.
Kind of like if Buffalo annexed Lackawanna in 1952 it would look like the city “only” lost about 40%
How much has Pittsburgh "recovered"? Pivoted, sure. But it's at less than 50% of its peak population and hasn't posted any gains since the 1950 census.
How much has Pittsburgh "recovered"? Pivoted, sure. But it's at less than 50% of its peak population and hasn't posted any gains since the 1950 census.
That said, probably Cincinnati.
To be fair, the topic refers to "recovered the best," meaning that of course any of these cities, including Pittsburgh, is a work-in-progress.
Putting aside population number alone (and as I noted on another thread Allegheny County actually did gain population for the first time since 1960 in the 2020 Census), I think this is moreso about which city proper that suffered amongst the worst from deindustrialization is positioned best today for future success. I think it's more than fair to acknowledge that Pittsburgh proper has come the farthest in that regard.
Metro areas, I acknowledge right off-the-bat, are more complex to compare, and make it much closer in terms of which is farthest along in an economic recovery.
Which major 'rust belt' city other than Pittsburgh has recovered the best? Which one has the best overall 'presentation?'
To distill the question to "which city has recovered the most back to its previous highest status", I'd say either Milwaukee or Cincinnati. Pittsburgh and Detroit (St. Louis to a slightly lesser extent) are simply nowhere near their peak status in relation to other cities today.
What is this forum's obsession with population growth? China just recently posted a population decline. Does that mean China is insignificant?
Overall the future of the United States is population plateau followed by population decline, as is the case with most of the developed world.
I moved to Pittsburgh by choice and love it here. My entire monthly housing payment (including escrow) is $378/month for a 2-BR semi-detached home with a small fenced yard and a detached 1-car garage. When you aren't struggling to work overtime or a second job to make your basic bills life is good, and life is good for many, many people here. Meanwhile our population continues to decline. That doesn't make us a bad place to live. Hell, we haven't even had a winter yet this year, and it's supposed to be in the 70's tomorrow.
What is this forum's obsession with population growth? China just recently posted a population decline. Does that mean China is insignificant?
Overall the future of the United States is population plateau followed by population decline, as is the case with most of the developed world.
I moved to Pittsburgh by choice and love it here. My entire monthly housing payment (including escrow) is $378/month for a 2-BR semi-detached home with a small fenced yard and a detached 1-car garage. When you aren't struggling to work overtime or a second job to make your basic bills life is good, and life is good for many, many people here. Meanwhile our population continues to decline. That doesn't make us a bad place to live. Hell, we haven't even had a winter yet this year, and it's supposed to be in the 70's tomorrow.
I thought it was just my area experiencing a lack of winter, but I have recently come to realize that it is pretty much everywhere.
I thought it was just my area experiencing a lack of winter, but I have recently come to realize that it is pretty much everywhere.
Unfortunately, it has led to Buffalo getting slammed by a couple historic snowstorms, but that's mainly because Lake Erie never froze over so the lake effect storms were still able to build up. But I'm guessing outside of that, it's also been a very mild winter in WNY too.
Unfortunately, it has led to Buffalo getting slammed by a couple historic snowstorms, but that's mainly because Lake Erie never froze over so the lake effect storms were still able to build up. But I'm guessing outside of that, it's also been a very mild winter in WNY too.
Yeah, it has been, albeit a very gray one (and the unfrozen state of the lake is also a factor in that). At one point we had a streak where 50 of 61 days featured zero sunlight whatsoever. That was basically December and January. February's brought some much-needed Vitamin D. Tomorrow's predicted high is 60, not Pittsburgh-level but still unseasonably warm
I attempted to find per capita income rankings by MSA, but I got sidetracked by a Forbes article that displayed mean and median net worth stats by state (so, not really at all related to the information I initially sought, lol), and I don't think I have it in me to go for any more googlings today, heh. Duderino's point about comparing metros vs. cities proper is fair, though...in the case of Detroit, the city itself is extremely poor, yet I've heard it said that suburban Oakland Cty is one of the ten wealthiest counties in the country. I live in the Buffalo area and find our purported 'renaissance' (which many a local politician likes to cite) to be overhyped, but I don't have the data I need to compare areas. And btownboss also makes a valid point that 'best recovery' doesn't necessarily equate to 'city/area that's best off at present'...the depth of each area's starting point must be considered as well.
Yeah, it has been, albeit a very gray one (and the unfrozen state of the lake is also a factor in that). At one point we had a streak where 50 of 61 days featured zero sunlight whatsoever. That was basically December and January. February's brought some much-needed Vitamin D. Tomorrow's predicted high is 60, not Pittsburgh-level but still unseasonably warm
I'm gonna guess that Buffalo hits higher than just 60 tomorrow/today. It's 50 here (Cleveland/Akron) as I type this on my porch after midnight (hoodie weather). Last I saw was 67 as the high but we'll probably hit over 70 for the second time in a week. Not bad for mid February.
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