PA population growth (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown: best city, new home, employment)

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Pittsburghpride83

The smaller pa towns seem to be suffering huge population losses. I hope small cities like Franklin, Sharon and Meadville do not completly dissapear 20 years from now.

All three of them will. Their populations will be zero by the 2030 Census. It's perfectly realistic to expect it to happen, so it will. If an underground mine fire emptied out Centralia in 50 years, then a much bigger disaster like Pennsylvania's economy can surely empty out three much larger towns in 20 years.

Originally Posted by Pittsburghpride83

How can the economy be jump started in these places?

It can't. Last person to leave please turn out the lights.

Originally Posted by Pittsburghpride83

Is the state so business unfriendly it just kills any hope of an economic rebound?

Yes, nobody is making any money there at all. Just cross the Ohio state line and it rains milk and honey instead of hydrochloric acid.

Originally Posted by Pittsburghpride83

The troubling stat is more people are leaving the state than coming in.

Yeah, it's the only state in the U.S. with negative net domestic migration. What a dubious distinction.

Maybe you can be hired as a motivational speaker to encourage more people to stay, because you obviously take immense pride in where you're from.

[Pittsburghpride83]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

All three of them will. Their populations will be zero by the 2030 Census. It's perfectly realistic to expect it to happen, so it will. If an underground mine fire emptied out Centralia in 50 years, then a much bigger disaster like Pennsylvania's economy can surely empty out three much larger towns in 20 years.



It can't. Last person to leave please turn out the lights.



Yes, nobody is making any money there at all. Just cross the Ohio state line and it rains milk and honey instead of hydrochloric acid.



Yeah, it's the only state in the U.S. with negative net domestic migration. What a dubious distinction.

Maybe you can be hired as a motivational speaker to encourage more people to stay, because you obviously take immense pride in where you're from.

I do sense a lot of anger in your post. None of it was meant to be taken that way. I see that you left Pittsburgh for Athens, GA? Was it because you were unable to find a job?

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by Pittsburghpride83

The smaller pa towns seem to be suffering huge population losses. I hope small cities like Franklin, Sharon and Meadville do not completly dissapear 20 years from now. How can the economy be jump started in these places? Is the state so business unfriendly it just kills any hope of an economic rebound?

Of the 57 cities in Pennsylvania, at least half should be reclassified as boroughs. The title of city should carry some weight.


Name-County-Class-Pop:2010-Incorporation date-Home Rule/Charter/Plan(?)

1. Parker Armstrong Third 840 1873 No
2. Monongahela Washington Third 4,300 1873 No
3. Farrell Mercer Third 5,111 1932 Home Rule
4. Arnold Westmoreland Third 5,157 1939 No
5. Duquesne Allegheny Third 5,565 1918 No
6. Titusville Crawford Third 5,602 1866 Charter
7. Franklin Venango Third 6,545 1868 Home Rule
8. Corry Erie Third 6,605 1866 No
9. Clairton Allegheny Third 6,796 1922 Home Rule
10. Shamokin Northumberland Third 7,374 1949 No
11. Connellsville Fayette Third 7,637 1911 No
12. Monessen Westmoreland Third 7,720 1921 No
13. Pittston Luzerne Third 7,739 1894 Home Rule
14. DuBois Clearfield Third 7,794 1914 Plan
15. Bradford McKean Third 8,770 1879 No
16. Carbondale Lackawanna Third 8,891 1851 Home Rule
17. Latrobe Westmoreland Third 8,944 1999 Home Rule
18. Beaver Falls Beaver Third 8,987 1928 No
19. Aliquippa Beaver Third 9,438 1987 No
20. Jeannette Westmoreland Third 9,654 1938 No
21. Warren Warren Third 9,710 1832 Home Rule
22. Lock Haven Clinton Third 9,772 1870 Charter
23. Sunbury Northumberland Third 9,905 1920 No
24. Uniontown Fayette Third 10,372 1864 No
25. Nanticoke Luzerne Third 10,465 1926 Home Rule
26. Oil City Venango Third 10,557 1871 Charter
27. Lower Burrell Westmoreland Third 11,761 1959 No
28. St. Marys Elk Third 13,070 1992 Home Rule
29. Coatesville Chester Third 13,100 1915 Home Rule
30. New Kensington Westmoreland Third 13,116 1934 No
31. Meadville Crawford Third 13,388 1866 Charter
32. Washington Washington Third 13,663 1924 No
33. Butler Butler Third 13,757 1918 No
34. Sharon Mercer Third 14,038 1917 Home Rule
35. Pottsville Schuylkill Third 14,324 1911 No
36. Greensburg Westmoreland Third 14,892 1928 Home Rule

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Pittsburghpride83

I do sense a lot of anger in your post. None of it was meant to be taken that way. I see that you left Pittsburgh for Athens, GA? Was it because you were unable to find a job?

No, it's because I was 16 and had no choice. And I've since made some friends down here, so I'm not ready to uproot a second time, because doing it once was a big enough pain in the ass. I'm not doing it again unless I'm in a desperate situation.

By the way, Georgia has the highest unemployment rate in the United States, and I've been underemployed for the last couple of years myself despite having a college degree, so it's time to stop pretending that the economy is great everywhere except Pittsburgh/Pennsylvania. I'll be certified in a different career field about a year from now, so if that doesn't change anything for me, then leaving Georgia will become an option.

[Pittsburghpride83]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

No, it's because I was 16 and had no choice. And I've since made some friends down here, so I'm not ready to uproot a second time, because doing it once was a big enough pain in the ass. I'm not doing it again unless I'm in a desperate situation.

By the way, Georgia has the highest unemployment rate in the United States, and I've been underemployed for the last couple of years myself despite having a college degree, so it's time to stop pretending that the economy is great everywhere except Pittsburgh/Pennsylvania. I'll be certified in a different career field about a year from now, so if that doesn't change anything for me, then leaving Georgia will become an option.

I was unaware about the economy in Georgia. I am sorry to hear about your luck. Hopefully it all works out for you.

Pittsburgh has a lot of good things going for it, but the economic and job prospects are not and frankly have not been one of them for a long time. Unfortunately, that is deciding factor on whether or not somebody stays or leaves. Even when the economy was good in the US, we (Pittsburgh) were at the bottom with job and economic growth. It is hard to transform a city that was built for a certain purpose (steel manufacturing) and it no longer serves that purpose. It is nothing personal and it is neither your fault or mine. It is a sobering reality.

I have a lot of friends in their 20's, 30's and 40's that had no choice but to leave because they couldn't find a decent paying job. Or they leave because they have to so they get promoted or to keep their job. They love the neighborhoods, architecture and drive through the tunnels, but the sad reality hits when they look for work and there are very little jobs in their field or the pay is nowhere near competitive to other cities. The only way to make really good money in Pittsburgh is the union trades, banking (which is limited), salesman stuff, start a business, be one of the 300 google employees or have 3 years experience with gas and oilfield stuff to work in the shale gas biz.

I appreciate your pride for Pittsburgh as the city has a rich history, but it will not be anything more than it currently is unless it can grow out of the economic rut it has been in the last 40 years.

From gathering what you said, if Pittsburgh had the job / opportunity for you, Georgia would've been in your rearview mirror long ago.

[gousa14]

Originally Posted by Pittsburghpride83

The smaller pa towns seem to be suffering huge population losses. I hope small cities like Franklin, Sharon and Meadville do not completly dissapear 20 years from now. How can the economy be jump started in these places? Is the state so business unfriendly it just kills any hope of an economic rebound?

The troubling stat is more people are leaving the state than coming in.

You're not the only one who wants to see their hometown make a rebound.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Pittsburghpride83

From gathering what you said, if Pittsburgh had the job / opportunity for you, Georgia would've been in your rearview mirror long ago.

You're assuming that I've even looked for a job there. I've stayed put here because most of my friends and immediate family are here, and I value those relationships precisely because I had to cut ties with virtually everybody I knew outside of my immediate family in Pittsburgh against my will, right in the middle of high school to boot. These days, the only people I know in Pittsburgh are my older brother and his immediate family, and two childhood friends. Everybody else important to me is here in Georgia, including my parents, my younger sister, and half a dozen other close friends. Considering how disruptive it was to move in the first place, I'm in no mood to move anywhere else if I don't have to, now that I've become accustomed to where I am.

By the way, my brother and his wife have never had trouble finding jobs in Pittsburgh, and they plan on buying a house in North Huntingdon Township in a couple more years. Furthermore, one of the two friends I still keep up with was able to buy a house in a non-blighted North Side neighborhood five years ago despite making less than $50K per year. The other friend of mine is loaded, and his wife is loaded too. He's an investor; she's an engineer, and they live very comfortably in a huge house in Richland Township. And it's worth noting that none of these people I've told you about have even celebrated their 40th birthdays yet, so they're all upwardly mobile young people, living and making their money in Pittsburgh. The economy in the Pittsburgh area has been just fine for them.

[Pittsburghpride83]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

You're assuming that I've even looked for a job there. I've stayed put here because most of my friends and immediate family are here, and I value those relationships precisely because I had to cut ties with virtually everybody I knew outside of my immediate family in Pittsburgh against my will, right in the middle of high school to boot. These days, the only people I know in Pittsburgh are my older brother and his immediate family, and two childhood friends. Everybody else important to me is here in Georgia, including my parents, my younger sister, and half a dozen other close friends. Considering how disruptive it was to move in the first place, I'm in no mood to move anywhere else if I don't have to, now that I've become accustomed to where I am.

By the way, my brother and his wife have never had trouble finding jobs in Pittsburgh, and they plan on buying a house in North Huntingdon Township in a couple more years. Furthermore, one of the two friends I still keep up with was able to buy a house in a non-blighted North Side neighborhood five years ago despite making less than $50K per year. The other friend of mine is loaded, and his wife is loaded too. He's an investor; she's an engineer, and they live very comfortably in a huge house in Richland Township. And it's worth noting that none of these people I've told you about have even celebrated their 40th birthdays yet, so they're all upwardly mobile young people, living and making their money in Pittsburgh. The economy in the Pittsburgh area has been just fine for them.

The people you know are very fortunate. They are the exception....

We know 6 different couples living in Pittsburgh and none of them live like the people you know in Richland Township. They would if they could, but they don't have the jobs with wages that allow them to do it. They are all college educated with 8 to 10 years experience and making 30 to 50K a year in their respective fields. It may sound good, but the taxes on your wages, rents and property taxes if you buy are very high. Also, these people have degrees in computer engineering, forensic science, accounting, nursing, finance, supply chain management and business. Everybody has different experiences and from what I have seen and the people I know is that Pittsburgh is limited when it comes to jobs with livable wages. They do not have much mobility and they are getting compensated much less than if they went elsewhere. Granted these people are staying here for the very reason you choose to stay in Georgia. They want to be close to their families and circles of friends. They could probably make a better life for themselves elsewhere, but they do not look.

The three rivers investment board and Pittsburgh Technology Council have acknowledged the lower wages in Pittsburgh being a problem to recruit and retain talent. They mentioned it in one of the meetings and most of the companies and organizations participating did not want to hear it....

I just had a friend that left Pittsburgh for Baltimore. He received a 30,000 dollar pay raise and has a much nicer house there than he had here. For the first time in his life he purchased a new car. His degree is in computer engineering...

[Pittsburghpride83]

Originally Posted by gousa14

You're not the only one who wants to see their hometown make a rebound.

There are no easy answers. On top of the limited jobs is the old homes and infrastructure. It makes it hard to compete with newer cities.

[pman]

Newer cities like baltimore?