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Old 01-12-2022, 09:40 PM
 
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Any PA counties becoming depopulared to the point 5hat there should be a county merger?
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Old 01-13-2022, 07:24 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Originally Posted by armourereric View Post
Any PA counties becoming depopulated to the point that there should be a county merger?
I don't know if the jurisdictions at the county level would ever need to merge. The congressional maps, the ones in which are at the center of the lawsuits and gerrymandering, don't align with county boundaries.

Pennsylvania is somewhat unique in how much power gets filtered down to the lower levels of government in terms of the ability to dictate zoning laws, property tax rates, and police force. Local city/borough/township officials are much more important than county officials imo. I know it's different in some other states where county officials are the ones with the power. So I don't think there is much need or desire to merge counties.

IMO, some of the more tangible signs of "shrinking" are: the university system consolidating to fewer schools, the merger of many hospital networks to create mega systems like UPMC, the decline of local police forces and subsequent reliance on state police.

Pennsylvania State University System Merges 6 Schools Into 2

Healthcare consolidation: Mapping Pennsylvania's evolving healthcare landscape

Disbanding local police is common in Pa. But it’s caused larger problems for state police
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Old 01-13-2022, 09:54 AM
 
Location: Boston Metrowest (via the Philly area)
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Originally Posted by thedirtypirate View Post
Pennsylvania is somewhat unique in how much power gets filtered down to the lower levels of government in terms of the ability to dictate zoning laws, property tax rates, and police force. Local city/borough/township officials are much more important than county officials imo. I know it's different in some other states where county officials are the ones with the power. So I don't think there is much need or desire to merge counties.
Yes, if anything, given Pennsylvania's absurd number of unique local governments (third most in the US, behind Illinois and Texas) municipal consolidation is more practical. It's still not very likely, as even the least populous and shrinking boroughs and townships remain extremely territorial about their little fiefdoms. But service-sharing is going to become increasingly common and absolutely necessary, as in the case of police forces like you cited.

In the cases of state universities and local hospitals, there are some real challenges ahead in population-declining regions. Telehealth and remote learning can luckily help in a number of cases, but for emergency care, it's going to likely be more difficult to access in many rural areas with further hospital consolidation and potential closures.

Last edited by Duderino; 01-13-2022 at 10:06 AM..
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Old 01-14-2022, 09:57 AM
 
1,168 posts, read 574,224 times
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Originally Posted by Duderino View Post
Yes, if anything, given Pennsylvania's absurd number of unique local governments (third most in the US, behind Illinois and Texas) municipal consolidation is more practical. It's still not very likely, as even the least populous and shrinking boroughs and townships remain extremely territorial about their little fiefdoms. But service-sharing is going to become increasingly common and absolutely necessary, as in the case of police forces like you cited.

In the cases of state universities and local hospitals, there are some real challenges ahead in population-declining regions. Telehealth and remote learning can luckily help in a number of cases, but for emergency care, it's going to likely be more difficult to access in many rural areas with further hospital consolidation and potential closures.

It would make sense to have towns merge, save on overhead and would be able to save on purchasing as well. But to make it happen it basically means politicians have to agree to essentially eliminate their own jobs. So yeah, makes it really tough. I believe I read there is some movement to merge a couple towns in Allegheny, but its not without controversy.



There is also of course, the shortsightedness of politicians. Years ago there was plan, not sure how far it got, but for Allentown to annex some of the surrounding townships that were mainly just farms. At the time, Allentown was doing well and saw no reason to gain farmland. Flash forward 50 years, Mack Trucks left town, Lehigh Structural Steel went belly up, and those townships are now covered in office parks, factories and middle class homes (I will not list the warehouses as a big plus, I think in 10 years when they are all automated w/ few jobs we will ask why we sacrificed farmland for that).
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