2010 Census Data by County (Pittsburgh: loft, how much, neighborhood)

[JD984]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I lived in Fairfax County, VA for over a year-and-a-half, and that was all I could take of having nothing but sprawl for miles all around me. How many chain restaurants, big-box stores, parking lots, and McMansions can one immerse themselves within before going crazy?!

Apparently quite a few, since our population keeps growing. Maybe you should back down some weekend and blanket the streets with the latest Forbes article touting the affordability of Pittsburgh's housing.

The 8.6% decline, compared to Philadelphia's gain, didn't surprise me. When I look at job listings on certain professional sites, there are always openings in Philadelphia and its suburbs, and nothing for Pittsburgh. I love some of your architecture, but what the heck do people do to pay the bills?

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by bryson662001

Even the city of Philadelphia gained population.....the 1st increase since 1950. The suburban counties have always gained in every census.

That's easy to understand....Philadelphia and Eastern PA are in the Overly Crowded Bos-Wash Megaopolis Philadelphia was bound to benefit sooner or later.....plus the spill over from NYC is enormous.

Pittsburgh and Western PA don't have this Benefit. Its really nothing Philadelphia is doing right and Pittsburgh is doing wrong its all about the location...as well Philadelphia doesnt have the high elderly population of Allegheny County to worry about offsetting....

[tallydude02]

Wow...McKeesport is now below 20,000. Many of the communities in the McKeesport area reported steep declines.

North Strabane township in Washington County grew by 33%!

[grimacista]

The fact that eastern counties grew is not surprising at all. As noted, the East Coast megalopolis accounts for a lot of growth, almost by default. There are so many jobs spread out in that region, not even necessarily in Philadelphia, that the cycle just keeps continuing. Additionally, more and more people are moving to south central PA to commute to Baltimore, which is growing - and more people are moving to far eastern PA to commute to NYC.

Other than Pittsburgh, there literally is nothing else in Western PA that would drive people to move here. So, whereas people may move to Chester County or Montgomery County near Philly to take the train to work in NYC each day, the only reason people move to Pittsburgh is for Pittsburgh - whose jobs market is a lot smaller than the East Coast metro region.

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

Growth in Eastern PA (especially South Central PA) is to a large extent sprawl (Philly & Baltimore) at its worst. The amount of farmland being gobbled up by developments along the I-83 corridor is astounding. Their infrastructure issues are just as large as ours....very few arterial roads to serve the ever-growing population.

Also, I'm not exactly sure what many of these cities offer besides proximity to other, larger cities. There is a lack of jobs in York, Harrisburg, to some extent Lancaster. These areas tend to retain some of their scenic, rural charm but this will soon be gone to a large extent and commutes will be long and painful. Cost of housing is lower than the large cities. Schools are better. I'm not sure where these areas will be in 20-30 years. By then, we may be seeing Lancaster County well on their way to a population of 750K.

I'm not saying their population growth is worse than our population loss. I'm just saying we have some time to (hopefully) plan out growth and build our infrastructure where they do not.

[BrianTH]

There may be slight evidence of a Marcellus effect as well in recent county estimate data. But generally, we should probably expect very slow growth in the Pittsburgh Metro--which is fine with me!

[pman]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

That's easy to understand....Philadelphia and Eastern PA are in the Overly Crowded Bos-Wash Megaopolis Philadelphia was bound to benefit sooner or later.....plus the spill over from NYC is enormous.

Pittsburgh and Western PA don't have this Benefit. Its really nothing Philadelphia is doing right and Pittsburgh is doing wrong its all about the location...as well Philadelphia doesnt have the high elderly population of Allegheny County to worry about offsetting....

baltimore found a way to lose people. there's a bit more to it than that, that's not entirely true. Philadelphia has changed a bit for the better, and so attracts more people that it used to. there have always been jobs in the area, there's no job imbalance. Pittsburgh made some big mistakes over the years but I think that's stopped and the groundwork is being laid for a better future the hard way (little projects using little money) but the most effective way. (ie market sq overhaul, pittsburgh public market, etc). I'd also point out that some of those neighborhoods in philly losing population are indeed neighborhoods with lots of elderly. I find it somewhat short sighted that you'd think there's nothing to be learned from Philadelphia's experiences (or vice versa). I think the one thing you cannot overlook is the importance of a vibrant downtown.
south central PA is also benefitting from the increasing use of 83 as an alternate for goods movement to congested 95...not to mention NS investments in the rail corridor along that line.

[youngabe]

I never had a problem with living in the suburbs--until now. I don't know if it's the $70 gas fill-ups, the traffic congestion to go no where, or the replica of everything in the suburbs (Robinson has what Monroeville has, Monroeville has what Pleasant Hills has, etc.)

I'm moving into the city for April 1, actually. Mt. Washington and a 1.7 mile commute to work, here I come. I'll be interested to see if more people just sort of up and pull a "me" in the years to come. I'm tired of the drive to get to work, tired of the rising costs, I want to be CLOSE to things that interest me and most of all--have a neighborhood to walk around that has some personality.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by youngabe

I never had a problem with living in the suburbs--until now. I don't know if it's the $70 gas fill-ups, the traffic congestion to go no where, or the replica of everything in the suburbs (Robinson has what Monroeville has, Monroeville has what Pleasant Hills has, etc.)

I'm moving into the city for April 1, actually. Mt. Washington and a 1.7 mile commute to work, here I come. I'll be interested to see if more people just sort of up and pull a "me" in the years to come. I'm tired of the drive to get to work, tired of the rising costs, I want to be CLOSE to things that interest me and most of all--have a neighborhood to walk around that has some personality.

Your first paragraph is why I hated NoVA. Everything was generic---chain restaurants, big-box stores, massive parking lots, vinyl siding, wide roads where cyclists and pedestrians were afterthoughts, etc. You could find similar looking neighborhoods in Ashburn, VA, Leesburg, VA, Fairfax, VA, Stafford, VA, or any number of other communities.

I ♥ urban living now. Pittsburgh might be dying a slow and agonizing death as we are about to dip below 300,000 in population, yet somehow I feel more alive here than ever before.

[JD984]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Your first paragraph is why I hated NoVA. Everything was generic---chain restaurants, big-box stores, massive parking lots, vinyl siding, wide roads where cyclists and pedestrians were afterthoughts, etc. You could find similar looking neighborhoods in Ashburn, VA, Leesburg, VA, Fairfax, VA, Stafford, VA, or any number of other communities.

I ♥ urban living now. Pittsburgh might be dying a slow and agonizing death as we are about to dip below 300,000 in population, yet somehow I feel more alive here than ever before.

Doesn't describe all of NoVa outside-the-Beltway or inside-the-Beltway in NoVa at all - yet you persist in stereotyping NoVa based, apparently, on the types of areas you decided you could afford (since you didn't want to have a roommate). The places you reference aren't really very different from some of the Pittsburgh suburbs, but they aren't the sum total of the area.

I'm hoping to get to Pittsburgh again some time this spring and will reserve judgment on whether it's dying "a slow and agonizing death" or downsizing gracefully. I'm hoping it's the latter, but at some point one can't keep putting a positive spin on such sustained population losses.