In how many years will Pittsburgh top it's peak population? (New Castle: condo, buy)

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

(Allegheny West is probably now even considered to be "fully") gentrified

By resident income perhaps, but the business district still needs some work to reach "fully gentrified" levels.

Until Pittsburgh Public Schools overhauls its image problem don't expect many families with children to want to move here vs. the suburbs. The Allderdice feeder pattern can only handle so much family growth given that it is now mostly fully built-out.

PPS can certainly take some of the blame, but parental perceptions of urban school districts in general need to change too.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by zman63

It will never top its peak population. The population of Pittsburgh will be around 280,000 for the 2020 census.

Job growth would really have to ramp up to show a net population gain. The entire state including Pittsburgh seems very weak in the jobs area. Anybody want to bet a lot of money on a population gain? The trend has been population losses since 1950.

I read most of the new jobs created in Pittsburgh will pay 12 dollars an hour or less dealing with food service or hospitality. It seems Pittsburgh has only jobs paying 30-40k. Very poor wages... There are not many middle class jobs here. I feel bad for the younger workers like steelcityrising.

Wage growth in the Pittsburgh area is robust, especially compared to other nearby metropolitan areas.



Job growth appears to be accelerating again as well, after a lull in 2013.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

The per capita wages increased due to the ridiculous salaries of shale employees moving to the area post-recession. Meanwhile real Pittsburghers have to take to the streets to protest poor wages from the areas biggest employer. Healthcare is poised to grow yet again in the region this year and it will still be led by companies who underpay and devalue workers.

Not to mention that the local economy has been very sluggish post-recession as well.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

The per capita wages increased due to the ridiculous salaries of shale employees moving to the area post-recession. Meanwhile real Pittsburghers have to take to the streets to protest poor wages from the areas biggest employer. Healthcare is poised to grow yet again in the region this year and it will still be led by companies who underpay and devalue workers.

Not to mention that the local economy has been very sluggish post-recession as well.

I can't speak for UPMC, but in terms of shale employees, mining and logging employment in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area increased by 3,800 jobs between December 2010 and December 2014, which is 11.8% of the increase in all jobs during that same period of time (+32,000). Being such a small share of all new jobs created in the last four years, it alone cannot explain the continued brisk income growth in the region.

As for the Post-Gazette article you linked to, we've already established that the study relies very heavily on data from 2013, which was the one year out of the last five during which jobs weren't grown for one reason or another. Here's a graph illustrating job growth in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area over the last 10 years, courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics:



Notice that the curve flattened out in 2013, but resumed its upward pace in 2014. Also let it be known that the Pittsburgh metropolitan area has lost more than 10,000 government jobs since December 2010, which makes it the weakest employment sector in the Pittsburgh economy by far.

[sealie]

I think a lot of people base their perception of the economic reality on what people post on CD and the Post Gazette comments, but people have to realize a lot of us are doing better than the gloomy doomy posters but find it rude to post about it in front of people who are struggling. We're still here, we know there are jobs paying more than 40k, for experienced professionals, but if we announce it we're a bunch of jerks and if we don't say anything the economic picture people get of the region is inaccurate.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by sealie

I think a lot of people base their perception of the economic reality on what people post on CD and the Post Gazette comments, but people have to realize a lot of us are doing better than the gloomy doomy posters but find it rude to post about it in front of people who are struggling. We're still here, we know there are jobs paying more than 40k, for experienced professionals, but if we announce it we're a bunch of jerks and if we don't say anything the economic picture people get of the region is inaccurate.

As a black professional I was able to find a good paying job after a layoff. It took 3 months to find a job and it took 8 months to find the job. The only con to the new job is that I am in an eastern suburban office park Money talks and bull$!# walks.....

[Goodjules]

Totally anecdotal, I know, but one of my clients is a local general contractor specializing in home remodeling and he is very busy. In my experience people don't spend large sums on remodeling unless they feel that their home value, income, and investments are stable and trending upward. When the housing market crashed I was working for a general contractor in CA. Business dried up completely for quite a while. The only jobs we had for about two years were very basic absolutely necessary projects like replacing a leaky shower stall, etc. We knew the market was coming back when we started getting calls for additions and luxury kitchen makeovers.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Hundreds of workers taking to the streets to protest poor wages? Nearly half of all job growth in the city this year to be jobs that pay less than $14 an hour?

Oh shush you doom and gloom plebs.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

As a black professional I was able to find a good paying job after a layoff. It took 3 months to find a job and it took 8 months to find the job. The only con to the new job is that I am in an eastern suburban office park Money talks and bull$!# walks.....

Unless you've moved from the eastern edge of the city, that doesn't sound so bad.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

To this day I don't yield to jaywalkers along Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill who either cross against the signal or cross two hundred feet from but not IN the well-marked zebra crosswalk midway between Shady and Murray. I instead drive around them. Pittsburgh has a HUGE jaywalking problem, and we shouldn't be encouraging it to continue. How many people injured in pedestrian vs. motor vehicle accidents each year were injured due to stepping into a crosswalk after the flashing red hand started or by jaywalking between parked vehicles?

Someday, you're going to be the one who injures a "jaywalker" on Forbes Avenue, and when they put you in jail, well, I would say I will laugh my ass off, but really, I won't, because you'll have seriously injured someone because you were speeding, in such a hurry to deliver someone pad Thai. And it will be a surprise to no one when this happens, because you will come here to demonize the poor person you hit with your car. You foolish, petty man.