Baby boomers leaving jobs in Pittsburgh creating openings (Philadelphia, Lancaster: job openings, neighborhoods)

[charisb]

Originally Posted by bmantz65

I thought I read somewhere (maybe here?) that the Pittsburgh area has the least amount of 5-15 year olds in the country (or world) for a large city. Is that right? or am I confusing it with something else?

You must be thinking of something else. Our percentage of 5-15 year olds is roughly 9%, which is in line with many other larger cities. I believe Seattle has a slightly smaller child population, for example.

[corpgypsy]

Originally Posted by charisb

You must be thinking of something else. Our percentage of 5-15 year olds is roughly 9%, which is in line with many other larger cities. I believe Seattle has a slightly smaller child population, for example.

Actually, Charisb, Bmantz65 is correct. Per the city controller, Michael Lamb, "Pittsburgh is the No. 1 city in the world for having the lowest proportion of 5- to 15-year-olds." I think our city controller would have his facts in order.


That quote was from a piece Mr. Lamb authored for the Post Gazette, which appeared on June 9, 2016. The full paragraph which led to that statement, above, was: "Over the last 50 years, we have lost more than half of our population. For a city whose operations are funded primarily by the people who live here, that can’t be a good thing and it is reflected in the state of our infrastructure, our housing stock and the quality of our public services. The fact is that, when people make decisions about where to live, they tend to make smart decisions and right now, for most families, the city of Pittsburgh is not the smart choice. While it has lifted our collective psyche to be included on so many national “Best Places” lists, little is noted of this one: Pittsburgh is the No. 1 city in the world for having the lowest proportion of 5- to 15-year-olds. What does that say about our future?


The essay was quite informative and well written and included, as issues, many of the topics that are fanatically and chaotically argued on this forum. (As an example, some, but not all: admitting problems; the safety of city living; unaffordability of the city; the city schools being out-performed by the suburban districts; ETC)


His facts and concern for the issues are indisputable as he is the controller after all. His points and perspective make great sense and he does mention more than once how unwise it is to keep heads in the sand and avoid those very facts and issues, despite their being unflattering or problematic.


Pittsburgh is still shrinking | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[charisb]

If you look at Census data this does not play out, so I am not sure where these data come from.
Hyperbole?

[corpgypsy]

Originally Posted by charisb

If you look at Census data this does not play out, so I am not sure where these data come from.
Hyperbole?

The City Controller! The Official Pittsburgh Bean Counter! Knows real numbers!

[charisb]

Originally Posted by corpgypsy

The City Controller! The Official Pittsburg Bean Counter! Knows real numbers!

Wow, you have a lot of faith in government officials.
Check the Census data yourself if you want to.
I don't know where else this data would come from.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by charisb

Wow, you have a lot of faith in government officials.

Hrrm...Looking on Census Factfinder, 8.5% of Pittsburgh's population is between 5 and 15. I then looked up San Francisco. There, only 6.8% of the population is between 5 and 15.

Michael Lamb is just making stuff up.

[corpgypsy]

Originally Posted by charisb

Wow, you have a lot of faith in government officials.
Check the Census data yourself if you want to.
I don't know where else this data would come from.

I surmise that you would have faith in him if his facts agreed with your opinion. Michael Lamb is working in real time. I do not see an agenda in that article other than to work toward a future and provide information.. What book are you selling, that makes you so upset over this? Also since on the topic of faith... isn't the census from a government agency?

[charisb]

Originally Posted by corpgypsy

I surmise that you would have faith in him if his facts agreed with your opinion.

Nope, I just prefer facts to hyperbole.
Seriously, anyone can check this level of Census data themselves.
(I cannot rep you again eschaton--sorry.)

[Mr.BadGuy]

The future of the workforce rests not on the number of Generation Z existing today, but the number of new grads who will stay after graduation, and I don't mean a year -- I mean a decent bloc of years or even a decade or more. It has always rested on this and always will, and this is true of all U.S. cities hoping to build educated workforces. (I don't like the premise that educated and BA/BS degree are synonyms -- that's demonstrably false and an error easily avoided besides -- but degree attainment is measurable, and to quantify education, it must be measurable in some way.)

In the case of your city, you will have to decide as a group and individually what a success metric looks like. And also decide what comprises the area you are measuring. It occurred to me that Pgh is a lot more like the car-dependent cities of the Southern East Coast than the other Mid-Atlantic cities in that it treats the metro area and the city (i.e. the part that is pop. 300K, has the higher wage tax, etc.) as one in the same. Whether this is the area you will study and whether it ultimately meets your success metric or not will be answered in the coming couple decades.

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by corpgypsy

That quote was from a piece Mr. Lamb authored for the Post Gazette, which appeared on June 9, 2016. The full paragraph which led to that statement, above, was: "Over the last 50 years, we have lost more than half of our population. For a city whose operations are funded primarily by the people who live here, that can’t be a good thing and it is reflected in the state of our infrastructure, our housing stock and the quality of our public services. The fact is that, when people make decisions about where to live, they tend to make smart decisions and right now, for most families, the city of Pittsburgh is not the smart choice. While it has lifted our collective psyche to be included on so many national “Best Places” lists, little is noted of this one: Pittsburgh is the No. 1 city in the world for having the lowest proportion of 5- to 15-year-olds. What does that say about our future?


The essay was quite informative and well written and included, as issues, many of the topics that are fanatically and chaotically argued on this forum. (As an example, some, but not all: admitting problems; the safety of city living; unaffordability of the city; the city schools being out-performed by the suburban districts; ETC)


His facts and concern for the issues are indisputable as he is the controller after all. His points and perspective make great sense and he does mention more than once how unwise it is to keep heads in the sand and avoid those very facts and issues, despite their being unflattering or problematic.


Pittsburgh is still shrinking | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This was a great piece - thanks for sharing!
It's so refreshing to hear these points, most particularly from someone inside of City government - instead of regurgitating the same old cliched cheerleader talking points.. The only way Pittsburgh can be made even better is by actually pointing out areas where improvements can be made and in discussing problems - not making excuses for them or attacking those who bring them up. I'd love to have this article be a sticky on this subforum!