Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 10-31-2017, 03:10 PM
 
18 posts, read 19,791 times
Reputation: 40

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
I don't have a map handy, but Pittsburgh continued to annex small amounts of land through the mid 1950s, although the last sizable annexation (Overbrook) happened in 1930.
You are correct. I read a book written from a guy that was born in southeast Ohio. He is a professor at shippensburg university. It was called”Beyond Rust, the fate of metropolitan Pittsburgh and industrial America.” He talks about Pittsburgh and the Ohio Valley areas to a great extent. Here is what he said in the book.

Pittsburgh city stopped growing in the 1920s. Annexations from that point till the 1950s masked inner city population losses. Overbrook and I believe Westwood and Sheridan were cited as annexed after 1930. The population in 1929 was 669,000. In 1939 it was 671,000, in 1949 it was 676,000. In 1959 the city dropped to 607,000. Wheeling, Steubenville and the mckeesports and claritons all followed this same trend. None of those places annexed after 1930 so that was their population peak.

It is an interesting book and highly recommended. The newest city in the region built around manufacturing is Weirton, West Virginia. It was incorporated in the late 40s or early 50s.

He talks about the disconnect between the mill towns and where the jobs ended up post 1950. He said wheeling and Pittsburgh could’ve ended up opposites in size and population. PIttsburgh happened to have more powerful legislators way back when.

He also said by the 1920s Pittsburgh Steel mills were old and outdated. The city was considered a costly infrastructure nightmare in the 1930s. They tried to annex all of Allegheny County and make it Pittsburgh. He cites the failed annexation resulting in mass municipal fragmentation that set the region behind economically behind for decades.

Also the infamous URA was created in the 1950s due to the heavy population losses and blight that was occurring in the city. It was meant to stop the bleeding and turn it around.

Again it is a good book and highly recommended for all to read.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-01-2017, 11:02 PM
 
8,858 posts, read 6,856,075 times
Reputation: 8661
The local workforce might not be terribly relevant, though Pittsburgh's advantages in robotics and other areas sound like real advantages. Amazon hires from the whole planet's workforce. Pittsburgh is 0.03% of the planet's workforce. I wouldn't be surprised if the HQ1 staff was 90% from out of town (I live within walking distance), and higher than that among recent technical hires. A large percentage are from Asia, though visas are a problem.

Amazon will have space for more like 60,000 in Downtown Seattle by the end of the decade, including millions of square feet that have started this year. But they're constrained because some people won't move here, and it's getting harder and more expensive to add large amounts of space.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-02-2017, 09:47 PM
 
1,705 posts, read 1,388,780 times
Reputation: 1000
It seems to go back and forth so much. I'm optimistic then pessimistic. Latest expert assessment picks New York. What puzzles me is some think Rochester is in the running. Rochester? It had its hey day with Kodak and Xerox, but it seems to be to be a place of never ending decline.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-03-2017, 06:02 AM
 
18 posts, read 19,791 times
Reputation: 40
Quote:
Originally Posted by krogerDisco View Post
It seems to go back and forth so much. I'm optimistic then pessimistic. Latest expert assessment picks New York. What puzzles me is some think Rochester is in the running. Rochester? It had its hey day with Kodak and Xerox, but it seems to be to be a place of never ending decline.
What’s wrong with Rochester? People are asking the same question about Pittsburgh.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-03-2017, 06:32 AM
 
9,576 posts, read 7,329,017 times
Reputation: 14004
Quote:
Originally Posted by krogerDisco View Post
It seems to go back and forth so much. I'm optimistic then pessimistic. Latest expert assessment picks New York. What puzzles me is some think Rochester is in the running. Rochester? It had its hey day with Kodak and Xerox, but it seems to be to be a place of never ending decline.
I thought it was a joint Rochester/Buffalo bid, but I might be wrong. My thinking with Rochester and them getting some "buzz", it must be due to RIT, but other than that, I'm not seeing what else they have to offer, except maybe lots of vacant office space, and home to the greatest supermarket/grocery store chain ever?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-03-2017, 06:56 AM
 
5,110 posts, read 7,138,726 times
Reputation: 3116
Quote:
It seems to go back and forth so much. I'm optimistic then pessimistic. Latest expert assessment picks New York. What puzzles me is some think Rochester is in the running. Rochester? It had its hey day with Kodak and Xerox, but it seems to be to be a place of never ending decline.
I haven't read anything that suggested Rochester or Buffalo, which both would be on the small end of metro size for this.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-03-2017, 09:36 AM
 
1,705 posts, read 1,388,780 times
Reputation: 1000
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brutusbuckeye1 View Post
What’s wrong with Rochester? People are asking the same question about Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh has been the news a lot lately being a developing and testing ground for Uber. It also has one of the larger offices for Google. Even Amazon has opened some offices there already. Pittsburgh is making some ground in IT in general. Carnegie Mellon is a leader in that field.

I have no idea what Rochester is doing. It seems like the sun is setting on Rochester.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-03-2017, 09:41 AM
 
1,705 posts, read 1,388,780 times
Reputation: 1000
Quote:
Originally Posted by cjseliga View Post
I thought it was a joint Rochester/Buffalo bid, but I might be wrong. My thinking with Rochester and them getting some "buzz", it must be due to RIT, but other than that, I'm not seeing what else they have to offer, except maybe lots of vacant office space, and home to the greatest supermarket/grocery store chain ever?
As far as I know, the largest grocery store chain is Kroger and they are based in Cincinnati. What is in Rochester?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-03-2017, 09:46 AM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
12,526 posts, read 17,541,508 times
Reputation: 10634
Wegmans.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-03-2017, 10:59 AM
 
18 posts, read 19,791 times
Reputation: 40
Quote:
Originally Posted by krogerDisco View Post
Pittsburgh has been the news a lot lately being a developing and testing ground for Uber. It also has one of the larger offices for Google. Even Amazon has opened some offices there already. Pittsburgh is making some ground in IT in general. Carnegie Mellon is a leader in that field.

I have no idea what Rochester is doing. It seems like the sun is setting on Rochester.
And what does Uber and Google have to do with the amazon bid? I would love my Youngstown to contend for this prize, but our metro is roughly 600,000.

Let’s see where Rochester and Pittsburgh stand. I will mention highlights but include links below.

Rochester metro is less than half the size of Pittsburgh at 1.078 million. Median family income for Rochester is 83,000. For Pittsburgh it is 62,000. Tech jobs make up 2.9 percent of all jobs in Rochester. By the same token, Pittsburgh is a bit less at 2.8 percent. Job growth in Rochester is 1.0 percent. In Pittsburgh it is 0.1
percent.

College attainment in Rochester is 33.7 in Pittsburgh it is 34.6. Cost of living is 10 percent higher in Rochester. Pittsburgh is 3 percent less than national average. Pittsburgh is ranked 85 in overall metrics. Rochester is 121.

Rochester ranks 173 in job growth. Pittsburgh ranks 187. Rochester ranks 97 for cost of doing business. Pittsburgh ranks 123. Education ranks Rochester at 69. Pittsburgh is 59.

These were all stats from Forbes ranking with 2016 stats. If you think Pittsburgh is a contender then Rochester is as well. The Pittsburgh news you speak of is only on local outlets. None of that news makes national unless it is a bests list. See the links below. Major Pittsburgh industry are bio science, technology and health care. In Rochester it is technology and education.

If the sun is setting on Rochester it must be doing the same in Pittsburgh. A lot of the metrics are very close. The big divide is on family income, cost of living and job growth.

https://www.forbes.com/places/pa/pittsburgh/

https://www.forbes.com/places/ny/rochester/

Last edited by Brutusbuckeye1; 11-03-2017 at 11:02 AM.. Reason: Add
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top