Why is Pittsburgh one of the few cities with population continuously declining every year despite its good reputation? (Houston: sale, school district)

[PghYinzer]

Surface bus rider almost everyday for a little under 10 years, bus stop a block from my front porch, buses come every 10 mins during peak hours(98% of the time on time), and its a 20 min ride to work. Can't beat it. Do I use it to go to Monroeville? No, but I never would even if I could easily.

[detachable arm]

Originally Posted by gladhands

The general consensus is that plastics manufacturers will locate themselves near an Etheline cracker plant, so this plant may lead to more than 600 jobs by bringing other polluters into the area.

I don’t know anything about plastic manufacturing but 15 years’ experience says the main plant itself will bring in support companies such as specialty gas & catalyst suppliers, heavy construction equipment rentals, truck fleet management (like F-150s), specialized safety equipment suppliers, temporary facilities, office suppliers & PC rentals, coffee & vending machine suppliers all the way down to sub-contracted janitorial staff. Not to mention other specialty contractors that will eventually take care of maintenance. Each facet of maintenance (pipe, electrical, etc) has its own job and needs support as well. Not to mention hotels, restaurants and retail will get a boost. That is all very long term though. Same with the people who will get rich- it will take many years. Savvy business owners or managers for instance. All the plant workers who stay a long time will retire millionaires with their coveted “big oil” pensions and benefits. The engineers / professionals will be worth $1M on paper by age 40 if they didn’t invest it in fancy trucks / sports cars and easy local women looking for a meal ticket. This is all pretty typical stuff in Texas. It’ll make you think twice before judging a book by its cover. And like I said, a second plant nearby might happen and would only multiply the effect:

Possible Site Of Petrochemical Complex | PTTGC America

[Goinback2011]

Originally Posted by gladhands

The general consensus is that plastics manufacturers will locate themselves near an Etheline cracker plant, so this plant may lead to more than 600 jobs by bringing other polluters into the area.

I think I saw that in that ancient Dustin Hoffman movie.

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by UsAll

Compare this to other metro areas (even those who, like Pittsburgh, are not the biggest cities in the league of New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, et al) like, for instance, your not-to-far-away neighboring Cleveland, Ohio metro area. Since the early 1900s, metro Cleveland and Cuyahoga County at-large it has extensive rail transit (both heavy rail and light rail, underground and aboveground), regular buses, and bus-rapid-transit (BRT) buses and some of its lines run 24/7/365 (e.g., the so-called "HealthLine"). Their rail system covers the great bulk of the metro area (not just Cleveland proper but the surrounding suburbs and towns on all sides around Cleveland and Cuyahoga County and vicinity. It is a major a strike against Pittsburgh, in my mind.

In your mention of Cleveland rail transit, it might be higher than avergae for a city of its size, but its really a stretch to call it extensive and its certainly does not cover the great bulk of the Metro area. Two things its got going over Pittsburgh's T is that it goes to the airport and University area, whereas the T does not (except near Point Park U and Duquesne, but not the bigger ones in Oakland).


Clevelnd RTA all lines combined have 50 stations, but Pittsburgh's T has 53. Cleveland's covers a bit more mileage of track (about 33 miles, vs 27 for the T). More of Pittsburgh's is underground than Cleveland's, and in a more important area (underground in downtown Pittsburgh, vs. only the airport in Cleve). The systems have very similar ridership numbers, although Cleveland's have been dropping faster.

[Mtl-Cns]

Originally Posted by UsAll

In the end: Can I or will I be able to go from downtown Pittsburgh to Monroeville by a BRT line? From downtown Pittsburgh to Oakland, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, East Liberty, Wilkinsburg, and so on (i.e, other greater East End neighborhoods and municipalities) by a BRT line? From the East End to the malls in the North Hills by a BRT line? and so on and so on? From these areas to the airport by a BRT line? From Oakland to Sewickley by a BRT line? The key words are "pervasive", "frequent", "rapid", and "long-running hours".

With the exception of Sewickley/North Hills I believe the answer to everything else is that is the plan.

And East Lib, Shady side, Williamsburg already have the dedicated busway.

[SteelCityRising]

Well, with the city's population again declining in 2018 we're now smaller than Cincinnati. We'll likely be under 300,000 in the early-2020's.

I guess my rent should start to decrease then due to the dwindling population?

[Goodjules]

This article is about cities with declining populations that are doing better economically. Pittsburgh is one of them. https://www.governing.com/topics/urb...-thriving.html

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Well, with the city's population again declining in 2018 we're now smaller than Cincinnati. We'll likely be under 300,000 in the early-2020's.

I guess my rent should start to decrease then due to the dwindling population?

Probably not. Decline is due to elderly population dying off. We have a decent number of people moving here. The newcomers tend to be younger, well educated, and affluent which puts upward pressure on the housing market.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Well, with the city's population again declining in 2018 we're now smaller than Cincinnati. We'll likely be under 300,000 in the early-2020's.

I guess my rent should start to decrease then due to the dwindling population?

Hold your breath!

[Lost_In_Translation]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Well, with the city's population again declining in 2018 we're now smaller than Cincinnati. We'll likely be under 300,000 in the early-2020's.

I guess my rent should start to decrease then due to the dwindling population?

Not likely in Polish Hill. Maybe Southside with all the apts having gone up. Puts some downward pressure on the duplexes nearby.