Working from home and effects on downtown Pittsburgh (Erie, Meadville: apartment, house)

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by Jbraybarten65

I saw the same chart in one of the news releases. The Congressional changes won't be that significant really.


We will find in early May I think on the county populations (and by extension, the metros).

It’s gonna be interesting that’s for sure. Is Pittsburgh doing better than anticipated or is central to east just doing gangbusters making up for the declines everywhere else?

I think it’s funny how bad the over estimated Florida and North Carolina. It was off by a metric ton. It looks like the last administration is responsible for the anemic national population growth.

Maybe the Great Lakes and northeast ain’t so bad. If New York counted 89 more people they wouldn’t be losing a seat. Crazy. Glad to see the numbers for the states up north ain’t so bad. Even WV was underestimated. Funny

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Independentthinking83

I did not see the official census numbers till now. It looks like they really underestimated the northeast and Great Lakes for sure. And wow Florida was way overestimated. That is kinda crazy. Maybe the numbers aren’t that bad then for Pittsburgh and Erie, unless Harrisburg east is where all the growth is.

Where did you get the numbers? I just saw who lost and who gained seats. Explains why Florida only gained one.

I'm on a couple different forums which follow census numbers. That is not a chart from the Census - someone compiled the information from Census released data.

There were some initial suggestions that perhaps the issue was that the Census massively undercounted Latinos, as was feared, since TX, FL, and AZ came out way under expectations. But that doesn't explain how New York ended up with 864,000 people more than was expected, for example. It really looks like the Census somehow overstated the out-migration of people from the Northeast/Midwest to the Sun Belt in the ACS estimates this decade...meaning the reported declines in population over the last few years in cities like New York and Chicago probably never happened.

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I'm on a couple different forums which follow census numbers. That is not a chart from the Census - someone compiled the information from Census released data.

There were some initial suggestions that perhaps the issue was that the Census massively undercounted Latinos, as was feared, since TX, FL, and AZ came out way under expectations. But that doesn't explain how New York ended up with 864,000 people more than was expected, for example. It really looks like the Census somehow overstated the out-migration of people from the Northeast/Midwest to the Sun Belt in the ACS estimates this decade...meaning the reported declines in population over the last few years in cities like New York and Chicago probably never happened.

You are probably correct. The experts are so doom and gloom on the northeast and Midwest. Glad to see they were wrong and maybe not everybody is going south and west. If New York had 89 more residents, who misses out on the additional seat?

Even so it looks like the America First isolationism hurt the in migration of more potential conservative Latinos into the south, specifically Florida. It’s like they shot themselves in the foot. First census in 80 years where Florida failed to gain at least 2 seats. Populist lip service and policy cost them the potential to grasp more national power.

Least amount of changes since the 1940 census and lowest amount of growth what a disaster the previous administration was.

[Independentthinking83]

I don’t want to veer off topic too far. I just think the new census numbers are interesting, funny and sad all together. First time in 80 years Florida does not gain 2 seats or more. Oh well. It shows why embracing immigration and broad economic and trade policy is so important.

That said what do folks on this board think downtown Pittsburgh will look like over the next year? What will be the percentage of office workers that come back? Will they need to do more residential to fill buildings?

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Independentthinking83

I don’t want to veer off topic too far. I just think the new census numbers are interesting, funny and sad all together. First time in 80 years Florida does not gain 2 seats or more. Oh well. It shows why embracing immigration and broad economic and trade policy is so important.

That said what do folks on this board think downtown Pittsburgh will look like over the next year? What will be the percentage of office workers that come back? Will they need to do more residential to fill buildings?

Lol. Florida is still booming and people are coming in droves. Besides, Sleepy Joe is letting migrants in, in droves.

Pretty simple. Pittsburgh will see less folks back in the office next year.

[BUILD PENN SQUARE]

Originally Posted by Independentthinking83

That said what do folks on this board think downtown Pittsburgh will look like over the next year? What will be the percentage of office workers that come back? Will they need to do more residential to fill buildings?

it will look the same or worse

it's the stated policy of the biden administration "to achieve a 50-52 percent reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas pollution in 2030, reaching net zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050"

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-...-technologies/

having millions of people commuting in cars that run on gasoline to office buildings heated by natural gas and cooled by electricity generated by fossil fuels does not help the administration achieve its goals

your high-speed internet equipped home has its own carbon footprint so commuting to a high-speed internet equipped office with an additional, much larger carbon footprint is going to have to become a thing of the past

not to mention all the greenhouse gas emitting restaurants, dry cleaners, etc. needed to service office workers

work-from-home is the only way for the US to reach "net zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050"

"The United States can create good-paying jobs and cut emissions and energy costs for families by supporting efficiency upgrades and electrification in buildings through support for job-creating retrofit programs and sustainable affordable housing, wider use of heat pumps and induction stoves, and adoption of modern energy codes for new buildings. The United States will also invest in new technologies to reduce emissions associated with construction, including for high-performance electrified buildings."

office buildings may be converted into residential, but only after they've been completely electrified, meaning no heat from natural gas

[PghPatriot]

Originally Posted by BUILD PENN SQUARE

the resentment is understandable - the whole point of working hard to become a professional is having control over your quality of life

what quality of life do you have if you have to wear a mask all day for an office job?

surgeons understand their jobs will require face coverings - but lawyers, architects, financial planners, etc?

Yeah, wearing a mask....man, it's like...just kill me already. How on earth can a human being possibly be asked to wear a mask? You might as well be asking them to cut off both of their legs and both of their arms. It's cruel and inhuman. I honestly think most folks would rather just kill themselves than have to actually wear a mask, it's that awful. I literally can't think of anything on God's green earth that is worse than wearing a mask. If I had to wear one, I would rather put a bullet in my head.

[JDFury]

Originally Posted by zalewskimm

It is pretty safe to do so. Time to get out of the pajamas and stop using the pandemic as an crutch. Downtown is slowly seeing more homelessness on the streets. The prior investment in downtown living is being lost. Just rambling here. We can go forth knowing that many jobs can now have some flexibility to work from home here and there when needed but for the sake of sanity and our health it's time to get out of the house. Wear a mask if you must but at some point we gotta get back to some kind normal life.

You're projecting. Anecdotally my quality of life, productivity, and overall cost of living have improved by working from home. And my huge soulless downtown employer recognizes that fact. They're letting adults do what works best for them so long as they produce. A novel approach to be certain.

If there's any lemonade to be squeezed from this whole exercise, it's that "business as usual" and "we've always done it that way" are laughable notions.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by eschaton

This is an...odd take. The big story of the first census numbers today was the 2020 estimates really undercounted the Northeast and over counted the Sun Belt. PA in particular has 219,000 more people than projected.



Given PA as a whole had more people than expected it wouldn't be surprising if Pittsburgh beats projections as well. Meaning it probably didn't lose people this decade.

Wow that's quite a severe undercount of the entire Northeast. I have no idea how they make their estimates, but they need to do something different if they were off that much for the region. Minnesota and Rhode Island were widely expected to lose seats too only to hold steady and apparently New Jersey was close to regaining a Congressional district too. I feel like they did the same with the Northeast and South in 2010, but not as bad as this.

Given Allegheny County according to the estimates was only down 7,300, there's certainly more than enough extra people counted too get this county to have its first decade of population growth in 60 years. Allegheny County in 2020 also beat its census response rate from 2000 and 2010.

[Jbraybarten65]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

Wow that's quite a severe undercount of the entire Northeast. I have no idea how they make their estimates, but they need to do something different if they were off that much for the region. Minnesota and Rhode Island were widely expected to lose seats too only to hold steady and apparently New Jersey was close to regaining a Congressional district too. I feel like they did the same with the Northeast and South in 2010, but not as bad as this.

Given Allegheny County according to the estimates was only down 7,300, there's certainly more than enough extra people counted too get this county to have its first decade of population growth in 60 years. Allegheny County in 2020 also beat its census response rate from 2000 and 2010.

Allegheny started to slide a little if the annual estimates are accurate, but also if accurate, the decline will be very modest compared to previous decades. It will take a lot of jobs to gain enough people to offset deaths each year. I find interesting that PNC may be doing something new downtown with state of offices everywhere chaotic. I expect some return to normalcy, but any company that can, will likely do some hybrid and I know some people who expect that office space needed will shrink and there will be more shared cubes etc for when people come in.