Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilliesPhan
Pittsburgh has also undergone changes, but its metro area--not just the city proper--continues to bleed population. This is more so due to the higher median age of the area than its economic strength. I believe that the City of Pittsburgh will start growing again, but the region will continue to shed population.
|
It really all depends on what one considers the Pittsburgh "region" to be. What is technically considered to be the Pittsburgh MSA is such a vast area and highly disconnected due to the extreme topography. Because of this, it is incohesive and includes largely unrelated areas... areas that share very little practical connection to Pittsburgh. It's nothing like the case with Philadelphia MSA, which is obviously in a much more densely populated and connected part of the state. I think the Pittsburgh MSA has been overly generous in the extent of its boundaries.
The City of Pittsburgh population loss seems to be leveling off as older residents die, and the numbers of younger residents moving in cannot
yet keep up with the demographic reality of having one of the oldest populations in the nation.
The leveling off situation is similar for Allegheny County, which is de facto "Pittsburgh", but ridiculously composed of 130 municipalities (the most in PA) surrounding the city proper.
The surrounding counties of Butler (to the north) and Washington (to the south) are very popular suburban locales... Butler and Washington both have seen significant new development in the past 2 decades, have both been growing in population, and are continuing to see major infrastructure development.
Meanwhile, Westmoreland and Fayette counties (to the east-southeast) are still declining. These counties are part of the long-declining Mon Valley and push far out into former coal country and into the Laurel Highlands (i.e., the ties to Pittsburgh are very tenuous and are becoming less and less relevant to the area). Similarly, Beaver County (to the NW) and Armstrong County (to the NE) continue to lose population to aging. While Beaver County maintains connection to Pittsburgh due to its concentration of population in the Ohio River valley (and its bordering of growth areas in Butler County), Armstrong is largely rural and stretches all the way north to I-80... it really has zero business being considered part of the Pittsburgh area, and it never has. It's difficult to even get there from Pittsburgh -- there is literally ONE state highway connecting Armstrong County to Pittsburgh. It would take you the same amount of time to get from the northern portions of Armstrong County to Pittsburgh as it would take to get from those same northern portions to Erie...
So... I think we're going to see what is the
actual Pittsburgh region grow, while places that have functioned independently from Pittsburgh throughout their histories (Mon Valley, eastern Westmoreland and Fayette counties) will continue to decline, as they are remote, disconnected areas which only knew growth long ago due to the steel and coal industry. We're witnessing over the past few decades how they never really have been a part of the Pittsburgh area.