Is Pittsburgh PA maybe a similar story to STL, where it is simultaneously shedding lower income residents in struggling, high vacancy neighborhoods in exchange for higher income residents in dense, high-amenity neighborhoods?
Is Pittsburgh PA maybe a similar story to STL, where it is simultaneously shedding lower income residents in struggling, high vacancy neighborhoods in exchange for higher income residents in dense, high-amenity neighborhoods?
That would be my guess. For whatever reason, though, metro Pittsburgh has steadily lost population while metro STL has steadily gained population overall. I think.
Geography might play a role there. Available land for affordable exurban construction might be more scarce, thus driving prices up and limiting the potential for sprawl. Metro St. Louis has bee gaining population slightly, on paper, but the definition of what's in the metro area keeps getting bigger too. That may not be possible there.
Geography seems to be a counterweight to Pittsburgh's expansion, but the irregular topography adds to its urbanity - my impression is that Pittsburgh's downtown is abnormally dense for a city of its size (even its historical size) precisely because it is hard to build there.
Another interesting point of comparison is fragmented local government: definitely not at the same magnitude as St Louis, but Pittsburgh also features municipality enclaves like Cincinnati (independent municipalities that are completely surrounded by the larger city). Again, this makes sense given the topography.
Pittsburgh fares quite well on a lot of economic indicators compared to other compact city peers.
For example, it has the lowest 2016 poverty rate with 19.2%, and only Baltimore and Pittsburgh have a black poverty rate under 30%. Saint Louis City fares pretty well, too on poverty, tho it has a higher disparity between rates of black (32%%) and whites (13.2%). Minneapolis has a whopping disparity among the compact city group with the lowest white poverty rate (12.4%) and highest black poverty rate (43.7%).
(I looked at STL and compact peers Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Minneapolis; all of which are under 100 sq. mi. Compact non-peers include SanFran, D.C., & SEA,)
WPXI - $600M to go toward revitalizing Downtown Pittsburgh as part of 10-year plan
A new, historic plan aims to revitalize Downtown Pittsburgh.
Governor Josh Shapiro’s administration announced Friday that elected officials, corporate leaders, private developers, organized labor, nonprofits and artists from Pittsburgh came together for this collective effort to improve Downtown.
Projects are already in the works that have equaled about $600 million, all of which are part of the initial phase of the plan and are expected to wrap in 2028.
This is misleading. Pennsylvania just announced $62 million towards the downtown Pittsburgh revitalization, on top of $22 million from the city's redevelopment agency and $40 million already committed by private institutions. They don't seem to have funding sources or commitments for the remaining few hundred million.
However, we could only dream of real investments from the state or major investments from our businesses sector.
PRT approves major cuts to transit, totaling a ~35% cut.
The cuts and fare hike is to fill a $119 million budget deficit.
Fares will by hiked by $0.25, service will end at 11 PM, the Silver Line LRT will be discontinued, 12 light rail stations will be closed, 41 bus lines will be ended, and special services for large events will also be ended. PRT will also lay off nearly 40% of their workforce.
The agency says that they could reverse the budget cuts if the state approves a pending transit funding bill, however Republicans in the state senate are currently holding it up.
