[PRCo] Re: PRCo Thompsonville bridge

[Fred Schneider]

I just attempted to look at that county in detail but I cannot find anything in detail for all of the townships and boroughs going back 50 or 60 years.   I can compare 2000 with 2010 and what I see is that the old towns are deader than dead.   The real growth is along the expressways that will get you into Pittsburgh ... Jefferson, Cecil, North Strabane, South Strabane, Peters Townships and California Borough account for growth of 9328 people in 10 years.   Ah but the county only grew  by about 5000.   And there were six other municipalities that had some growth.   The rest of the county continued to slump.

Note California Borough ... that is rather artificial ... 42% of the population is between 18 and 24 years of age and there is also a birthing boom.   The borough gained 1,521 people since 2000, most of them young adults?   Figured it out?   The U. S. Census counts college kids at the university if it happens to be in session on April 15th.   Looks like Bruce Well's kids were in the census there as students, one in 2000 and the other in 2010.   Take the college out of town and no one is left.  

Ah, but only part of Washington County.   If you look at that part that lies along the Monongahela River ... North Charleroi, Charleroi, Monogahela, Donora, Elco, Roscoe, Allenport ... they're dead.   Some of those towns have half the population they once had.   

Washington County peaked at 217,271 in 1950., it dropped to about 211,000 in 1960, rose again to just over 217,000 in 1980, and then steel collapsed.   204,584 in 1990.   202,897 in 1900.   Then back up to almost 208,000 in 2010 but it sure wasn't in the Mon Valley.   I think it is Pittsburgher's hunting tax relief.   

I have been trying to get some decent data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.  I think I either need to make a phone call or go see a certain man.   The preliminary data I have shows that school enrollments over the last few years are down statewide.   PDE counts (1) public school enrollments, (2) charter schools, (3) private schools, and even (4) home schooling.   I want to make sure I am not seeing apples in one bucket and oranges in another.   If school enrollments are truly down, it could be a harbinger of a statewide population drop for the first time and not just in the western end of the state.  

Frankly, Dennis, Lancaster is still the brightest spot in the state but 6% unemployment is not really bright.   I am seeing empty commercial buildings that we did not have before.   My granddaughter is not having problems because nurses always seem to have work.  Her husband, a construction worker, has been out of work for more than a year and just last week found work.  

One of the discussions we've had in another group ... not an organized list ... just a bunch of fellows ranging from a retired steel plant executive to a railroad vice president ... was that not only have the cities begun to grow again (Newark, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Allentown, Reading, Lancaster for example) but some of the suburban areas have begun to lose population (Levittown, Penn Hills are two examples and they are both related to steel ... we need to have more uniform examples.   Perhaps we need a census every five years to know what is happening.....


On Apr 7, 2012, at 9:37 AM, Dennis F Cramer wrote:

> Not all counties in Pennsylvania have had the growth of Washington & 
> Lancaster (and other) Counties. We moved to Ford City in 1962 from Liberty 
> Boro (got out of there just in the nick of time) and then to my current home 
> in 1963.
> 
> The current county population is about equal to what it was when the 2 
> trolley lines ran here 100 years ago.
> 
> Armstrong County
> 
> 2010 68,941
> 2000 72,392
> 1990 73,478
> 1980 77,768
> 1970 75,590
> 1960 79,524
> 1950 80,842
> 1940 81,087
> 1930 79,298
> 1920 75,568
> 1910 67,880
> 1900 52,551
> 
> 
> 
> 
>          Dennis F. Cramer
> http://home.windstream.net/dfc1
> 
> 
>