[PRCo] Regional population numbers

[John Swindler]

People of European descent have been leaving the Pittsburgh region for past 200 years.  Nothing new.  Pittsburgh region was frequently just a way-station, even back in 1810.  Sometimes families hung around for several generations, but just as frequently less than one generation.  Your family is an example of one that left prior to 1960 peak.
 
People have also been moving into the Pittsburgh area for past 200 years plus.  Herb is just a recent example.  
 
And in some instances, families left Pittsburgh - and part of the next generation returned.  And not necessarily for work.  Pitt medical school for instance, even in 1910.
 
As for PAT ridership, as you know, PAT system ridership 40 years ago was around 130 million per year.  The rail ridership was around 22-25,000 per weekday.  Today system ridership is around 65 million per year, while light rail ridership is about 27,000 per weekday.  Light rail has held its ridership.  Its the bus system that has suffered an evaporation of riders.
 

 
> From: fwschneider at comcast.net
> Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 21:06:01 -0500
> To: pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org
> Subject: Re: [PRCo] Regional population numbers
> 
> 1810???     It vas on da frontier den.  The census claims it grew from 1,565 in 1800 to 4,768 in 1810.    Probably the people leaving were native Americans and we were killing them with European diseases.   
> 
> But the first census with a net loss was 1960 for the city and 1970 for Allegheny County.
> 
> I am not going to disagree with "nothing sad".    Every location, every government, every industry seems to have its time in the sunshine.    It simply shows that the light rail from Pittsburgh to Bethel Park and Upper Saint Clair has to show declining riding if only because the population is declining in their service area.  We know the reports to the FTA show it has declined from 7.5 million a year in 2006 to 7.0 million in 2012.    Eventually PAT is going to decide it doesn't pay to run it.   We simply don't know when that is.
> 
> 
> On Nov 17, 2013, at 1:34 PM, John Swindler wrote:
> 
> > 
> > 
> > That's why "Steeler Nation" is world-wide.
> > 
> > And nothing sad about places losing population.  Helps support light rail development in other places, such as Dallas, Phoenix and Portland.  
> > 
> > People have been leaving Pittsburgh area for couple hundred years.  What was the reason around 1810??  1870??  1945??
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >> From: fwschneider at comcast.net
> >> Date: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 19:37:31 -0500
> >> To: pittsburgh-railways at mailman.dementix.org
> >> Subject: [PRCo] Regional population numbers
> >> 
> >> This pdf file … 30 some pages long might interest a couple of yins.   Shows what happened to populations in the various boroughs, cities, townships and municipalities in southwestern Pennsylvania over the last 80 years.   
> >> 
> >> Sad thing is that most of the places the trolleys ran (or even run) have lost population … even Mount Lebanon, Dormont, Castle Shannon and Bethel Park.    Even Upper St. Clair Township.    I guess a lot of the kids have moved to Dallas, Phoenix of Portland in search of work.
> >> 
> >> 
> >> http://www.spcregion.org/pdf/RegPop/Census%20munic%20pop%20decennial%201930-2010,%20SPC%20region.pdf
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
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