To anyone who lives in Pittsburgh, PA

[tenguzero]

My significant other and I took a roadtrip from NH to Pittsburgh a couple months back to go to a friend's wedding (he had it on a rooftop on the UPitt campus -- it was a nice backdrop with the cathedral and whatnot.) So I had done some research on the place prior to going (for the record, we even considered making a go at Centralia since it would have only been about 20 minutes off the highway.) At any rate, I knew that the population of the city had dropped off by almost 50% from its post-WWII heyday, but I was still taken aback by how much it felt like a ghost city. It's weird. Maybe we just got lucky, but driving through the heart of the city on a weekend afternoon we found VERY few people. The sidewalks were empty, there was nothing for cars on the streets -- it was eerie. It definitely comes off as a city built for 700,000 but populated by half that. So my question is: where is everyone? I see pictures like the ones below and I'm immediately struck by the lack of vehicles -- the whole city is lit up, but non one's home lol.

http://bellaitalianaphotography.file...-at-night1.jpg

['97ventureowner]

Well I can help answer part of your question even though I don't live in Pittsburgh, rather a similar city with similar issues. Welcome to the Rust Belt. Many Northeastern cities are experiencing significant population declines over the past few decades for a number of reasons.
The main reason that these cities are in decline is that their heyday was a result of the Industrial Revolution and as a result, their economy was heavy in manufacturing. Over the years a number of items have caused the manufacturing base to erode. Some of these being high taxes( and a higher cost of doing business)driving these businesses further south or out of the country.A result of that is the population tends to go where the jobs go. Newer technologies have also replaced a lot of the manufacturing and the need for those facilities and a higher skilled workforce has also caused some of these businesses to leave, seeking greener pastures. One particular issue my area is experiencing is when kids graduate from college they are not returning home or if they graduate in this area, they leave, seeking higher paying jobs which tend not to be manufacturing or service jobs.
Over the past 20 years or so my region has lost tens of thousands of jobs from companies like Allied Chemical, Carrier, New Process Gear, Miller Brewery, General Motors,etc. With no other jobs to replace those lost that pay in the range of the ones lost, families pack up and leave. Now the biggest employers in my area are colleges/universities and hospitals.
They are trying to turn things around here by instituting various programs such as green technology businesses, a "Come home " program, inviting those who left the area to move back in hopes of gaining population and a better economic base. But none of this will work unless they make the business climate more friendlier by reducing taxes and other costs of doing business.
What you said in your post about Pittsburgh is echoed here in Syracuse where downtown used to be so busy and bustling, and now it's like a ghost town.
(Of course one other reason given to the decline of cities like this is suburban sprawl where businesses and people moved out of the city to outlying areas and tended to stay in that area .)

EDIT: Just wanted to add this bit related to the loss of all of these manufacturing jobs so common in this part of the country. Many people lament that gone are the days when one could graduate from high school and immediately go to work in one of these industries and work there until they reach retirement age. Many generations of families and multiple family members worked for these companies over the years. Now you minimally need a college degree and even then you aren't guaranteed you'll be there any length of time as many people end up moving around from job to job and have multiple careers in the span of their working years.

[speediva]

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, so I can speak pretty well to what you were seeing.

"Downtown" Pittsburgh on a weekday - is a busy, bustling metropolis of people going from A to B and back again.

"Downtown" Pittsburgh on a weekend - is completely empty, aside from a few people coming in to work on the weekend, or having a few things to do in the downtown area.

Saturday mornings/early afternoons are busy, but not in Downtown Pgh. You have to head to the "Strip District" (NOT a "redlight" district) because people come in from out of town for all the street vendors who sell anything and everything from fresh produce to Steelers attire. Other "Pittsburgh" areas that will be busy-ish on weekends during the day - Mt. Washington (where your image was undoubtedly shot) where tourists go to take amazing pics of Pittsburgh whether day or night. South Side Works is a newer shopping area that is "near" Pittsburgh, but definitely not within the Downtown limits.

Friday or Saturday nights are spent in "da Souside" (to be said as "the South Side" if you are not a yinzer). That's where all the Pitt/CMU/suburban kids go to party all night long with stretches of bars for probably about 2 miles straight.

Basically, everyone has moved out of Downtown Pittsburgh to live in the giant areas of suburban sprawl that stretch out to the south, north and east of the city proper. After the city started to decline due to the falling need for Steel, etc., it became unfashionable to live in Downtown Pittsburgh, so people left for either other parts of the country, or at the very least, left for the suburbs where new businesses were hiring. No one has really moved back. There are a number of developers trying to make living in Downtown Pittsburgh fashionable - but it's PRICEY, and often too rich for a Burgher's blood.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by speediva

Basically, everyone has moved out of Downtown Pittsburgh to live in the giant areas of suburban sprawl that stretch out to the south, north and east of the city proper. After the city started to decline due to the falling need for Steel, etc., it became unfashionable to live in Downtown Pittsburgh, so people left for either other parts of the country, or at the very least, left for the suburbs where new businesses were hiring. No one has really moved back. There are a number of developers trying to make living in Downtown Pittsburgh fashionable - but it's PRICEY, and often too rich for a Burgher's blood.

That's what they are trying to do here in Syracuse. There are plenty of old manufacturing buildings in areas of the city and 10-15 years ago, a lot of them were bought by developers and converted into office space. Now within the past few years there is a renewed effort to do the same, only this time to make them into high end apartments aimed at young professionals or empty nesters. The rents are rather high, but that doesn't seem to stop people from renting them and the demand is still there. Many people have said in order to be successful in maintaining this effort certain support must be in place such as ample parking and stores open after hours and weekends , and a variety of social and after hour events . They have been working on the retail end but still many stores are only open during the week during working hours when the most people are downtown. And practically every weekend there is some sort of festival or fair going on to lure people to come downtown. It seems moderately successful as many people do stay afterwards and frequent the shops and restaurants that are open. I'm sure as Pittsburgh has found out it's a slow process but definitely worth it to get interest back into coming downtown, and I hope that within a few years our city will have success just like it seems they have.

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by '97ventureowner

That's what they are trying to do here in Syracuse. There are plenty of old manufacturing buildings in areas of the city and 10-15 years ago, a lot of them were bought by developers and converted into office space. Now within the past few years there is a renewed effort to do the same, only this time to make them into high end apartments aimed at young professionals or empty nesters. The rents are rather high, but that doesn't seem to stop people from renting them and the demand is still there. Many people have said in order to be successful in maintaining this effort certain support must be in place such as ample parking and stores open after hours and weekends , and a variety of social and after hour events . They have been working on the retail end but still many stores are only open during the week during working hours when the most people are downtown. And practically every weekend there is some sort of festival or fair going on to lure people to come downtown. It seems moderately successful as many people do stay afterwards and frequent the shops and restaurants that are open. I'm sure as Pittsburgh has found out it's a slow process but definitely worth it to get interest back into coming downtown, and I hope that within a few years our city will have success just like it seems they have.

Agreed.
The post-war flight -to-the-suburbs is a classic urban-planning mistake. More than the decline of industry, this flight is what killed the centers of many older cities.

Cities NEED people (mostly the gainfully-employed) living in them to keep them vibrant and functioning. It is simply not enough to have people commute downtown. With occupancy comes jobs, prosperity, a decent municipal tax base and subsequent infrastructure development and spending etc.

Also, a decent population concentration is required. Less urban sprawl and more high rise apartments and condos. This makes the urban centers more efficient and more vibrant. It means less commuting and a better chance of making decent public transport systems function.

A great example of proper urban planning is Manhattan, especially in the past 30 years, where the downtown has been greatly revitalized.

My nearest US city, Buffalo NY is a good example of how NOT to do things. The downtown area is a terribly troubled city in decline with little reversal in sight.

[tenguzero]

Ah -- thanks for the enlightenment on this. It makes sense that everyone's out in the 'burbs -- Wikipedia says the metropolitan area is ~2.5 million people. I guess that's the way for a lot of midwest and "rustbelt" cities. There did seem to be a noticeably large volume of people in the neighborhoods around the UPitt area on Sat. night (headed back to the hotel.) I can see the interest in developing the "green" technology and robotics industries in cities like this -- it's almost just a matter of simply retooling a workforce and infrastructure that's basically on hiatus.

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by tenguzero

I can see the interest in developing the "green" technology and robotics industries in cities like this -- it's almost just a matter of simply retooling a workforce and infrastructure that's basically on hiatus.

Actually in Syracuse it's not on hiatus but going full steam. There are many projects either started or in the final planning stages relating to green technology and we are slated to open a green technology center/incubator for smaller startup companies this Fall, built on a former brownfield site. This area is heavy with colleges and universities with Syracuse University, Cornell, Lemoyne college, and a host of other smaller community colleges and state universities within the area that are adopting green curriculum's to train the future workforce. The state has had a hand in supplying some of the necessary funding to make this happen and is also planning on helping those put out of work due to the economy and the loss of manufacturing jobs to go back to school to learn a new "green" career. So that there will be an educated workforce in place when the rest of the pieces come together.

[speediva]

Originally Posted by '97ventureowner

Actually in Syracuse it's not on hiatus but going full steam. There are many projects either started or in the final planning stages relating to green technology and we are slated to open a green technology center/incubator for smaller startup companies this Fall, built on a former brownfield site. This area is heavy with colleges and universities with Syracuse University, Cornell, Lemoyne college, and a host of other smaller community colleges and state universities within the area that are adopting green curriculum's to train the future workforce. The state has had a hand in supplying some of the necessary funding to make this happen and is also planning on helping those put out of work due to the economy and the loss of manufacturing jobs to go back to school to learn a new "green" career. So that there will be an educated workforce in place when the rest of the pieces come together.

+1 on that. Pittsburgh has CMU, UPitt and a host of other smaller colleges/universities that focus on technology because that's about the only sector that is thriving right now in Pittsburgh - or really anywhere.