A Wake Up Call for the Region

Pittsburgers like to recall that ten years ago Rand-McNally picked Pittsburgh as the most livable city in America. Maybe on their measures it was true, but those measures are not the ones people use.

A much more accurate barometer of the attractiveness of cities and regions is where people choose to live. At about the time of the Rand-McNally survey, people were leaving Pittsburgh for other places at one of the most rapid rates in the country. Between the 1980 and 1990 censuses, Pittsburgh's population fell 12.8%. Among cities of 100,000 population or more, only three cities did worse - - Gary IN, Detroit, Ml, and Newark, NJ.