Weak Post

Yeah I know, another video...lame. For now, to thank those of you who read this blog, please check out this crude video but great song by Tanya Stephens. Tanya's been on the dancehall scene since the mid-90s crossing over to yuppie worldbeat enthusiasts like me in 2004 with her Gangsta Blues lp. That had some good tracks, but this 2006 release Rebelution is amazing. I highly recommend it--not your usual songs about sex, ganja, violence, sex, and more sex. Okay, some of the later, but more of politics, religion, morality, relationships, and more.

MSA fun

Anyone who knows me knows that I am constantly beating on Pittsburgh, complaining about the city’s inability to attract jobs or people. Now this isn’t just the city of Pittsburgh, but the 7 County Pittsburgh Metropolitan area. The 7 County region is losing people AND jobs, yes the suburbs! You’ve all heard the news that, “Cleveland, Detroit, and St. Louis have lost half their population since 1950”. Sure, so has Pittsburgh. But Detroit and others have grown a lot outside of their urban borders, regionally, creating new jobs and keeping many people around. Not Pittsburgh. In fact the Pittsburgh region appears to be the only place, besides Buffalo, to be losing people and jobs among the top 50 MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) in the country.

It is alarming to see that Pittsburgh is still ranked 21st out of the Top 50 MSAs. But the scary thing is to see that it is dead last among population growth since 1950! I really wish things would change for the 'Burgh, but I am not always the most optimistic.

The good thing about charts like this is that they allow ‘growing’ cities like Phoenix, which recently claimed to be the 5^th largest city, to actually be ranked 13^th largest regionally. The reason this is important is that Philadelphia and other Northeastern and Midwestern cities are surrounded by a zillion municipalities that limit annexation and cities like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and Chicago are stuck at the same size as 100 years ago. Meanwhile Sunbelt towns like Phoenix and Dallas were able to annex the wastelands around them, anticipating and capturing growth. Thus the CITY of Phoenix may have more bodies than the CITY of Philadelphia. But city limits are rather irrelevant for the economic and social vibrancy of a region. People in Philly work and shop and play and live in Philly as well as in the many surrounding towns and suburbs, as they do in any metropolitan area. Therefore the city population is irrelevant in urban rankings, but MSA statistics are valuable to see how big a metro area is. So Phoenix, you’re not yet in the top 10, let alone top 5! Even if you get there time isn't on your side, how many people can the desert sustain?

For more fun please check out www.demographia.com/ to see more demographic info. Ignore all the 'death of the American Dream b/c of Smart Growth' hype, and read the MSA since 1950s info.