Evergrey

Pittsburgh MSA's Total Personal Income stands at $91,790 (millions) for 2006. It increased by 4.4% from 2004-2005 and 5.5% from 2005-2006. 1. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA $910,760 2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA $505,197 3. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI $391,262 4. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV $270,903 5. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD $250,482 6. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX $235,277 7. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA $233,248 8. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX $229,517 9. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH $223,140 10. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL $216,523 11. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA $184,186 12. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI $170,600 13. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA $144,337 14. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI $138,735 15. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ $136,972 16. San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA $125,885 17. Baltimore-Towson, MD $115,770 18. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA $111,869 19. Denver-Aurora, CO $106,706 20. St. Louis, MO-IL $104,202 21. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA $95,671 22. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL $94,311 23. Pittsburgh, PA $91,790 24. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA $79,399 25. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH $78,371 26. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA $77,056 27. Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN $76,521 28. Kansas City, MO-KS $74,266 29. Orlando-Kissimmee, FL $65,459 30. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT $64,743 31. Las Vegas-Paradise, NV $64,543 32. Indianapolis-Carmel, IN $63,058 33. Columbus, OH $62,698 34. San Antonio, TX $62,110 35. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI $60,876 36. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC $60,508 37. Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA $59,967 38. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC $57,062 39. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN $56,026 40. Austin-Round Rock, TX $54,955 41. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT $52,540 42. Jacksonville, FL $46,314 43. Richmond, VA $45,122 44. Memphis, TN-MS-AR $44,758 45. Louisville-Jefferson County, KY-IN $43,257 46. Birmingham-Hoover, AL $41,399 47. Oklahoma City, OK $41,278 48. New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA $39,290 49. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY $38,335 50. Raleigh-Cary, NC $36,905

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Pittsburgh has surpassed Detroit and vaulted into the Top 50 MSAs ranked by Per Capita Income. Pittsburgh's PCI increased by 6.0% from 2005-2006 compared to 4.9% from 2004-2005. http://bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/mpi/mpi_newsrelease.htm Pittsburgh MSA ranks 48th out of the 380 or so MSAs. Rank, Metropolitan Area, Per Capita Income, Annual Growth Rate 1 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT $71,901 +6.9% 2 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA $55,801 +6.2% 3 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA $53,533 +6.1% 4 Naples-Marco Island, FL $53,265 +7.6% 5 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-MD-VA-WV $51,207 +5.2% 6 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA $50,085 +6.2% 7 Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL $49,305 +6.7% 8 Trenton-Ewing, NJ $48,964 +6.6% 9 New York-Northern-New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA $48,397 +6.9% 10 Boulder, CO $48,324 +5.4% 11 Napa, CA $46,286 +6.0% 12 Barnstable Town, MA $46,258 +5.2% 13 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA $45,849 +7.5% 14 Casper, WY $45,814 +10.5% 15 Midland, TX $45,274 +10.8% 16 Denver-Aurora, CO $44,299 +4.6% 17 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA $44,228 +6.3% 18 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT $44,194 +4.3% 19 Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, FL $44,042 +5.9% 20 Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, MN $43,696 +3.8% 21 Baltimore-Towson, MD $43,549 +5.4% 22 Reno-Sparks, NV $43,209 +4.7% 23 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD $42,988 +5.6% 24 San Diego-Carslbad-San Marcos, CA $42,797 +5.5% 25 Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA $42,738 +5.7% 26 Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, CA $42,385 +4.7% 27 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA $42,342 +4.9% 28 Manchester-Nashua, NH $41,895 +5.1% 29 Ocean City, NJ $41,651 +5.3% 30 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX $41,429 +5.7% 31 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI $41,161 +5.7% 32 New Haven-Milford, CT $41,094 +5.0% 33 Norwich-New London-CT $41,019 +4.4% 34 Madison, WI $40,671 +4.3% 35 Santa Fe, NM $40,500 +6.8% 36 Ann Arbor, MI $40,381 +1.7% 37 Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI $40,316 +5.6% 38 Anchorage, AK $40,137 +4.5% 39 Carson City, NV $39,958 +5.4% 40 Cheyenne, WY $39,936 +8.7% 41 Miami-Ft Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL $39,628 +5.7% 42 Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA $39,579 +4.9% 43 Pittsfield, MA $39,463 +5.0% 44 Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA $39,448 +5.4% 45 Dallas-Ft Worth-Arlington, TX $39,187 +5.3% 46 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA $39,011 +6.2% 47 Worcester, MA $38,814 +5.3% 48 Pittsburgh, PA $38,717 +6.0% 49 Rochester, MN $38,715 +3.2% 50 Honolulu, HI $38,689 +5.1% Other notables: 51 Nashville 55 Charlotte 57 Detroit 59 Indianapolis 62 Kansas City 69 St. Louis 72 Portland 73 Raleigh 74 Cleveland 77 Harrisburg 78 Cincinnati 80 Columbus 81 Las Vegas 89 Atlanta 107 Tampa 131 Phoenix 136 Buffalo 146 Orlando

Pittsburgh's Polish Hill

The view from my apartment in Pittsburgh

Downtown Pittsburgh a few nights ago

The appropriately-named Pittsburgh Future website/blog has an excellent analysis of the regional economy here: http://www.pittsburghfuture.com/downloads/...onaleconomy.pdf Much like anything concerning Pittsburgh... it's easy to look at one raw number... like raw population growth or raw job growth and think this region is falling apart. But if you look into the numbers and actually do some analysis... you'll get a different picture. The data used is from 1999-2005... the trends would look a bit better if 2006 data was included... since 2006 was our best year "economically" since before the 9/11 economic contraction that hit our region hard (9000 US Airways jobs lost, for example). Why do we have such sluggish raw job growth? The primary reason is due to the aftershocks of the 150,000 steel jobs lost in the 80s and the resulting population exodus. We are losing jobs in sectors that depend on population growth... creating a bit of a downward spiral. These include public sector jobs, transportation jobs (USAir again), construction and distrubution centers. As Pittsburgh Future states, 1/3 of all jobs created nationally in this period were GOVERNMENT JOBS (amazing!)... half of these are public school jobs... which Pittsburgh is obviously not adding due to stagnant population. In fact, Pittsburgh had a net loss of government jobs. The following declining sectors are considered "population-dependent sectors": As Pittsburgh Future states, "When a region is growing, more buildings are built, more people shop, more kids go to public schools and more public services are needed." If you take away those 4 population-dependent sectors... Pittsburgh's job growth has actually exceeded the national average: As for the much-ballyhooed manufacturing decline... every region is experiencing it... and Pittsburgh is certainly not the worst Health care and Higher Education are leading the way in our high-wage job growth Low wage growth sectors. The tourism sector continues to boom: We exceed most other regions in rate of growth for science and engineering jobs. These 6000 new jobs pay an average of 50% more than the overall average for the region: 7300 new health care jobs also pay 50% more than regional average: We lost 18,000 management jobs, however : As Pittsburgh Future says, "Slow Population Growth Will Continue to Make Overall Job Growth Look Slow" hopefully we can keep creating more good jobs in high-wage sectors so that we eventually do see population growth and a growth in employment in population-dependent sectors... though it's important to note that most population-dependent jobs are low wage jobs Pittsburgh Future also backs up what I said previously about the roots of our population decline: "Slow population growth does not mean that the region is an undesirable place for young people - contrary to popular myth, the Pittsburgh Region's population remains stagnant because of low birth rate and low international immigration, not because of continuing outmigration of young people. The low birth rate today is due to the outmigration of young people 20 years ago following the collapse of the steel industry - when they left the region, they took their future children and grandchildren with them. Although the Pittsburgh Region still has net domestic outmigration, so do most other regions..." It's important to note... that despite population decline and sluggish overall job growth... the Pittsburgh Region's "Per Capita Personal Income" has rapidly increased over the past decade... which correlates to our growth in key high-wage sectors. In 2004, the Pittsburgh Economic Area (which includes the 10-county SWPA region plus Wheeling metro and Weirton-Steubenville metro) had a Per Capita Personal Income at 100% the national average. The annual growth rate of PCPI for the Pittsburgh EA from 1994-2004 was 4.3% compared to 4.1% nationally. Over this period, we became a "higher-wage" region in comparison to national trends. However, despite impressive wage growth... our sluggish population and job growth resulted in a rate of growth in Total Personal Income less than the national average. http://www.bea.gov/regional/bearfacts/acti...amp;yearin=2004

I just feel like bumping this in case anybody wants to use it as a resource.

The Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh

One of my favorites... Hall & Oates - "I Can't Go For That"

great photo, chucka!

I don't mean to burst in on the Nashville forum... but I was reading your thread and thought I'd clarify a few things. Heckles summed up many of the issues concerning PIT quite well. PIT currently is USAirway's largest "focus city". It previously was USAir's largest hub. USAir was founded in Pittsburgh as Allegheny Air. The "city as a whole" has had nothing to do with the decline in passenger traffic at PIT. While the total passenger traffic has seen a drastic decline, this is entirely due to the lack of connecting traffic due to USAir's cuts. Origin & Destination traffic at PIT has seen healthy increases every year, especially lately... in response to dramatically lower fares due to USAir's retrenchment. Many low-cost carriers, such as Southwest, have finally arrived at PIT. The negatives: USAir slashing thousands of Pittsburgh jobs Loss of hundreds of flights Loss of trans-atlantic flights Loss of retail business at PIT's revolutionary AirMall Underutilization of one of the country's best and largest airports The benefits: Decrease in fares (once one of the most expensive airports to fly out of... now below the average for major US airports) Greater diversity of airlines to choose from Increase in O&D traffic (people are no longer driving to Cleveland for cheaper flights)