I went to CMU in Pittsburgh for grad school, the citybitself is half the size it once was, and some of the surrounding towns have lost as much as 90% of their population. At some point shifting economic geography just makes maintaining some places really tough. The question is, what could actually shift things a different way? Outside money is not a sustainable solution unless it’s building something that really makes sense.
Meant to add one more thing- declining property tax base is a death spiral, but recent population decline suggests excess local capacity to supply water and electricity. Are towns in the region trying to attract data centers? Various kinds of energy-hungry cleantech company projects? I know somr are trying to do that in Quebec.
I went to CMU in Pittsburgh for grad school, the citybitself is half the size it once was, and some of the surrounding towns have lost as much as 90% of their population. At some point shifting economic geography just makes maintaining some places really tough. The question is, what could actually shift things a different way? Outside money is not a sustainable solution unless it’s building something that really makes sense.
Meant to add one more thing- declining property tax base is a death spiral, but recent population decline suggests excess local capacity to supply water and electricity. Are towns in the region trying to attract data centers? Various kinds of energy-hungry cleantech company projects? I know somr are trying to do that in Quebec.