Last spring, the shenango, inc. coke plant on Neville Island was fined $600,000 for 330 air pollution violations and ordered to fix the problems that led to them. It was a familiar pattern in southwestern Pennsylvania in which pollution violations are detected, fines negotiated and fixes ordered—a process that has helped reduce pollution over decades, …
Southwestern Pennsylvania is in solid economic shape entering 2015. Employment is holding near all-time highs, and the seven-county unemployment rate has fallen to just under 5 percent—with the historic low of 4.1 percent in sight for 2016. But stalled labor force growth since late 2012 should temper excitement regarding the unemployment rate’s descent, as a …
Southwestern pennsylvania’s demographic landscape is once again changing in profound ways. After decades of slowly recovering from the exodus of young adults in the 1980s, the region is again seeing older adults command a growing share of the population as more baby boomers age. More people moved into the region than left to live elsewhere …
The 2015 Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow report, produced by Pittsburgh Today, analyzes recent data to assess the Pittsburgh region’s standing compared with 14 other regions in 11 categories. Also included are numerous in-depth reports focusing on the most important issues facing Greater Pittsburgh. To view a PDF version of Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2015, click …
Older adults are growing in number and influence across the nation. “The State of Aging in Allegheny County” provides a comprehensive analysis of that population in a county long ranked among the oldest in the nation. The report, published by the University of Pittsburgh University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) and Pittsburgh Today, …
A standing-room-only audience has packed the Avalon Municipal Building on a rain-soaked April evening to hear Allegheny County Health Department officials explain the latest consent decree to correct air quality violations at the coke works across the river. It’s a tough crowd. Most live in the north boroughs near the Shenango, Inc. plant. They know …
Pittsburgh has emerged as one of the nation’s lowest-priced health insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act. Insurance marketplaces created by the Act offer a menu of private sector plans covering a range of benefits packages and premium prices. Some consumers are eligible for income-based tax credits that can reduce premiums and, in certain cases, …
Pittsburgh Emerges as a Low-Price Leader in Health Insurance Read More »
Juvenile court Judge Dwayne Woodruff sees the worst of the problem. “By the time kids get to me they’ve missed 50, 60, 80 days of school,” he says. It’s a common thread running through the Allegheny County cases over which he presides, regardless of whether the student is delinquent or in need of protective custody …
The 2014 Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow report, produced by Pittsburgh Today, analyzes recent data to assess the Pittsburgh region’s standing compared with 14 U.S. cities in 10 categories. Also included are numerous in-depth reports focusing on the most important issues facing Greater Pittsburgh. To view a PDF version of Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2014, click …
In May 2013, more than 800 men and women living in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) were interviewed by telephone for a survey about the environment conducted by the University of Pittsburgh University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) and Pittsburgh Today. In order to better understand what’s important to our region’s …
Thirty years ago, in 1983, Pittsburgh was in the midst of a massive upheaval. The mighty industrial engines were going quiet, and the metropolitan unemployment rate exceeded 18 percent. The following year, 50,000 people left the region, and most of them were young adults, forced to seek new futures elsewhere. Then in 1985, Rand McNally …
The Pittsburgh Today annual report reveals how well the Pittsburgh region is doing compared to fourteen other benchmark regions in eleven categories. Each report includes in depth articles and thoughtful commentary provided by regional leaders. To view a PDF version of Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2013, click here.
Young adults play a crucial role in defining southwestern Pennsylvania today and in the coming years as workers, consumers, parents, neighbors, voters and leaders. This report draws the most comprehensive profile to date of the young men and women who are so vital to the region’s future. It is based on Pittsburgh Today’s reporting, as …
In order to understand where we are going, we must first understand where we are. In that spirit, we are pleased to release a distillation of the findings of the Pittsburgh Regional Quality of Life Survey, the most extensive survey of the residents of Greater Pittsburgh since the historic Pittsburgh Survey was published in 1908. …
A few years ago, a model that University of Pittsburgh researchers use to help them assess local demographic trends suggested the day was coming. Last year brought further evidence that it, in fact, has arrived: southwestern Pennsylvania has finally turned the corner to become a place where more people arrive than leave. U.S. Internal Revenue …
Pittsburgh Today presents its annual report on the progress of Greater Pittsburgh, comparing Pittsburgh with 14 other regions in 10 key quality of life categories. This report, written by Jeffery Fraser, is based on the Pittsburgh 2011 Quality of Life Survey. We have also asked regional leaders to describe an obstacle we need to overcome …
In this seven-part series of articles, Pittsburgh Today takes an in-depth look at the quiet crisis of vacancy and blight in southwestern Pennsylvania, the state and the nation, reporting on the people and places affected, its social and financial impacts, the strategies that have failed to stem the problem and the innovative solutions that offer …
In January 1983, unemployment in metropolitan Pittsburgh reached 17.1 percent as deep recession and structural change rocked the region. Steel strikes raged, and famous mills went cold. In time, an unwelcome realization settled in: Pittsburgh would never be the city it had been. As the Bruce Springsteen lyrics went, “Foreman says these jobs are going, …
In the 2011 Pittsburgh Today & Tomorrow report, readers can assess where Pittsburgh stands compared with 14 other benchmark regions in 10 categories: Arts, Demographics, Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Health, Housing, Public Safety and Transportation. The Regional Indicators considers Greater Pittsburgh to be a 22-county region, including eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. And as …
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