tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post7056885871057755870..comments2023-10-27T03:16:03.213-04:00Comments on Burgh Diaspora: Positive Migration Pittsburgh And Shrinking CharlotteJim Russellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13078184665418828961noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-10774833852101798942011-08-30T01:30:38.303-04:002011-08-30T01:30:38.303-04:00Jim, my cousin (mechanical engineer) just got a jo...Jim, my cousin (mechanical engineer) just got a job there and loves it. Company bought his house, moved his family...the works, same thing that happened to me fifteen years ago when I took a transfer to Dallas. He tried to stay in Pennsylvania but couldn't.<br /><br />My understanding is if you have in demand skills, the official unemployment rate doesn't mean much. IT, engineering and allied health sciences are on that list. I have a somewhat narrow skill set but even so I'm starting to get strange calls from Silicon Valley recruiters who are essentially throwing stuff at the walls because the talent is drying up.<br /><br />We looked at Virginia about ten years ago but by then we were being pulled west and I had already worked out here once.rootvghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03524524048523221143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-11017972031143405462011-08-29T10:29:27.572-04:002011-08-29T10:29:27.572-04:00Something to keep in mind and this isn't uniqu...Something to keep in mind and this isn't unique to Atlanta (or Dallas) is that some see some affordable suburbs where they can live when they find opportunities in these cities, but the these cities have endless land to sprawl. In theory so does Pittsburgh too, but not really. While Atlanta isn't flat, it's flat enough (until you get into the northern fringes) and obviously the Texas cities are, among other places. The price in commuting is a lot though.<br /><br />As someone who has lived in Atlanta for several years (from Pgh), I can see as a whole NC, is a better place than the rest of the south. That might be because it has almost as many people as GA (and will likely surpass it soon) but has 3 well above million people metros (with Charlotte pushing 2 million), so it's not the state against Atlanta mentality that is in GA. That plus NC clearly invests in higher education more than GA. And even it's small cities like Asheville and Wilmington attract a broader than regional population. <br /><br />Charlotte is hurting no doubt, but even Houston had some struggling years a few decades ago. That doesn't mean it's destined to thrive, but it has enough going on that it will do alright in the long run. <br /><br />However the changes noted with the great recession are significant and fortunately have really played out well for Pittsburgh. I hope that as the economy improves that Pittsburgh as some real inertia and that this is not the early/mid 90s replayed that when the economy took off, so did the out migration.<br /><br />JoePAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-56721378169691385202011-08-29T10:02:57.918-04:002011-08-29T10:02:57.918-04:00I live near Atlanta, and I can tell you that popul...I live near Atlanta, and I can tell you that population growth has far outstripped job and income growth in the last 10 years. Perhaps this is the result of 30+ years of self-marketing: now that Atlanta's economy is slowing down, the population continues to grow because everybody still thinks that it's a hot spot for jobs like it was in the 1980's and 1990's.<br /><br />By the way, Atlanta's commercial real estate market is severely overbuilt. The region could go for another decade without building another shopping plaza and there'd still be vacancies. Construction jobs ain't coming back to Atlanta for a long time.DBR96Anoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-1331669790573287632011-08-29T08:39:09.439-04:002011-08-29T08:39:09.439-04:00rootvg,
What are you hearing about Atlanta? From ...rootvg,<br /><br />What are you hearing about Atlanta? From 10 miles up (and hundreds of miles away), the numbers look bad.Jim Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13078184665418828961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29127973.post-61788261062855629512011-08-28T23:38:47.769-04:002011-08-28T23:38:47.769-04:00I was in the Charlotte airport several months ago ...I was in the Charlotte airport several months ago to connect for a flight to Cleveland and it sure didn't look dead to me.<br /><br />The hot place for relocations right now is Dallas and to a lesser extent Atlanta. My cousin has been an engineer for years and finally gave up several months ago on trying to keep his family in Pennsylvania where he was raised. He accepted the job in Atlanta, bought a brand new home in the outer burbs, etc...same old story, same thing that happened to my wife and I fifteen years ago. We took off like fighter jets and never looked back.<br /><br />Everyone knows what's wrong with the Rust Belt. Certain people won't get out of the way and for political reasons can't be pushed out of the way. That's all there is to it.rootvghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03524524048523221143noreply@blogger.com