posted by Mike Madison at 12:54 PM /
Today's Post-Gazette special section on Diversity in the Pittsburgh region Foolishly, the content is not available in searchable form, and equally foolishly, it is presented in a Flash container that prevents cutting-and-pasting, i.e., that makes quoting in blogs a little more difficult.) includes a profile of Lebo neighbor Scott Township, which somewhat unexpectedly has become a beachhead for South Asian immigration. "The 1,543 foreign-born residents in this hilly suburb now comprise 8.9 percent of the population, a higher percentage than any other town or municipality in the metropolitan area, and the 891 Asian Indians here are by far the dominant group, accounting for 5.2 percent of the town, according to the U.S. Census Bureau." The article starts on page 6. Another neat point:
Scott's unexpected status as immigrant beachhead does provide hope that metropolitan Pittsburgh can shed its label as one of the least international big cities in America. Its drop from melting pot status began after 1940, when the foreign-born population peaked at more than 12 percent and then continuously fell, hit a low of 2.4 percent in 1990 before inching up to 2.6 percent by 2000, the first increase in at least 50 years. It rose some more, to 3 percent, by 2004, but that increase was still the lowest among the nation's top 25 metro areas, trailing such places as Denver, Minneapolis, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
The reason Pittsburgh's immigration rate is so alarming to followers of the local economy is what it portends: slow growth. As Pittsburgh's work force grows older and in need of replacement and as the region continues to lose population [but see Briem, above], economic development experts predict that an area unattractive to immigrants will have a hard time filling positions if the economy grows at even a marginal rate the next 10 to 20 years.
Author Gregg Zachary, who studied Pittsburgh's immigration challenges and last year reported on diversity in American cities, concluded Pittsburgh's pro-immigrant groups "are languishing, if not defeated." Civic leaders "have done little to tackle the widespread sense among foreigners that Pittsburgh is not an attractive destination."
Labels: diversity
7 Comments:
Great timing on this post. This week there is a DiverCITY forum being held right here in Pittsburgh. Some of the breakout forums look like they will have great topics. I am going to try to make some of the events on Friday and then absolutely will be back sometime during the weekend for the free concerts and activities. Website:
www.diversecitypittsburgh.org
We get stale when we stand still. Right now, our population is standing still. Is it any wonder why we have a stale economy in Allegheny County? Making Pittsburgh an attractive destination for legal immigrants should be a simple way for us to start to turn this thing around. How do we get this influx of diverse people to Pittsburgh? Hopefully free events like the DiversCITY thing will educate me and the rest of Pittsburghers about what it will take.
Stop the population drain on the South Hills and lets get a brain gain. Get these people here who have ideas, who are hard working, and will contribute to growing our economy. With fewer workers for jobs we have now, how are we going to fill what will be coming in the future? This drain of simply the employable person (due to aging boomers) has barely even started and we are already losing qualified workers.
To me, immigration seems like the easy, long term fix. With mostly higher birth rates, new ideas, and hard work, legal immigration should be one of the main focuses of Pittsburgh's new economy.
*CitizenA*
I've posted a note about the DiverCITY festival at Pittsblog. I'm a fan of the music but, given the sponsorship and tone of the event, not of the content. Encouraging immigration to the region is a great idea, but it can't managed as a corporate business plan. Identify and empower communities (geographic, ethnic, professional, religious, etc. etc.) that are already engaged in outreach beyond the region, and prime them with resources and visibility.
Ever seen the bus let folks off on Greentree Road in front of the apartment complex there? Seems like we're getting pretty diverse to me.
The apartment complex there on Greentree Rd? I have no idea where you mean. Please give directions relative to Isaly's.
I once purchased a couch from somebody in those apartments. He was Indian. He was a computer programmer/consultant. He told me that 90% of the people there were also computer programmers/consultants. They are all making boocoo money and living next to 279 (for easy access to work). Pretty smart.
Purely in the interest of proper application of languages other than English, I note that the more widely used phrase is "beaucoup bux" (11,600 hits on Google) rather than "boocoo bux" (36 hits) or "boocoo bucks" (1,350 hits) or "boocoo money" (980 hits).
I can't say it often enough. This Internet thing is great.
The apartment complex is on the east side of the road just north of where you make the left onto Forsythe to head down to the Parkway. You will often see, and I'm not saying this is a good or bad thing, individuals of Indian descent walking up and down Greentree Road for exercise. There is also natural capitalism at work in the Banksville Road shopping plaza.
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