Category: default || By jt3y

New U.S. Census Bureau figures indicate that Our Fair City has lost about 1,600 residents since 2000. (Townships, Cities and Boroughs)

The latest estimates peg the city's population at 22,408, down from 24,040 at the decennial census, or 7.3 percent. The situation is the same wherever you go in the Mon-Yough area, and even tiny gains in places like Rostraver and North Huntingdon are offset by losses in the surrounding boroughs and townships:

Population Changes For Mon-Yough Communities
	2006 (est.)	2000 count	% change
City of Clairton	7,963	8,491	-6.6
City of Duquesne	6,778	7,332	-8.2
East McKeesport borough	2,171	2,343	-7.9
Glassport borough	4,612	4,993	-8.3
Homestead borough	3,486	3,569	-2.4
Liberty borough	2,473	2,670	-8.0
Munhall borough	11,358	12,264	-8.0
North Versailles township	10,414	11,125	-6.8
Swissvale borough	8,909	9,653	-8.4
West Mifflin borough	20,957	22,464	-7.2
Washington County
City of Monongahela	4,502	4,761	-5.8
Union township	5,450	5,599	-2.7
Westmoreland County
Irwin borough	4,145	4,366	-5.3
North Huntingdon township	29,432	29,123	+1.1
Rostraver township	11,735	11,634	+0.8
Trafford borough	3,077	3,236	-5.2
Tube City Almanac / Source: U.S. Census Bureau

(Editor's Note: West Mifflin's population is down 7.2 percent. No wonder those schools are so overcrowded!)

I haven't sat down and really parsed the data yet, but my gut reaction is that I don't think people are actively fleeing like they did in the 1980s.

Instead, I suspect we're losing population mainly because residents are dying and no new people are moving to the region.

Hey, if people don't want to live here, that's fine with me. That's more kielbassi and iced tea cartons for the rest of us. We're going for quality, not quantity in the Mon Valley, and if this trend continues, the Mon Valley will become an exclusive artists colony rivaling the Left Bank of Paris.

Paris Hilton, that is.

. . .

Speaking of the Unspeakable: According to a story in last night's News (no story online), a North Versailles woman wrote a fan letter to Paris Hilton and received a personal reply. She's going to auction the letter on eBay to benefit the Cathy G Charities.

The story reports that Hilton is going to try to turn her life around.

Step 1: Wear underpants.

. . .

Quality, Not Quantity: In case anyone was wondering how important the Tube City Almanac really is, yesterday The Burgh Blog linked here and my readership tripled.

Yes, I had three readers. (Rimshot.)

At least the pecking order between The Burgh Blog and the Almanac should be clear. In terms of Web popularity, this site ranks somewhere between the blogs of the Washington County Rock Salt Association and the Muslim Committee of Wilmerding.

A couple of people are accusing me of "outing" or "stalking" PittGirl. Oh, puh-leeze. I narrowed her location down to 27 square miles based on photos of obvious local landmarks. Good Lord, someone get a restraining order against me before I reveal other sensitive details, like the location of the Monroeville exit of the Turnpike.

Even if I did know her identity, I wouldn't reveal it. If she wants to remain anonymous, that's fine with me. I can respect that. But as a guy who writes about the McKeesport area, I thought it was interesting to see that another writer with such a big following is from nearby. That's all.

As for the small size of my readership, it's not the size, it's how you use it. Tube City Almanac strives for readers of quality, not quantity.

As an Almanac reader, you are in a very select group of literate, politically active, and keenly astute people who are interested in the Mon Valley, and who also are very susceptible to flattery.