Major U.S. city’s latest renaissance hits dead end

By Oliver Bateman, Real Clear Wire

Pittsburgh is a city well-acquainted with decline. Like a punch-drunk boxer climbing back into the ring despite repeated knockouts, the Steel City has endured multiple economic collapses over the past century – after the 1919 “hunky strike,” the periods preceding and following World War II, and most cripplingly in the wake of the 1980s steel industry implosion. Now, Pittsburgh finds itself on the ropes once again, this time felled not by labor unrest or global competition, but by a more prosaic foe: dwindling school enrollment.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools’ proposal to shutter 16 schools is more than just an administrative reshuffling. It’s the canary in the coal mine, signaling deeper issues that threaten to unravel the city’s fragile recovery. Recent census data reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette paints a stark picture. While Pittsburgh proper saw a minuscule population increase of just 300 people (0.1%) between 2020 and 2023, Allegheny County overall lost nearly 7,800 residents in a single year from 2022 to 2023. This 0.63% decline made it one of the top 10 counties in the U.S. for population loss during that period.

Low-income students will likely bear the brunt of these school closures, further widening educational disparities as community schools dwindle and the assorted magnet programs that have kept affluent, lottery-winning parents involved begin to disappear. Indeed, the impact may soon ripple outward, potentially triggering a new wave of white flight from the city. Of course, this exodus will go unacknowledged publicly. Well-off parents will scold each other on neighborhood Facebook groups for even considering a move to the suburbs. But quietly, many will be scrolling through Zillow listings for homes in Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair. The irony is that their departure will accelerate the urban decay they claim to abhor.