[Yuri]

Originally Posted by pj3000

The borough of Beaver is one of the Ohio River valley towns, and about 6 miles closer to downtown Pittsburgh than Butler (city). There is un-interrupted and heavily-industrialized development from downtown Pittsburgh down the Ohio in the river valley. Due to the extremely, non-uniform topography of the region, this is just how development patterns play out, i.e., where the only flat land exists.

Butler (city), on the other hand, was and is disconnected from Pittsburgh by rural lands. There is probably still around 10 miles of farmland between the city of Butler and the northern reaches of what can really be considered Pittsburgh exurbs. Historically, Butler was more connected with smaller steel and factory cities like Zelienople, New Castle, Grove City, Ellwood City, which all had strong connections to Youngstown/Mahoning Valley area across the border in OH.

The "greater Pittsburgh" region is really defined by its industrial river valleys: the Allegheny, the Monongahela, the Ohio, the Chartiers, the Beaver, the Kiskiminetas, and the Youghiogheny. There is no river valley like these to the north of Pittsburgh... and that is precisely why the north hills suburban areas are much less extensive (and newer) than the south hills suburban areas.

Butler County growth is only due to much more recent sprawl pushing up from Allegheny County over the county line along highway corridors. The growth is basically in a few townships, that's it, and mainly at the expense of Allegheny and Beaver counties.

But the thing is this growth dates 1950 (post #78). It's by far the fastest growth county on the western half of PA for the past 70 years. If it's not Pittsburgh sprawl, something else must be driven their growth. Maybe they're some kind of farming boomtown contrasting with shrinking coal cities, a bit like Grand Rapids, I don't know.