Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuri
For my surprise, Fayette was the 5th county included, before Butler, in 1983. Which is very weird as it would be perfectly natural for Butler to be included even in 1950, as the growth curve suggests.
And the inclusion of Butler would have delayed Pittsburgh peak to 1970 (like Buffalo), instead of 1960, by using definitions from that time.
|
The vast majority of Butler County is not "suburban Pittsburgh" now and certainly wasn't back in 1950. Today, the portion that could be considered Pittsburgh suburbs/exurbs is basically only the southwestern corner centered around Cranberry Township, where I-79, PA Turnpike, and US-19 come together... and that has mainly all developed since the 1980s. Most of Butler county is decidedly rural, with the northern border of the county being 50 miles from downtown Pittsburgh.
Fayette County had greater historical ties to Pittsburgh than Butler County did, as the settled areas south of Pittsburgh are significantly older and developed into major coal and coke centers (Uniontown, Connellsville)... though I still think that the inclusion of Fayette County in Pittsburgh's MSA is kinda ridiculous.