Pittsburgh ranks number one for attracting relocating retirees in 2021

[DCReid]

I don't have access to the full article, but if anyone has, please share... just wondering if this is part of a developing trend for the rust belt cities, since they are more affordable. Afterall, many reversed their declines in the 2010 decade as shown by the 2020 census.

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...-retirees.html

[JManc]

The blue hairs are drinking and partying on Carson St.

[austlar1]

Except for the hilly streets, the cold winters, and overall gloomy weather, I might be interested.

[Steely Dan]

here's a link to the report the article was based on: https://blog.hireahelper.com/2021-st...etire-in-2021/


these are the top 10 metro areas where retirees are moving to in 2021, according to this report:

1. Pittsburgh, PA
2. Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
3. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
5. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA/NJ
6. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, TN
7. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
8. Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
9. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL
10. Johnson City, TN




what an odd and all over the place list.

my "grain of salt" sense are tingling.

[mhays]

It's a short article that refers to a longer source: https://blog.hireahelper.com/2021-st...etire-in-2021/

The "in 2021" is wrong. Actually it's based on a Census survey in 2021 vs. the same in 2020. This error raises my BS detector.

That said, at a glance it's apparently from legit survey data. I'm not seeing where they got the data (they just link to broad sections of Census information).

Oops, Steely linked it first.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by DCReid

just wondering if this is part of a developing trend for the rust belt cities, since they are more affordable. Afterall, many reversed their declines in the 2010 decade as shown by the 2020 census.

city proper wise, the only major "classic" rust belt cities that saw population growth last decade were chicago and buffalo.

detroit, cleveland, st. louis, milwaukee, and pittsburgh all saw continued declines in their city proper populations (though pittsburgh's drop was less than 1%).


at the MSA level, all 7 saw growth last decade, though it was very modest across the board, ranging from 0.53% in cleveland to 2.76% in buffalo. all 7 ranked in the bottom 10 for growth out of the nation's 50 largest MSAs.

[homebucket]

Yeah people don't usually go to California, at least the Bay Area or LA, to retire. They go there to strike it rich and retire elsewhere like Idaho.

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

city proper wise, the only major "classic" rust belt cities that saw population growth last decade were chicago and buffalo.

detroit, cleveland, st. louis, milwaukee, and pittsburgh all saw continued declines in their city proper populations (though pittsburgh's drop was less than 1%).


at the MSA level, all 7 saw growth last decade, though it was very modest across the board, ranging from 0.53% in cleveland to 2.76% in buffalo. all 7 ranked in the bottom 10 for growth out of the nation's 50 largest MSAs.

It does make sense that Pittsburgh had a bigger retention factor compared to other rust belters in that the city has become more polyvalent in its post-industrial iteration, and it certainly has a lot of charm to boot.

[AaronPGH]

Well, I hope they're the wacky kind that like a good time instead of yellin' at "the kids" in Bloomfield.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

It does make sense that Pittsburgh had a bigger retention factor compared to other rust belters in that the city has become more polyvalent in its post-industrial iteration, and it certainly has a lot of charm to boot.

interestingly, now that most rustbelt cities are dealing with black flight as their main population growth headwind, the single biggest demographic advantage pittsburgh holds over its peers is that it starts out with a much lower base of black people to begin with, so it simply doesn't have as many to loose, in term of raw numbers.

city proper pittsburgh, st. louis and cleveland are all somewhat similar in size these days, and all saw similar percentages of black flight last decade:

st. louis: -17.5%
cleveland: -15.1%
pittsburgh: -13.4%



but in terms of raw numbers those translate to:

cleveland: -31,395
st. louis: -27,396
pittsburgh: -10,533



so, cleveland and st. louis, by virtue of being much blacker, simply had much deeper black flight holes to climb out of than pittsburgh did.

[PhillyRising]

It's probably a lot of the people who left in the 70's and 80's when the Pittsburgh economy was in full hemorrage of jobs. The Yinzer diaspora was pretty big but many of them didn't want to leave but they had to....and now they can move back now that they are retired and the area isn't that expensive...plus PA is pretty favorable to retirees.

[photoLith]

Strange, I live in Pittsburgh. Would have no idea why retirees would be moving here, other than the super cheap housing prices. But these prices could be had in a myriad of midwestern/former or current rust belt cities.

I mean, Ive lived in Pittsburgh since 2013 and its the longest Ive lived in any city in my whole life. I love it here. But its just strange that Pittsburgh would rank 1 out of all cities for retirees. Would love to have a good explanation for this.

The 2020 census showed a tiny slight increase in population since 2010, maybe an increase of 1000 people or so, perhaps Im wrong. But Im fairly certain Pittsburgh has hardly grown at all, if at all.

Edit, never mind after checking, Pittsburgh has actually lost another 2800 residents since 2010... but at least thats only about -.9 percent loss, the lowest loss in population since 1950. Every other decade since we've had a loss of at least 9%. For instance, our population in 1950 was 676,807, now its 302,971. But of course thats just the city limits. So the retirees are prob moving to new tract McMansion housing in Butler or Washington counties, not really anywhere near the city limits.

[Steely Dan]

^ As I mentioned earlier, Pittsburgh, like the rest of the major rustbelt cities, had very slow growth at the MSA level last decade.

Here are the 7 "classic" major rustbelt MSAs (in bold below) that are in the 50 largest nationally. (People sometimes include east coast cities like Philly in Baltimore into the rustbelt, but they're different animals being part of bos-wash, and both saw healthier metro area growth last decade because of it, ~5% for each.)


The 10 slowest growing MSAs (2010 - 2020) of the 50 largest:

Hartford: +0.1%
Cleveland: +0.5%
Pittsburgh: +0.6%
St. Louis: +1.2%
Milwaukee: +1.2%
Memphis: +1.7%
Chicago: +1.7%
Detroit: +2.2%
Buffalo: +2.8%
Los Angeles: +2.9%


So, despite Pittsburgh having one of the absolute slowest growth rates of any major metro area in the nation, this study wants us to believe that it attracted more retirees than any other metro area last year?

This one ain't passing the sniff test for me.

[EastSideHBG]

Originally Posted by PhillyRising

It's probably a lot of the people who left in the 70's and 80's when the Pittsburgh economy was in full hemorrage of jobs. The Yinzer diaspora was pretty big but many of them didn't want to leave but they had to....and now they can move back now that they are retired and the area isn't that expensive...plus PA is pretty favorable to retirees.

Interestingly enough I just found out that a close friend's Dad retired and moved to Pittsburgh. He is from there but hasn't lived there in decades and the cost of living and PA being favorable to retirees was a few of the reasons.

And a funny part of this story is that his Mom retired and left Pittsburgh so the area still didn't gain another person

The pandemic has shifted what is important to many folks and as people start to retire I can see many returning to their roots if they are still in a particular area.

[benp]

Originally Posted by PhillyRising

It's probably a lot of the people who left in the 70's and 80's when the Pittsburgh economy was in full hemorrage of jobs. The Yinzer diaspora was pretty big but many of them didn't want to leave but they had to....and now they can move back now that they are retired and the area isn't that expensive...plus PA is pretty favorable to retirees.

Ditto for Buffalo. That's what I did. So did my brother and 2 of my cousins. Many of us also brought family members with us who never lived up north. It was actually my wife (Texas native) who helped convince me to move back, and we couldn't be happier. Lower housing costs, mature and walkable neighborhoods, favorable retiree taxes (no state tax on SSI and some pensions), cooler summers, real autumn and winters. Reconnected with extended family. Can save enough to stay south for the winter if desired.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

here's a link to the report the article was based on: https://blog.hireahelper.com/2021-st...etire-in-2021/


these are the top 10 metro areas where retirees are moving to in 2021, according to this report:

1. Pittsburgh, PA
2. Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
3. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
5. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA/NJ
6. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, TN
7. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
8. Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
9. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, FL
10. Johnson City, TN




what an odd and all over the place list.

my "grain of salt" sense are tingling.

seems to me that there is no rhyme or reason to the cities populating the list. not a clear picture.

[AviationGuy]

I can't imagine living in a place where it's cold and dismal for months, especially as a retiree. I get down and out even here, if we have more than a couple of days in a row where it's not sunny (like today). Sometimes we can be foggy, cold, and drizzly for a solid week, and I go crazy. But people have different values regarding what makes them happy.

I would be happier in an ultra-sunny place like Phoenix if it weren't for the type of older people there (I'll forego an explanation). Palm Springs would be my kind of place, but that's a dream considering how incredibly expensive it is.

[benp]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

I can't imagine living in a place where it's cold and dismal for months, especially as a retiree. I get down and out even here, if we have more than a couple of days in a row where it's not sunny (like today). Sometimes we can be foggy, cold, and drizzly for a solid week, and I go crazy. But people have different values regarding what makes them happy.

I would be happier in an ultra-sunny place like Phoenix if it weren't for the type of older people there (I'll forego an explanation). Palm Springs would be my kind of place, but that's a dream considering how incredibly expensive it is.

After 30+ years of Texas heat and summer sun, living back in a cooler climate was a goal for retirement. Relentless sun when its humid and above 90 (or even in the 80s) was hell to me, and very physically challenging when I had to do anything outdoors. The summer days just sucked the life out of me. Sun doesn't mean much to me when I'm stuck indoors. The longest days of the year were basically lost to me because of the climate.

I know several families and retirees who felt the same way and have relocated out of Texas. Mostly the trendier places (PNW, Blue Ridge Mountains) but a couple of us are in WNY. I also have family that left Arizona and Florida to move back to WNY after retirement. They realized that they hated the heat more than the snow.

[Steely Dan]

My mom and dad are now retired and have stayed put right here in Chicago.

Why?

Easy, their 2 kids and 5 grandkids live here, along with other relatives, and a crew of lifelong friends.

There is no weather anywhere in this universe that could ever hope to offset those fundamentals for them.

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

My mom and dad are now retired and have stayed put right here in Chicago.

Why?

Easy, their 2 kids and 5 grandkids live here, along with other relatives, and a crew of lifelong friends.

There is no weather anywhere in this universe that could ever hope to offset those fundamentals for them.

What I don't complete get is reading about people that want to retire on a farm in aa very rural area. One guy told me that he and his brother plan to buy an island in the Caribbean. I'm thinking, what if they get sick or have an accidental fall; how are they going to get medical care. I can see how some want to retire in colder weather climates or stay put. Some cold weather cities have excellent infrastructure and amenities that older people can take advantage of as opposed to having to drive everywhere in some cities in FL, AZ and TX. I think that's why best retirement lists ranking some cold weather places like the PA cities as high as Florida.