Population Decline in Pa. Is Happening Faster Than Expected, Data Suggest. Here's How the State Is Dealing with It

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Population Decline in Pa. Is Happening Faster Than Expected, Data Suggest. Here’s How the State Is Dealing with It



A view of Hollidaysburg in Blair County. Photo by Georgianna Sutherland | For Spotlight PA

By Marley Parish of Spotlight PA State College - July 17, 2024
Local News | Spotlight PA

This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our north-central Pa. newsletter, Talk of the Town, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown.

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers hope a new commission created to encourage people to live in rural areas can stem the population decline happening in those parts of the state, which federal data show is outpacing predictions.

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania, an agency overseen by the state legislature, released 30-year population projections last fall that forecast a 5.8% decline in rural counties. But after reviewing new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the state’s experts said last week that the decline is happening more rapidly.

Federal estimates show that Pennsylvania had 3.36 million rural residents in 2023. That’s a 0.7% decrease from 2020, the center said in its analysis.

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[no_hypocrisy]

1. Last year, I was in Dubois, a "city" in Blair County.

I can understand why residents would move out.

The Main Streets are anemic with businesses. Maybe one good restaurant. Even franchises keep away. The only notable businesses are malls on the periphery of the municipality.

The town has sections where the newer houses are decent-looking. The other sections have homes that were built more than 100 years ago and haven't had much repair.

Everything looks "gray" and looks like it's still in The Depression. It's a depressing place to even visit.

[twodogsbarking]

4. It is in Clearfield County. The rest is accurate. Pick another Pa town and you will likely find the same.

[no_hypocrisy]

5. Point taken. I was thinking of Altoona in Blair County.

And Dubois is in a word "pitiful".

[twodogsbarking]

6. It was nice at one time. Started to lose it in the 80s. Corrupt city management recently.

[Old Crank]

2. Nothing to hold people in those areas.

The older armers are dying off. The kids don't want to work brutal hours for next to nothing.
Then the small towns which support the farmers start losing people becasue of lower farm activity it becomes an doom loop.

HArd to make a living when tractors cost hundreds of thousands and you have to pay the company to send a rep to work on them while payign hundreds for their transit time.

[cachukis]

3. Just crossed the mountain from Harrisonburg, Va

to Franklin, WV. Stopped in Brandywine for lunch. Woman, brought a daughter in to apply for work in small restaurant.
Maybe 2, 3 days a week.
The mother has 7 children, but diabetes laid up husband for a while.
She drives the mountain daily. Jobs on VA side. Has three jobs plus the garden and farm. Nice chat.
Another woman sitting nearby, as we left, remarked, 50% of people in this area cross that mountain, everyday. Egg factory.
We travel in rural America and encounter the difficulties people face.
They are left to their own devices and don't see a lot of government support because, in a town and county as small as it is, there is little to go around.

[70sEraVet]

7. I live in a tiny town (pop. 300) in a rural county in TN

I can afford to live here because I'm retired. I bought one of those 100+ year old neglected homes another DUer wrote about.
I thought perhaps rural areas might benefit from younger, working-age folks being able to work from home now. But rural towns have more challenges than just employment -- the nearest elementary school is 25 miles away, as is decent medical care.
I can understand why younger people are avoiding these towns.

[Number9Dream]

8. Maybe true for rural areas, but other areas are overpopulated

In eastern PA, there has long been a surge of folks from NJ and NY fleeing higher taxes. I live in the Lehigh Valley, and they can't build housing developments fast enough here. Between the developments and warehouses, the once nice Lehigh Valley is being covered with macadam. The roads are a continuous traffic jam, the air pollution is bad, and flooding is much worse.