Most Pittsburgh-area communities are losing residents – here’s why that might be OK

For cities like Pittsburgh and many others in the United States, population growth is actually unlikely. espiegle/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Few city planning concepts are as sacrosanct as the idea that growth is good and decline is bad.

For cities and counties, population growth is universally seen as a metric that defines success. Even stable population trends can be cast as stagnation to be avoided at all costs.