Friday, May 18, 2012

Weird Pittsburgh Demography

Austin isn't weird. Portland is a little closer to the mark. Pittsburgh is king. From the Atlantic Cities blog:

The list below shows the highest rates of minority populations among the 4 and under age group for the 50 most populous metro areas in the U.S. It should be re-emphasized that these are approximations of metro-level data based on single data from single counties, and are only intended to serve as a proxy for trying to understand how this nationwide shift to minority-majority young children plays out on a metro/city level.

Emphasis added and duly noted (think core county). Out of 50, Pittsburgh is 50th with 31.54% minority population under age 5. Pittsburgh couldn't be more against the grain concerning national demographic trends. Exodus and isolation have set the stage for theatre bizarre.

Pittsburgh is a living museum for German-American heritage:

“A lot of people aren’t aware that German is the largest ancestral group in the country,” said Don Heinrich Tolzmann, a Cincinnati author who wrote “The German-American Experience.” “It’s an eye-opener, and it’s something that’s commonly overlooked.” ...

... Pennsylvania has the largest population of German-Americans and is home to one of the group’s original settlements, Germantown in 1683. The state has 3.5 million people claiming German ancestry -- more than in Berlin. Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, has 348,979 German-Americans, according to the census.

In this regard, Pittsburgh (i.e. Allegheny County) is exceptionally American. Somewhere in all of this is a rationale for better connectivity with Turkey. For now, I'll recommend sampling Rust Belt Chic Pittsburgh and Schlachtfest. Prost!

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