Water steps at the North Shore Riverfront Park, City of Pittsburgh.

I’ll mention him again next week for the anniv of the Battle of Midway, but if anyone needs something named for them locally, it’s Peabody grad Arthur Ely. Torpedo Sqd 6 lost 10 of 14 aircraft in a single hour, yet still changed the course of WWII in the Pacific. usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/AR...

While there are always caveats, here is a factoid that I often bring up that people are always surprised by. It's nothing new, but Pennsylvania has long been by far the largest net attractor of matriculants to four-year colleges. www.datawrapper.de/_/M8oO8/

WESA: Pittsburgh sees uptick in population as larger region declines www.wesa.fm/development-...

Putting my old Lehman Brothers hat on to read this press release. All those headlines about the finances of the City of Pittsburgh being dire beyond belief? Well, Fitch is out with a new rating this afternoon that says things are AA and quite stable. FYI: www.fitchratings.com/research/us-...

Interesting. In 1990 there were plans to create a Business Improvement District (BID) for the South Side, but interest waned. triblive.com/business/cou...

New: Municipal Population Trends in the Pittsburgh MSA - Update Based on U.S. Census Bureau 2025 Sub-County Population Estimates ucsurlib.pitt.edu/files/census...

June 8th, the Pump House/Munhall/the Waterfront. Be there! Reserve a spot ->

Lawrenceville, City of Pittsburgh - Doughboy ‘Square’.

New web page for the book is up, by the way. A work in progress and I have more supplemental stuff to add in the future, but fyi: beyondsteel.briem.com

Magazine online now. You can get past the paywall just by entering an email address I think: online.flippingbook.com/view/1676857...

New: March nonfarm jobs data out for March 2026. Now the 2nd month of the Pittsburgh MSA continuing the first year over year net declines since the onset of Covid. Total nonfarm jobs March 2025 to March 2026 below.

Am duly humbled that this is part of the very last day of the Insight/Oped section of the Post-Gazette. Yes, the PG continues, but the Insight section, as it exists, is no more. Pittsburgh: America’s моногород

Someone said to me recently that Bloomfield was kind of dead, maybe in a retail sense. I’ll tell you on this cool Saturday morning I’ve never seen as many people on the street and shopping. Line outside Dog n Burger and other shops. White Whale packed. All without Thyme Machine reopening even.

Just a different angle, but again, how has this property directly across the street from the main entrance of Children’s Hospital remained in this state, boarded up, unused and un-redeveloped, for decades?

?

Amen. Closed. The really long story here is painful.

With the former Prince Charles visiting the US, recall his visit to Pittsburgh 38 years ago. This is a remarkable video by a very young Rick Sebak about when Charles was the keynote speaker for the Remaking Cities conference here. americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-...

R. Todd Erkel: The story everyone tells about Pittsburgh is Hollywood's, not Pittsburgh’s www.post-gazette.com/opinion/insi...

Ok.. this is kind of wrong. There are two book reviews in the @historycenter Western Pennsylvania History magazine just out. The other one is for the late David McCullough's last book History Matters. I don't think I belong alongside him, but thanks for the review to Ron B.

How low do SAT math scores go?

Ok.. this is kind of wrong. There are two book reviews in the @historycenter Western Pennsylvania History magazine just out. The other one is for the late David McCullough's last book History Matters. I don't think I belong alongside him, but thanks for the review to Ron B.

Beyond the sound bite. More long form discussion on Pennsylvania demographics with me on the PA Political Digest podcast. youtu.be/MtLRfhD1mPY

Great to see @chrisbriem.bsky.social and his book “Beyond Steel” featured in this coverage of the NFL Draft!

The dialectic of Bloomfield retail.

I will buy a coffee for whomever left this comment on Reddit recently:

It is one of the great ironies that the legacy of all this will be the demise of fossil fuels in many regions.

Map of the day: Most Common State of Birth of Pennsylvania Residents (Other than Pennsylvania), 2024 datawrapper.de/_/AL46I/

How different is Pittsburgh (Housing version)? Year structure built, City of Pittsburgh and the United States (2024)

Getting an education is important for a lot of reasons, but there might be one reason you haven’t heard — it could lower your risk of dementia later in life. Jobs that involves high levels of decision-making or creativity can help keep the mind more active, research shows. https://wapo.st/4c5Yk22

Ride your bike!

So... if you have not ordered your own copy of the book (I'm sure that's none of you, right?), I believe my publisher right now has a 30% sale on all books. I'm sure you want to get your parents a gift! Use code: SPRING30 before it expires via: www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/2025/beyond-...

Hi, it’s me, Stacy, the lady who ran all of our social accounts, newsletters, etc. before we were shut down. We’ll soon announce our official starting date, and I’ll be sure to share that with you. Meanwhile, I’m psyched to be back to work, helping to get us ready behind the scenes. 🖤💛

Pitt News: Pittsburgh City Paper relaunch signals hope for local journalism amid uncertainty pittnews.com/article/2013...

WESA: Pittsburgh region loses population, immigration slows in 2025 www.wesa.fm/identity-com...

ICYMI www.wpxi.com/news/pittsbu...

Great seeing @chrisbriem.bsky.social on Pittsburgh station WPXI to talk about his book “Beyond Steel.” It’s the third time this month our authors have brought their insights to new audiences with appearances on TV—all part of the engagement facilitated by university presses and their books.

Coming up on channel 11 in a few minutes if you are here now. Sunday AM 11:05am.

Can someone explain the Saint Ravioli place to me?

Here is a more detailed look at natural population change across Pennsylvania counties. www.datawrapper.de/_/QA861/

Did I forget to post this chart?

Here is a story that just gets missed almost entirely... if we thought about the Pittsburgh region in any more expansive way, virtually all demographic trends would appear much worse.

With immigration trends in the news, I updated this: Foreign-Born Population in the Pittsburgh Region, 1870 to 2024

Anyways... my data brief on new census estimates: www.ucsur.pitt.edu/sites/defaul...

But... can't avoid this one. All I can say is that we are usually last on this list. Estimated Net Population Change (%) July 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025 for the 40 largest MSAs in the US.

Before I depress everyone, let's start with a not-so-bad metric, at least for Pittsburgh. Net Domestic Migration per 1,000 population for the 40 largest MSAs.

I think the idea here is this can be syndicated by other publications. So for the editors out there. By me via TheConversation: Pittsburgh’s post‑steel economy is a success – and a warning for other cities theconversation.com/pittsburghs-...

Downtown peeps. After work Thursday. AHYP History Series: Beyond Steel - Pittsburgh's Reluctant Reinvention www.eventbrite.com/e/ahyp-histo...

NPR/Marketplace: A plastic plant didn't save an old steel town. Residents are trying something new. www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...

Allegheny Observatory,City of Pittsburgh