Development & Transportation

Keystone Crossroads: Rust or Revival?

Keystone Crossroads: Rust or Revival? explores the urgent challenges pressing upon Pennsylvania's cities. Four public media newsrooms are collaborating to report in depth on the root causes of our state's urban crisis -- and on possible solutions. Keystone Crossroads offers reports on radio, web, social media, television and newspapers, and through public events.Our partner stations are WHYY in Philadelphia, WPSU in State College and witf in Harrisburg. Read all of the partner stories here.Pittsburgh’s WQED joins the collaboration as an associate partner. Support for this project comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

PA’s Population Increase In 2017 Was The Most Dramatic In 5 Years

90.5 WESA | By Emily Previti | Keystone Crossroads

Published June 1, 2018 at 7:28 AM EDT

Pennsylvania’s population is on the rise again, after declining in 2016 — but growth remains concentrated in certain spots, and most communities keep losing residents.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s population estimates show the state lost people during 2016, but added more than 18,000 last year, the most since 2012, according to a Keystone Crossroads analysis of the latest statistics.

Mirroring recent trends, major growth pockets are in the State College area, suburban Pittsburgh and the Southeastern part of the state, according to a recent Penn State Data Center report based on census estimates.

Twelve cities have added residents since the last decennial census. That’s about a fifth of them statewide, including Philadelphia, Allentown, Bethlehem, Lancaster and Scranton.

Populations are declining in more than 75 percent of boroughs, according to the Center’s report.

Two-thirds of townships lost residents, too.