[OC] Post-Pandemic Population Growth Trends, by US Metro Area (2022->2024)

[u/TA-MajestyPalm]

Graphic by me, created in Excel. All data from US Census here: https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-metro-and-micro-statistical-areas.html

I've created similar graphics in the past, but usually from 2020-2024. This is not the best time frame as it combines the abnormal covid years with post pandemic movement.

This time frame (2022-2024) shows the most current and ongoing population trends of the last 2 years.

I also wanted to better categorize the cities into broad cultural regions vs the arbitrary geographic census regions.

[u/Equivalent_Dig_5059]

“If it went to areas that are built up and high density urban already it would do better numbers”

Well yes of course. But that’s also kinda the point. You have potential for extreme volume transit, along a route that has a lot of open land and lots of asphalt usage. It’s being entirely underutilized because of the lack of desire to move there.

In a city that’s growing, every bit of land next to that line would be purchased, and heavily developed. Any neighborhood along the line would have had zoning changes and density changes significantly. The fact that the train is basically what appears to be in the middle of a slowdown and eventual abandonment of service, in an age where it’s “hot” and “trendy” to be a land developer near a transit hub, is a commentary on the city’s health.

[u/FTTG487 → u/Equivalent_Dig_5059]

Again I see what your point is but using public transportation to highlight growth is not a great metric imo. Take for example that pretty much every city at the top of this list not only lacks a real “rail system”, but they exist in areas openly politically hostile to railway funding. Railways have always been a political issue in the U.S., unfortunately. and despite that, Pittsburgh actually has fairly good public transportation numbers compared to many other cities, especially for its size. 37 million ridership last year in 2024 for the PRT; compare to 19 million for LYNX which is Orlando’s bus system, and Orlando has a similar population city/metro wise. A similar story for cities such as St Louis had also 19m last year. I’d recommend The Lost Subways of North America as a good read on why railways have failed historically in the U.S. and become deeply politicized(it also mentions pgh being high on the national bus list), but I’ve been to at least 3 of these cities recently in the top 10 and none of them had a robust bussing system, let alone rail. The land being developed is mostly commercial, not much for transportation outside of parking lots. We are staunchly in the age of Big Trucks and SUVs. But Pittsburgh actually has a higher level of public transportation utilization, which speaks more to the failure of public trans. in the U.S. than it does to anything else.

[u/Equivalent_Dig_5059 → u/FTTG487]

I feel like you are missing the point, I shall spell it out for you

If there was light rail in Orlando, because of the growth it’s experiencing, and because developing near ped friendly zones is “trendy” and so hot right now, ANY stop along that rail line, would have extreme levels of development, residential high rises would pop up and commerce would begin to flourish around the line.

There isn’t, but, because the region is experiencing growth, they are expanding roadways, updating expressways, adding HOV lanes, and upgrading the infrastructure they can to foster more growth.

Pittsburgh has none of that, all of their “freeways” are max 2 lanes on each side, basically a rural highway, and any roadwork is never expansion, just maintaining status quo, there’s no stat sheet saying “this road will experience 10x the volume it does today, it must be expanded or the region will suffer” and there’s no desire to make the roads larger.

And, they also don’t develop along the transit lines as mentioned.

Pittsburgh doesn’t develop around roadways, they don’t create new roadways, they don’t expand current roadways, they won’t develop around their transit and won’t expand the transits, they won’t create new transit.

Catch 22 of a dying city and region, sad for such a storied area of the country.