This city is doomed

Hey, did you know that Pittsburgh's population has been declining? I picked up this nugget of information in today's Post-Gazette, in a story about the financial bail-out package passed by the Legislature over the weekend:

Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, defended Pittsburgh, saying factors like industrial collapse and population loss had hampered the city more than any alleged mayoral mismanagement did.

Here's a newsflash for you, Mr. Frankel: The city has been losing people for at least 60 years, and it has been losing people rapidly for at least 20. The city had plenty of time to prepare. But instead of managing decline by reducing city services and cutting workers to keep pace with the population loss, Pittsburgh's "leaders" instead tried to kick-start the city's economy through a series of government-driven economic redevelopment programs. Despite a consistent record of failure, the city continued to pursue economic polices that were discredited in much of the rest of the nation, and continued to treat city government as an employment agency.

How fitting that this statement should see print on the day that Lord & Taylor shuts its doors. "Alleged" mismanagement? Get down off the mayor's lap, Mr. Frankel.