Better, but…
Fayette County Commission Chairman Al Ambrosini’s recent comments about the county’s continued population losses were correct, but his words couldn’t have been much comfort to local residents.
Ambrosini noted recent figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that Fayette County lost 1,600 residents between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2013, an average of a little more than 500 residents per year. However, during the 2000s, Fayette County’s population dropped by 12,039, an average noted by Ambrosini as a little more than a thousand per year.
“It is still not good to consistently lose population, but it isn’t as bad as it has been in other years,” he said.
There’s no doubt that Fayette County’s population took a nosedive in the 2000s. Fayette County’s population dropped by 8.1 percent, the third highest number in the county’s history, topped only by 1960s and 1990s, when the county’s population dropped by 10.8 and 8.8, respectively.
Overall, Fayette County’s 8.1 percent was the third-highest number in the state for the decade, and the total population loss of 12,039 was the second highest in the state.
The loss continued a downward trend in Fayette County’s population, with its high water mark coming in 1940, when it had 200,999 residents. That was the result of seven decades of explosive population growth, starting in 1880, when Fayette County had 58,842 people.
The best decade for growth came in the 1900s, when the population soared 51 percent from 110,412 to 167,449. Now, Fayette County has its lowest population numbers since the early days of the 1900s.
Fayette County’s population losses this decade have been mirrored by other nearby counties. Greene, Westmoreland and Somerset counties lost 846, 2,732 and 1,228 residents, respectively.
Other nearby counties, though, have experienced some population growth during the period. Washington County gained 386 residents, and Allegheny County netted 9,179 residents, an interesting number since it had been losing population since the 1970s.
Overall, there’s no secret to the reasons behind the population losses. It all comes down to jobs. Fayette County’s population drop started with the decline of the coal industry, and nothing has been developed to replace it. All sorts of studies have been done over the years but very little has resulted from any of them.
There was hope that the Marcellus shale industry would lead to a revitalization of the county. It’s helped some local residents, but most people in Fayette County have seen little benefit from its development. Fayette County’s unemployment rate for February was 7.5 percent, the 58th highest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
So, the challenge is out there for county commissioners and local business leaders to try and improve the economy just like it’s been there in the past for their predecessors.
Perhaps in time, the Marcellus shale will pave the way to prosperity but Fayette County residents can’t just bide their time until that happens. Local officials have to be aggressive in trying to lure new jobs to this area. And they also have to make certain to keep the employers that we already have here.
We need to look in all directions for help. There’s no idea that shouldn’t be at least considered. It’s going to take the entire community pulling in the same direction to try and turn this thing around. Nothing less than Fayette County’s survival is at stake.
And while a reduction in the population losses is a big first step, no one should rest easy until our census numbers are back on the positive ledger.