December 2003 —

This report contends that the economic future of a major rust belt state depends on revitalizing its demographic mix and curbing some of the nation's most radical patterns of sprawl and abandonment. Above all, the study reveals that Pennsylvania's highly decentralized growth patterns are weakening the state's established communities, undercutting the very places whose assets the state needs to compete in the knowledge economy.

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Ultimately, the report concludes that these trends are not inevitable, and can be reshaped if the state embraces a dynamic new vision of economic competitiveness that links the Commonwealth's desire for prosperity to the need to revive older cities and towns.

Download Report by Sections:
Executive Summary (PDF)
Chapter 1 - Renewing Older Pennsylvania (PDF)
Chapter 2 - Development Trends in Pennsylvania (PDF)
Chapter 3 - The Consequences of How Pennsylvania Is Growing (PDF)
Chapter 4 - Behind the Trends (PDF)
Chapter 5 - Pulling It All Together (PDF)
Chapter 6 - Back to Prosperity (PDF)
Chapter 7 - Conclusion (PDF)

Background Papers:
Reforming the state's brownfields program (PDF)
The spatial allocation of PA's seven major economic development programs (PDF)
The spatial allocation of PA's three critical economic development programs (PDF)
Addressing PA's local government fragmentation (PDF)