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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I think this has been a topic for years and is in many ways agnostic of the current incumbent. In fact, I think the desire for this was much stronger in past. IMHO.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I think it is pretty simple no matter where it originated. A more empowered legislature =yes. A less powerful legislature = no. There is a longer story here. Original framers of home rule charter (I knew several) did believe a bit optimistically in what very part time legislators could do.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

County council has effectively zero staff. Yes, a few folks shared between them all. They want to be able to have staff. What’s it mean? If you like a very powerful chief executive, vote no. If you want a more empowered legislative branch, you likely want to say yes.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

So if you know someone who might be eligible, I'd refer them to the Library of Accessible Media for Pennsylvanians (LAMP) for access: mylamp.org

mylamp.org

LAMP

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This is super cool. There isn't an audio version of the book for the general public as yet (maybe someday). But I'm told that an audio version of the book is being uploaded today to the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled. nlsbard.loc.gov/nlsbardprod/...

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

New August Data. At 3.6% we are now back to tied with the lowest unemployment rates the Pittsburgh region has seen since the very first month of the 1970s... and dropping. Unprecedented times if you are trying to hire anyone.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

New: Pennsylvania unemployment rate (SA) for August 2026 drops 2/10ths to 3.7%.

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Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)

Kent State University Press @ksupress.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A big thanks to newspapers, magazines, and other media outlets across the Rust Belt for their help amplifying books from Kent State—including Pittsburgh Quarterly, which includes an excerpt from @chrisbriem.bsky.social's "Beyond Steel" in the fall issue, on newsstands now.

Magazine spread showing the cover of Pittsburgh Quarterly (with a cartoon of the skyline and the point) on the verso and the book cover for "Beyond Steel" on the recto.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Just a couple tickets left if you know anyone intersted. Downtown, next week:

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

New: Pittsburgh MSA unemployment rate for July 2026 drops 1/10th to 3.8% www.pa.gov/content/dam/...

pa.gov

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Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)

Tony Dutzik @frontiertony.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Enlightening read from @chrisbriem.bsky.social. Takeaways (for me, anyway): 1) Pittsburgh had lost its competitive advantage in steel before WWII, but experts who warned about the region's lack of economic diversity were ignored or rebuked ...

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Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)

Jacob Bacharach @jacobbacharach.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

This image represents Pittsburgh in roughly the synechdochic manner as the Eiffel Tower represents Paris.

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Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)

Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

OK, this is a bit different. But I am interviewed on the new Pittsburgh Gen X Podcast - which is taking over the podcast scene here.. and will be streaming on WQED as well! www.youtube.com/watch?v=on8I...

youtube.com

Gen X Pittsburgh Podcast - Chris Briem, Economist and Author!

YouTube video by Gen X Pgh Podcast

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

New data: Pennsylvania's unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) for July 2026 falls 2/10th to 3.9%.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

A Puff of Smoke, Pittsburgh Aaron Bohrod (1907-1992) Collection of the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA Steps on right go down to former Fourth Avenue rail station Downtown.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

youtube.com

Gen X Pittsburgh Podcast - Chris Briem, Economist and Author!

YouTube video by Gen X Pgh Podcast

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Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)

Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Warning, vanity reference but: NextPittsburgh: How much do Pittsburgh’s population changes matter? nextpittsburgh.com/city-design/...

nextpittsburgh.com

How much do Pittsburgh's population changes matter?

Pittsburgh’s population fluctuates from year to year. Why does that always make headlines? It all goes back to our past.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Little Italy Days. Bloomfield. City of Pittsburgh.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Absolutely last call if you need to do any shopping at the East Liberty Target over the next month.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I feel I should have known about the Luley Organ Company of Millvale.

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Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)

appalachiannewbie.bsky.social @appalachiannewbie.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Hey @chrisbriem.bsky.social, did you see the story on @wesa.fm about the new Cleveland @wnba.com franchise? How about @greatlakesbeer.bsky.social opening up a pub at @pitairport.bsky.social? Cleveburgh is finally happening!

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Maybe today is a good day to note that the flooding that could be happening is prevented by the dams of the Upper Allegheny.

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Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)

Rust & Dirt: Rust Belt History @rustanddirt.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

21-year-old George Washington’s route to Fort LeBoeuf in 1753, occupied by the French near modern day French Creek in Waterford, #Pennsylvania. From LIFE magazine, Feb. 26, 1956. #GeorgeWashington #history

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I am far away. Things just find me. This was U.S. Steel’s top accountant in the 1980s.

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Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)

Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Coincidentally, there are a few podcasts coming up. But here is one Pittsburgh-focused podcast you may not have heard of yet and my interview with Ken Eshenbaugh on Steel City Soliloquies: youtu.be/FETvjjWcQqA?...

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

OTD: last print edition of the Pittsburgh Press

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

New: Pittsburgh MSA unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) down 1/10 to 3.9% for June 2026. Again below 4.0% which is rare territory for Pittsburgh over the last half century+. www.pa.gov/content/dam/...

pa.gov

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Can everyone in Western Pennsylvania read this! Journal of Rural Studies: Downhill from here? Why shrinking regions are not necessarily ‘left-behind’ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Thx. But has the (now retired) mayor of McKeesport read it yet I wonder.

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Rust & Dirt: Rust Belt History @rustanddirt.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Willie Stargell, a fan favorite #Pittsburgh Pirate. #baseball #mlb

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Can everyone in Western Pennsylvania read this! Journal of Rural Studies: Downhill from here? Why shrinking regions are not necessarily ‘left-behind’ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)

Rust & Dirt: Rust Belt History @rustanddirt.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Giant Eagle advertisement. 1993. #Pittsburgh, #Pennsylvania.

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Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)

Rust & Dirt: Rust Belt History @rustanddirt.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

The Pittsburgh Pipers of the ABA. 1970. #Pittsburgh, #Pennsylvania.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Wallace says there is a Pittsburgh history book you probably haven’t read, but should.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Factoid of the day: Foreign-Born Population in the Pittsburgh region, 1870-2024

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Some day... Pittsburgh will have a Seneca Day to at least acknowledge what they loss so we would not suffer the worst of the chronic flooding we did most years.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Stoop life. South Side (Pittsburgh) cool. 1980s. Photo: Joel DeGrand

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

It’s Pittsburgh of the 20th Century Nostalgia Day outside.

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Chris Briem (www.briem.com) @chrisbriem.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

People pay good money to have the thrills of coming down Rialto. There should be a toll.

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