Allegheny County's population shrank in 2016, according to the U.S. Census... (Philadelphia: school, casino)

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Within 2 hours? Trump country---lots and lots of Trump country.

In that case, you can cross Washington DC off the list of weekend travel destinations since Donald Trump himself lives there now.

[corpgypsy]

Originally Posted by Craziaskowboi

In that case, you can cross Washington DC off the list of weekend travel destinations since Donald Trump himself lives there now.

Doesn't make it (D.C.)Trump Country...I believe he has found himself in hostile territory

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

I've noticed that and my experience with people who live in these cities is the opposite. I know people who live in four of the five BosWash cities and they never go to another one for just a day trip, if they do go, it's for a weekend not just a day. My cousin lives in Baltimore and her parents live in Northern NJ and it's a 3 hour cruddy drive on I-95 to visit Maryland. That's not much better at all than getting to there from Pittsburgh.

I grew up in the I-95 corridor - actually only one town away from 95 in Connecticut. I couldn't imagine day tripping any of them except for NYC (which was close enough to go to concerts for the evening via the train). If I was traveling to Philly or Boston (which happened semi-frequently) I'd certainly stay for at least a weekend.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by corpgypsy

Doesn't make it (D.C.)Trump Country...I believe he has found himself in hostile territory

That doesn't matter. He's there, and delicate people act like they're going to get cancer, AIDS and Ebola simply because they coexist on the same continent as him.

[PITairport]

Originally Posted by eschaton

First, let's compare state sales tax rates.

TN: 7%
NV: 6.85%
WA: 6.5%
TX: 6.25%
PA: 6%
FL: 6%
SD: 4.5%
WY: 4%

Most of the sales tax only states have higher sales tax than Pennsylvania.

That's not true either - you left out AK, which has no income or sales tax. So you have 4 income tax-free states with a higher sales tax than PA, and 4 with an equal or lower sales tax.

Personally I'd rather have a slightly higher sales tax and no income tax.

Originally Posted by eschaton

Given all retiree income is exempted from tax in PA (including IRA/401(K) withdrawals - one of only two states, IIRC), you'd likely come out ahead on taxes presuming you didn't work in retirement.

I don't see at all how one would come out ahead under PA's tax scheme. Work and pay taxes on retirement contributions your whole career then pay no taxes on the withdrawals the few years you are alive during retirement? If you live long enough to totally deplete your retirement, or live as long in retirement as you have spent working then perhaps, but I think those situations are not the majority.

Originally Posted by eschaton

Pennsylvania does tax retirement account contributions, but this makes sense, since it doesn't tax the withdrawals. Although this means you're likely in a higher tax bracket at the time, on the other hand you will effectively pay no state tax on the ultimate investment income, which could be considerable if you begin saving early in your work career. Regardless, that's a tax you pay during your working life, not your retirement, even if it's savings for retirement.

To be in a higher tax bracket on retirement withdrawals and Social Security than when you were in while working would be rare, but could happen I suppose. Again, I don't think that applies to the majority.

Gotta hand it to PA though, pretty clever on their part. More people move out of PA to retire than move in to retire so lets nail those retirement plans while they are here. It just adds to the stigma of being the tax and small business unfriendly state that it is.

[charisb]

Originally Posted by Craziaskowboi

In that case, you can cross Washington DC off the list of weekend travel destinations since Donald Trump himself lives there now.

I'm pretty sure he lives in Palm Beach.

It's funny, the county certainly doesn't feel like it has gotten smaller. I cannot imagine what the city was like when there were 600,000+ people. Of course, there were fewer cars which would have made a difference.

[speagles84]

Originally Posted by charisb

I'm pretty sure he lives in Palm Beach.

It's funny, the county certainly doesn't feel like it has gotten smaller. I cannot imagine what the city was like when there were 600,000+ people. Of course, there were fewer cars which would have made a difference.

I'm still convinced most of the county isn't losing population. Mon valley must really be tanking it right now.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I grew up in the I-95 corridor - actually only one town away from 95 in Connecticut. I couldn't imagine day tripping any of them except for NYC (which was close enough to go to concerts for the evening via the train). If I was traveling to Philly or Boston (which happened semi-frequently) I'd certainly stay for at least a weekend.

I'm guessing you grew up in Western CT then? I would have thought Connecticut was close enough to do a day trip to Boston as well though I guess that depends on the area of the state you're in.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by PITairport

That's not true either - you left out AK, which has no income or sales tax. So you have 4 income tax-free states with a higher sales tax than PA, and 4 with an equal or lower sales tax.

Personally I'd rather have a slightly higher sales tax and no income tax.



I don't see at all how one would come out ahead under PA's tax scheme. Work and pay taxes on retirement contributions your whole career then pay no taxes on the withdrawals the few years you are alive during retirement? If you live long enough to totally deplete your retirement, or live as long in retirement as you have spent working then perhaps, but I think those situations are not the majority.



To be in a higher tax bracket on retirement withdrawals and Social Security than when you were in while working would be rare, but could happen I suppose. Again, I don't think that applies to the majority.

Gotta hand it to PA though, pretty clever on their part. More people move out of PA to retire than move in to retire so lets nail those retirement plans while they are here. It just adds to the stigma of being the tax and small business unfriendly state that it is.

According to the Tax Foundation, Pennsylvania's "Tax Freedom Day" in 2016 was April 22, which was tied for 28th with Michigan, New Hampshire and Virginia. Worse than Pennsylvania were Wyoming (April 23), Colorado (April 24), Oregon (April 24), North Dakota (April 26), District of Columbia (April 26), Washington (April 27), Wisconsin (April 27), Maryland (April 28), Rhode Island (April 28), Illinois (April 29), California (April 30), Minnesota (April 30), Massachusetts (May 5), New York (May 11), New Jersey (May 12) and Connecticut (May 21).

Among states with at least 8,000,000 population, Pennsylvania was worse than North Carolina (April 16), Georgia (April 17), Texas (April 17), Ohio (April 19) and Florida (April 20), tied with Michigan (April 22) and Virginia (April 22), and better than Illinois (April 29), California (April 30), New York (May 11) and New Jersey (May 12).

Also worth noting is that the Tax Freedom Day for the United States at large is April 24, so Pennsylvania comes out slightly ahead there. The Tax Foundation examined individual income, corporate income, sales, excise, property and estate/inheritance taxes in every state when compiling the list, and came to the conclusion that Pennsylvania has a slightly higher-than-average tax burden among all states, an average tax burden among heavily-populated states, and (seemingly) a much lower tax burden than Pennsylvanians think.

[ny789987]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Despite the awesome strides in revitalization this city is making it can't fix its location or weather. We have immense cloud cover for five months of the year with frequent precipitation and bitter wind chills. We're also on our own little island. Cleveland is 2.5 hours away. Columbus is 3 hours away. Buffalo is 3.5 hours away. Baltimore and DC are 4 hours away. Toronto is 5 hours away. Philadelphia is 6 hours away. NYC is 6.5 hours away. Within 2 hours? Trump country---lots and lots of Trump country. This city sucks for day-tripping opportunities. Erie is fantastic, but you can't go there every time you get the day-trip itch.

Detroit is only 4 hours away. Plenty of opportunity to experience the culture of Obama country.