Imagine Pennsylvania as a flat map, and that an identical weight has been placed at the residence of every person in Pennsylvania. According to the latest newsletter of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, that map would balance in Watts Township in Perry County. (There aren’t any big cities in Perry County, but it’s to the north of Carlisle.)
From 1900 to 1950 the center was either in Juniata County, to the west of Perry or right on the border with Perry. Then the center began to move east. From 1960 to 2010 the center shifted east about 13 miles. It’s now close to the Susquehanna River, and by 2020 may cross it.
What’s happening is that the population in Western Pennsylvania is decreasing; the population in the Lehigh Valley and suburban Philadelphia is increasing.
I’d like to tell you the political implications of this, but I’d be guessing.
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