2025 Trend Scenario Description
*It is important to note that the 2025 Trend Scenario is NOT a recommended plan for the County.
The 2025 Trend Scenario is a snapshot of what the County would look like in 20 years if recent land use development patterns continue. It is important to remember that the 2025 Trend Scenario is by no means a recommended plan or set of policies for the County.

In order to develop a sense of the magnitude and characteristics of future development in the county, assuming that there is not a significant change in terms of county or local regulations controlling land development, a 2025 Trend Scenario was developed for the Allegheny County Comprehensive Plan.


The 2025 Trend Scenario map is a graphic representation of the total amount of land required to accommodate future housing and non-residential development based on University of Pittsburgh projections and US Census Bureau data. The future development has been placed in areas of the County that are supported by actual development activity in the recent past from the 1993-2005 Major Development map as well as information received from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and the City of Pittsburgh. Through the use of available data, an estimated 50,000 residential units and 10,000 acres of non-residential development is what the county can expect to experience over the next 20 years. The map uses chips of residential (yellow), retail (red) and employment centers (pink), which includes industrial and office development, to graphically depict the expected future development. The yellow chips represent 200 residential units, the red and pink chips represent 100 acres of development.

In addition to the new growth expected in the County, the 2025 Trend Scenario also depicts areas that are losing residential units. The blue chips represent a total of 16,000 residential units to be lost or demolished during the 20 year time frame (based on US Census Bureau data). In terms of the City of Pittsburgh and other areas, these blue chips are also viewed as areas of opportunity for new development to take the place of older vacant or dilapidated structures.

The 2025 Trend Scenario is by no means a recommended plan or set of policies for the county. The 2025 Trend Scenario is merely an informed assumption as to what the county could be like in 20 years assuming a continuation of recent land development trends, with no changes in local regulations or local growth management strategies.