Municipal Merger Proposal in Pittsburgh Area

Here is an idea that folks in the Pittsburgh area are mulling over. The idea: Merge 39 municipalities in southeastern Allegheny County and call it Rivers City. If it came to pass, the beleaguered Mon Valley would become the third-largest city in the commonwealth, rather than a collection of oddly shaped and fiscally struggling cities, boroughs and townships.

The Rivers City concept is a spinoff of research conducted in the Pittsburgh office of the Pennsylvania Economy League.

Not surprisingly, the proposal has not found much support among the 361 elected officials who currently populate the 134 square miles of Rivers City. About 350 of them would lose their positions under the proposal.

More here.