EXODUS CONTINUES
PITTSBURGH - Despite gasoline prices hovering at four dollars per gallon, most people planning on fleeing Western Pennsylvania say they will still leave, according to a recent survey conducted by the Allegheny Institute of Public Policy. The survey, based upon interviews with Allegheny County residents between the ages of five and ninety-five, concludes that "the prospect of higher fuel costs is a sacrifice most people are willing to make if it means leaving."Dr. Noah Swayne, who conducted the survey, said the data is incontrovertible. “While the majority of Americans state in poll after poll that the cost of filling the tank is causing them to alter their travel plans, the overwhelming number of able-bodied men, women and children of our region say that nothing will stop them from leaving. What’s more, most respondents state they intend to get 'as far away as possible.' At four dollars a gallon, that’s going to cost a pretty penny,” said Dr. Swayne.
Dr. Swayne added that as long as we’re able to sustain our rich heritage of social inertia, tortoise-like job growth and an exciting climate that varies from gray and cold to moderately gray and moderately cold, the current trend should continue. “And no oil-derrick hugging Arabian sheik is going to tell me otherwise,” he said.
