Pennsylvania has the most municipalities out of any state in the union, save for Illinois and Texas, with 4,851 according to the United States Census Bureau.

According to TribLive, Pittsburgh hasn’t annexed another municipality in over 90 years, with Overbrook being merged into Pittsburgh in 1930. In 2022, an attempt to get Pittsburgh to annex the neighboring borough of Wilkinsburg by the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation, and the effort was taken all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, according to 90.5 WESA.

The WCDC did not succeed in their pursuits. They wanted to apply a 1903 annexation procedure that would have required Pittsburgh City Council and Wilkinsburg voters to approve the fold into the city. It was found to have been an unfair process since residents of Pittsburgh did not getting a say in the possible annexation.

Their attempted annexation were fueled by low tax revenue and blight being ubiquitous, according to Public Source. Annexations can cause worries over losing a sense of community, local control and autonomy, but there are also undeniable benefits.

The consolidation of resources can mean good things for emergency services, police and trash collection.

There is no shame in wanting more resources especially if bigger and better is right around the corner.

There is also a clear disparity in the tax rates, with the Wilkinsburg’s set at 3.92% compared to Pittsburgh’s at 2.47%. But, nothing is going to change if Pittsburgh cannot annex more surrounding areas.

Pittsburgh would not have become what it is without the growth that was exponential in the area that started in 1837, when the city annexed Northern Liberties Borough, according to Brookline Connection.

On the other side, municipalities outside the city are dwindling in population too. Stretching further, out of Pittsburgh like the borough of Glenfield which has a population of 212.

There are fears surrounding the idea of annexation, as we have seen with the split opinions in Wilkinsburg, but overall there are just too many boroughs that are suffering due to lack of residents, lack of resources and lack of stability.

Previously annexed neighborhoods in Pittsburgh have not really lost identity in the process, on the contrary, the 90 neighborhoods are unique and vibrant and completely their own. They just happen to fall into the city limits.

Annexation might just be worth it for the substantial drop in taxes and the improvements that can be made to public safety. There’s more to gain than lose by becoming the 91st neighborhood.