Editing History of Pittsburgh (section)

===Collapse of steel===
{{Further|Steel crisis}}
Free market pressures exposed the U.S. steel industry's own internal problems, which included a now-outdated manufacturing base that had been over-expanded in the 1950s and 1960s, hostile management and labor relationships, the inflexibility of [[United Steelworkers]] regarding wage cuts and [[work-rule]] reforms, oligarchic management styles, and poor strategic planning by both unions and management. In particular, Pittsburgh faced its own challenges. Local coke and iron ore deposits were depleted, raising material costs. The large mills in the Pittsburgh region also faced competition from newer, more profitable "mini-mills" and non-union mills with lower labor costs.<ref name="wolf"/>

Beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the steel industry in Pittsburgh began to implode along with the [[deindustrialization]] of the U.S.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/2012/12/23/In-desperate-1983-there-was-nowhere-for-Pittsburgh-s-economy-to-go-but-up/stories/201212230258 |title=In desperate 1983, there was nowhere for Pittsburgh's economy to go but up |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |access-date=February 10, 2014 |first=Bill |last=Toland |date=December 23, 2012}}</ref> Following the 1981–1982 recession, for example, the mills laid off 153,000 workers.<ref name="wolf"/> The steel mills began to shut down. These closures caused a ripple effect, as railroads, mines, and other factories across the region lost business and closed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Barnes |first=Tom |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19891229&id=w9NRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6490,8938762&hl=en |title='80s Gave City, State Surprise, Shock and Sadness: A Top Rating, a Suicide, a Mayor's Death, Nature's Wrath. |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=1989-12-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Chet |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wdNRAAAAIBAJ&pg=5743%2C8338588 |title=How You View the Decade May Depend On Whether You Kept or Lost Your Job |work= Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=1989-12-27 }}</ref> The local economy suffered a depression, marked by high unemployment and underemployment, as laid-off workers took lower-paying, non-union jobs.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/2012/12/23/For-Pittsburgh-a-future-not-reliant-on-steel-was-unthinkable-and-unavoidable/stories/201212230223 |title=For Pittsburgh a future not reliant on steel was unthinkable ... and unavoidable |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |access-date=February 10, 2014 |first=Christopher |last=Briem |date=December 23, 2012}}</ref> Pittsburgh suffered as elsewhere in the [[Rust Belt]] with a declining population, and like many other U.S. cities, it also saw [[white flight]] to the suburbs.<ref>{{cite web | title = Western PA History: Renaissance City: Corporate Center 1945–present | work = WQED's Pittsburgh History Teacher's Guide series| url = http://www.wqed.org/education/pghist/units/WPAhist/wpa6.shtml |access-date=April 14, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080317235201/http://www.wqed.org/education/pghist/units/WPAhist/wpa6.shtml |archive-date=March 17, 2008}}</ref>

In 1991 the Homestead Works was demolished, replaced in 1999 by The Waterfront shopping mall. As a direct result of the loss of mill employment, the number of people living in Homestead dwindled. By the time of the 2000 census, the borough population was 3,569. The borough began financially recovering in 2002, with the enlarging retail tax base.