Fresh off the news that the region has lost more people this decade than any other metro area outside of New Orleans, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl today announced the formation of a commission dedicated to keeping young professionals here.

The Propel Pittsburgh Commission has been in the works for months, and has already received City Council approval. Today the mayor, flanked by seven young professionals, officially opened the nomination process, inviting city residents between the ages of 20 and 34 to submit applications through the Boards and Commissions page of the city's Web site. Applications are due April 27.

The commission's eventual 35 members, to be chosen by the mayor and Youth Policy Manager Neil Parham, will be charged to "ensure that the city of Pittsburgh remains competitive to attract and retain young people," Mr. Ravenstahl, 27, said. "What better way to talk about those issues than having young people at the table, talking about issues that are important to us, and moving forward with aggressive agendas on the city government level?"

"The latest census figures indicate that we're not exactly gaining additional young people in the city, and that's a very serious concern for us," said Dan Holland, a founder of the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh.

The group will meet six times a year and will submit quarterly reports to the mayor and council on policy matters important to young professionals. It will break into committees that will provide advice to the administration on "economic, social, political, cultural, diversity and clean-and-safe matters," the mayor said.

Mr. Ravenstahl will personally chair the commission.

Kellie Ware Conley, vice president of the Urban League Young Professionals, said she wants to look hard at ways to keep the graduates of local colleges here.

"It seems like we have a million colleges in the city of Pittsburgh," she said. "And every year, it seems there's all of these bright students that come here, to receive an education, that turn around and go back to wherever it is they came from, or move to another city they have no connection to."

The Pittsburgh region lost 60,309 people since 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, exceeded only by New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.