This has been a good year for Pittsburgh in several ways. With the Steelers winning another Super Bowl and the Penguins adding another Stanley Cup, the City of Champions tag has been reclaimed anew. Pittsburgh also has been paid an important presidential compliment -- selected by President Barack Obama to host the G-20 economic summit in September as a tribute to its resilience after the collapse of the steel industry a generation ago.

If only more people lived to enjoy this most livable of cities! Well, something had to pop the civic balloon a little and the U.S. Census Bureau announced up-to-date figures last week to provide the pin. Fortunately, it was a good news, bad news sort of thing. Pittsburgh's sense of itself won't leak much air because of this announcement.

The bad news is that Pittsburgh is still losing population. The good news is that it isn't very much. According to the Census Bureau, the city lost just 1,668 residents from July 1, 2007, to July 1, 2008. At 310,037, the city ranks 60th in the country. Of course, given the multitude of municipalities around here, Pittsburgh is really a bigger presence. Allegheny County is the 30th largest in the country and the Pittsburgh metropolitan area ranks 22nd.

With all the good things going on, there's reason to hope that the worst of population decline is over.