Grass grows by inches, dies by feet.

The saying is popular among landscapers. But the reality is fleeting for many area high school athletic directors.

Synthetic playing surfaces have, well, grown in popularity over the past several years -- after all, you can't kill something that never lived.

The number of area high school football teams that have ditched grass has more than doubled since 2003 up to 60 from 29 just five years ago. That's nearly half of the 123 WPIAL schools that field football teams.

In 1993, there were four.

All City League teams play home games on synthetic turf at George K. Cupples Stadium, and a handful of WPIAL schools that don't have synthetic turf fields travel off campus to play home games on turf.

Stanley H. Greene, chairman of the Synthetic Turf Council, a national trade organization, said Western Pennsylvania is among the most popular places for synthetic turf fields.

"We see it more prevalent where you have solid football programs, like Western Pennsylvania," said Greene, who is also president and chief executive of major industry player Sprinturf. "That is one of the hot spots in the country for synthetic turf."

WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley no longer worries about how fall weather might mess with playoff scheduling.

The WPIAL requires all playoff games after the first round be played on synthetic turf -- that is until the championship round when the teams play on natural grass at Heinz Field.

And if the field conditions are poor for first-round games, which take place at the home fields of the top-seeded teams, the league has the authority to move them to another site, though O'Malley said that is rare.

He said the move to schedule playoff games on synthetic turf came about as gradually as they were installed at area high schools.

"Over time the product has improved, the cost of the product has been reduced, and I think people have found it is a benefit to the entire school and community when you can make use of the field for 365 days a year," he said.

It has also reduced weather cancellations in other sports.

Soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and other outdoor sports are played on synthetic fields, and several district schools allow community groups to use them.

The desire for the best facilities has turned into an arms race of sorts among local schools.

"It's sort of like keeping up with the Joneses," Greene said. "People will say, 'Our program is as good as their program. Why can't we have it?' "

The proliferation has been more common among larger schools with likewise larger athletic budgets.

Of the 52 schools that play football in Class AAAA and Class AAA, 43 (82.5 percent) have synthetic turf. Of the 71 teams that play in Class AA and Class A, only 17 (23.9 percent) have synthetic turf.

Installing a synthetic field costs between $600,000 and $800,000, and though it can save money in the long run, its up-front price tag makes it cost prohibitive for some schools.

While the demand has greatly increased in the past few years, Greene and others in the industry say they still are fighting a stigma of carpet-like turf.

"It was hard, really abrasive and really expensive," said Bob McKeiver, a regional sales manager for FieldTurf.

But people are taking another look at synthetic surfaces for two reasons, industry experts say: the improved technology and its multiuse potential.

Today's synthetic turf is installed to be as similar as possible to natural grass. Synthetic fibers mimic individual blades, and sand and rubber infill replicate dirt.

"The product evolved," Greene said. "It looks and feels and plays like natural grass in pristine condition."

One field can house multiple sports, and schools can avoid costly maintenance, such as mowing, watering, fertilizing, aerating and painting.

Franklin Regional football coach Greg Botta says pigskin on a well-manicured lawn is "the way football is meant to be played."

But the field at Panther Stadium gets so much use -- from marching bands to youth league football -- it would be nearly impossible to grow grass and keep it alive.

"It was a mud bowl," Botta recalled of rainy-day football before the district installed synthetic turf.

Since 1999, Franklin Regional's field has been synthetic, and last summer the school replaced its existing synthetic turf with another.

Mars High School switched to a synthetic surface three years ago, and Scott Heinauer, Mars football coach and athletic director, said the compliments have greatly outnumbered complaints.

"People always ask, 'Why didn't you get it sooner?' " he said. "You get more of that than 'We don't like it.' "

Despite the initial cost, Heinauer said it was a good investment.

"The money that you put into that field," he said, "you're going to get that back and then some."

Sto-Rox coach Jason Ruscitto said he envies coaches who can practice on synthetic fields.

His Vikings practice and play games on the same field, which wears it down over time. Sometimes, weather washes away yard lines before his team practices.

But Ruscitto is not going to petition his athletic director or principal anytime soon.

"They are in a money crunch," and Ruscitto, a teacher at Sto-Rox, is sympathetic to those problems.

That's the main reason most schools with grass fields do not switch -- money.

Shaler Area High School is one of five Class AAAA teams that still plays home football games on grass, and athletic director Paul Holzshu said he hopes that can change in a few years.

The school does have a synthetic field on which many sports play, which "alleviates the burden" on the natural grass field. But there is little seating capacity to accommodate a varsity football game.

Holzshu has discussed the idea with some district administrators, and he said it has not been ignored.

But he thinks it could be a few years before the idea is seriously considered because the cost is not "a drop in the bucket."

David Oddi, athletic director at Carlynton, said the athletic department thinks a switch from natural grass will save money.

But long-term savings cannot overcome reservations about the initial investment.

"It is hard to sell the administration half a million dollars on it," he said.

Mike White's "High School Sports Edition" videos are featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.