Is Postgres gaining momentum such that it might displace MySQL as the go-to DB?
This affirmation need some explanation. In my view, once SQL is understood, both are similar. PostgreSQL might even be simpler, as it has no concept of "engines".
PHP world, probably always a MySQL offshoot of some sort.
Here's a blog post from 451Group in May 2012 about a survey they did: http://blogs.the451group.com/information_management/2012/05/...
And a specific bit of the presentation linked from there that I found interesting: http://www.slideshare.net/mattaslett/mysql-vs-nosql-and-news...
Slide 20.
It's certainly not conclusive, but it is interesting.