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Old 12-30-2011, 08:16 PM
 
65 posts, read 134,669 times
Reputation: 52

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I am making several similar posts in various areas I'm looking at, so I will start them the same to get the background info out of the way before I get to my city-specific concerns. I am a resident of Santa Monica, CA, looking for some places to send my husband's resume so we can move somewhere where home purchase is a realistic possibility. We will move anywhere that offers my husband a job, but I want to narrow down the places we send to so that we can feel happy with whatever we get. That prelude out of the way...

1. I've heard some mentions that Pittsburgh can be very "gray" for long periods of time. I've had issues with Seasonal Affective Disorder in the past; do you think it's bad enough that you would advise people against living here? Do you go sometimes go 3 months without seeing the sun, like Seattle/Portland, or is it just a week or two at a time?

2. How bad is the icing problem there? I am not afraid of snow, but iced-over parking lots kind of freak me out after some bad experiences in Wisconsin...

3. What is the situation like there, racially? We are white but we are used to mingling peaceably with people of all cultures, accents, religions and skin tones. I feel it is especially important for white kids not to grow up thinking "this is just how people look and talk" but to realize we're one of many cultures. Is that possible in Pittsburgh, or do the white folk all huddle together and talk about how the brown people are "ruining" the town?

There are a ton of things that excite me about Pittsburgh--it's one of the few cities other than L.A. where my husband's film production education/background might matter, for example--but I had never even considered living anywhere near this area before, and I wonder what climate/social/economic problems I may be unaware of. If you can think of anything to warn me about, please do!
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Old 12-30-2011, 08:35 PM
 
Location: Kittanning
4,692 posts, read 9,010,340 times
Reputation: 3668
Quote:
Originally Posted by xmasevemom View Post
1. I've heard some mentions that Pittsburgh can be very "gray" for long periods of time. I've had issues with Seasonal Affective Disorder in the past; do you think it's bad enough that you would advise people against living here? Do you go sometimes go 3 months without seeing the sun, like Seattle/Portland, or is it just a week or two at a time?
There are sunny days interspersed with the grey days. It's not always grey. It's really a mix of sunny and grey days, or partly sunny/cloudy days.

Quote:
2. How bad is the icing problem there? I am not afraid of snow, but iced-over parking lots kind of freak me out after some bad experiences in Wisconsin...
We do get a fair amount of ice, although I would assume our winters are milder than Wisconsin's. I am from Michigan, and the winters are milder here. However, we have very steep roads and hills, which make icy roads treacherous. So, overall, the icy, hilly streets are the one thing about this area that I really dislike (was in a bad accident in February, due to a driver skidding into my lane on the ice. I could have died).

Quote:
3. What is the situation like there, racially? We are white but we are used to mingling peaceably with people of all cultures, accents, religions and skin tones. I feel it is especially important for white kids not to grow up thinking "this is just how people look and talk" but to realize we're one of many cultures. Is that possible in Pittsburgh, or do the white folk all huddle together and talk about how the brown people are "ruining" the town?
Pittsburgh is mostly black and white. Like any city, there are black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods. Most of the black neighborhoods are poor. I personally feel that there is less racial intolerance in Pittsburgh than many other cities I have been to. There are many mixed black/white neighborhoods, such as my own (McKees Rocks), although I think part of my neighborhood's negative reputation might be based on racism. I can't really confirm this, however I have heard some of my neighbors complain about "blacks moving in" and I have to assume that is why some whites have moved out. In social settings, I have noticed blacks and whites seem to mingle at the same establishments and workplaces very easily. I think within my own neighborhood is the only place I have heard racist comments.

As far as the economic climate of the area, Pittsburgh is doing comparatively well to other US cities. However, it is coming out of a long, long period of steep decline brought about by the collapse of the American steel industry and industry in general. Pittsburgh was once an industrial powerhouse, like Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, and other "rust-belt" cities. Pittsburgh is now gaining jobs in the health care field, among others, but it still faces issues common to other rust-belt cities, and is surrounded on all sides by declining, former industrial towns (Youngstown, Wheeling, Johnstown, New Castle, Steubenville, etc.). So Pittsburgh is really an economic oasis within its region!
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Old 12-30-2011, 08:43 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,831,238 times
Reputation: 30715
Quote:
Originally Posted by xmasevemom View Post
1. I've heard some mentions that Pittsburgh can be very "gray" for long periods of time. I've had issues with Seasonal Affective Disorder in the past; do you think it's bad enough that you would advise people against living here? Do you go sometimes go 3 months without seeing the sun, like Seattle/Portland, or is it just a week or two at a time?
If you have had Seasonal Affective Disorder, Pittsburgh isn't the place for you. I love our weather. I'm usual a strong advocate for Pittsburgh's weather. It's not dreary all the time. But for someone with Seasonal Affective Disorder moving here from a region that always has sunshine, I'm almost certain that you will likely be depressed living here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by xmasevemom View Post
2. How bad is the icing problem there? I am not afraid of snow, but iced-over parking lots kind of freak me out after some bad experiences in Wisconsin...
Pittsburgh gets more freezing rain than snow.

Quote:
Originally Posted by xmasevemom View Post
3. What is the situation like there, racially? We are white but we are used to mingling peaceably with people of all cultures, accents, religions and skin tones. I feel it is especially important for white kids not to grow up thinking "this is just how people look and talk" but to realize we're one of many cultures. Is that possible in Pittsburgh, or do the white folk all huddle together and talk about how the brown people are "ruining" the town?
The white people do not huddle together and talk about the brown people ruining the town. Pittsburghers are tollerant people. But most of Pittsburgh's neighborhoods are fairly self segregated, mostly black or mostly white. There are only very small percentages of other ethnic groups here. There's no area that is truly diverse here.

Just look at Pittsburgh's demographics.

The following shows the breakdown for other races in the metro area:

Quote:
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 2,525,730 people, 1,032,596 households, and 678,085 families residing within the CSA. The racial makeup of the CSA was 90.0% (2,272,338) White, 7.7% (194,519) African American, 0.1% (2,763) Native American, 1.1% (26,467) Asian, <0.1% (561) Pacific Islander, 0.3% (6,426) from other races, and 0.9% (22,656) from two or more races. 0.7% (17,937) were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsbu...a#Demographics
The actual city of Pittsburgh is slightly more diverse than the metro region:

Quote:
At the 2010 Census, 64.8% of the population was non-Hispanic White, 25.8% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.2% non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.4% non-Hispanic Asian, 0.3% from some other race (non-Hispanic) and 2.3% of two or more races (non-Hispanic). 2.3% of Pittsburgh's population was of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin (they may be of any race).[57]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh#Demographics

Last edited by Hopes; 12-30-2011 at 08:53 PM..
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Old 12-30-2011, 08:51 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,831,238 times
Reputation: 30715
Maybe you will like it here. I just looked up the demographics for Santa Monica CA and it's LESS diverse than Pittsburgh!

Quote:
The racial makeup of Santa Monica was 69,663 (77.6%) White, 3,526 (3.9%) African American, 338 (0.4%) Native American, 8,053 (9.0%) Asian, 124 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 4,047 (4.5%) from other races, and 3,985 (4.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11,716 persons (13.1%).

Santa Monica, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Old 12-30-2011, 09:20 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
893 posts, read 1,321,851 times
Reputation: 544
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes View Post
Maybe you will like it here. I just looked up the demographics for Santa Monica CA and it's LESS diverse than Pittsburgh!
You have to realize Santa Monica is a really small area yet it holds 60k people you can "walk" through Santa monica to Los Angeles which has over 4million people 1.8million Hispanic, 1.1 whites, 360k blacks. So on a regular day walking downtown Santa Monica you will encounter more diverse area than you'll ever experience in PGH. Not to mention Long Beach, Pasadena, ect all within 30min drive is equally diverse.

To 'OP' if looking for affordable housing Pgh will definitely be the place to live any reason other than that I wouldn't relocate here from California. All your assumptions hit the nail on the head.
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Old 12-30-2011, 09:41 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,831,238 times
Reputation: 30715
I never claimed Pittsburgh was diverse. My first post was very clear about that.
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Old 12-30-2011, 09:44 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh PA
1,125 posts, read 2,341,840 times
Reputation: 585
Quote:
Originally Posted by alleghenyangel View Post
There are sunny days interspersed with the grey days. It's not always grey. It's really a mix of sunny and grey days, or partly sunny/cloudy days.



We do get a fair amount of ice, although I would assume our winters are milder than Wisconsin's. I am from Michigan, and the winters are milder here. However, we have very steep roads and hills, which make icy roads treacherous. So, overall, the icy, hilly streets are the one thing about this area that I really dislike (was in a bad accident in February, due to a driver skidding into my lane on the ice. I could have died).



Pittsburgh is mostly black and white. Like any city, there are black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods. Most of the black neighborhoods are poor. I personally feel that there is less racial intolerance in Pittsburgh than many other cities I have been to. There are many mixed black/white neighborhoods, such as my own (McKees Rocks), although I think part of my neighborhood's negative reputation might be based on racism. I can't really confirm this, however I have heard some of my neighbors complain about "blacks moving in" and I have to assume that is why some whites have moved out. In social settings, I have noticed blacks and whites seem to mingle at the same establishments and workplaces very easily. I think within my own neighborhood is the only place I have heard racist comments.

As far as the economic climate of the area, Pittsburgh is doing comparatively well to other US cities. However, it is coming out of a long, long period of steep decline brought about by the collapse of the American steel industry and industry in general. Pittsburgh was once an industrial powerhouse, like Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, and other "rust-belt" cities. Pittsburgh is now gaining jobs in the health care field, among others, but it still faces issues common to other rust-belt cities, and is surrounded on all sides by declining, former industrial towns (Youngstown, Wheeling, Johnstown, New Castle, Steubenville, etc.). So Pittsburgh is really an economic oasis within its region!
I second this, best advice seen thus far
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Old 12-30-2011, 09:54 PM
 
Location: North Oakland
9,150 posts, read 10,858,950 times
Reputation: 14503
If I lived in Santa Monica, you'd have to drag me kicking and screaming to get me to move to any part of the northeast. I simply wouldn't do it.
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Old 12-30-2011, 09:56 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,613 posts, read 77,432,847 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by jay5835 View Post
If I lived in Santa Monica, you'd have to drag me kicking and screaming to get me to move to any part of the northeast. I simply wouldn't do it.
Not even for a Klondike Bar?
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Old 12-30-2011, 09:59 PM
 
65 posts, read 134,669 times
Reputation: 52
Not even to stop paying $2600 a month rent for a tiny 2 bedroom apt? . (We have a 2nd baby on the way and college to save for!)
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