If hip is out, then Pittsburgh is just plain cool (Portland: 2015, movers)

[nuwaver88]

Hip can mean many things to many people. So can cool. Pittsburgh has not always been considered hip until recently. It is getting to the point that being a hipster is a derogatory thing. So what attracts movers and shakers and young people to Pittsburgh? Well, it has always been a pretty cool city. This can be seen in the neighborhoods, the architecture, the topogrqaphy, the skyline, and just the overall quirkiness of the city. This, combined with the expansion of the universities, big city amenities, very large and diverse arts culture, rust belt chic, authenticity, and other reasons are what so called "hipsters" look for. A decade ago it was hip to strut your stuff up and down Ocean Avenue in South Beach. Pittsburgh is the anti-South Beach. This grit and genuineness is also what is appealing. It is place where people reside and make a living. It does very well in that aspect which is pretty important, don't ya think.
Watch out Portland, Pittsburgh's lookin' hip

[BrianTH]

I do think Pittsburgh is a good city for this moment in time, when for a variety of reasons people are craving things like authenticity and sustainability.

[Copanut]

Ain't nothin more hip than my McCandless 'hood. We rule.

[alleghenyangel]

At first I thought you were saying that Pittsburgh is a place for people with bad hips.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

At first I thought you were saying that Pittsburgh is a place for people with bad hips.

....as long as the sidewalks don't get icy. Then you'll learn a new meaning to "hip is out".

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

At first I thought you were saying that Pittsburgh is a place for people with bad hips.

Wait 30 years.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

Originally Posted by nuwaver88

It is getting to the point that being a hipster is a derogatory thing.

No, being a hipster has always been bad.

This grit and genuineness is also what is appealing.

And hipsters can't ****ing wait to emulate it and take it away.

[Gnutella]

I think Pittsburgh's relative rise in popularity has more to do with the "new normal" than anything else. Everybody loved Miami and Las Vegas last decade because the 2000's were a decade of decadence in the United States. When that all inevitably came crashing down, the only places left intact were those that weren't decadent enough. The 2010's are going to be a "lost decade" in the United States as we pay for all the sins of the late 1990's and the 2000's. As it turns out, it's been a generation since the collapse of the steel industry, so while people weren't paying attention, Pittsburgh has positioned itself nicely to capitalize on the trend back toward value and moderation.

[ML North]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Ain't nothin more hip than my McCandless 'hood. We rule.

Not quite McCandless, but close enough, Hal's bar is definitely a +1 for your 'hood.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

"It is cheap to live here. It's the only city I know of where you can have a part-time job at a coffee shop, still afford a mortgage payment and be able to go out once a week. ... How would that not be appealing to any young person who isn't ready to settle down?"

Part time coffee shop jobs will not pay the bills here or in any major American city. We all know it's cheap here but this just perpetuates the myth that Pittsburgh is a place where you can live for next to free.