Pittsburgh VS Cleveland (York, State College, Lebanon: home, vacation, work)

[CortlandGirl79]

Well, being that i live in the Y-town suburbs, i get to take advantage of both cities. For me it's 1 hour to both places, so if i can't make a concert in cleveland i'll go to pittsburgh, or vice versa. Anyway, around here you're either a browns fan or a steelers fan..........it even divides families! It's also gets pretty interesting if you decide to watch the browns/steelers game at a local bar.
To me, the people of cleveland and pittsburgh are very similar. I always call the area between cleveland, akron-canton, y-town, and pittsburgh "the triangle". This is where i plan on living after i graduate from college. I know plenty of my peers have moved to columbus, but i can't stand it there. Columbus to me, is nothing like the triangle, it's downtown is boring and it's suburbs are the epitomy of urban sprawl and cookie cutter houses!!! Yuck!! Anyway, back on topic, people in "the triangle" have a self-depricating sense of humor, usually have a negative view of their area economically and lots and lots of people complain about the weather. I know i've seen it in this forum, i hear it in y-town and i hear it in cleveland and akron. So, in reality we're all the same............our parents, grandparents and so on built this country, won our wars and what do we get, but our jobs shipped overseas.

Bruce Springsteen:

Here in northeast Ohio
Back in eighteen-o-three
James and Dan Heaton
Found the ore that was linin' Yellow Creek
They built a blast furnace
Here along the shore
And they made the cannonballs
That helped the Union win the war

Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

Well my daddy worked the furnaces
Kept 'em hotter than hell
I come home from 'Nam worked my way to scarfer
A job that'd suit the devil as well
Taconite coke and limestone
Fed my children and make my pay
Them smokestacks reachin' like the arms of God
Into a beautiful sky of soot and clay

Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
Sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

Well my daddy come on the Ohio works
When he come home from World War Two
Now the yard's just scrap and rubble
He said "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do."
These mills they built the tanks and bombs
That won this country's wars
We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam
Now we're wondering what they were dyin' for

Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

From the Monongahela valley
To the Mesabi iron range
To the coal mines of Appalachia
The story's always the same
Seven hundred tons of metal a day
Now sir you tell me the world's changed
Once I made you rich enough
Rich enough to forget my name

And Youngstown
And Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

When I die I don't want no part of heaven
I would not do heaven's work well
I pray the devil comes and takes me
To stand in the fiery furnaces of hell


Ok, so enough on the people, what about the actual cities. Being that i'm a Browns fan (don't hate me) and indians fan i've spent a lot more time in Cleveland than i have in the 'burgh. To me Pittsburgh has a more breathtaking skyline, but Cleveland's not exactly what i would call ugly. I love walking around public square and the area around the rock hall is pretty nice. One of my favorite things to do is go up to the observation floor in the Terminal Tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. From there you can see lake erie, the cuyahoga river and a lot of greater cleveland. It's also fun to watch the bridges on the river go up and down, and to watch all the ships and boats. Tower city center includes a mall and the train station and the architecture is great. Tower City Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here are some other things i love about Cleveland:

Cleveland Metroparks

Cuyahoga Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

Cleveland Arcade - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Geauga Lake and Wildwater Kingdom

University Circle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Be sure to check out the links to museums, orchestra, etc. here

cleveland.com: Everything Cleveland if you like to party

Playhouse Square Center

and if you're ever in akron Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens Home

Alright, sorry, had to brag about Ohio, but don't worry, i still love ya pittsburgh!

[guylocke]

To me Pittsburgh has a more breathtaking skyline

And in the end, isn't that all that truly matters?



:P

[CortlandGirl79]

OH yeah, forgot to mention, if you go to a tribe game you have to have stadium mustard, it's the best.

Also, one of the best X-mas movies ever was filmed in cleveland:
A Christmas Story House

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by boylocke

More nice neighborhoods in Pittsburgh? Really? Jason said the opposite, LOL. Thank you so much for the insights and pictures! In your personal opinion, which city would you prefer to live in? Maybe Cleveland since you are there?

It's funny, too, because I meet lots of kids from Cleveland who love coming to Pittsburgh to go clubbing and for the night life and they love Pittsburgh (which might really be saying something, lol!) and then I have several friends who love heading to Cleveland to do the same thing. I guess the grass is always greener, eh? Or maybe people just get bored being in the same place.

Pittsburgh has more nice neighborhoods inside the city limits. Cleveland's inner suburbs are nicer than Pittsburgh's.

As for the second part, I used to travel to Cleveland to hit clubs regularly when I was younger. It's just nice to have a change of pace and see new faces sometimes.

[RockLobster]

I hosted a tv show in Cleveland not long ago. Cleveland is very much like Pittsburgh in that Case Western and the Cleveland Clinic are driving much of the Cleveland economy as is UPMC here in Pittsburgh. Phyiscally speaking University Circle where Case and the Cleveland Clinic are located is about five miles from downtown Cleveland. It is also the cultural hub of north east Ohio Much like Oakland is to downtown Pittsburgh and Western Pa. Cleveland is linking the two areas by rail and various mass transit unlike Pittsburgh. Cleveland also has for years had rail service to Cleveland Hopkins Airport from downtown and various burb's. While Pittsburgh built a new airport terminal some 15 years ago,Cleveland has grown larger with an active hub being located there while Pittsburgh lost the USAIR hub. Hence Cleveland Hopkins has about 50% more air traffice then Pit and many more non stop destinations although it is more costly to fly out of Cleveland Hopkins. Both are trying to hit home runs with Bio technology and robotics. CMU gives Pittsburgh the lead in robotics. And of course the Steelers are a better NFL product then the Browns while the Indians beat down our poor Pirates. They have the Cav's and we have hockey. Cleveland seem's to have more ties to New York while Pittsburgh anchors the appalachian region. (although Cleveland did lose it's Barney's store ) There has been more loft space in downtown Cleveland but the entertainment venue in the city has been in flux since the Flat's area went belly up. Reinvestment is now going on in that part of town. Shaker Heights versus Sewickley Heights, Hudson versus Fox Chapel. When you get down to it, these two cities are very very similar in many ways. And the competition between the two will continue but will surface between the two mega regional-national health centers and the reserach being done at both City university's. Culture I'd say is a tie. Cleveland like Pittsburgh is belssed with a great symphony, art and numerous foundations preserving and enhancing cutural and recerational opportunity.
Keep your eye's on emerging Columbus. Ohio's fastest growing city and metro and unlike the other Ohio cities, is home to a younger population.

[burghgirl]

Originally Posted by RockLobster

Keep your eye's on emerging Columbus. Ohio's fastest growing city and metro and unlike the other Ohio cities, is home to a younger population.

I'm sorry, but I must say that I've lived in Columbus (against my will, lol!) for 13 years (see my earlier postings for details) and I can't stand it. Like another posted said, flat and boring downtown, and cookie cutter housing developments. I don't see how anyone from Pittsburgh or Cleveland can come to Columbus and like it here, but different strokes, I guess. I did date a guy once who was from Cleveland and went to school at OSU in Columbus...he said Columbus was great (and better than Cleveland) because everything is new. Obviously, I didn't marry him! I'll take the unique topography and neighborhoods rich with history and character that Pittsburgh has, any day. I don't know much about Cleveland, but my brother went to Case Western Reserve Univ. and he loved living in Cleveland (and I loved visits there).

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by RockLobster

I hosted a tv show in Cleveland not long ago. Cleveland is very much like Pittsburgh in that Case Western and the Cleveland Clinic are driving much of the Cleveland economy as is UPMC here in Pittsburgh. Phyiscally speaking University Circle where Case and the Cleveland Clinic are located is about five miles from downtown Cleveland. It is also the cultural hub of north east Ohio Much like Oakland is to downtown Pittsburgh and Western Pa. Cleveland is linking the two areas by rail and various mass transit unlike Pittsburgh. Cleveland also has for years had rail service to Cleveland Hopkins Airport from downtown and various burb's. While Pittsburgh built a new airport terminal some 15 years ago,Cleveland has grown larger with an active hub being located there while Pittsburgh lost the USAIR hub. Hence Cleveland Hopkins has about 50% more air traffice then Pit and many more non stop destinations although it is more costly to fly out of Cleveland Hopkins. Both are trying to hit home runs with Bio technology and robotics. CMU gives Pittsburgh the lead in robotics. And of course the Steelers are a better NFL product then the Browns while the Indians beat down our poor Pirates. They have the Cav's and we have hockey. Cleveland seem's to have more ties to New York while Pittsburgh anchors the appalachian region. (although Cleveland did lose it's Barney's store ) There has been more loft space in downtown Cleveland but the entertainment venue in the city has been in flux since the Flat's area went belly up. Reinvestment is now going on in that part of town. Shaker Heights versus Sewickley Heights, Hudson versus Fox Chapel. When you get down to it, these two cities are very very similar in many ways. And the competition between the two will continue but will surface between the two mega regional-national health centers and the reserach being done at both City university's. Culture I'd say is a tie. Cleveland like Pittsburgh is belssed with a great symphony, art and numerous foundations preserving and enhancing cutural and recerational opportunity.
Keep your eye's on emerging Columbus. Ohio's fastest growing city and metro and unlike the other Ohio cities, is home to a younger population.

Case Western is kinda trying to do by itself, what Pitt and CMU are doing combined. Case and CMU are comparable universities, but Cleveland State in no way compares with Pitt. There is no equivalent to Duquesne in Cleveland, nor to Pittsburgh's smaller schools such as Bobby Mo, Chatham, Carlow, and Point Park.

Both cities cultural offerings were originally financed by the robber barons 100 years ago.

Cleveland's location along I-80 gives them good access to both NYC and Chicago. Pittsburgh is totally outside of Chicago's sphere of influence, although Philly does have some pull here due to the huge number of Philly area students who go to school here.

Also, I'd never compare Shaker Hts. to Sewickley. They are totally different. Shaker is a classic bedroom communtiy. One of the best of it's kind. A place with a large population. Sewickley is more of an enclave. A small town founded as a retreat for the wealthy, surrounded by the richest area (Sewickley Hts.) in Western Pa. While there is some really great stuff in Shaker, I think overall, Sewickley is more exclusive. Mt. Lebanon would be a better comparison to Shaker in my opinion.

[guylocke]

Case and CMU are comparable universities

Ehhhhh, Case Western is a fine school, but I think CMU outshines them.

There is no equivalent to Duquesne in Cleveland

I love my Duquesne! Mark my words, Duquesne is going to slowly but surely transform up-town.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by boylocke

Ehhhhh, Case Western is a fine school, but I think CMU outshines them.

I love my Duquesne! Mark my words, Duquesne is going to slowly but surely transform up-town.

DU grad, Class of 81'!!!!

CMU might be better than Case, but Case is near that level.

[guylocke]

DU grad, Class of 81'!!!!

CMU might be better than Case, but Case is near that level.

Woot!! Go Dukes!!

Yeah it is near that level, but I don't think quite there.