Move to Pgh only if you have a job or like being unemployed. (Pittsburgh: rent, living)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by supersoulty

That would seem to be the big thing for Pittsburgh kids, even today.

I only wanted to go to DC because there were no jobs in Pittsburgh. Mind you, I'm an old lady. I finished college after the collapse of the steel industry. Anywhere had more jobs than Pittsburgh, even a small town like Harrisburg. I moved there and landed a great job within two days. DC would have been way cool though. But I don't blame my father for steering me the direction he did.

[goodgirl49]

It's funny how at different times, different places seemed more popular. I grew up in Beaver County and graduated from high school in 1966. At the time the popular places to go were Ft. Lauderdale, FL, which was popular because of spring break, San Francisco, because of the hippies, and CA in general. I don't recall too many people going to DC, but I'm sure some did. I myself went to CA, but not until I married. My father didn't think it proper that an unmarried girl move far from her family. Luckily, I don't hold my children back the way I was held back by my family. I really didn't like the Pgh area then, but made the best of things. Now that I've left the area and moved to a very different climate and place, I really miss it.

[JimmyLane]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I mentioned to you in your other thread that your degree and experience don't really line up with the demands of the Pittsburgh economy. You have a degree in journalism and work experience in financial marketing. Meanwhile, there are plenty of Pittsburghers with degrees in journalism with experience as journalists, and there are many people who have experience in marketing who have degrees in marketing. Employers will hire the person who has both the relevant degree and the relevant experience before hiring someone with a patchwork of education and skills. You really do need to move to a city with an economy that makes the competition not as tough as Pittsburgh for someone who doesn't possess all the requirements for a position.

i think you're right, that's the way the hiring process works. there's no mention, however in that context, whether that cookie cutter approach is necessarily culling the best and brightest from the labor pool. it's as if the candidate with, as you put it, a "patchwork of education and skills," is less qualified. drivel.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by JimmyLane

i think you're right, that's the way the hiring process works. there's no mention, however in that context, whether that cookie cutter approach is necessarily culling the best and brightest from the labor pool. it's as if the candidate with, as you put it, a "patchwork of education and skills," is less qualified. drivel.

Excellent point! I was merely expressing the way things are, not the way things should be. Afterall, we live in reality, even if it's a sad reality.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by goodgirl49

It's funny how at different times, different places seemed more popular. I grew up in Beaver County and graduated from high school in 1966. At the time the popular places to go were Ft. Lauderdale, FL, which was popular because of spring break, San Francisco, because of the hippies, and CA in general. I don't recall too many people going to DC, but I'm sure some did. I myself went to CA, but not until I married. My father didn't think it proper that an unmarried girl move far from her family. Luckily, I don't hold my children back the way I was held back by my family.

Houston was all that when I graduated. It was booming back them. I picked DC because it was closer to home. Dad had other ideas. LOL

Originally Posted by goodgirl49

I really didn't like the Pgh area then, but made the best of things. Now that I've left the area and moved to a very different climate and place, I really miss it.

I remember my car breaking down when I was a teenage. I told the gas station owner that I couldn't wait until I could move away from Pittsburgh. He said, "It's all the same wherever you go." In part, I believe that's true. A positive attitude can make all the difference in our happiness with our place in life at any given point in time.

[goodgirl49]

Hopes, you made a really good point about a positive attitude. It seems like you always see the good before the bad and your posts reflect this, without glossing over the problems. No place is perfect. A lot of times we have to move away from home to appreciate it more. It seems like people who have never left Pittsburgh can be the most negative about it and others can easily pick up on those negative vibes. Overall, I think it's good not to have lived your entire life in one place because it puts things in better perspective.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by goodgirl49

Hopes, you made a really good point about a positive attitude. It seems like you always see the good before the bad and your posts reflect this, without glossing over the problems. No place is perfect. A lot of times we have to move away from home to appreciate it more. It seems like people who have never left Pittsburgh can be the most negative about it and others can easily pick up on those negative vibes. Overall, I think it's good not to have lived your entire life in one place because it puts things in better perspective.

I agree completely with that last sentence! There are different "goods" and "bads" everywhere. But I do not regret what I have done, and I would not advise someone to stay somewhere that, after a year, is not working for them.

[goodgirl49]

I definitely agree with you Pittnurse that it's time for her to look for alternative places after looking unsuccessfully for a year. Especially if she values her career. It doesn't look good to employers to be out of work that long.

[RowJimmy]

Originally Posted by goodgirl49

Hopes, you made a really good point about a positive attitude. It seems like you always see the good before the bad and your posts reflect this, without glossing over the problems. No place is perfect. A lot of times we have to move away from home to appreciate it more. It seems like people who have never left Pittsburgh can be the most negative about it and others can easily pick up on those negative vibes. Overall, I think it's good not to have lived your entire life in one place because it puts things in better perspective.

Tell me about it. We have one guy here at my work who is "Mr. Negative." He is always complaining about the old infustructure we got. He never moved anywhere else though. I was the same at one point, as many people in college are. They have to get out because in another town it is going to be great or something. I am just glad I got out for a while to come back and appreciate what I have. I still miss the places I lived in, but I can atleast still drive to Philly.

[LivingSingle123]

Originally Posted by RowJimmy

I bet this person is from some suburban development in Pittsburgh, and found that D.C. has so many more lame suburban developments in Virginia and thinks it "rocks" ten times more. I love DC. However, can you really live in the city there if you are middle class? Either be rich and live somewhere cool, or be middle class and live in some suburb that I would not want to be a part of.

Anyways, You are not left in the dust being in Pittsburgh. If you have a job that is good for Pittsburgh's market you have it great. The pay here is good (dispite what some say, In fact Pittsburgh's professional jobs pay higher then average in America) and you can do a lot more with much cheaper cost of living. DC may have better museums and culture, but for what Pittsburgh has to offer in that route; it is better then almost every other American city its size.

Pay scale for Pittsburgh professionals pales in comparison
Study finds higher salaries in other markets

Pittsburgh Business Times - January 12, 2007
by Patty Tascarella

Salaries for Pittsburgh professionals range from mediocre to low, when compared with other major markets across the country, according to a new study.

Pittsburgh failed to crack the top 10 of any category, but was among the bottom 10 of five categories, in the Bizjournals.com study, which examined salaries in 20 professions across 75 geographic markets. It ranked 64th in the crucial category of CEO pay, with an average salary of $132,570.

Among the findings:
-The city paying the highest average salaries in the most professions -- seven -- is San Jose, Calif.
-New York City, the country's largest market, led no categories.
-The highest average pay for family doctors -- at $176,370 -- can be found in Worcester, Mass.

The study concentrated on the managerial, financial, technical and medical fields, comparing the average salaries for 20 occupations that offer high wages to sizable pools of employees in 75 major metropolitan areas. It used raw data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Each job fits into the top 10 percent of the national pay scale, as well as the upper half in terms of total employment. The study group consisted of America's 75 largest metropolitan areas, ranging from New York City, with 18.8 million residents, to Greensboro, N.C., with 680,000. The group's total population was 182 million, about 60 percent of the national total.

STACKING UP

Pittsburgh's best ranking was 15th in average salary for surgeons, which was $190,010, just $5,100 less than top-ranked Albany, N.Y., at $195,150, in what the study described as a super-competitive sector.

Its worst was the average salary of $62,540 paid to university administrators: Only Chicago paid less. Pittsburgh managed a ranking of 65 in the category because data was not available from nine cities.