Pittsburgh sucks and I can't wait to leave... (Scranton, Harrisburg: fit in, apartments)

[Icamefromhell]

I was born and raised here. Grew up in Glenshaw, moved to North Hills at 9 in 93...went to school from grade school all the way to college here. Lived on my own and got my own apartment here. I've been living in this city for 25 out of 27 years of my life (2 of those years were spent in Ohio at a small school in a small town that was so boring, it made me move back to Pittsburgh)...and I'll be graduating in April from Pitt.

I absolutely hate this city. It has just gotten to the point where I'm just disgusted by this city even walking out of my apartment. Well, that's very strong to say...but honestly, I am sooooo turned off by this city anymore, I don't think I would EVER move back here period after I move.

I've observed this city from every single dynamic you can think of, and it just sucks. It's like every time I drive around here, there's something new that just closes down completely only to be replaced by nothing or a business that closes down in less than 2 years. Most of my early to mid twenties were spent being alone, bored, and miserable. I had a real hard time meeting people here, meeting women, finding basic employment that was actually somewhat viable, and even having some semblance of a normal life. But it's not like I had no initiative and I wasn't a hard worker...it just really sucks out here. While all my friends had fun and were able to meet women with no problems, I was just never able to fit in the scene here or the culture.

But then again, there is no culture here. And whatever culture there is (if there is such a thing considering Pittsburgh has no cultural imports to date), it's dominated by extremely dumb and brash sports and bar culture. This is bro central...it's to the point where if I see another bro rocking a Pirates/Pens/Pitt/Steelers anything, I'm just going to have to politely express to them how much of a stupid embarassing bro they are and say nay to them (what did you think I would say....slap them in the face? I;m a man of non violence although I do kickboxing). The arts scene here is very sub par, the music scene here sucks, the live music acts that come through here are people I've never heard of, the roads are all cracked and pothole ridden, it's poorly constructed, it's fractured, people are afraid or too xenophobic to step out of their own social groups, the weather sucks, the public transportation system sucks (really, waiting 30-45 minutes for one bus whereas the lines should be running every 5-15 minutes?), its not diverse at all, it's very ignorant, how the city is laid out is just maddening, and most of all it just seems to get worse every year!

Case in Point: South Oakland. It's really hard to believe that once upon a time, this was the cultural epicenter of the area and there were 5 clubs on forbes and a bunch of genuinely cool heads (punks, skaters, ravers, goths, hip-hop heads, backpackers, etc.) always through there. As well, south oakland managed to still have alot of the residents and families who were there for years before still there.

Now? It's just a useless college ghetto. I honestly hate going there. It sucks to see all of these memories from my younger years just turne4d into apartments and boring retail businesses that further kill any personality this city has left.

I could go on and on about how crappy the singles scene is, but I'm pretty sure everybody out there knows this.

I honestly feel I could write a novel on how bad this city sucks...but, I'll just stop here. I'm out of here in June to NYC to meet up with some friends from here who realized that this city wasn't anything and will never be anything (I mean, the city planners/whatever title they have are making moves that other cities made5/10/15/20 years ago!!!) special other than some big version of some small town out in the middle of some flyover state. That's what it feels like with all the idiotic sports worship around here from grade school all the way up to Major league levels...a big small town with awater cooler where nobody has anything better to do than watch sports, drink, do drugs, have sex, and generally watch the world pass them by.

It's like...if I wanted to have some sort of a comfortable life here, I would pretty much be have to be making 50,000-75,000 a year. I couldn't be a doctor, banker, or in business, I just wanted to do my own thing...but Pittsburgh isn't about doing your own thing. It's very conformist (which is something I found out really quick) and if one doesn't follow with the crowd, they;ll just be alone and miserable. Which is how I've felt living in this city...alone and miserable.

And honestly, people here are just really kind of mean and bitter too. In all of the cities I''ve been too (almost 20 in this country, and 6 outside of America) I've never experienced so much hostility from people. And honestly, I'm not a mean person at all. I love people actually (don't let the name fool you), but just dealing with people here just makes me want to avoid people here entirely and stay inside my apartment...which sucks because I want to go out and have fun...but it always leads up to the same thing...NOTHING.

I'm not even going to waste my time here anymore. It's so closed minded here, that it makes me sick. I used to like this city back in the day, but after going to alot of other cities...well, I realized that Pittsburgh just is not happeninga nd nothing will ever happen here. And if I come back in 5 years...it will probably be worse than it already is.

Pittsburgh sucks...the end. If you got offended by this...tough luck...you didn't have to come in this thread, you didn't have to respond to this thread, you didn't have to read any of my words, but yet...you did...why is that? And this is a public discussion forum so I'm entitled to post my thoughts and opinions, no matter how offensive they may be (I'm not about offending people though). I just had to share my thoughts with you. And no apologies please cause it just comes off as mad wishy washy.

The sad thing about this city for me...is I WANT to like it, but everytime I'm around here and drive around and see what I see, it just makes me hate it that much more. It made me envy people who could legitimately say they loved their city...whereas I don't have anything good to say about it anymore. And I'm not willing to give it any more chances because I've already wasted my time here.

[WILWRadio]

Give Kansas City a try. You'll probably like it more than Pittsburgh.

[Love2Golf09]

Obviously Pittsburgh isn't for you and you need to move on. What's kind of amusing is that you're heading to NYC. Have you been over to the NYC board yet? Many, many people are sick of the city and are moving to the Lehigh Valley, Scranton, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh. They have a long list of complaints just like you...the high cost of living, the expensive transportation system that is slow, never has been upgraded, and has a thousand freaks riding it every day. The singles scene in NYC is so full of phonies it's insane. The pathetic posers that move from Iowa to Manhattan, then act like they just came back from a trip to Cambodia when they spend a few hrs lost in Queens. If you think Pittsburgh is bad, fine, that's your opinion. But, moving to NYC just seems insane. Take all of Pittsburgh's faults and multiply them by 10 and you'd get close to what it's like living in NYC. Enjoy the high taxes, terrible job market, and walking past russian transvestite prostitutes to get into your rat-infested studio apt. You really just seem like an immature kid that thinks LA or NYC is the greatest thing in the world. A year there will do you good and maybe you will appreciate what you took for granted here. See ya. I don't know how the city will survive without you, but we'll manage somehow.

[luabear]

Your message made me very worried for you. It seems like you are a very unhappy person with a lot of problems. Please seek psychological help. People this unhappy in one city are unhappy in every city. I hope you are able to seek the help you need to be happy in your life. Pittsburgh is not your problem...

[sskink]

Interesting.

I moved here in 2002. Started a business in 2004. Ran it till last year. Over 7 years we employed about 50 different younger adults aged 18-27.

Of the 12-15 of them who were the best employees over that time, there were very few hardcore Steelers/Pens fans among them. A handful were artists in their own right. A couple started their own businesses. A couple others have traveled extensively while finishing college. Two created a non-profit. Almost all of them were active in special interests from acting to archaeology to alternative religions to music to organizing political/social activists. None of them were ever bored. All of them had tons of friends (and we, as the token old folks often were invited to parties, concerts and gallery crawls whenever they'd organize something).

I'm consulting on two businesses right now. Both created by people in their early 20s.

I think the reason why all of these young people are happy, well-adjusted, sociable and interesting is because they're not focused on making $50,000-$75,000. They're interested in doing things they enjoy, thus they're happier people. None of them really lack for disposable income. And I doubt I'd call any of them conformists.

Maybe it's the people who say they need $X and would do anything to get it who are the confirmists?

Good luck with finding someplace you like. Just remember, wherever you go, there you are.

[sskink]

Originally Posted by Love2Golf09

Enjoy the high taxes, terrible job market, and walking past russian transvestite prostitutes to get into your rat-infested studio apt.

I personally found the Armenian transvestite prostitutes to be the rough ones. The Russian ones were downright friendly after a couple of drinks.

[gg]

Don't let the door hit you in the ... Have fun wherever you move, but I have a feeling you are not going to be happy no matter where you live. Some folks are just like that.

[groar]

Originally Posted by Love2Golf09

They have a long list of complaints just like you...the high cost of living, the expensive transportation system that is slow, never has been upgraded, and has a thousand freaks riding it every day.

hahahahaha, people are always gonna complain no matter where they are but there is absolutely no contesting the fact that nyc's public transportation system is a million times better than pittsburgh's. it's cheaper, too. $2.25 to go anywhere in a much more extensive system than pgh's, with free transfers.

maybe this dude will be happy in nyc. who knows. it has its pros and cons. but the public transportation system is DEFINITELY a pro compared to pgh. especially once the pgh system is gutted even further in the fall.

[Mtl-Cns]

Seems like in the time it took you to write out that extremely verbose post you could've packed your stuff up and moved.

[marshalt]

Mean and bitter people? Since I started considering a move over a year ago, it's been the people of Pittsburgh that keep convincing me that I'm making the right choice. Last year I had strangers open their home to me for a week, cooked for me, took me out and showed me the town, and made me feel like an honored guest, all the while refusing to take even a penny from me in return. When I called about a job opening, the hiring manager spent over an hour talking to me and giving me advice, even though I wouldn't be able to move in time to accept the position. I've gotten numerous PM's from the people of this board, all of them taking the time to answer questions and concerns.

It's not the Steelers, it's not the colleges, it's not the bars, or the "scenes" that make me want to move to Pittsburgh, it's the PEOPLE.