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Now that I've been here a year I have a little perspective. I'd rank the quality of life very good. As you know, the housing prices are what drew me here. The median home price in SF where I'm from is hovering around $1 million so Pittsburgh is like being in heaven. I like the look of the city. I was meeting with a potential client tonight up in Mt. Washington and the vista driving along Grandview St. was spectacular. There's a lot going on in culture and entertainment for a city of its size. I like football and baseball and meet a lot of like-minded people.
Some of the things that keep it from being excellent to me are the lack of awesome hole-in-the-wall ethnic restaurants like you find on almost every retail block in SF and throughout the entire Bay Area. Grocery prices seem higher here than where I'm from. Provincial, close-minded locals. Not everyone is like that, but there are a lot who are. Stupid PA liquor laws. I'm used to being able to buy beer, wine, and spirits in grocery stores, for heaven's sake. Fracking. I don't mind the cold winters or the grey skies, but the hot humid summers kill me.
Pittsburgh may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I am extremely happy with my decision to relocate here.
I must say I've noticed the litter issue here improving since I moved here in 2010. We went from what I would consider an above-average amount of litter for a city of our size, in my humble opinion, to an average amount of litter for a city of our size.
Interesting observation. I wonder if the amount of littering is actually going down or if you're getting used to it and don't see it as much. To me, the litter looks more or less the same as it has the other times I've visited over the past decade--but I'm just a visitor. A regular visitor, but the areas I see on any trip are limited so maybe I'm not seeinga change in the amount of littering for that reason.
I would give Pittsburgh a "very good" for quality of life. The people I know there seem to have full lives and they enjoy living there. They have good friends, a decent job, and plenty of interesting things to do after work. The one possible downside I see is many of them seem to have health issues after moving there, but I'm not sure if that's just coincidence or a possible QOL issue. It's worth pointing out that all my friends seem to have had excellent medical care. The city is hard on cars, and there are transportation issues--but is that really a big concern when it comes to QOL issues? Also, the weather and the vibe of the city will not be a good fit for everyone--but that's a matter of taste, not really a QOL issue the way I see it. IMO, when it comes to those things that I think make for a good quality of life, Pittsburgh scores highly.
Now that I've been here a year I have a little perspective. I'd rank the quality of life very good. As you know, the housing prices are what drew me here. The median home price in SF where I'm from is hovering around $1 million so Pittsburgh is like being in heaven. I like the look of the city. I was meeting with a potential client tonight up in Mt. Washington and the vista driving along Grandview St. was spectacular. There's a lot going on in culture and entertainment for a city of its size. I like football and baseball and meet a lot of like-minded people.
Some of the things that keep it from being excellent to me are the lack of awesome hole-in-the-wall ethnic restaurants like you find on almost every retail block in SF and throughout the entire Bay Area. Grocery prices seem higher here than where I'm from. Provincial, close-minded locals. Not everyone is like that, but there are a lot who are. Stupid PA liquor laws. I'm used to being able to buy beer, wine, and spirits in grocery stores, for heaven's sake. Fracking. I don't mind the cold winters or the grey skies, but the hot humid summers kill me.
Pittsburgh may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I am extremely happy with my decision to relocate here.
Very nice post, Goodjules. Thanks for contributing! We share a lot of the same concerns and grievances regarding the region's quality-of-life.
While I remain "on the fence" a bit about fracking I'm not certain if I like our illustrious county executive's grandiose vision of continuing to drill under county parks, the airport, etc. as being a way to increase revenues. I grew up in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, a metropolitan area that was (and still is) horribly environmentally scarred by the coal mining industry. I don't think the risk of contaminating water (i.e. Charleston, WV) and/or threatening flora or fauna for the long-term is really worth the short-term infusion of cash we'll receive. Hey, coal mining sounded like an awesome idea at the time in my hometown region. It was a boon to the area for decades, but then when it dried up the region was a disaster zone.
PA isn't really a Northeastern state in my eyes. We may be as such geographically, but we definitely aren't on the same "progressive" level socially, overall. Our liquor laws are straight out of 1953; businesses weren't allowed to be open on Sundays until relatively recently; states such as Utah, Oklahoma, and Virginia (soon) are beating us on legalizing same-sex marriage while I don't foresee it happening here for a very long time; our governor has vowed to veto any measure that would legalize marijuana strictly for medicinal purposes whereas Colorado and Washington have already legalized marijuana for recreational use. Our citizens continue to vote for Bible-thumping clowns like Tom Corbett, Darryl Metcalfe, Rick Santorum, etc. We're more like Mississippi than the rest of the Northeast, and I feel as if being part of such a terrible state socioculturally and intellectually really holds Pittsburgh back. While I love living in the relatively progressive East End I know that that majority of the rest of the state (minus Greater Philadelphia) really is stuck in the 1950s.
Groceries do seem expensive here, and I'm glad I'm not the only one to have noticed that. Gas prices also seem relatively expensive, as I can travel to a lot of places within an hour's drive of the city and pay much less for a gallon of gas. The "provincial closed-minded locals" are dying off in droves, thankfully, and are being replaced by a fresh wave of locals who are more worldly, progressive, and cultured. As far as the lack of restaurants are concerned I think that's just specific to you because you settled on the west side of the city, which is the least-densely-populated. The East End/East Hills have numerous great places to dine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caladium
Interesting observation. I wonder if the amount of littering is actually going down or if you're getting used to it and don't see it as much. To me, the litter looks more or less the same as it has the other times I've visited over the past decade--but I'm just a visitor. A regular visitor, but the areas I see on any trip are limited so maybe I'm not seeinga change in the amount of littering for that reason.
I would give Pittsburgh a "very good" for quality of life. The people I know there seem to have full lives and they enjoy living there. They have good friends, a decent job, and plenty of interesting things to do after work. The one possible downside I see is many of them seem to have health issues after moving there, but I'm not sure if that's just coincidence or a possible QOL issue. It's worth pointing out that all my friends seem to have had excellent medical care. The city is hard on cars, and there are transportation issues--but is that really a big concern when it comes to QOL issues? Also, the weather and the vibe of the city will not be a good fit for everyone--but that's a matter of taste, not really a QOL issue the way I see it. IMO, when it comes to those things that I think make for a good quality of life, Pittsburgh scores highly.
I, too, wonder if I've just grown to be "used" to the litter or if the situation truly IS improving. I know I notice the unsightly spider's web of overhead utility lines here much less now than I did when I first moved here. I know from personal experience that less trash has been accumulating on the sidewalk in front of our rowhome now than in prior years.
As far as the "health issues" are concerned many of them are self-inflicted. For example it seems like EVERYONE here smokes---and chain-smokes at that. That's fine, but it's hard as a non-smoker to avoid it, and I feel like my own health is being jeopardized because of it. The worst is when I have to make a delivery to Presby Hospital and have to pretty much slice my way through a smog-like level of cigaratte exhaust like Indiana Jones to get into or out of the hospital. If lung cancer is higher here as a result, then I can't say I have much sympathy. Obesity is also an issue here. I don't know if people walk less because of the rugged topography and frequently inclement weather, if it's a poor diet, or if waistlines are expanding because traffic congestion is worsening or what it is, but it seems like for every fit guy I see jogging/running along Ellsworth Avenue I see two obese construction workers leaning on shovels along the side of the road staring at a pothole. Obesity + chain-smoking = poor health.
In regards to the weather I'll admit I find the winters here to be too long. It seems like we have "sweater weather" from October right on through April, and while the weather is usually gorgeous here from May through September I find myself depressed on or around October 1 as I know I'll soon be unable to run or enjoy being outdoors much due to the lack of sunlight, sub-zero wind chills, icy sidewalks, biting wind, etc. I don't like having awesome weather for five months and deplorable weather for seven months. I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't prefer the weather in someplace like Nashville, where I'd imagine the ratio is reversed with seven months of prime weather and five months of wintry weather.
I'd still say Good/Fair. To be quite frank, the majority of stuff that bothers me I could brush off pretty easily because of all the good stuff that outweighs them these days. However, there are two issues that I find impossible to brush aside that bother me daily:
1. People here are not nice
2. Getting anywhere is a huge pain
The attitude of people affects everything from the face to face interactions, interpersonal relationships, the workplace, and everyone's favorite topic: driving. Believe it or not, offline I'm a pretty positive dude who smiles, says hello/good morning/please/thank you/have a nice day, and who in general tries to be a good person. If I could just get some of the same courtesy on a daily basis I would be so much happier.
Of course, the transportation issue has been covered over and over so no need to go into that.
I'd still say Good/Fair. To be quite frank, the majority of stuff that bothers me I could brush off pretty easily because of all the good stuff that outweighs them these days. However, there are two issues that I find impossible to brush aside that bother me daily:
1. People here are not nice
2. Getting anywhere is a huge pain
The attitude of people affects everything from the face to face interactions, interpersonal relationships, the workplace, and everyone's favorite topic: driving. Believe it or not, offline I'm a pretty positive dude who smiles, says hello/good morning/please/thank you/have a nice day, and who in general tries to be a good person. If I could just get some of the same courtesy on a daily basis I would be so much happier.
Of course, the transportation issue has been covered over and over so no need to go into that.
I certainly agree with #2. The fact that there's no easy way for someone in the eastern suburbs to access the western suburbs and/or the airport WITHOUT clogging I-376 through the city is a drag. The fact that people here seem to prefer noisy, polluting, crowded, box-blocking and pedestrian-threatening buses over quieter, cleaner, higher-capacity trains with their own dedicated right-of-way has always boggled my mind. As we are all well aware this year's "pothole season" has been especially brutal---the number of potholes seems similar to prior years overall, but these ones seem to be wider and deeper, making them more difficult to avoid and more potentially damaging if you DO hit one.
I strongly disagree with #1. Sure, there are SOME jerks here, but I've found people here overall to be much friendlier than people in Northern Virginia. I either strike up or am invited to participate in conversations with random strangers on a daily basis. Most of my "Good morning" or "hello" greetings to strangers I pass when running on trails or entering an elevator are returned. When I was living in Fairfax County maybe 10% of the people I'd greet on my runs would return the favor, which left me thinking people there are unfriendly and/or elitist. People would completely ignore me if I greeted them on an elevator or said "hello" if we made eye contact while pumping gas or something. I saw "don't you know who I am?" styled tantrums on more than one occasion when living in Northern Virginia. I don't see those here. While pumping gas recently in Brookville I had a friendly older man dressed in hunting attire strike up an entire conversation with me about how I liked living in Pittsburgh. It seems like people here are generally more content with their current living situations whereas it seemed as if a lot of people in Northern Virginia already took for granted that they lived in $500,000+ McMansions, drove luxury sedans, and sent their children to above-average public schools in a very low crime area on the cusp of a thriving major American city and STILL demanded more, more, more. There's definitely less pretense here. Try living in the nation's wealthiest area, as I did, if you disagree. I'll admit people here don't SMILE very much, but otherwise I find most people here to have hearts of gold.
I've found people here overall to be much friendlier than people in Northern Virginia.
There's the kicker though, if you comparing Pittsburgh to the most cold and confrontational cities (Bos-Wash corridor) Pittsburghers will beat them out in friendliness every single time. It's the same comparison people do when they say, "Poor people in the US will never be as poor as they are in Africa" or "If you think crime is bad here try Honduras". Of course people from those areas are going to think people are nicer here because they are, but a race to the bottom is never appropriate. Also, not to single you out personally but haven't you had tons of issues with people wanting to fight you/not tip you/flip out on you, etc? That behavior is not normal.
I think I'm a pretty well traveled dude at my age. The fact of the matter is that the majority of places I have been to have locals that are leaps and bounds friendlier. Not all of them mind you, but the majority. There are plenty of places all over the planet where the people don't treat you like Pittsburghers treat one another.
I must be immune to it. I don't find the mixture of nice/not nice to be appreciably different than anywhere else I've been. But then, I do have to couch that with "been". Long time since I've LIVED anywhere else, and it's only a couple places. Living is different than just passing through.
That said, the daily interactions are not that much different, stores and offices and streets and whatnot, those are not really different in living vs visiting, except for the amount of saturation. And I get a mix of interactions everywhere and chalk it up to some people are jerks. Because they are. Some days it really irks me, like common courtesy that doesn't get it in return. I've taken to saying "You're welcome" on some occasions when some jerks don't say thanks for me holding the door, that sort of thing.
I also think there are varying levels of what some might consider nice. As an introvert I don't usually want unnecessary conversations with people on the street or in stores or whatever. Sometimes the situation affects us all and there is commiserating, but other than that I keep to myself. That might mark me as "not nice" in some eyes. It also might mean I don't notice some things that others would consider not nice.
Many people are in one way or another. We as humans are highly adaptable and over time we will get desensitized to what goes on around us. Some of us don't realize that things should be much better than they are. Others might only realize it later in life. But there are other folks like myself who never get "used to it". I can't ever get desensitized to so many people being cold/confrontational/unfriendly and what have you. It's not just a few bad apples that spoil the bunch either.
I'm not alone in feeling this way either, but considering where we are all posting I am not likely to find others that share my viewpoint (and I'm totally cool with that).
I've generally found Pittsburghers to be no different or friendlier than people in other cities. What cities have you found to be more polite than Pittsburgh Aqua?
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