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I would disagree. I could live anywhere, and if I told most people that I was considering Pennsylvania, the majority of people would ask me 'why?'
Most people want to live in FL, HI, CA, OR, WA, CO, or most anywhere out west. Than another subset of southern states for warmer winters. Then exotic states like Alaska or Montana and such. Than 'more interesting East Coast destinations such as NY, VT, ME, MA.
In short, I wouldn't put PA in the Top 10 mot desireable state to live on most people's lists. It's definitely a very overlooked state, in my opinion.
I'm personally very interested in PA, but if I tell most people I'm interested in PA, I will generally be asked 'Why Pennsylvania?' 9 times out of 10.
Most people thought I was nuts when I told them of my plans to move to Pittsburgh. Then I showed them pictures of my house and told them how much I paid for it. Suddenly it was like a light switch turned on in their brains and they understood. By and large it's the people who don't like cold winters that think I'm a bit crazy even after they learn about my home. I was in Pittsburgh for most of this winter and it didn't bother me at all. Of course spring and fall weather is more to my liking, but I enjoyed the snow, it still is a novelty to me. I'm on my way back just in time for the humid summer heat. Not looking forward to it, but I'll survive. I honestly don't get the appeal of the desert climates that so many people flock to. I might be able to take the high desert of northern NM, but that's about it. Other than the humid summer heat, I think Pittsburgh's weather will suit me just fine.
I agree that PA isn't in most people's top 10 - at least not among people I meet. I would add AZ and NM to your list. Many retirees are snowbirds in those states. They winter there and return to their home states in the blazing hot summers. Although plenty of people choose to live there year round.
Most people thought I was nuts when I told them of my plans to move to Pittsburgh. Then I showed them pictures of my house and told them how much I paid for it. Suddenly it was like a light switch turned on in their brains and they understood. By and large it's the people who don't like cold winters that think I'm a bit crazy even after they learn about my home. I was in Pittsburgh for most of this winter and it didn't bother me at all. Of course spring and fall weather is more to my liking, but I enjoyed the snow, it still is a novelty to me. I'm on my way back just in time for the humid summer heat. Not looking forward to it, but I'll survive. I honestly don't get the appeal of the desert climates that so many people flock to. I might be able to take the high desert of northern NM, but that's about it. Other than the humid summer heat, I think Pittsburgh's weather will suit me just fine.
I agree that PA isn't in most people's top 10 - at least not among people I meet. I would add AZ and NM to your list. Many retirees are snowbirds in those states. They winter there and return to their home states in the blazing hot summers. Although plenty of people choose to live there year round.
In my eyes as a PA native who has lived elsewhere and networked with people from across the country Pennsylvania is a state that simply flies under everyone's radar. Nobody really seems to love it. Nobody really seems to hate it. We're just sort of "here". Everyone who wants to traverse from New England to the Mid-Atlantic or Midwest or vice-versa needs to drive through our Commonwealth (we're the "Keystone" State for a reason) but very few venture off the highways, where they largely see nothing of interest. We're the nation's sixth-largest state by population (consistently competing for fifth with Illinois, which passed us by not long ago), but for a "big" state we don't tick off other people the way Californians seem to get under the skin of people in Idaho or Montana or the way NY/NJ residents seem to irk people in Florida or North Carolina (or the way people from TX seem to irk everyone in general).
I don't think many people know very much about PA. I hate to say it, but given the poor public educational system in our nation I'm going to toss it out there and guess that probably half the country thinks Philadelphia is the capital of PA. In my personal opinion PA offers one of the best "bang for your buck" experiences in the country. We're reasonably proximate to the BosWash Corridor (even from here in Western PA), yet we're much more attainably-priced for the middle-class. In PA you can enjoy vineyards in Erie County, immense wilderness in the "PA Wilds" region of North Central PA, cosmopolitan events in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, a tour of a real coal mine in Scranton, skiing at Elk Mountain in Susquehanna County, white-water rafting on the Lehigh River in Jim Thorpe, mountain biking on the Appalachian Trail in the Poconos, a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed homes in the Laurel Highlands, etc.
By most demographic measures we're perfectly "average". We're neither a wealthy nor poor state, overall. Our state's budget is neither bursting at the seams or in danger. We're not very prone to most natural disasters, beyond flooding and (usually) weak tornadoes that cause minimal damage. Our state's residents, overall, are a typical political split of urban Democrats and rural/suburban Republicans. Our median home price isn't far from the national average. We're a bit "whiter" than other states, but we've become increasingly diverse in recent years, especially in Eastern PA cities such as Reading, Allentown, Hazleton, and even Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, which has continued to experience the NJ/NYC power-commuter overflow. Overall this certainly isn't a bad place to live, and I feel fortunate to live here.
I don't think many people know very much about PA. I hate to say it, but given the poor public educational system in our nation I'm going to toss it out there and guess that probably half the country thinks Philadelphia is the capital of PA.
Very very very very few people know anything about PA or Philadelphia internationally or abroad.
As an American who has lived outside of the USA for 15+ years. I routinely get the 'Americans are geographically challenged' stereotype about Americans. I agree with this, but I often argue that Europeans equally don't know anything about the US, any more than Americans know about Europe. (Generally, I'm interested in both, so I follow both).
But, I've routinely noticed that if I say I'm from Michigan, most Americans and non-Americans will 5-minutes later confuse with any other random M-state from Mississippi to Minnesota. Than I say 'Detroit' and people will have heard it (everyone nationally, but internationally they'll have heard it, but no sense of where that's it). So, than I'll say it's close to Canada, or close to Chicago, and a geographic area will pop in their head.
Since everyone around the world knows LA and NY, I'll quickly use Philadelphila as my prime example if I want to 'prove a point' that Europeans don't know foreign geography any better than Americans do. Very very very few non-Americans have any idea whatsoever where Philadelphia is located.
Most people thought I was nuts when I told them of my plans to move to Pittsburgh.
Exact same experience. I'd imagine a SF as well as an international perspective it's the exact same thing. I meet many 'progressive' thinkers abroad, and they uniformally say that if they were to ever live in the US, it would be one of about five cities - typically San Francisco, Seattle, New York, and a very few others.
'Pittsburgh' is like I'm telling a joke. They aren't sure to laugh at the joke or not. If I say I'm serious, they'll think I have never done any research whatsover on this topic, and quickly try to convince me that only Seattle or San Francisco is actually worth living in if you had to be on US soil.
It's a VERY VERY hard sale. So much so, that I keep my interest in Pittsburgh to myself. On the other hand, IF Pittsburgh actually was popular, and the cost of living in Pittsburgh actually was so much higher than the wages (like equivalent to Portland, Oregon)....than, if that were actually the case, I probably would lose interest in Pittsburgh altogether.
I'm really not attracted to any false concept that Pittsburgh collectively as a city is better than anywhere else. I'm mostly attracted to (besides the hillside views everywhere), I'm attracted to the idea that you can have a limited income, and still be able to pursue dreams that might include starting your own business, owning your own home, living within walking distance of actual amenities, and a dozen other minor things that seem completely unaccessable to the average person in any other otherwise considered 'desireable' American metro.
if i wasn't from pittsburgh, the weather alone would keep me from moving here. i don't need to live on a beach, or to have zero snowfall..
and some years are much better than others. this past year kind of sucked, and the snow wasn't even bad.
but man its going on the middle of june and there might be one '4 consecutive day' instance where i could go outside and do something in the past 8 months.
we got 40 degrees in the middle of last september, frost at the end of this may.
as far as prices on housing. i can't really agree on this and am about to ramble on about it.
if you stack pittsburgh up against san fran, or new york, or probably chicago yeah..we are cheap. but try putting us up against 50 other cities. anywhere in the midwest except chicago. all of ohio is affordable, indy, louisville etc.. the entire southeast from about richmond on down(dam the d.c. commuters own it from fredericksburg on up). that includes raleigh, charlotte, columbia, savannah, most of florida even if you stay away from ritzy areas lke the keys or naples. the south from the entire state of texas (go see what house you can get in houston for 400k compared to say, mt. lebo or even north huntingdon), the 'ruralish' states like miss./ark/bama in the south, wyoming/dakotas/montana in the north..all through oklahoma to phoenix, santa fe.
all are comparable if not more affordable than pittsburgh..i realize it comes to 'city' housing for a lot of people, but where exactly in the city can you get a nice house, in a decent neighborhood for 100k or something? you show me that neighborhood and ill show you a comparable run down neighborhood with moderate crime and cheap houses in just about any other city in the country.
set the price, find your pittsburgh houses, and lets have a game of it.
if i wasn't from pittsburgh, the weather alone would keep me from moving here.
but man its going on the middle of june and there might be one '4 consecutive day' instance where i could go outside and do something in the past 8 months.
we got 40 degrees in the middle of last september, frost at the end of this may.
.
Another person who must have lived in a different city to me for last 4 months. During which, every day I've been here I've ridden my bike, often for 10-40 miles, walked, run or just hung out outside. The weather certainly has yo-yo characteristics, but I'm accutely aware of the weather and experience it first hand, and if you think this sucks and keeps you indoors for 8 months ... hmmm ... you definately need to move to a desert.
I personally was in bed when the '40 minutes of frost at the end of May' hit. My tomato plants survived the experience happily. The last two weeks have been pretty darn good IMHO. Ok, today sucks, but like they say in Melbourne (Australia), if you don't like the weather here, just wait 15 minutes ....
Last edited by gortonator; 06-06-2013 at 11:54 AM..
Most people thought I was nuts when I told them of my plans to move to Pittsburgh.
My wife moved here from Concord, CA (San Francisco area) and when she said that she was moving out here, most people thought she was talking about Pittsburg, CA which is right next door to Concord.
She misses the weather sometimes but has no interest in moving back.
if you stack pittsburgh up against san fran, or new york, or probably chicago yeah..we are cheap. but try putting us up against 50 other cities. anywhere in the midwest except chicago. all of ohio is affordable, indy, louisville etc.. the entire southeast from about richmond on down(dam the d.c. commuters own it from fredericksburg on up). that includes raleigh, charlotte, columbia, savannah, most of florida even if you stay away from ritzy areas lke the keys or naples. the south from the entire state of texas (go see what house you can get in houston for 400k compared to say, mt. lebo or even north huntingdon), the 'ruralish' states like miss./ark/bama in the south, wyoming/dakotas/montana in the north..all through oklahoma to phoenix, santa fe.
I think this is a very good point. (Assuming this is accurate - which I believe it to be a pretty fair statement.)
Almost every single post put cost of living and 'ability to own a home' as why Pittsburgh is a great place, which I can understand coming from SF, NYC, etc.
But realistically, does Pittsburgh really offer that much more than Indy, Louisville, Raleigh, Charlotte, Nashville, Cincinatti, or most of the other places listed above, at approximately the same cost?
Or at the end of the day, does it really just come down to: I just prefer Pittsburgh over ______ (insert comparably priced city here). Or does Pittsburgh really earn it's recent praise of "most livable" and "top places to live" because it is that much better?
I personally feel like people just prefer it here - no different than someone in Louisville preferring their city.
Lost among all the talk of SF and LA and Seattle and NYC, I fail to see how Pittsburgh is that much better than most other cities of similar size and cost.
Another person who must have lived in a different city to me for last 4 months.
me and my daughter i guess, who has had 7 of her 12 softball games cancelled, and 5 of the 8 preseason practices cancelled due to rain or 40 degrees+30mph winds.
after todays cancellation email, i replied ..informing the association that there is some 40 something poster on city data who doesn't mind putting on his bodysuit and mittens and splashing around in the puddles, and that they ned to move to the hmmm dessert. ill let you know if it sways them to putting the game back on.
me and my daughter i guess, who has had 7 of her 12 softball games cancelled, and 5 of the 8 preseason practices cancelled due to rain or 40 degrees+30mph winds.
after todays cancellation email, i replied ..informing the association that there is some 40 something poster on city data who doesn't mind putting on his bodysuit and mittens and splashing around in the puddles, and that they ned to move to the hmmm dessert. ill let you know if it sways them to putting the game back on.
Scheduled sports like Baseball and Softball is tougher here, but to say you are inside for 8 months a year is a real stretch. Most days you get breaks in hte rain, you go out and do something. I think that is what the poster was implying.
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