I am tired of hearing how great Pittsburgh is! (Franklin: places to live, vs)

[PinkFlowerGarden]

Originally Posted by djbf

Austin... another overrated place, IMO. I moved there based on all the magazine articles after SF. It's got a complete lack of culture, but if a local music scene is #1 on your list, it's the place to be. There are jobs. The salaries aren't particularly amazing and the housing costs have increased exponentially in the last 5 years. The surrounding towns are a good source of things to do, but they aren't numerous enough to sustain the soulless character of Austin proper. In spite of the motto, there is very little weird about Austin. Maybe weird for Texas, but not weird for any other city. To me, it was like living in a large suburb. The people, however, are among the nicest I've ever encountered and it's very easy to make friends there. And the swimming holes are fun.

The most overrated city I have ever visited. There is one "famous" street full of bars/restaurants. That is it. You are spot on with the suburb comment. I'm not sure why creative musician types would even consider the town because it is so boring.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by ThumbingMyWay

Obviously some cities do certain things better than others. But as a total package, lets stop pretending Pittsburgh has this magical combination of qualities that you can't find anywhere else except in San Francisco.

That won't ever happen on this forum.

To me, Pittsburgh is a good city. I prefer it to many cities I have been to. However, it is not a great city or a world-class city in my opinion. I have been to many cities in similar size to Pittsburgh all over the world and when you put them side by side we don't compare in overall quality of life. When you put Pittsburgh next to Dublin, Reykjavik, Munich, or Osaka it looks backwards. But perhaps this is more a commentary on the US as a whole than the city (but that doesn't excuse the attitudes some people have that say this is the greatest city on Earth).

When you put it next to cities like Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, the difference is quite negligible. Pittsburgh is not the be all end all in any regard, but many locals do not share that same sentiment.

[quaymorris]

Funny on the comments about Austin as I am getting ready to leave Pittsburgh to move there! I honestly think Pgh is overrated. I heard all the comments about the magical place that is Pittsburgh and I never understood. Not that I don't get why some people like it; I really do! It's just not for me, but whenever I told people that when they ask why I'm leaving, they get super offended, which I don't get. I don't mean it as a personal affront to anyone, but I don't like Pittsburgh. There are definitely parts I will miss, but I always knew that this wasn't the last stop for me for sure. I'm like djbf in that respects; by the time I'm done bouncing around, I'm sure the list of cities I've lived in will be quite long (hopefully).

[ThumbingMyWay]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

That won't ever happen on this forum.

To me, Pittsburgh is a good city. I prefer it to many cities I have been to. However, it is not a great city or a world-class city in my opinion. I have been to many cities in similar size to Pittsburgh all over the world and when you put them side by side we don't compare in overall quality of life. When you put Pittsburgh next to Dublin, Reykjavik, Munich, or Osaka it looks backwards. But perhaps this is more a commentary on the US as a whole than the city (but that doesn't excuse the attitudes some people have that say this is the greatest city on Earth).

When you put it next to cities like Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, the difference is quite negligible. Pittsburgh is not the be all end all in any regard, but many locals do not share that same sentiment.

Thank you.

Although for simplicity sake, please try to keep this concentrated on US cities. We don't need this to turn into USA vs The world.

[ThumbingMyWay]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

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.

At least some people here seem to agree with me.

Although, again, the things you list are things I believe you can do in ~30 other cities in the US. Compared to SF, LA, NYC that makes sense, compared to others it's not that compelling of an argument.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by ThumbingMyWay

At least some people here seem to agree with me

That some people feel that Pittsburgh is not the best city in the world strikes me as a self-evident and banal concept. That you feel the need to point out that others, namely the vast majority of the population of the world, share this belief with you is largely sad.

Be gone with you...explore...experience life..figure out what you want because if this thread has illuminated little else it's that you've no idea.

Note however, that much of the ire you've drawn, is from people who have done precisely what you have yet to do and landed...largely happily...here, in Pittsburgh.

[tread102]

Originally Posted by gortonator

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 ....

Listen just because you go out and ride your bike in the freezing cold doesn't mean everyone else does. You can tout a lot of great things about pittsburgh. The one thing you can't is the weather. Your saying about waiting 15 minutes couldn't be further from the truth either. The area routinely gets locked in to weather patterns that last longer than a few days.

As for the last 4 months. Its been crappy in Pittsburgh. This spring has been one of the coldest on record. It was bad here in Charlotte. All my family back home was complaining about it. You can really only count on 4 good months in pittsburgh. From about mid May to mid Sept. After that all bets are off. Can you have nice periods sure. I remember mild winter months up there, but I also remember -22 in 1994 and over 2 feet of snow. Good luck riding your bike in that

[tread102]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

That won't ever happen on this forum.

To me, Pittsburgh is a good city. I prefer it to many cities I have been to. However, it is not a great city or a world-class city in my opinion. I have been to many cities in similar size to Pittsburgh all over the world and when you put them side by side we don't compare in overall quality of life. When you put Pittsburgh next to Dublin, Reykjavik, Munich, or Osaka it looks backwards. But perhaps this is more a commentary on the US as a whole than the city (but that doesn't excuse the attitudes some people have that say this is the greatest city on Earth).

When you put it next to cities like Columbus, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, the difference is quite negligible. Pittsburgh is not the be all end all in any regard, but many locals do not share that same sentiment.

The ones that consider it the greatest on earth are ones that never travel outside of it. There is a greater percentage of the population back home that refuses to travel, than other parts of this country.IMO

Pittsburgh can be a great place to live, but just like anywhere else there are drawbacks. Same with where I live now. I love charlotte, but I don't sit on the charlotte forum and pretend that it's perfect.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by tread102

Listen just because you go out and ride your bike in the freezing cold doesn't mean everyone else does. You can tout a lot of great things about pittsburgh. The one thing you can't is the weather. Your saying about waiting 15 minutes couldn't be further from the truth either. The area routinely gets locked in to weather patterns that last longer than a few days.

As for the last 4 months. Its been crappy in Pittsburgh. This spring has been one of the coldest on record. It was bad here in Charlotte. All my family back home was complaining about it. You can really only count on 4 good months in pittsburgh. From about mid May to mid Sept. After that all bets are off. Can you have nice periods sure. I remember mild winter months up there, but I also remember -22 in 1994 and over 2 feet of snow. Good luck riding your bike in that

[yawwwn]

The one thing we definitively know about the weather is that people complain when it's hot and when it's cold, when it rains and when it doesn't...endlessly. Not everybody likes the same weather.

I've often stated that I've drawn infinitely more pleasure from the weather in Pittsburgh than I did from the weather in San Diego, wher I lived, at the beach, for four years. Let me explain.

You know the day...usually in early/ mid March, where, for the first time in months it's not cold. Everybody goes nuts, some morons break out their shorts and suddenly everybody's outside. That day brings more pleasure than any day in San Diego ever did. When it wasn't 75 degrees with cloudless skies (which it was often and thus became unremarkable), people complained.

There are many other examples. I would take drives in the fog because it was something...a weather event. I like the changes in seasons...the pace.

Now, I recognize that this is my viewpoint, and others don't necessarily share it. I gladly traded the San Diego weather for Pittsburgh's and, nearly ten years later, would do it again.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by tread102

The ones that consider it the greatest on earth are ones that never travel outside of it. There is a greater percentage of the population back home that refuses to travel, than other parts of this country.IMO

It's been my experience that this is exactly wrong. It was always the native Pittsburgher's who had no idea why I'd move here voluntarily. The transplants, those who had lived and travelled elsewhere were always quicker to point out this City's virtues.

I will agree, many of the old timers haven't travelled much but I think they're usually the first to sell the city short.