I am tired of hearing how great Pittsburgh is! (statistics, public transportation)

[Coseau]

Fear and paranoia is used consolidate power and make money. Real estate firms, security companies, military industrial complexes ,etc makes boatloads of money by playing on it. It may lessen over generations but will never disappear because of people with hidden agendas can effectively employ it.

[FreightTrainRunning]

The number of homicides in the United States’ biggest cities hit record lows again in 2013 as the murder rate nationally continued to drop to levels not seen since the 1960s.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

I think the common theme here is that people are ignorant of their surroundings in general. In the city limits the "don't cross rivers" stereotype is still very much a reality in people of all ages. When I lived in Beaver a few years ago it was "don't go into the city because it's dangerous" while Aliquippa was next door. People just make these sweeping assumptions and refuse to change their opinion. Here are some of my favorite examples of ridiculous statements I have heard over the years:

• "That neighborhood is a sh*t hole". Girl from Beaver speaking about Troy Hill. Yes, that Troy Hill.
• "Don't go to East Liberty, it's dangerous!" My mom in 2013.
• "Isn't that neighborhood ghetto?" My co-worker in reference to Lawrenceville in 2012. He is in his mid 20's.
• My personal favorite: "Where is that at?" Many people when I tell them about the good beer being brewed at East End Brewing Company. THE LOCATION IS IN THE NAME

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

I think the common theme here is that people are ignorant of their surroundings in general. In the city limits the "don't cross rivers" stereotype is still very much a reality in people of all ages. When I lived in Beaver a few years ago it was "don't go into the city because it's dangerous" while Aliquippa was next door. People just make these sweeping assumptions and refuse to change their opinion. Here are some of my favorite examples of ridiculous statements I have heard over the years:

• "That neighborhood is a sh*t hole". Girl from Beaver speaking about Troy Hill. Yes, that Troy Hill.
• "Don't go to East Liberty, it's dangerous!" My mom in 2013.
• "Isn't that neighborhood ghetto?" My co-worker in reference to Lawrenceville in 2012. He is in his mid 20's.
• My personal favorite: "Where is that at?" Many people when I tell them about the good beer being brewed at East End Brewing Company. THE LOCATION IS IN THE NAME

Right before the at.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Right before the at.

Glad someone sees the subtleties in my posts.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by slavicamerican

I wonder if some of the anti-Pittsburgh, anti-DC, etc-thing comes from people who grew up with the notion that middle and upper class people live in the safe burbs and scary poor people live in deadzone cities. They simply cannot internalize the changes that have taken place, even if you show them the stats (there is more poverty now in suburbs than inner cities) and take them on a tour. I drive my parents through DC -- past block after block of high end restaurants and stores -- and they notice the one check cashing place and say it's too dangerous to be there. I have friends who are the same way. It will probably take a generation before we, as a culture, equate cities with wealth, safety, amenities and desirability.

You have a point, but I think that is a misreading of the statistics. If you take a city like Pittsburgh, where 6 out of every 7 people in the metro (roughly) live in the burbs, numerically, there may be more poor people in the burbs than in the city. However, the percentage is still, from everything I have seen, higher in the cities than the burbs. I also read an article once that said that "deep poverty" is more common in "the city". (Don't know if that applies to Pgh, I think it was in reference to DC.)

[slavicamerican]

Originally Posted by Katiana

You have a point, but I think that is a misreading of the statistics. If you take a city like Pittsburgh, where 6 out of every 7 people in the metro (roughly) live in the burbs, numerically, there may be more poor people in the burbs than in the city. However, the percentage is still, from everything I have seen, higher in the cities than the burbs. I also read an article once that said that "deep poverty" is more common in "the city". (Don't know if that applies to Pgh, I think it was in reference to DC.)

Katiana,

You're most likely right about Pittsburgh. However, across the country, poverty is now more of a suburban phenomena. It's just better hidden.

There's a ton of reporting on it. Take this, for example, from the CS Monitor:

Face of US poverty: These days, more poor live in suburbs than in cities - CSMonitor.com

[_Buster]

I really doubt that the percentage of poverty households is higher in suburbs than most cities. They are saying the number is higher in the suburbs, not the percentage. Almost all cities in the US have more people living in the burbs than the core city, and most of the suburban populations outnumber the cities by at least a factor of 2 or 3.

Pittsburgh has a lot of poor suburbs, doesn't it??

[slavicamerican]

Originally Posted by _Buster

I really doubt that the percentage of poverty households is higher in suburbs than most cities. They are saying the number is higher in the suburbs, not the percentage. Almost all cities in the US have more people living in the burbs than the core city. Pittsburgh has a lot of poor suburbs, doesn't it??

One way or the other, there is also a trend at play. It's very pronounced in DC where "DC" basically meant poor 10 years ago. Now, DC is starting to equate to wealthy while MD takes on the poor moniker.

It may not be happening in Pittsburgh like it is in other places.

[Katarina Witt]

@slavicamerican- It seems they are still looking at total numbers. Here is a quote: As of 2010, 55 percent of the poor in major metropolitan areas were living in the suburbs.

So, slightly over half of all metro poor live in the burbs. OTOH, 7 times as many people live in the burbs in the Pittsburgh MSA. Pittsburgh is no outlier, either. Denver's ratio is about the same.