For those who left PGH looking for greener pastures... (Philadelphia: sales, real estate)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by simetime

I lived in Pittsburgh for over 20 years and moved to Atlanta, the cost of living is close depending on where you live but the diversity was better. The air quality in Pittsburgh is better and the lack of flying roaches (beetles) was a plus. I found that my degree in Health Policy Administration paid me better elsewhere. Next year I will be moving again proably to Hawaii, but I will always keep my house and property in Pittsburgh

That's a high cost of living but a worthy experience. I wish you the best and hope you have a blast. I understand keeping your home here. If we leave, we plan to do that too. This will always be home. Plus, we don't want to stay with relatives when we come back for holidays. That might be hard to do if we rent out our house. We'll figure it out eventually.

[captainbob2]

I guess I can't either truly appreciate or disdain a place until I move away for a little.

I do agree about people who just have no interest in travel or change. I thought this was just a Pittsburgh thing (gf and I nicknamed this city the Yinzer Bubble) but that's interesting to hear of people in NYC and SoCal the same way.

[simetime]

Originally Posted by Hopes

That's a high cost of living but a worthy experience. I wish you the best and hope you have a blast. I understand keeping your home here. If we leave, we plan to do that too. This will always be home. Plus, we don't want to stay with relatives when we come back for holidays. That might be hard to do if we rent out our house. We'll figure it out eventually.

That is the main reason why I have kept it. My inlaws and my mother all live in Pittsburgh and I'm tired of choosing who to stay with when we go back.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by simetime

...and I'm tired of choosing who to stay with when we go back.

You're a much kinder person than me. I simply don't want to stay with any of them from either side of the family! I'm not comfortable being a houseguest even with relatives. I like having my own space and freedom. I don't like having to be "on" 24 hours a day. I'd much rather stay at a hotel.

Last summer, we made the crazy mistake of going on vacation with hubby's brothers and sisters. They don't know it, but it was torture for me. They're all obesely overweight and they kept trying to shove unhealthy food at us. We kept declining politely. At some point, it turned into them implying that I don't allow my husband to eat.

[gortonator]

Originally Posted by captainbob2

I guess I can't either truly appreciate or disdain a place until I move away for a little.

I do agree about people who just have no interest in travel or change. I thought this was just a Pittsburgh thing (gf and I nicknamed this city the Yinzer Bubble) but that's interesting to hear of people in NYC and SoCal the same way.

It's the same the world over. Funny things, people. But there are constants in human nature.

Definitely go check somewhere else out. My moves have always been a combo of job/location decisions. Rarely ended up exactly where expected, but it's always worked out fine. There's places in the US I'd never live, for various reasons, but there's plenty of choice. It's a big country. And bigger world.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by captainbob2

I guess I can't either truly appreciate or disdain a place until I move away for a little.

I do agree about people who just have no interest in travel or change. I thought this was just a Pittsburgh thing (gf and I nicknamed this city the Yinzer Bubble) but that's interesting to hear of people in NYC and SoCal the same way.

I've lived in many places, same thing everywhere.

When I lived in Minneapolis, people were shocked that I chose to live in MPLS, as I was from all the way from Michigan. Usually only people from WI, SD, IA considered MN.

When I lived in Oregon, I met many many Oregonians who's just never been to Seattle or California. It just never occurred to them. Whereas if you come from across the country, you kinda want to see it all.

WHen I grew up in Michigan, it had never occured to me to try to visit Toronto or Chicago, even though both are relatively quite close to Michigan. Never occurred to me to drive the few hours outside of MI to see either one. Now, that I've gone away, I realize how it's crazy not to see such cities in such close proximity. Never occurs to someone who grew up there though.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

I would move and live in different cities, but owning my house is a huge disincentive for that! Not because it would be difficult to sell, but because it is so wonderful to own something, have it paid off, and basically live for free. The more I research places to move, the more I am turned off by the thought of paying at least $600 for a crummy studio, when I can live in my little row house for nothing except utilities and taxes.

Good point. And you're a good example of a person who goes all over the metro area, so even though you don't move that much you find ways to experience different places.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

At age 28 I've done more travel than almost every person I know. I don't know why some people don't want to experience the world (be it the "yinzer bubble" or another reason) but I agree that insular attitudes are not unique to this area. So many people are comfortable in their bubbles while others are filled with wanderlust, that's just the way we humans are I guess.

Anyway, I want to move out of Pittsburgh and I've been getting some things set in motion to do so. The cost of living I currently have is amazing, but that comes at its own price since I don't feel safe leaving my house on foot at night. I realize that I can afford any trendy East End neighborhood now, but then I would barely have any money in my pocket so there's no real point. Right now the only other places I have lived are Beaver County (barely a change) and Ireland (huge change). I want to live out of the country again and since I don't plan on having kids now is the time to do it.

I hear Pittsburgh is great for settling down, but since I have been very much against that "2.5 kids, dog, white picket fence" crap it doesn't have much for me in the long term.

[Tirade]

When I first moved to the Washington DC area, I quickly visited all of the important stuff there. All of the Smithsonian museums, the Monuments, Capitol Building, National Archives, etc. With all of those cool free museums nearby and with easy access to the subway, it was a no-brainer to go check them out. Well. Apparently my family was the only one who thought this way because in the entire time I lived down there, I did not meet a single other person who visited the city's museums or other major tourist stuff. There was the occasional person who went into the city to see a concert or to receive medical treatment at Georgetown Hospital, but that was it. When my high school took a field trip to the National Zoo, it was the first time a lot of people in my class had even been to the city. Here it is you have some of the finest museums and resources in the world on your doorstep, and nobody could be arsed to go visit them. I still find it incredibly sad.

So this insular attitude is definitely not exclusive to here. You can imagine the reactions I got when I told people I was moving to Pittsburgh. To them, it was like I was moving to a different continent.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Tirade

When I first moved to the Washington DC area, I quickly visited all of the important stuff there. All of the Smithsonian museums, the Monuments, Capitol Building, National Archives, etc. With all of those cool free museums nearby and with easy access to the subway, it was a no-brainer to go check them out. Well. Apparently my family was the only one who thought this way because in the entire time I lived down there, I did not meet a single other person who visited the city's museums or other major tourist stuff. There was the occasional person who went into the city to see a concert or to receive medical treatment at Georgetown Hospital, but that was it. When my high school took a field trip to the National Zoo, it was the first time a lot of people in my class had even been to the city. Here it is you have some of the finest museums and resources in the world on your doorstep, and nobody could be arsed to go visit them. I still find it incredibly sad.

^ Absolutely agree with this. The sheer number of Northern Virginians who rarely, if ever, set foot in DC, their "host" city, boggled my mind when I lived there. There's more to life than Applebee's, Costco, and parking lots.