NYT article on where college grads are moving (Pittsburgh, Progress: apartment, rent)

[punctus_contra_punctum]

You can take the 77 (I believe) out to Boyce Park, so even in Pittsburgh you can take public transit to a ski area.

[pman]

Although this is a philly based article look what city is mentioned with other top performers like ny and san Francisco
PlanPhilly | Philly metro's apartment vacancies tightened to just 3.1% in Q4

[gortonator]

Originally Posted by pman

Although this is a philly based article look what city is mentioned with other top performers like ny and san Francisco
PlanPhilly | Philly metro's apartment vacancies tightened to just 3.1% in Q4

Nice article - I like this bit especially as it puts into context the 'spoutings' of the 'Pittsburgh is getting so expensive' crowd on here.

"New York's average effective rent in the 4th quarter was $3,222.52, while Philly's was just a little over a third of that at $1,123.91. Compared to our peer cities like San Francisco ($2,236.55), Washington, DC ($1,536.00) and Boston ($1,897.62), Philly rents still look pretty affordable, though there's still an East Coast premium. Pittsburgh's average effective rent in the 4th quarter was just $890.75, for instance."

Some folks simply need to get out more. Even though rents and real estate are rising, this city is still a full on bargain. If I was looking to buy a house, I'd do it soon ...

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by gortonator

Some folks simply need to get out more. Even though rents and real estate are rising, this city is still a full on bargain. If I was looking to buy a house, I'd do it soon ...

Our "economic peer" cities have shifted over the past several years. We used to benchmark ourselves against Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Detroit, and other Upper Midwest and/or "Rust Belt" cities in terms of quality-of-life and cost-of-living. Part of the reason why we earned the distinction of "Most Livable City" was due to the low cost of housing relative to prevailing wages.

Only recently have we begun comparing ourselves to San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, Boston, Seattle, and other traditionally more expensive regions. I still don't think we should be aspiring to be like those areas since many of us consciously chose to move to Pittsburgh because it was NOT like those more crowded, more stressed, more fast-paced, more expensive areas. I didn't move here to make Pittsburgh the next Boston or Seattle. I moved here because it was cheap, and I liked the city for what it was at the time. If we're going to continue to go full-on yuppie in the coming years and become much, much more expensive in the process, then we're going to move away.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Our "economic peer" cities have shifted over the past several years. We used to benchmark ourselves against Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Detroit, and other Upper Midwest and/or "Rust Belt" cities in terms of quality-of-life and cost-of-living. Part of the reason why we earned the distinction of "Most Livable City" was due to the low cost of housing relative to prevailing wages.

Only recently have we begun comparing ourselves to San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, Boston, Seattle, and other traditionally more expensive regions. I still don't think we should be aspiring to be like those areas since many of us consciously chose to move to Pittsburgh because it was NOT like those more crowded, more stressed, more fast-paced, more expensive areas. I didn't move here to make Pittsburgh the next Boston or Seattle. I moved here because it was cheap, and I liked the city for what it was at the time. If we're going to continue to go full-on yuppie in the coming years and become much, much more expensive in the process, then we're going to move away.

Our economic peer cities are still Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis/St. Paul and St. Louis. Pittsburgh is very competitive with all of them, though Minneapolis/St. Paul might be moving up a level soon. Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC are completely different animals, and even Seattle is now too. Pittsburgh really doesn't compare to them.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Our economic peer cities are still Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis/St. Paul and St. Louis. Pittsburgh is very competitive with all of them, though Minneapolis/St. Paul might be moving up a level soon. Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC are completely different animals, and even Seattle is now too. Pittsburgh really doesn't compare to them.

the article is looking at top performing locations in terms of vacancy not putting together some listing about "most livable" or "douchiest." ftr, cleveland has similar rental rates but a much higher vacancy rate

Cleveland, Ohio. Rental vacancy rate: 10.1%. Median rent: $868. Median household income: $26,556.
Indianapolis, Indiana. Rental vacancy rate: 11.1%. Median rent: $732. Median household income: $42,144.

Denver among 10 least affordable rental markets in U.S. (Slideshow) - Denver Business Journal


interestingly neither philadelphia nor pittsburgh appears on the top ten best or worst place for renters. interestingly, Philadelphia is probably the easiest of the three east coast cities to build new units.

Naughty or Nice Cities for Renters - Rent.com Blog

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Our economic peer cities are still Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis/St. Paul and St. Louis. Pittsburgh is very competitive with all of them, though Minneapolis/St. Paul might be moving up a level soon. Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC are completely different animals, and even Seattle is now too. Pittsburgh really doesn't compare to them.

Minneapolis has the second biggest economy in the midwest, after Chicago. Its MSA is bigger than Denver's. So Mpls is bigger economically than Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, KC and St. Louis.
Should Minnesota Bid Adieu To The Midwest, Hello North? : NPR
Population -- Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University Home

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Our "economic peer" cities have shifted over the past several years. We used to benchmark ourselves against Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Detroit, and other Upper Midwest and/or "Rust Belt" cities in terms of quality-of-life and cost-of-living. Part of the reason why we earned the distinction of "Most Livable City" was due to the low cost of housing relative to prevailing wages.

Only recently have we begun comparing ourselves to San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, Boston, Seattle, and other traditionally more expensive regions. I still don't think we should be aspiring to be like those areas since many of us consciously chose to move to Pittsburgh because it was NOT like those more crowded, more stressed, more fast-paced, more expensive areas. I didn't move here to make Pittsburgh the next Boston or Seattle. I moved here because it was cheap, and I liked the city for what it was at the time. If we're going to continue to go full-on yuppie in the coming years and become much, much more expensive in the process, then we're going to move away.

I can drive 2 hours outside of Pittsburgh and it is a completely different world. We've already become 'one of those' cities in attitude and price.

[szug-bot]

I think people might be jumping to conclusions. The yuppification is probably just filling a void in economic opportunity here. It may hit a headwall, and an equilibrium is achieved. The end result is, yes, higher rents and a different culture altogether, but it possibly won't have prices/vacancies on a never-ending march towards chaos for the middle class and lower.

Short version - appreciations will plateau (I hope, as eternally houseless as I am).

[Aqua Teen Carl]

The yuppification is only contained to one part of the city and thankfully there's a North, South, and a West part of Pittsburgh too. If you don't like that sort of culture it's easily avoidable, especially since we have so many physical separations between each area. What's unfortunate is that it's bumping the rents up (albeit slowly at times) in other parts of the city too.

But if you think about it, the whole country is trying to do the same thing with varied success. Even cities with lukewarm reputations are throwing up new apartments with $1600/month one bedroom rents and then "hip" businesses are opening up around them. Open up a restaurant/coffee shop/brewery with a mediocre product but give it a few Edison bulbs and suddenly you're in the middle of America's new attempt at a yuppie renaissance.

Some people get suc.... er... coerced into buying in on this. Others find out quick that paying big bucks for a place that isn't quite there yet (but pretends it is) is a raw deal.