Living in Pittsburgh? (Monongahela: school, trees, teaching)

[Ecoastgal]

Thanks everyone for your advice,you are a great city data forum! i'll let you know what i decide to do in a few months... Still have a few other opportunities to consider.

[aardvark12]

Originally Posted by Ecoastgal

Hi Everyone,

I'm thinking about relocating to pittsburgh and would like to get some insights from this group. First a little about me, i was raised on the west side of Cleveland and then went to school in Indiana, and State College PA. As an Asian American, i found the lack of diversity less than ideal, and was very happy when I moved to the east coast (as an adult i've lived in Baltimore, Philly, and NYC ). My career took me to San Antonio, Texas, and while there's a ok amount of diversity here, i do miss the North. My husband (who is Caucasian) has also had a hard time finding a job here (he's an engineer). Currently i am considering 2 job opportunities in very different places, Pittsburgh or Dallas. Dallas is bigger, more diverse, and it seems like there would be many job opportunities for my husband. But Pittsburgh seems like a great walkable city with much cooler summers. And I love PA, despite their liquor laws.

So i have a few questions about Pittsburgh:

1) are there nice walkable surburbs with good schools (i have a 9 and 11 year old) that i can commute downtown to without hating my commute? we use to live in Media, outside of Philly and I loved living in a walkable town. Housing budget is probably 300's

2) does Pittsburgh feel more like Cleveland or Philadelphia in terms of it's attitude? Is there another city that it has a similar feel to? Upstate NY?

3) how diverse are the burbs of Pittsburgh? i don't need crazy diversity, but i don't want my kids to feel like they don't belong, or are outliers. We've been very lucky to live in places with good schools where race was not an issue.

4) what is the engineering industry like in town?

thanks in advance for your help,
East Coast gal

You want walkable and the Burbs? The two just don't go together anywhere. The only good walkable neighborhood in Pgh is Squirrel Hill. It is also a relatively good commute to down town, since you don't have to get into any traffic bottlenecks created by bridges or tunnels. It also has Taylor Allderdice which was one of the best public high schools in the US, although I hear that it has gone downhill badly over the last little while. Also being a Jewish neighborhood once, you probably find fewer "diversity" problems in Squirrel Hill, but its not a big issue. Pittsburgh is a socially very conservative place, but on the other hand, Pittsburghers are among the friendliest people around. The only social issue that can get you into serious trouble in Pittsburgh is being not being a Steelers fan.

Pittsburgh is nothing like Philadelphia and only a little bit like Cleveland. Really, it isn't even much like Cleveland, either. (If you're smart, you'll never suggest to a Pittsburgher that the place is anything like the dreaded Cleveland.) I'd say that it is most like Chicago. That may seem odd at first glance because Chicago is so much bigger, but the both cities are similar in that both are a collection of highly cohesive local neighborhoods, which is the real essence of the place. In Chicago, it about ethnicity. In Pgh, it's about geography, the hills and rivers cut the city into a bunch of very small areas they most people seldom leave. Also Pittsburgh tries to pretend it's the Northeast but it is really the Midwest, leavened with a touch of Appalachia. You can hear that in the classic Pittsburgh accent. Go into West Virginia and you hear the same thing getting more pronounced as you go farther south.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by aardvark12

You want walkable and the Burbs? The two just don't go together anywhere. The only good walkable neighborhood in Pgh is Squirrel Hill.

wrong.

Originally Posted by aardvark12

It is also a relatively good commute to down town, since you don't have to get into any traffic bottlenecks created by bridges or tunnels.

wrong.

Originally Posted by aardvark12

Pittsburgh is a socially very conservative place, but on the other hand, Pittsburghers are among the friendliest people around.

Very conservative....? not equal to 'friendly'? i'ma lost, mamma!

Originally Posted by aardvark12

The only social issue that can get you into serious trouble in Pittsburgh is being not being a Steelers fan.

wrong.

Originally Posted by aardvark12

In Pgh, it's about geography, the hills and rivers cut the city into a bunch of very small areas they most people seldom leave.

A remote clan of inbreds was found, in a long forgotten hamlet of homes between route 51 and the slopes to Mt. Washington.

Originally Posted by aardvark12

Also Pittsburgh tries to pretend it's the Northeast but it is really the Midwest, leavened with a touch of Appalachia.

But dammit, we just wanna be loved and respected by our Ivy League cousins Boston, NYC, and Philadelphia.

[adave1]

You can’t underestimate the “hilliness” of Pittsburgh with it being in the Appalachians. Also you have to appreciate cold weather because I just went there in April and it was snowing and sleeting every day. The people are nice and I saw diversity, but don’t underestimate the geography and climate. I live south of Baltimore where it’s pretty flat and open, not “foresty.” Summers are hot and winters are mostly mild.

[Reggiezz]

Originally Posted by adave1

You can’t underestimate the “hilliness” of Pittsburgh with it being in the Appalachians. Also you have to appreciate cold weather because I just went there in April and it was snowing and sleeting every day. The people are nice and I saw diversity, but don’t underestimate the geography and climate. I live south of Baltimore where it’s pretty flat and open, not “foresty.” Summers are hot and winters are mostly mild.

Pittsburgh is not in Appalachia.

[Formerly Known As Twenty]

Originally Posted by Reggiezz

Pittsburgh is not in Appalachia.

Pittsburgh is the largest city within the Appalachian region. We're in the foothills (well, technically it's part of the Appalachian plateau), but in Appalachia we are.

Culturally, we might not all be what one would generally consider to be Appalachian, but after having moved here from Appalachian Ohio, I quickly realized that it's like someone moved a fair chunk of my hometown folks to a place with tall buildings.

[Reggiezz]

Originally Posted by Formerly Known As Twenty

Pittsburgh is the largest city within the Appalachian region. We're in the foothills (well, technically it's part of the Appalachian plateau), but in Appalachia we are.

Culturally, we might not all be what one would generally consider to be Appalachian, but after having moved here from Appalachian Ohio, I quickly realized that it's like someone moved a fair chunk of my hometown folks to a place with tall buildings.

Wrong. Pittsburgh's hills were carved by melting ice during a glacial epoch a million years ago. The mountains formed hundreds of millions of years ago. Prior to the glacial era, this area was a flat plateau.

[Moby Hick]

No. He's right. The name of that plateau is the Appalachian Plateau. It's Appalachian, but not Appalachian Mountains.

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

No. He's right. The name of that plateau is the Appalachian Plateau. It's Appalachian, but not Appalachian Mountains.

If i remember correctly from school this region is in the allegheny and laurel mountains that are part of the Appalachian mountain chain.

[Reggiezz]

Originally Posted by guy2073

If i remember correctly from school this region is in the allegheny and laurel mountains that are part of the Appalachian mountain chain.

Read the definition of plateau. Did they stop teaching theses things? I think I learned about plateaus in grade school.

Now tell me how a plateau ends up with hills.

Hint: look up Lake Monongahela.