Considering Moving to Pittsburgh (Weighing Options)

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by AerostarMonk

It's not just some welfare benefit. If I lose health insurance, which I would once I fully transitioned into the workforce, I'd lose a lot of the things that keep me stable enough to be able to have a job in the first place. This isn't me being lazy and/or complacent. It's me being stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to determining a financial future that doesn't screw me over in the near or long term.

Then you should put your full efforts into finding a full time job with a health plan. Even if you don't find a great one, any income level below around $25K is going to be eligible for discounts and or subsidies for health insurance.

[BobMcKelvin]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

and if it wasn't for expensive gas heat in the winter and our own expensive decision to have premium FiOS with high-speed and high-definition everything we'd have dirt cheap utilities, too.

A little off topic, but come on dude you are a Millennial, aren't you supposed to have figured out by now the greedy telecom companies don't deserve a dime of your money for things that are freely available online?

Buy a set of bunny ears for local channels. Start with couchtuner.eu for television, rojadirecta.me or firstrowsports.eu for sports. Use a torrent site or do some digging and find some free movie streaming sites (rarely work with unjailbroken iOS devices). Unless you are concerned about "stealing" from the likes of Comcast and their oh so excellent record of customer service, then by all means continue paying $200 for 100 channels you don't need, but if you want to be part of the solution ditch the cable subscription! Combine a few accounts like Hulu, Netflix, and Roku and still come out in the black. If you are already paying for that high speed internet, use that bandwidth to your full advantage. (Also remember it's not illegal to stream content, just to host it...stick with .me or .eu and the like for your URL suffixes and happy viewing!)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by MountainDewGuy

Of course, it depends on what neighborhood you live in, but if LGBT acceptance is an important component for you, then I would choose Minneapolis over both Pittsburgh and Columbus.

Good luck finding cheap housing in Minneapolis, which is becoming a very expensive city due to its very high quality-of-life.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by AerostarMonk

It's not just some welfare benefit. If I lose health insurance, which I would once I fully transitioned into the workforce, I'd lose a lot of the things that keep me stable enough to be able to have a job in the first place. This isn't me being lazy and/or complacent. It's me being stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to determining a financial future that doesn't screw me over in the near or long term.

I totally get this. It's not worth chasing some salary job just so you can have healthcare if it would take away from what you actually want to do, which is write. I feel like most of the people in this forum aren't going to be sympathetic to your situation, but there are a lot of LGBTQ communities in Pittsburgh that would be. I will PM you some links to organizations and facebook groups that would be helpful. I'm already seeing a *****/trans-friendly room in bloomfield posted for $350 a month.

As for rent/utilities. You can absolutely find that in Friendship/Garfield/Bloomfield. It's going to be a dig, but it's there. Like others have said, a roommate would solve this problem pretty fast, and there are a lot of people who could be a perfect fit for you. The Friendship/Garfield/Bloomfield corridor is the epicenter of the creative/punk LGBTQ crowd because of transit, amenities for the price.

[AaronPGH]

also why is the word q u e e r blacklisted in this forum? we took that word back over 10 years ago

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

also why is the word q u e e r blacklisted in this forum? we took that word back over 10 years ago

Hmmm...OK, will trade "q u e e r" if you give us....hmmm...nah, don't want "cra ck er" back. But how about "q u ee r" for "w h itey"? Deal?

[OZ2012]

Columbus has a lower cost of living and is way more progressive and open-minded than Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh offers more in terms of culture, arts and sports entertainment. PA laws are the most restrictive in the country. I have elderly relatives in OH who are on Medicaid and receive very good care. Not sure how PA compares.

[MountainDewGuy]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Good luck finding cheap housing in Minneapolis, which is becoming a very expensive city due to its very high quality-of-life.

According to this map, which was recently posted in another thread, a buck goes slightly further in Minn than in Pittsburgh.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by OZ2012

Columbus has a lower cost of living and is way more progressive and open-minded than Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh offers more in terms of culture, arts and sports entertainment. PA laws are the most restrictive in the country. I have elderly relatives in OH who are on Medicaid and receive very good care. Not sure how PA compares.

PA has now accepted the Fed Medicaid subsidy through the ACA. I have a family member who now qualifies for free health insurance. Last year he was paying around $125 a month through the ACA because PA wasn't taking the Fed subsidy at the time.

[bluecarebear]

Originally Posted by AerostarMonk

I only pull down 6-8k a year.

How are you planning on going out in Pittsburgh to restaurants, bars, etc. with no money? Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Minneapolis are a tad on the expensive side. My advice is to stay in Florida.