NY'ers Fleeing to DA BURG RIGHT ON!

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by springpure

Check out this page and its amazing links on Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh. No wonder it is becomming a hot spot.

Best retirement area state. Retire in Pennsylvania- 52 Great Towns - LOW PENNSYLVANIA TAXES, cheap retirement places towns states, frugal retirement, best state for retirees. hot retirement state, Alabama<br> Alaska<br> Arizona<br> Arkansas<br> Ca

That's a great web site. Sure does make Pittsburgh seem nice.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by londonbarcelona

That's a great web site. Sure does make Pittsburgh seem nice.

Yeah, but... all we ever hear is how high the taxes are... and this says they aren't.

Hmmm... it's like that cost of living thing. I cook most meals, and the last time I went home I found the grocery prices to be very similar to mine in California. Now -- stuff I won't buy, like frozen entrees and prepared foods at the grocery may in fact be cheaper than CA's, but since I won't buy that stuff *my* food prices won't really go down if we move back.

Although sometimes I wish there was a fast and easy frozen toss in the oven kind of meal that was good... (and don't say lasagne... if it's not made with my homemade sauce it's not worth eating... mmmm homemade sauce with mushrooms and italian sausage...)

[By~Tor]

Originally Posted by guylocke

omg those articles are so fascinating!! Thank you so much for posting them! Mind if I add them to Happenings? That second one lists Pittsburgh along with Budapest and Shanghai in places where New Yorkers are escaping!

And it talked about the gay scene in Pittsburgh! I love it! hah!

NYSTYLE, do you truly get a sense that Pittsburgh is creating a little buzz in NYC in terms of real-estate and "up-and-comingness?" I'd truly be interested to hear about your honest thoughts.

Well, I'm not NYSTYLE, but I AM a New Yorker whi IS moving to Pittsburgh!!!.... And, from everyone I've talked to about the move, many have already got a favorable impression of Pittsburgh and say I'll love it there... and with the rents/mortgages costing more and more of an increasingly large fortune here from day-to-day, I can't imagine more New Yorkers NOT exploring Pittsburgh, as a viable option, especially over the next couple years, until the economy settles down.

That said, I think that it'll be more of the high-dollar guys moving, because I don't see so many middle management and middle-class jobs (pay-wise, that is) in the Pittsburgh job classifieds right now, whereas there's a huge boom in medical and computer-related jobs... so, this is good, because it means you won't be getting flooded with the dregs of society, but rather, those who already have some means to support themselves or to at least contribute back to a new community!

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by By~Tor

Well, I'm not NYSTYLE, but I AM a New Yorker whi IS moving to Pittsburgh!!!.... And, from everyone I've talked to about the move, many have already got a favorable impression of Pittsburgh and say I'll love it there... and with the rents/mortgages costing more and more of an increasingly large fortune here from day-to-day, I can't imagine more New Yorkers NOT exploring Pittsburgh, as a viable option, especially over the next couple years, until the economy settles down.

That said, I think that it'll be more of the high-dollar guys moving, because I don't see so many middle management and middle-class jobs (pay-wise, that is) in the Pittsburgh job classifieds right now, whereas there's a huge boom in medical and computer-related jobs... so, this is good, because it means you won't be getting flooded with the dregs of society, but rather, those who already have some means to support themselves or to at least contribute back to a new community!

I know that I've suggested Pittsburgh to people in the Buffalo forum. It's close enough to home for them to visit, but without the extreme poverty and Pittsburgh actually has jobs!

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

Yeah, but... all we ever hear is how high the taxes are... and this says they aren't.

Part of that is that nobody likes paying taxes, and everyone thinks their taxes are too high.

But part of it is also how you measure taxes. Ultimately, the best measure of taxes tends to be as a percentage of gross income from all sources, because that is what determines how much money you actually have left to spend or save. However, when something like a property tax is reported as a percentage of property value, it isn't immediately obvious what that means in terms of your taxes as a percentage of gross income. Similarly, a sales tax is going to be reported as a percentage of the price for relevant purchases, and that also doesn't have clear implications for this overall measure of taxes.

So, it takes a lot of work (and a lot of estimation) to figure out the true tax burden in an area. Generally, when you do all that the tax situation in the Pittsburgh area really isn't bad, and in fact is probably better than average for most people. But again, that isn't obvious if you are just looking at the rate tables.