Another liveability ranking. (Pittsburgh, Plymouth: neighborhoods, luxury, wages)

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

if we experience a massive boom and our real estate skyrockets in price, we risk losing the small businesses that make this city so much fun to explore.

This is what I mentioned in another thread being my exact fear of what is going to happen to the Strip District.

[prnlvsxy]

It's interesting that in all of this talk of moving, I never hear mention of friends and family. A big plus for me staying (and conversely a big negative against moving) is that all of my extended family is here, as is all of my friends that I've had all of my life. Sure you can make new friends, but it's not the same as having friends for 20+ years. There's a closeness that you just can't manufacture.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by prnlvsxy

It's interesting that in all of this talk of moving, I never hear mention of friends and family. A big plus for me staying (and conversely a big negative against moving) is that all of my extended family is here, as is all of my friends that I've had all of my life. Sure you can make new friends, but it's not the same as having friends for 20+ years. There's a closeness that you just can't manufacture.

Yes, absolutely. And given that the thread had mostly been about money -- living near family also has huge financial implications. If you don't have to buy plane tickets for family gatherings and you can always ask the grandparents to babysit, you end up saving a ton...and of course that becomes a very serious issue once the older generation needs care. I realize that people can move to be close to their kids, but it's not always that simple to uproot people who have lived someplace their whole lives.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by prnlvsxy

It's interesting that in all of this talk of moving, I never hear mention of friends and family. A big plus for me staying (and conversely a big negative against moving) is that all of my extended family is here, as is all of my friends that I've had all of my life. Sure you can make new friends, but it's not the same as having friends for 20+ years. There's a closeness that you just can't manufacture.

That goes into the "Quality of Life" thing. If it's that important to you to live near your family and your friends since kindergarten, you stay. You stay in Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Omaha, Denver, wherever. Don't be too surprised when some of these long-time friends and even family move away, though, in search of greener pastures, better weather, what have you.

Some occupations just lend themselves to needing to relocate. If you get a PhD with the intention of being on a college faculty, you may not be able to get a job at one of Pittsburgh's colleges, you may have to go elsewhere to do that. If you work for a company that has more than one location, you may be asked to relocate.

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

Yes, absolutely. And given that the thread had mostly been about money -- living near family also has huge financial implications. If you don't have to buy plane tickets for family gatherings and you can always ask the grandparents to babysit, you end up saving a ton...and of course that becomes a very serious issue once the older generation needs care. I realize that people can move to be close to their kids, but it's not always that simple to uproot people who have lived someplace their whole lives.

(Trying to think of a way to respond to this diplomatically. Oh, well, not my strong suit. Deal) You yourself are a transplant, from California originally it sounds like!

Having done this, I can say, from my experience, as applies to me only:

The plane tickets, pshh! You're going to travel anyway. We always made a side trip somewhere when we went to Pittsburgh to visit the fam, e.g. Niagara Falls, the beach, Gettysburg, etc. Sometimes we drove out, but that's not cheap either what with motels, meals on the road and the like.

Babysitting? The grands are usually working themselves these days. Certainly to think you can "always" ask them to babysit is presumptuous. It would have been nice to have that option available, OTOH.

The older generation needing care is the most difficult. I ended up bringing my mother out here. My MIL is lucky one of her (3) sons lives in Omaha, Nebraska where she is. Otherwise, she would have to be moved somewhere.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

Some occupations just lend themselves to needing to relocate. If you get a PhD with the intention of being on a college faculty, you may not be able to get a job at one of Pittsburgh's colleges, you may have to go elsewhere to do that. If you work for a company that has more than one location, you may be asked to relocate.

Right. As a general rule, people with PhDs do not usually get hired as permanent faculty at the institution where they received their PhD. It can happen but it's extremely rare, usually because your adviser is doing whatever it is that you want to do, and you move on and find a job someplace that doesn't have someone like your adviser until you come along.

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

(Trying to think of a way to respond to this diplomatically. Oh, well, not my strong suit. Deal) You yourself are a transplant, from California originally it sounds like!

Having done this, I can say, from my experience, as applies to me only:

The plane tickets, pshh! You're going to travel anyway. We always made a side trip somewhere when we went to Pittsburgh to visit the fam, e.g. Niagara Falls, the beach, Gettysburg, etc. Sometimes we drove out, but that's not cheap either what with motels, meals on the road and the like.

Babysitting? The grands are usually working themselves these days. Certainly to think you can "always" ask them to babysit is presumptuous. It would have been nice to have that option available, OTOH.

The older generation needing care is the most difficult. I ended up bringing my mother out here. My MIL is lucky one of her (3) sons lives in Omaha, Nebraska where she is. Otherwise, she would have to be moved somewhere.

That's great that you can dismiss the costs of plane tickets; all I can say is that I have missed a lot of weddings and funerals because the cost of travel for a family was prohibitive. I know plenty of people who live closer to their families and don't have this problem. I also know people who can ask family members to babysit without being called presumptuous. I also know people who like to pick fights online because they are apparently bored.

[charisb]

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

Yes, absolutely. And given that the thread had mostly been about money -- living near family also has huge financial implications. If you don't have to buy plane tickets for family gatherings and you can always ask the grandparents to babysit, you end up saving a ton...and of course that becomes a very serious issue once the older generation needs care. I realize that people can move to be close to their kids, but it's not always that simple to uproot people who have lived someplace their whole lives.

My sister and brother-in-law have chosen to live in the southern city we grew up in, in large part to be near our parents. My sis has three kids under 7 (unexpected set of twins the second pregnancy) and my parents are retired so they are happy to provide child care. They could have much bigger and higher paying careers if they moved to a larger city but have decided the trade off is worth it for high quality child care from supportive parents, so people are clearly making those decisions. Other siblings are thinking about moving back for the same reason.

[xdv8]

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

I also know people who like to pick fights online because they are apparently bored.

Haha! I can't give any more rep or I would!

[okaydorothy]

Originally Posted by prnlvsxy

It's interesting that in all of this talk of moving, I never hear mention of friends and family. A big plus for me staying (and conversely a big negative against moving) is that all of my extended family is here, as is all of my friends that I've had all of my life. Sure you can make new friends, but it's not the same as having friends for 20+ years. There's a closeness that you just can't manufacture.

Yes, in some worlds, family and old friends are very important. However, we don't all have that luxury.As an immigrant, we never had family living close so we had to basically fend for ourselves and figure things out for ourselves. We did it and we did fine. Friends ; yes, again, we immigrated and so left old childhood friends behind and made new ones in our adopted country.Most of our friends became family to us.

However, in Pittsburgh, because many stayed to be close to family and friends, I find that people tend to stick with the people they know and it is very hard to pierce that outer layer.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

Right. As a general rule, people with PhDs do not usually get hired as permanent faculty at the institution where they received their PhD. It can happen but it's extremely rare, usually because your adviser is doing whatever it is that you want to do, and you move on and find a job someplace that doesn't have someone like your adviser until you come along.



That's great that you can dismiss the costs of plane tickets; all I can say is that I have missed a lot of weddings and funerals because the cost of travel for a family was prohibitive. I know plenty of people who live closer to their families and don't have this problem. I also know people who can ask family members to babysit without being called presumptuous. I also know people who like to pick fights online because they are apparently bored.

Well, Good For You! Do you always assume if someone disagrees with you that's what they're doing?

Originally Posted by xdv8

Haha! I can't give any more rep or I would!

See above.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

Yes, in some worlds, family and old friends are very important. However, we don't all have that luxury.As an immigrant, we never had family living close so we had to basically fend for ourselves and figure things out for ourselves. We did it and we did fine. Friends ; yes, again, we immigrated and so left old childhood friends behind and made new ones in our adopted country.Most of our friends became family to us.

However, in Pittsburgh, because many stayed to be close to family and friends, I find that people tend to stick with the people they know and it is very hard to pierce that outer layer.

You know, I was thinking about this as I drove back in the car after reading Rogers Park Transplant's nasty little "micro-agression" towards me.

I was thinking something similar. Some of us never had these fairy-tale families where everyone got together for a lovely Sunday dinner every week, etc. I never even had that in Pittsburgh. My mom was from Wisconsin. My dad met her during WW II when he was stationed with her brother. There were a number of families like that in my social circle, including a couple of neighbors who were "war brides", one from Germany and one from Belgium. There was also a German "war bride" at our church, plus lots of families there where one parent, usually the mother, was from somewhere other than Pittsburgh. WW II did shake things up a bit. Also, one of my father's siblings died in childhood, the other in young adulthood, so we didn't have these huge family gatherings numerous times a year, just on the 4th of July at the old family farm. Now up in northern Wisconsin, where my mom was from, it was like that. But even there, some people did leave. It's just that the ones who were there pretty much had always lived there.