What don't you like about Pittsburgh? (York: employment, law school, landlords)

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by Been_here_done_that

I was raised in Pittsburgh, moved away and lived in several other cities, moved back for family and I now attend CMU (a great university). Once you have an outsider perspective you realize Pittsburgh is DEAD!!!! The politics and mindset is archaic and backwards. Stop f'in smoking people!!! Everwhere you go - they fought like madmen to have their smoking policy restored. Garbage everywehere - two lane highways (poor excuse for a highway). Girls are pigs and act like men. They curse like sailors and act like Wh*r*s. Public drunkeness at every single event you go to - hell I think they all go out and get hammered even for Flag Day. Uncultured and crude. I hear about NYC and Jersey people being rude, but I've been to those places and they don't even come close to hear. No life obession over their beloved football team. The place literally reaks!!!! Parks that are not kept up. Roads that are not kept up - wholly hell did i just lose my car in that moon crater?!?

The locals are like sheep - they have been subjected to political injustice and criminal rip offs forever. The people here are like those in a third world country they don't know whats on the outside. No motivation - the economy and job market is lousy. Transportation sucks - a big airport that is half empty, no real means of public transportation - except the gigantic ancient buses that have literally killed people on the sides of streets. Even the education system is going to pot. The latest rankins has only 5 schools in the Top 1000.
Drunks everywhere - at all times. Steeler gear is not wardrobe. Fat, sloppy, no care for their own health people.
The ultimate which is no fault to the people or city - the weather sucks.
I've seen Pittsburgh rated in the Top 5 for the following:
Poor economy, weather (worst), number of cloudy days (#2), depression, alcoholism, job loss, population decline (#2).
It's a shame because I will always call the place home, but when I finish my Masters at CMU, I'm moving on like 95% of the other graduates from there.
Within 10 years Pittsburgh will be out of the Top 50 metro areas and towards the bottom 100. Their lack of ability to change and become dynamic will cause a mass exodus of the young and companies and the only thing that will be left is some 1 million rejects, inbreds, uncultured, uneducated, drinking, smoking, no self respect, classless turds wearing black and gold. Good luck, enjoy the cancer ridden sediments of industrialism and not outgrowing it.

Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I agree with much of what you said. I put your words in bold that I agreed with.

Look, I'm originally from BUFFALO, New York and it's just as bad, no, it's WORSE than Pittsburgh. And yet, I still love it because it was my home growing up.
So, I do understand why people still live in Pittsburgh and love it so.

I also think that traveling to different areas does not make one an expert on all things city/rural/suburb. One really has to have ventured out into the big old bad world and actually lived far away from their hometown to get an honest perspective of what it's really like. I'm not saying they have to hate it all of a sudden (I certainly don't hate Buffalo, but I'm not blind to the fact that it's an armpit) but certainly they should be honest of the realities of the situation within their own city.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

FYI, that is that poster's first post, and he or she apparently just registered. Under the circumstances, I would suggest treating that person as a troll and ignoring him or her--not that I object to correcting the factual record with respect to CMU, but I wouldn't get drawn into anything else.

That's not fair Brian. Everytime someone says anything negative about Pittsburgh, they are immediately seen as a troll. Maybe this person decided to respond after reading the last couple of days of drama on here. Not all of us who dislike certain aspects about Pittsburgh are trolls.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by guylocke

I won't even begin to respond to any of your post, however, you do realize CMU is on record and has released research and statistics that show that what you just said is completely untrue?

Guylocke, I'd like to believe what you said. Could you please provide us the link to those stats? Thanks.

Nevermind, found it: "Carnegie Mellon research has shown more of its graduates stay in the area than originally come from here, so it's increasing the number of younger, college-educated people in the region, which should help both in terms of attracting higher-paying jobs and making more babies, he said."

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by londonbarcelona

That's not fair Brian. Everytime someone says anything negative about Pittsburgh, they are immediately seen as a troll. Maybe this person decided to respond after reading the last couple of days of drama on here. Not all of us who dislike certain aspects about Pittsburgh are trolls.

Well, that is the thing: for example, although you agreed with the poster about various criticisms of Pittsburgh, I know from my experience here that you are not a troll, and I wouldn't say as much.

In general, a troll isn't defined by negativity. Rather, a troll is defined by saying controversial things for the sake of getting a reaction and/or causing disruption. And while I think it is perfectly possible to have civil conversations with people of all sorts, trolls are best ignored because they really aren't interested in having a meaningful conversation.

[By~Tor]

I eat trolls for breakfast . . . . . . . IJS . . . . . .

[Katarina Witt]

There have been a lot of trolls on this forum. I do not respond to anyone who just registered within the last day or so.

[guylocke]

There have been a lot of trolls on this forum. I do not respond to anyone who just registered within the last day or so.

Yeah I wouldn't doubt he or she is a troll. Especially when they seem to post once and never post again. But I wanted to make it a special point to debunk that CMU myth. Posts like his are PRECISELY why some of those stupid myths even exist in the first place!

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by juliegt

I stand corrected. Scottsdale is not the bland cookie cutter sprawl that so many new suburbs are these days. But, even if it was, I have no problem with people liking to live somewhere that I wouldn't like to live.

My point was that everyone has their own preferences. And that a place that was perfect for some would be terrible for me. I have a good time and feel comfortable when I am visiting friends who live in the sprawling burbs... i just wouldn't live there by choice. Nor do I think it's bad for people to like something that I don't. Older cities are my first choice followed by older suburbs that have more of a small city feel.

There are many suburbs that aren't cookie cutter, some right there in Pittsburgh. That is why I (and many others who live in suburbs) get angry when people start talking about "the suburbs" as if they are all the same, and as if the same lifestyle is present in all of them, by every person there. We are all individuals. I don't care if someone wants to live in the city; I've lived in the city myself. But I do think that, even on the internet, one needs to be careful with language and not talk about ALL suburbs with words such as "sterile", "soulless" and "cookie cutter". Many assumptions have been made on this forum about suburbs and suburban living that are simply untrue.

[kpoeppel]

It will be interesting to see how things play out during this recession and the continued implosion of the housing bubble. A lot of jobs in the Sunbelt boomtowns were likely caused by jive-housing speculation and "flipping" rather than genuine productivity.

The lack of a housing bubble is probably one of Pittsburgh's greatest assets right now. Unlike so many areas of the country, housing is still affordable here, and one isn't at risk of losing thousands in equity per month by buying a house. Not only that, but there are many historic houses and buildings that the yuppie crowd finds quite fashionable.

One thing I have wondered about is why more companies don't take advantage of low-cost cities like Pittsburgh. Yes, there is a "tax those evil capitalists" mindset here, but on the other hand, a high cost of living acts just like a tax: a company must pay higher wages in an expensive area to attract the same talent. One could call it "the housing bubble tax." A company in DC, NYC, or California would have to pay a 6 figure salary to give an employee the same buying power as a 50k salary in Pittsburgh.

Perhaps there is still the stigma that Pittsburgh is just a burned-out old steel town? Perhaps it is in some respects, but it's hard to ignore its strong positives and bargian price.

[guylocke]

One thing I have wondered about is why more companies don't take advantage of low-cost cities like Pittsburgh.

We've talked about this before, but the governor needs to lower the corporate net income tax. Pittsburgh IS extremely desirable for business on many levels and in many regards. Now that fuel costs are spiraling out of control, many people anticipate that Pittsburgh will become even MORE desirable due to old-fashioned reasons, lots of rail and river transportation (CHEAP)! I think that if Pennsylvania lowered the CNI tax, Pittsburgh would grow at a much faster rate.

The governor is INDEED trying his hardest to do this. If his Business Tax Reform Package passes (SUPPORT IT!), it will lower the Pennsylvania CNI tax from 9.99% to 7.90%. And just so you know, for the past four years in a row, Rendell has lowered business taxes.

And the reason that PA's CNI tax isn't utterly devastating to the state is because only 25% of companies doing business in the state actually pay it. There are large loop holes to get around it that the governor is trying to close. Once he's able to close the loop holes and ensure EVERY company has to pay the tax, he said he will gladly and feverishly lower the tax rate. It's a broken mess.