We're #2! (Pittsburgh: neighborhood, universities, to live)

[Geeo]

In looking at how the ratings are calculated, it makes sense. We score pretty high on most things compared to other cities and don't have the horrible problems that some other cities have in some categories that can drag the overall score down. It's why we always came out high on the "Places Rated Almanac" for so long - while we may not score highest in any one category, we don't score near the bottom in any category.

[krogerDisco]

Originally Posted by Enough_Already

Almost daily. A portion of downtown looks great while the rest gets more and more rundown every day. Street subsidence, missing bricks in the streets and sidewalks, and dirt everywhere. We have very high parking rates for a city this size but the garages are in terrible condition.

Cities are rated against each other. It's not a reflection of degree of perfection. If it makes you feel better, Pittsburgh's world rating was #32. Honolulu was #23. Canada, Australia, and Japan outperform the US.

When you think about it, Pittsburgh has a surprisingly strong culture scene. What American cities do you think should rate better? Pittsburgh better watch its back as other US cities on that list are not far behind.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by krogerDisco

Cities are rated against each other. It's not a reflection of degree of perfection. If it makes you feel better, Pittsburgh's world rating was #32. Honolulu was #23. Canada, Australia, and Japan outperform the US.

When you think about it, Pittsburgh has a surprisingly strong culture scene. What American cities do you think should rate better? Pittsburgh better watch its back as other US cities on that list are not far behind.

Nice to see how highly Pittsburgh is ranked amongst US cities, but how sad is it that a supposedly great country has only one city in the top 30 out of the numerous cities there are in this country?

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

Is Honolulu really that livable? Is it not extremely expensive to live there?

It is. Same with Toronto and Vancouver but they still managed the top ten. Vancouver prices have been driven so high in recent years that BC has placed a tax on foreign buyers so they stop driving prices higher.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

Nice to see how highly Pittsburgh is ranked amongst US cities, but how sad is it that a supposedly great country has only one city in the top 30 out of the numerous cities there are in this country?

There are 170 other countries with zero cities in the top 30

[PenguinsFan14]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

Nice to see how highly Pittsburgh is ranked amongst US cities, but how sad is it that a supposedly great country has only one city in the top 30 out of the numerous cities there are in this country?

The economist is a European p. ublication and clearly lists healthcare as a major criteria for their rankings. Of course, pittsburgh has great access to healthcare facilities, but in the European mindset if it isn't free then it's terrible and masses of people must be dying in the streets from basic illnesses and infections.

[Charley Barker]

Originally Posted by PenguinsFan14

The economist is a European p. ublication and clearly lists healthcare as a major criteria for their rankings. Of course, pittsburgh has great access to healthcare facilities, but in the European mindset if it isn't free then it's terrible and masses of people must be dying in the streets from basic illnesses and infections.

That's not quite true. Countries like Germany and Switzerland have a kind of private insurance system with universal coverage. I know this is now a derailed thread, but it is important to know the facts.

Here's a brief description of the four basic systems: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/front...es/models.html This is an excellent documentary. It's from 2009 so it is pre-ACA, so the US description is a bit outdated. Still the basic principles apply. The real problem in our system is no cost containment, little real accountability, and no direction of reinvestment of resources where they are most needed. You see better outcomes and less spending in many other countries. The US system does incentivize innovation (providing excellent care to some), but conversely limits it to the best funded health care systems. There are many underserved parts of the country where services are lacking. This will become even more of a problem if/when the subsidies for ACA are removed along with a Medicaid contraction. That has been a foundation of renewal for a lot of community hospitals around the country, with increasing profit margins since the introduction of ACA.

I recently had a discussion with a guy in Ohio who works in gov't relations for a large healthcare system. He said that, as we all know, the best providers in the country (Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, etc.) are tax exempt, and to add insult to injury, they are expanding their reach to serve patients outside the U.S. He cited a recent plan for the Cleveland Clinic to open facilities in London and one of the oil-rich Gulf States (can't recall which one).

I'm no expert, so please feel free to fact check me on any of this.

[Pughnose]

I was kind of stunned to see that Pittsburgh was awarded 96.4/100 on infrastructure, given our potholed streets and our widely-leaded and occasionally undrinkable water supply and our inability to handle heavy rain without flooding and sewer overflows, etc. In that category, among the 16 US cities rated highest overall, we shared a four-way tie for second.

(Chart is here: https://www.post-gazette.com/local/n...s/201808200090.)

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

Nice to see how highly Pittsburgh is ranked amongst US cities, but how sad is it that a supposedly great country has only one city in the top 30 out of the numerous cities there are in this country?

but we do have a number of cities. OK, Vienna placed high - but can most people name two other major cities in Austria? Of course they, and Melbourne, have good infrastructure, for example - they aren't competing with how many OTHER cities.

The US placed respectably, with Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, all great cities, showing up.

Even Canada - 3 major cities that place well, but I bet there is a big drop off between them and other metro areas in that country.

[Goodjules]

Pittsburgh came in at number 20 in the top 20 US large communities on SMU's Arts Vibrancy Index. My former hometowns of San Francisco and Redwood City came in at number one. For a city of its size with less resources than many of the cities on the list, Pittsburgh is knocking it out of the park, IMHO. Pittsburgh's vibrant arts scene was one of the reasons I chose to live here. It was something I loved about the Bay Area and it was important to me to have that in my new hometown.
The Top 40 Most Vibrant Arts Communities in America (2018) | SMU DataArts