Why is Pittsburgh losing population even though it's economy has been transformed? (subdivisions, safer)

[pghcleak]

yikes...this is all a little too personal. it's just a city-data forum.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by pghcleak

yikes...this is all a little too personal. it's just a city-data forum.

How would you like to be called wierd, over and over again, because you are posting on a forum in the city where you were born and lived 22 yrs? I don't go around telling anyone on this forum I don't like them. I've never met any of them. How would I know? You are another one who keeps saying (or at least agreeing) that people should move on. Well, there is nothing in the TOS that says a person has to live in that city/state to post on their forums.

[subdivisions]

Originally Posted by Katiana

God damn it, quit calling me wierd! I'll take the gloves off! It's ok for Tallysmom, who hasn't lived in Pittsburgh since 1984, to post. It's OK for people moving to Pittsburgh, who may or may not ever reside there, to post for months sometimes. It's OK for bboy36, who has never lived a day of his life in Pittsburgh, as far as I know, to post. But it's wierd for me to want to post on a forum about a city where I lived for 22 years, and have had family continuously since about 1880? I'm freaking sick and tired of it! And don't get all sanctimonious on me, and tell me that's just your opinon.

Tallysmom is a relatively neutral, often gentle poster, who goes out of her way to see both sides of an issue. Beyond that, she has expressed interest in moving back here someday. She comes across to me as being someone who primarily posts here for social reasons, not to criticize or argue endlessly about a place she doesn't live and doesn't want to move back to. And that isn't weird to me.

I don't know much about bboy36 or his viewpoints on Pittsburgh, and right now I don't recall having any extensive interactions with him. If I have, they weren't recent, and I didn't know that he wasn't a resident when I had them.

As you know, I strongly dislike the city I came from - Colorado Springs. It might also interest you to know that I have a long family history in the Springs and in Colorado in general, where I was born and spent my childhood. In fact, most of my extended family still lives there. Nevertheless, I don't spend all my days trying to convince people in the CS forum that the city is bad and that they shouldn't move there. IMO, that would be just a bit obsessive and strange, and I hope that I never feel the need to do that. I have moved on from my negative experiences in the Springs both physically and emotionally, and that's a very good thing for me. But I suppose everyone deals with unhappiness differently...

Beyond that, you are the one who has stated multiple times that everyone has the right to post their opinion about various topics on this forum. I'm sure that you didn't mean that only people you agree with have that right, because that would be hypocritical. It's not sanctimony, I'm just simply agreeing with you for once.

Originally Posted by Katiana

I don't think you are responsible for that mess [re: LB], but yes, I do think you should apologize.

As another famous Pittsburgh cheerleader often says, your opinion is duly noted.

Originally Posted by Katiana

And yes, prosecuted. He violated the TOS, numerous times. He was banned probably 20 times. He harassed people, including me. That's what I'm talking about prosecuting someone for. I've heard of it being done on other forums.

I'm truly sorry that you feel this way. A country where people are arrested and sentenced for posting their opinions on message boards (no matter how mean or offensive those opinions are) is not the country I personally want to live in.

If you really want to discuss this any more, we should probably take it out of this thread. This conversation is completely off-topic, and doesn't have anything to do with Humanoid and his posting style anymore (I'm kidding, I'm kidding!)

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Humanoid

It is rarely conducive to mention them, but people are often driven by their emotions, ulterior motives and so. So thinking about such and/or talking about them with others in private can be highly constructive, at least to those interested in psychology.

I largely agree--we humans are complex psychological creatures, and it can be interesting and often constructive to analyze our behavior in those terms--but I would again note that rarely on the Internet do we have the basis necessary to conduct such analysis.

[bboy36win]

Originally Posted by Katiana

God damn it, quit calling me wierd! I'll take the gloves off! It's ok for Tallysmom, who hasn't lived in Pittsburgh since 1984, to post. It's OK for people moving to Pittsburgh, who may or may not ever reside there, to post for months sometimes. It's OK for bboy36, who has never lived a day of his life in Pittsburgh, as far as I know, to post. But it's wierd for me to want to post on a forum about a city where I lived for 22 years, and have had family continuously since about 1880? I'm freaking sick and tired of it! And don't get all sanctimonious on me, and tell me that's just your opinon.

Here's the thing: you are weird. But so am I. So is my wife. So are my friends. So are my parents. Especially my parents. We're all weird.

There are hundreds, if not thousands of traits that make us who we are, and any two people are bound to have differences ... differences that make us think, "man, they're weird."

People will continue to think you're weird - and many will verbalize it. The key is to not be offended by it ... especially in an internet forum!!!

Cheers.

[BrianTH]

Just an aside, but in my experience some people see the term "weird" as applied to human behavior as an insult, and others view it as neutral, or even positive. I think part of the confusion is that when "weird" is applied to things other than human behavior, it can mean something like "spooky" or "eerie" or "unsettling", but with respect to human behavior specifically I think a lot of people more or less just mean "idiosyncratic" (as in fact bboy36win is suggesting, I believe).

[Katarina Witt]

If you would look at all the other things a certain poster has said about me, she does not mean "wierd" in any kind of nice way. And I agree with Brian about the psycho-analysis. Very few people on this forum are qualified to perform a psychological anaysis, and those that are probably wouldn't do it over an internet forum. I do telephone triage at a pediatric office, and many times, even over the phone where I can pick up tone of voice, etc, with a chart and history in front of me, it's hard to tell what's going on. It's nearly impossible on the internet.

[londonbarcelona]

My responses are in bold.


This is actually from a different thread which I just moved over to this thread because it fit better. This is not directed just at Brian by the way.

Originally Posted by BrianTH
Indeed, I'm not sure it is even possible to talk meaningfully about the overall preferences of a group as diverse as that.

Why not? If he had stated that he loved the area more than anywhere else in the states, would it be considered meaningful to you then?

It's his OPINION.
I do not understand why this forum actively pounces upon posters for stating opinions. How in the world can anyone get a sense if what the city of Pittsburgh and it's surrounding areas are a good fit for them or not, unless EVERYONE is not allowed to voice their OPINIONS????

I understand stating facts and stats about unemployment, which companies are headquarted here, what the population is in the year 2008, etc., but when someone says they don't like the "look" of certain neighborhoods or they feel the area is littered with garbage, who are we to say whether their OPINIONS are right or wrong? Maybe to them they prefer California type housing, or perhaps where they live there is less litter then what they see here.

From what I have seen, most people say, "I think that..." or "I feel that..." or "It's been my experience...." or, "To me, ....." yet all these posters are attacked as being wrong and being deliberately misguided. And if someone has a bad day, wouldn't it be nice if someone said, "geez, I'm so sorry that happened to you, I hope things get better soon to you." Instead of, "Well you must be lying because I walk through that neighborhood all the time and find it to be quite lovely, blah, blah, blah."

I'm just saying..............

[subdivisions]

Originally Posted by Katiana

If you would look at all the other things a certain poster has said about me, she does not mean "wierd" in any kind of nice way.

Oh, come now. Everybody knows who you're talking about. It won't hurt my feelings if you say my name.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by subdivisions

I'm sorry you feel that way, but as you have stated multiple times, we are all entitled to our own opinions. I don't know about mentally ill, but I do think aspects of your behavior are odd, and I'm not talking about your opinions about Pittsburgh (as even my cited quote indicates). You may of course disagree.



Well, I don't know who you might be referring to, but if we're at the stage where we're comparing PMs, you might be interested to know that I've received several complaining about you. Luckily for both of us, the right to post here isn't a popularity contest.



I don't even know who it was that said that to her, and I already discussed my statements about that several times. Again, I'm sorry for you that you are still offended about this. If it helps, we all get nasty rep points. I got one the other day that called me a "white trash liar". Yeah, it kind of stung for a minute, and it was irritating that I didn't get the chance to rebut that claim, but people are stupid and life goes on. I won't be thinking about it 6 months from now.



If you are crying over something some random troll posts on a message board that isn't even about you, you might want to consider taking a break for a while. I don't think it's healthy to get that emotionally wrapped up in internet flame war garbage. Just my opinion.



I'm not sure if you are just complaining about the mods here, or if you are trying to subtly suggest that I was that person, or what. Again, I don't know who that was, and I wasn't even posting here at that time. Nor do I even know what went on, because I never read any of those posts. If you are concerned that I had something to do with that incident, then you are welcome to talk a mod into making an IP address comparison to clear things up. And "prosecuted"? Seriously? You want to PROSECUTE someone over a mean thing they said on a message board? Wow...

As far as LB being a Pittsburgh supporter up until that point...I don't think anyone should like or hate any place based on how badly the residents of that region hacked them off on City-Data Forum. For one thing, how do either of you even know that the troll who harrassed you was from Pittsburgh? Maybe he just said he was but was really from Denver. And even if he was, it's completely irrational to ascribe the characteristics of one internet troll to an entire region of 2.5 million people. If LB wants to hate Pittsburgh, that's certainly her right. But she should do it for better reasons than "some guy on the internet who says he's from Pittsburgh said something mean to me".

I'm sorry, I have to jump in here. I agree 100% with Kat. She is not a fight inducer, she is really quite sane and calling her names is uncalled for.

As far as "why" I don't like Pittsburgh - it has nothing to do with what someone said to me on this forum, it has everything to do with the fact that it's definitely NOT the place for me, it's a horrible fit. But I'm stuck for a while and making the best of it. Luckily for me, I am able travel often. My "snarky" comments come out because no-one wants to discuss a topic if anyone expresses an opinion. OPINIONS are NOT ALLOWED here if they are not complimentary of Pittsburgh.

Who cares if I dislike Pittsburgh? I've said it a million times on here before, Pittsburgh not my style. I've explained why I dislike it and yet, I get slammed because my opinion doesn't suit yours or the other cheerleaders on this forum.

Katiana is one of the most unbiased posters we have on this forum and she always backs up her comments with facts. Yet even then she is attacked. G-d forbid she should express an opinion...

Forums are for discussion. But I guess not this one. To me, it feels more like East Germany in the 80's to me!