Why is Pittsburgh so cheap? (Bethel Park, McKeesport: theater, construction, schools)

[dugdogmaster]

Originally Posted by Awesomo.2000

I will! I plan on going to the Carnegies tomorrow

I hope you have a great weekend too.

Sounds like a plans. It's going to be warm and sunny

[oktaren]

Originally Posted by Awesomo.2000

I will! I plan on going to the Carnegies tomorrow

I hope you have a great weekend too.

i definitely will. playing some dek hockey. which btw, is the only good thing about the ****tsburgh. many great dek hockey facilities.

[QCP]

For what's it's worth, which probably isn't much - I grew up in cincy and have since moved south. My perception of Pittsburgh was that it was old, rundown, polluted and just a terrible place to live. Not even sure how that perception came about.

But last year I made my first trip to the Burgh for a ballgame. I was completely blown away - about just how cool the place was. I loved it! I liked it better than any of Ohio's C-cities, Indy, Philly, ect. While I am perfectly content with my current home (Charlotte), Pittsburgh is one of the VERY few cities that I would consider relocating to if my employer told me to look elsewhere.

After doing some more investigating I would consider Pittsburgh to be one of the true "hidden gems" in America.

[oktaren]

Originally Posted by QCP

For what's it's worth, which probably isn't much - I grew up in cincy and have since moved south. My perception of Pittsburgh was that it was old, rundown, polluted and just a terrible place to live. Not even sure how that perception came about.

But last year I made my first trip to the Burgh for a ballgame. I was completely blown away - about just how cool the place was. I loved it! I liked it better than any of Ohio's C-cities, Indy, Philly, ect. While I am perfectly content with my current home (Charlotte), Pittsburgh is one of the VERY few cities that I would consider relocating to if my employer told me to look elsewhere.

After doing some more investigating I would consider Pittsburgh to be one of the true "hidden gams" in America.

i agree, it does LOOK nice, but its polluted as all hell.

you cannot see most pollution.

[dugdogmaster]

Originally Posted by QCP

For what's it's worth, which probably isn't much - I grew up in cincy and have since moved south. My perception of Pittsburgh was that it was old, rundown, polluted and just a terrible place to live. Not even sure how that perception came about.

But last year I made my first trip to the Burgh for a ballgame. I was completely blown away - about just how cool the place was. I loved it! I liked it better than any of Ohio's C-cities, Indy, Philly, ect. While I am perfectly content with my current home (Charlotte), Pittsburgh is one of the VERY few cities that I would consider relocating to if my employer told me to look elsewhere.

After doing some more investigating I would consider Pittsburgh to be one of the true "hidden gems" in America.

Glad you had a good time and your perception was turned. Come back again soon, we'd love to have you. And spread the word!

[creepsinc]

Firstly, I'm sure the jagoffs who moved away decades ago will feel free to pick this apart, but I don't care about trolls. I also moved here from Seattle (by way of a few months in my hometown in VA) and I found a wonderful house in great condition for under 100k (under 60, "in all honesty"), purchased from the estate of a man who grew up in said house and took meticulous care of it, right down to power-washing the exterior once a year. I have a panoramic view from downtown all the way to McKees Rocks, and I'm about 100 yards from the highest point in the city, where the view extends to the Cathedral of Learning. Sure, there's a galley kitchen, but there's two of us here, and we often use it at the same time and have had no space problems. Sure, it's a 3,000 sq foot lot, but the back yard is nice and I'm a few blocks from a 350+ acre park, and a "parklet" which is FULL of deer and turkeys is half a block up the hill. Did I mention that this house, purchased from the family that originally owned it, was built in 1926 and that I'm the second or third owner? Or that it's full of woodwork (the photo on my profile is from the living room pre-move) and built-ins, including leaded glass cabinets? As for the 3% wage tax, it does bug me that it's about the same deduction as PA state taxes, but it's not much more than I paid for trash pickup in Seattle and here I can just throw my trash out on the curb and it's gone in the morning.

[Yac]

DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS
This is how it ends - thread got derailed, people got insulted, posts got deleted, nothing constructive came out of the whole thing.
Yac.

[tibor75]

Originally Posted by Awesomo.2000

Yeah, I agree. People in Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Regent Square, Point Breeze among many others all have a much lower standard of living then people who live up in Wexford.

This forum is just insane half the time. Seriously, why would you classify 300,000 some people as "living/having lower standards". I am sorry, but living in a subdivision 10 miles from the nearest anything, with nothing to do but wax your SUV over and over again doesn't sound like a higher standard of living to me, and many other people.

Yeah, because driving 10 miles in pittsburgh takes suuuuch a long time.

[rubybelle]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

As you know location is everything. That 80,000 house is probably in a pretty lousy area. Put it in a nice area of the city and it is 400,000. Put it in an average area and it is probably 180,000. Pittsburgh isn't as cheap as people think if you want to live in a nice area of the city. Since our population has dropped and moved toward the burbs we still have a lot of older homes in the city which look pretty good from the street but which are in or are a couple of blocks form a lousy neighborhood. Basically places that I don't want to live. There are only a handful of neighborhoods which you would call nice. Certainly, thare are city neighborhoods that are okay and you would be safe in but you wouldn't call nice. There are also a lot of neighborhoods that aren't all that nice. So yes you can buy a house for 80,000 but you probably woudn't want to live there.

Yes, I agree. I don't think the houses here are any cheaper than they are anywhere else in the nation except maybe places like NYC or Chicago. Plus like you said, those cheap houses are a real mess. And the taxes in the city are some of the highest in the nation. You hit the nail on the head, there are only a handful of neighborhoods left that are still nice. I read on here somewhere (I've been trying to catch up for a bit now Whew!) but someone mentioned how most of those less expensive homes were only meant to be lived in temporarily. And it shows. Unfortunately, many of the people who live in those are probably pretty decent, normal folks. I'm sure they want to be in a safe neighborhood also, but it's hard to tell if it is because the whole area looks like it's about to fall down. I'd love to see some old Pittsburgh Billionaire come in and redo all those homes. Heck, make look the same as they originally did, but built them to last this time! And no, I don't expect the people to have to pay for all the expenses. Obviously, they live there because they have no other options.

[rubybelle]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

I'd argue that if people don't invest in the city by living in the city, becoming involved with community groups, sending their children to public schools, working in the city, holding elected officials accountable how is any area going to be improved? The suburbs need the city to survive.

Why? All the suburbs have their own courts, police, hospitals, Fire Departments, Schools, etc. Why do they "need" the city to survive?