Any one move to Pitts from So.Cali? (Pittsburgh, Washington: sales, crime rate)

[RachelleP]

I am hoping to hear from anyone who has been born and raised in So.Cal and has relocated to Pittsburgh.I would love to hear if you love it or hate it and how hard it was to adapt.I having been planning to relocate to Pittsburgh from So.Cal but have been getting extremly cold feet due to recent posts I have read regarding the weather and other various things.I started looking at Pittsburgh originally because it was listed as one of the U.S.'s top ten places to raise a family.Maybe an opinion from someone with a similar situation would help :-).I am in married,in my thirties w/three children.We are interested in places like Crafton,Mount Lebo,and Upper St.Clair.Thanks so much!

[Hopes]

I have a friend who is from southern California. She has lived all over the country throughout the years. Based on how she feels about her experiences, I can tell you that nowhere is an easy change for someone from California. The reality is she could never afford to move back to California. When she talks about someday being able to choose a place to live that they can afford, she is more drawn towards Texas, Arizona or any other HOT WEATHER state in the southwest.

Pittsburgh is a great place to raise a family. It's affordable. It's safe. It has decent culture and arts for a the size of town. It's not big city living. It's not casual west coast living.

I'm not going to tell you that you'll love it. I don't recommend moving anywhere without first visiting for a week. You'll just have to come here to check it out. Can't you come for a visit?

Oh, I forgot to mention. Years ago, I worked with many people who were from San Francisco back when Chevron bought Gulf Oil. Every single one of them went on and on about how GREEN it was here. Granted, San Francisco has more cloudy days than southern California so the overcast skys here probably didn't bother them. But they loved the greenness of the area. Huge hills with trees and dark green lawns. And Pittsburghers are extremely friendly people. That's the other thing they commented on all the time. Along with the fact that we're polite drivers who take turns in traffic. LOL

[RachelleP]

Thanks for the info! I will be in Pittsburgh May 15th for my first visit!

[Stonecoldharbours]

So how it go? What you think of Pgh? If I lived in Callie, I would be extremely happy to get out! Pgh is friendly, low cost of living and affordable, just be sure you have a job, a steady one before you come or else you might change your mind, rather fast! LOL!

[SoCalZone]

I replied to a comment you made under another post about Crafton. I'll just repost my comment here, because it was it was met for you....

I'm originally from San Diego and currently live in the Riverside County area. I have family who still live in Pittsburgh and have visited them on an off for the last 30+ years. My wife and I plan on moving there as soon as the kids are out of school. I have an aunt who lives in Crafton. The neighborhood is quiet and everyone seems to know each other. I was amazed just how neighborly everone was as compared to Southern California. It is not uncommon, if you have family there, to be referred to as "so-and-sos" son, daughter, etc...I was known as "Jimmy's" son by everyone I met. Love the place and the people!! I would gladly trade Pittsburgh traffic for LA or SD traffic anytime- not to mention the air quality and changing seasons. As you know already, there is no comparison when talking about cost-of-living.
I have family all over Pittsburgh, but will probably move to Crafton when the time comes.

[RachelleP]

Thank you SoCalZone for info.!
Very excited to visit!

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by RachelleP

I am hoping to hear from anyone who has been born and raised in So.Cal and has relocated to Pittsburgh.I would love to hear if you love it or hate it and how hard it was to adapt.I having been planning to relocate to Pittsburgh from So.Cal but have been getting extremly cold feet due to recent posts I have read regarding the weather and other various things.I started looking at Pittsburgh originally because it was listed as one of the U.S.'s top ten places to raise a family.Maybe an opinion from someone with a similar situation would help :-).I am in married,in my thirties w/three children.We are interested in places like Crafton,Mount Lebo,and Upper St.Clair.Thanks so much!

I don't mean to sound like a wet blanket, but. . . These "top ten" lists need to be taken with a grain of salt! The town where I live was rated #5 (I believe) by Money Magazine as the Best Place in America to live in 2005. Now I like the place a lot, but I would not encourage anyone to move here just based on that! The point is, just about every place is on some top ten list. All you have to do is look at some of the other cities' forums. Supposedly Omaha, Nebraska is # 5 in the country for having a baby. Does that make you want to move there? Me neither.

At a minimum, I would say, have a job lined up before you pack up your house and move. It could take you months, if ever, to make up the difference in foregone wages if you go there jobless.

You may miss more about California than you think you will once you get there. I know some people who moved from Colorado to Pittsburgh last summer. They were going for a job, and said they were glad to leave, were fed up with Denver, etc. Now they are homesick, planning on leaving Pgh in the near future. It happens. You may think you'd never be homesick for Cali, but you might be surprised.

Visit, then go back to Cali and think it over. Weigh the pros and cons.

[SoCalZone]

Pittnurse70,

I'm one of those Californians who has visited Pittsburgh, on and off, for the last 30+ years. I've visited for extended lengths of time during the summer, fall, and winter months. I've never had a bad experience anytime I went. The pros far out way the cons when comparing the difference in cost of living between the two places.

I would not have thought like that twenty years ago, but Southern California is far too expensive now days for the average family to live comfortably and is over rated except for the sunny weather, Disneyland, and the ocean. Property taxes are probably higher here than most, if not all, of Pittsburgh, energy costs are outrageous, and traffic congestion is ridiculous. I've spent an average of 2 to 3 hours a day commuting to and from work and that was to San Diego. My electric bill, on average, is between $200 to $300 and that is on good months. Mortgage payments of $2,000 to $3,000 are the norm here.

However, you are absolutely right about having a job lined-up before moving if that is going to factor into the equation. Other than that, I don't see it as being all that relevant if you are retiring, marketable, or a person with income looking for a more comfortable lifestyle where the people are friendlier and the air cleaner. As far as raising children? Gang violence and drugs are common place just about everywhere in Southern California. I don't know how it is in Pittsburgh, but it couldn't be worse than here.

The big issue I see is the difference in climate if you're not accustomed to cold winters and snow. Our summers are far hotter than any Pittsburgh can dish out and that's why wild fires can be a real danger in Southern California.

Despite everything I just said, I still agree with you about visiting first before deciding. I'm just one person from California who has been to Pittsburgh many times and loved it. Unfortunately, my job has kept me here or I would have moved years ago.

[Katiana]

I agree with most of what you said. I briefly lived in SoCal myself, so know a little about the traffic, busyness of the place, etc.

I also know a little about moving, having lived in 7 states. It is not the same as visiting. There is a whole new lifestyle to adapt to. Whenever I have moved from anywhere, even places I thought I really didn't like, and didn't live very long, I have missed something about the place. I once heard it described as a sort of "post-partum depression". Lots of people come out here (Colorado) from other places and find themselves missing the very things they claimed to have hated about the old place. In 27 years, I have heard a lot. When we first came here, I said a lot of that stuff, too. Mostly, you miss the people, but you also miss just knowing how everything works in an area. There is an old saying, Irish, I believe, "better the devil you know than the devil you don't know".

RachelleP may take one look at Pittsburgh and decide it's not for her. On the other hand, she may fall in love with it. She also has a husband who has to agree to this move.

As far as raising kids, people are doing it in SoCal, aren't they? I don't put a lot of stock in those "top ten" lists that David Letterman has made so popular. Lincoln, Nebraska is one of the top cities, suposedly, for "walkability". One of the criteria, it turns out, is sales of athletic shoes. I don't see how that has anything to do with "walkability". It is remotely possible that cities where lots of athletic shoes are sold have lots of people walking, but that is not the same as "walkability". Maybe they are all walking on freeway frontage roads, or whatever. Maybe they are going to gyms. As a college town, I suspect that may be the case with Lincoln. That is just one example. My point is, you have to dig a little deeper. RachelleP is interested in raising kids. There are drugs, alcohol, sex, you name it, for kids to get in trouble with everywhere. It's more what goes on in the home, IMO.

[SoCalZone]

I've done some moving around myself and have lived in Hawaii, Washington, Florida, Tennessee and California. I too miss something about each of these places and thought I would die when I left Hawaii after living there for six years. However, Hawaii is not the best place to raise a family. California can be a nice place to raise kids if you can afford to live in the nicer areas that have decent school systems far removed from the problems of big city life.

I think RachelleP was trying to find a nice compromise outside of So. Cal. for her family. I think Pittsburgh is one such place. Like any city, there are some neighborhoods you just don't venture into if you want to feel safe. I lived in San Diego for 20 years and there are certain areas you just don't go to. Maybe Homewood and East Liberty are some of those places to avoid in Pittsburgh. I could be wrong and apologize to anyone who lives there and disagrees.

I think Pittsburgh has a lot to offer anyone looking to raise a family there. Comparitively speaking, Pittsburgh's crime rate is much less than most big cities and the school systems can't be much worse than what So. Cal has to offer. My father, uncles, cousins and my cousin's children all went to public schools in Pittsburgh and they all turned out fine.

I think a family moving to Pittsburgh would have an easier time adjusting to life there than someone from Pittsburgh moving to the LA or San Diego area. I'm pretty sure the "top ten" lists take into account the viability of the city and what it has to offer- especially families. I don't think people stay in Pittsburgh generation after generation, because there's nowhere else to go. I'm sure there are nice neighborhoods in Pittsburgh with a "walkability" factor that are ideal for raising kids- Crafton being one of them.