Pittsburgh Misconceptions (Sharpsburg, Denver, Pleasantville: 2009, buy, shops)

[JoeP]

The horse is dead for many reasons. The demographics go back to the old economic issues. 50 years ago you had many, many, Pittsburghers who spole two languages and the language that wasn't English, wasn't merely Spanish, but a host of other languages as people had come from many countries for the opportunities that the region had.

Times changed and when the economy picks up, so will the diversity again.

In the meantime, it's just kicking Pittsburgh yet again while its down.

The facts are there, yes, Pittsburgh overall, has little diversity.

Can we move on now? Really. Seriously.

[claremarie]

If you tell someone that Pittsburgh is 90% white, and then they come here and go walk around Oakland or the South Side or the Strip, they'll be pretty damn surprised.

And if you tell someone that Pittsburgh is a "diverse" city, and then they go to Ross Park Mall, or the Science Center, or a Pirate game, or a Pittsburgh Symphony Concert, and they see a veritable sea of white faces, a smaller number of black faces, and one or two Asians/Hispanic/Indians, they'll think you are nuts.
MOST people in the Pittsburgh metro area aren't spending their time in Oakland or Shadyside. They aren't students or faculty or 20-something hipsters. If they're working, they work downtown or the suburbs. If they are retired, or home raising kids, they're spending their time zipping around their suburban or city neighborhoods. Where, in truth, more than 90% of the people they see every day are white.
Trying to sell the Pittsburgh area as "diverse" when it's overwhelmingly white is absurd.

[JoeP]

The horse is dead for many reasons. The demographics go back to the old economic issues. 50 years ago you had many, many, Pittsburghers who spole two languages and the language that wasn't English, wasn't merely Spanish, but a host of other languages as people had come from many countries for the opportunities that the region had.

Times changed and when the economy picks up, so will the diversity again.

In the meantime, it's just kicking Pittsburgh yet again while its down.

The facts are there, yes, Pittsburgh overall, has little diversity.

Can we move on now? Really. Seriously.

[Hopes]

I'm shocked to see the dead horse is still kicking.

Constantly ranting that the population of Pittsburgh isn't 'diverse' makes it appear as if someone does not fully grasp the different useages of the word 'diversity.'

'Diversity' in the context of simple population demographics isn't a big deal at all. It's simply a population structure when used in this context.

Because 'diversity' is often being used as the new word for racism, people inaccurately assume that lack of diversity in the population context means racism exists. That's not necessarily true-----especially with Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh's suburbs might not be diverse, but they are not full of racist. There are plenty of diverse neighborhoods in Pittsburgh for people who want diversity. And for people who could care less one way or another, there are plenty of less diverse neighborhoods that will welcome anyone regardless of their race.

Ranting would be appropriate if Pittsburgh's non-diverse neighborhoods were riddled with racists who burned flags in people's front yards. Ranting isn't appropriate when someone is simply talking about population distribution, and that's all I see happening in this discussion.

Quit implying that Pittsburgh is overrun with racism. It's not

[claremarie]

Quit implying that Pittsburgh's neighborhoods are riddled with racism.

Who implied such? I'm just stating, not implying, that Pittsburgh's neighborhoods are riddled with white people. And black people. But for some odd reason, the truth -- that most of Pittsburgh is overwhelmingly white -- is something too awful to admit.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Quit implying that Pittsburgh's neighborhoods are riddled with racism.

Who implied such? I'm just stating, not implying, that Pittsburgh's neighborhoods are riddled with white people. And black people. But for some odd reason, the truth -- that most of Pittsburgh is overwhelmingly white -- is something too awful to admit.

When people come looking for 'diversity' they are usually trying to avoid racism. They ask for 'diversity' because they assume 'diversity' means less racism. By beating the 'lack of diversity dead horse' without offering additional insight into the social interaction of Pittsburghers, you leave people to believe that you consider Pittsburgh racist. As a result, you would be more accurate in sharing that information if you also shared that racism isn't a major issue in Pittsburgh.

[subdivisions]

Well, I for one fully expect to use the MSA stats in every conversation we have about any topic from here on out. Since as PittNurse pointed out, most of Pittsburgh lives in the suburbs. So I guess we better start including the suburbs in all of our figures from now on. It's only fair, after all.

Population, anyone...? I think I read somewhere that if Pittsburgh included Allegheny County in it's population assessments, we'd be the 9th largest city in the U.S. Now THAT'S a dying city for you! We might be white, but we're huge! Who knew?

Anybody know what the crime rate is in Cranberry or Robinson Township? I'm guessing using that figure would make us look pretty good in comparison to a lot of other "cities" too.

[claremarie]

When people come looking for 'diversity' they are usually trying to avoid racism.

How do you know that? Maybe they are looking for an area in which their children can meet people from other parts of the world (or even the country) on their block and in their neighborhood school, rather than living surrounded by people who were born in and have never lived anywhere but Pittsburgh. Maybe they are a Chinese family interested in living in an area with enough other Chinese families so that their children can enroll in weekend "Chinese school" classes. Maybe they are orthodox Jews who want to live within walking distance of a synagogue in the suburbs rather than the city. Maybe they are a family from Bolivia who wants to make sure that there are Spanish-language Masses in convenient locations. Maybe they are a Muslim family who doesn't want their children to be the only ones at their school who are fasting during Ramadan. Maybe they are a Vietnamese family who wants easy access to small shops selling Asian produce.

[claremarie]

I think I read somewhere that if Pittsburgh included Allegheny County in it's population assessments, we'd be the 9th largest city in the U.S.

Provided that no other city on the list also included its outlying suburbs....otherwise, you're just giving every metro area a population boost by including its MSA numbers...

[JoeP]

That depends. Many newer cities have annexed huge amounts of square miles... Columbus has over 200, Jacksonville over 6 or 700 - both are the largest "cities" in their states which is why city proper popullations are useless in this regard.