Pittsburgh Misconceptions (York, Latrobe, Carnegie: best cities, transplants, real estate)

[woknefski]

I can agree with most of the convo above but i have lived here for a little over 3 years now and i can't stand it. I lived on Mt. Washington for 2 years and then moved to Mt. Lebanon for the past year plus. There is nothing to do in this city. Unless you want to go to South Side and get drunk with the annoying college crowd, there is nothing to do. And if you decide to go to South Side and go to a decent bar like Fat Heads or Piper's there is no way to get home because there are NO cabs in the city. Also with the city cutting it's bus routs, getting around the city in the afternoon is a total hassle. i am also not a steeler fan and people here have told me to move b/c i like another team. That just shows you how "Yinzers" really are.

BTW, i am So Cal bound this summer

[Drover]

Originally Posted by woknefski

BTW, i am So Cal bound this summer

And stay out!

I appreciate that it's important to like where you live and that Pittsburgh isn't for everyone. I have my own reasons for not staying. But I'm so very tired of hearing the refrain "there's nothing to do here." That's only true if you're determined to make it true. Nothing to do? Really? Have you ever done or even considered doing any of the following:

• Visit the Carnegie Museum of Art?
  
• Visit the Carnegie Museum of Natural History?
  
• Visit the Phipps Conservatory?
  
• Visit the National Aviary?
  
• Attend the Pittsburgh Regatta (broken link)?
  
• Attend the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix?
  
• See the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra?
  
• Stop by the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts at Mellon Park to check out their art gallery or to sign up for art lessons?
  
• Or gone to the formal gardens at Mellon Park run by Phipps?
  
• Take in one of 5 or 6 shows currently playing in the Cultural district?
  
• Check out the Andy Warhol Museum?
  
• Hike or bike through Ohiopyle Park?
  
• Play bocce ball or just walk through the wooded pathways in Frick Park?
  
• Go skiing or golfing or fishing Seven Springs Resort or any of the other resorts in the area?
  
• Play tennis at any of the numerous venues in and around the city?
  
• Join a softball or bowling league?
  
• How about playing a pickup game of volleyball?
  
• Catch a Celtic music session at Mullaney's or Paddy's Pour House?
  
• Take glass-blowing lessons (broken link) at the Pittsburgh Glass Center?
  
• Take a river cruise of the city?
  
• Visit any of the numerous attractions at the Frick Mansion, including its art museum, its car and carriage museum, its cafe, its greenhouse, or the home itself?
  
• Do karaoke?
  
• Attend an indie film screening sponsored by Pittsburgh Film Makers?
  
• Have a picnic at Schenley Park?
  
• Play frisbee golf or Ultimate (frisbee soccer)?
  
• Take one of the numerous self-guided walking tours (broken link) of Pittsburgh's various neighborhoods?
  
• Attend the Art Festival on Walnut Street?
  
• See a local or indie band at Rhythm House Cafe or Club Cafe?

These are just the things I could think of with a few minute's worth of thought, compiled from 500 miles away. I'm sure others could add to this list. There are legitimate gripes to be had about living in Pittsburgh. "Nothing to do here" is not one of 'em. If you can't find anything to do, it's not because there's nothing to do, it's because you can't bother to get your self-pitying backside off the couch. So get off your duff and do something. Oh, and if you need a cab to get there, here's a list of cab companies you can call.

[SueJ999]

Holy Moly Drover! I actually laughed... out loud... reading that! You're 500 miles away, and I'm 1,000 miles away, and it seems we can find a ton more things to do in Pittsburgh than some who live there! Short of winning the lottery, I won't ever get the opportunity to move back home to Pittsburgh, as I've stated before, hubby's job here won't permit it. I am totally envious of all there is to do, with the great Pittsburgh flavor, in and around the 'Burgh--and how convenient it really is to get there! Takes me an hour and a half just to get TO Minneapolis from here!

One of my best friends moved back to Pittsburgh last year from south Florida and is constantly, with her husband or children or both, doing a lot of those things you listed (and I'm green with envy)!

I left Pittsburgh back in 1982, not because I didn't love the city, but because of a man LOL! I'm sure I made the right choice--still married to him!

[Ohiogirl81]

people here are so damn self-deprecating

That's what makes all you 'Burghers so loveable. Except for your football team, but I digress.

Oh, and in that list of things to do? Kennywood!!!!

[guylocke]

Kennywood!!!!

Thank you Drover, here are some more, and I don't work for any organization!!!!! lol

- Have fun at our highly ranked amusement park Kennywood and don't forget Phantom Fright Nights!
- Get wet at Sandcastle
- Take your kids to Idlewild Park
- Upcoming Events at the Mellon Arena
- Upcoming Events at PNC Park
- Upcoming Events at Heinz Field
- Pittsburgh Neighborhood Tours including the Strip District
- Go shopping at Pittsburgh Mills, Ross Park Mall (Nordstroms coming soon!!), Monroeville Mall, South Hills Village, The Mall at Robinson and don't miss Ikea Pittsburgh!
- Have you ever been to the Galleria of Mt. Lebanon with specialty stores such as Anthropologie, Restoration Hardware, Williams-Sonoma, Footloose, Janie and Jack, Pottery Barn Kids, Larrimor's, L.S. Altman, H. Baskin and MANY more one-of-a-kinds in Pittsburgh
- I'm assuming you've been to SouthSide Works?
- How about skating at the Rink at PPG Place?
- I hope Station Square (broken link) is a given
- Have you done the great Ducky Tour?
- Have you experienced the Penn Brewery, especially during Oktoberfest or The Church Brew Works?
- Have you gone caving at Laurel Caverns?
- Have you gone white water rafting or kayaking at Ohiopyle?
- Did you know Pittsburgh was ranked Best Urban Adventure City in the country by National Geographic?
- Have you been to the contemporary art and often controversial museum The Mattress Factory?
- How about the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium?
- Have you been to multi-disciplinary art exhibits at the Wood Street Galleries?
- Have you checked out what events are going on with the Pittsburgh Filmmakers?
- Have you seen the events coming to the Pittsburgh Convention Center (broken link) (they just had the car show)?
- Have you checked out the Botanic Garden of Western Pennsylvania?
- Have you been or taken your kids (if you have them) to the Carnegie Science Center or the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh?
- Surely you've seen Frank Lloyd Wright's estate of Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob!
- Have you seen the magnificent Santas From Around the World at PPG during season?
- Have you been to the Three Rivers Art Festival?
- Have you checked out who is playing at the Post-Gazette Pavilion, Chevrolet Amphitheatre, or the A. J. Palumbo Center?
- Have you checked out any football, basketball, or any other of the plethora of sport games at any of our fine Universities like Pitt, Duquesne, or Carnegie Mellon?
- Do you like soccer? Have you been to one of the very fun Pittsburgh Riverhounds games? Did you even know they exist?
- Have you played laser tag or been to the arcades at FunFest Entertainment Center or Laser Storm?
- Have you done any of the spectacular fishing, boating, jet skiing, or sailing that any of the three rivers offers?
- Did you know St. Anthony's Chapel on Troy Hill is second only to the Vatican in terms of religious relics and artifacts? Tour it!
- Have you seen Hartwood Acres Celebration of Lights?
- Have you been to the historical Fort Necessity or Fort Ligonier?
- Have you been to the extremely scary and interesting Johnstown Flood National Memorial and Museum?

You have heard they're building a casino on the North Shore, right? Just wondering.

Come on people! We are missing things!

[guylocke]

- Have you had the experience of heading to one of several Christmas Tree Farms in the area including Flemings where you go tag and cut down your own tree?
- Have you gone horseback riding, taken lessons, or seen races at one of many places to do so in Pittsburgh?
- Have you checked out Splash Water Sports Scuba and Snorkling Center in South Hills?
- Have you seen the events calender for the Pittsburgh ExpoMart (they just had the comic book show)?

[rhino1927]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

There's got to be a lot of people who like the place -- because I've also read that a lot of ex-Pittsburgher's are coming home to roost...

I moved away about 10 years ago when I joined the Navy. After traveling the world and living in many places (including Hawaii for the last 4 years) our family has decided to move back home to Pittsburgh and settle there. I don't know what it is - the good memories as a kid, the Steelers, actually having four seasons, or just "being home" but whatever it is, I can't wait to get back!

[Chi2NYC?]

Originally Posted by Drover

And stay out!

visited pittsburgh recently. i really enjoyed my trip and saw pittsburgh as a great place to potentially settle. but let me just say that this type of attitude really turns me off to the city, and if it's more common in pittsburgh than my trip led me to believe, then pittsburgh is not a place i would be happy in after all. people can happily choose to live in pittsburgh without declaring that it's the best city in the world. chicagoans can make fun of our second city status so why can't pittsburgh accept criticism?

at any rate, be aware that lashing out at people who critique your city does not win the hearts and minds of outsiders who may be potential residents. it suggests a provincial perspective, and educated folks like me aren't attracted to that.

[tmorrisn]

What type of attitude? Because pp listed things to do? Or the pp who claimed there was nothing to do?
As a general rule, if you are going to choose to live in a certain city, then it should be a city that you really like. If you hate where you live, then you need to move.
I do agree with the others - it's ridiculous to claim that the reason you don't like a city is b/c there is nothing to do.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Chi2NYC?

visited pittsburgh recently. i really enjoyed my trip and saw pittsburgh as a great place to potentially settle. but let me just say that this type of attitude really turns me off to the city, and if it's more common in pittsburgh than my trip led me to believe, then pittsburgh is not a place i would be happy in after all. people can happily choose to live in pittsburgh without declaring that it's the best city in the world. chicagoans can make fun of our second city status so why can't pittsburgh accept criticism?

at any rate, be aware that lashing out at people who critique your city does not win the hearts and minds of outsiders who may be potential residents. it suggests a provincial perspective, and educated folks like me aren't attracted to that.

If one single web-forum post is sufficient to cause you to second-guess your judgment about an entire city, I think it's safe to say you weren't terribly wed to that judgment in the first place. So don't try to shift that responsibility on to my shoulders. It's not my obligation to maintain your favorable yet delicate impression of a city I no longer even live in.

I think it's also safe to say that you haven't read most of my posts in the Pittsburgh forums. And that's fair enough because I have at least a couple hundred Pittsburgh forum posts. But the bottom line is I have offered my own fair share of critiques of Pittsburgh in these forums and I have occasionally taken heat for it. And by the way, one of the criticisms I have offered is that Pittsburgh is provincial. I find that to be both a good and bad trait in the particular case of Pittsburgh. But if you do choose to settle there, you should prepare to have your oh-so-worldly sensibilities beset by Pittsburgh's provincialism.

It's one thing to offer a criticism of a city -- even a stinging criticism -- if it's on target or if it's motivated by a genuine attempt to share information or to express a concern that needs to be addressed. If woknefski had simply stopped at "I'm getting out, I can't stand it" I never would have said anything; because like I said, I understand the need to like where you live, to find its culture and customs amenable to your own sensibilities, and what not, and Pittsburgh can be tough for some outsiders to adapt to. But It's another thing to practically slander the place with a patently false claim like "there's nothing to do but hang around and get drunk with an annoying college crowd." Pittsburgh is not Carbondale or Macomb, and someone who has lived in Pittsburgh for three years damn well knows better. Such an asinine claim is almost certainly motivated by something less benign than offering a sincere critique. (The whole tone of his post should make that much clear.) And Pittsburgh can do without people like that -- the place has enough home-grown pessimists as it is. So I reiterate to woknefski and anyone else whose take on Pittsburgh is as condescending as his: Stay out.