Pittsburgh Misconceptions (York, California, Dallas: military, shopping center, to move)

[PIT]

Pittsburgh is a fantastic place to live, work and play. Every city or place has its challenges and imperfections. Pittsburgh is not a large east or west coast megatropolis but all things being equal it has many great attributes: cultural, nightlife, safety, affordability etc. Not that I ever was cynical about Pittsburgh but once I lived outside of Pittsburgh in a large east coast city and faced issues such as parking that is $15 per hour in the city, and traffic that make the Parkway east and west tolerable, not to mention insane murder rates (at least 8 cops have been killed this year) I have come to more deeply appreciate the gem Pittsburgh is ..... n'at (sorry could not help myself)

[kpoeppel]

Pit,

I agree about all of those things. Pittsburgh has a lot going for it regarding quality of life. It really isn't the smokey hellhole that so many imagine. I think it's actually a very scenic and interesting city. Unfortunately, it's hard to enjoy living in any city without a decent job. A healthy economy is the foundation of any city or region.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by Shenandoah

We try! But the sheeple just keep voting the Demo's back in!

blessings, Shen

Well, I hope to change that. I'm a bit "active" in my community and I fully intend to make my intentions known when I get to pittsburgh permanently. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.....

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by Tallysmom

Anderson Township Zoning Protest Toilet Protest

I saw this a while again and had to share....

Whew! Thank goodness it was in Ohio!!! LOL

[Katiana]

That's hilarious, Tallysmom! My sister-in-law in Omaha, Neb. wanted to put a bicycle in her front yard and grow flowers around it. I said it would remind me of Appalachia and I thought there were zoning ordinances against that. She didn't do it. A friend of mine from here puts out an old washing machine in the summer, as "decor" (in her backyard). I have the same feeling about that.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

That's hilarious, Tallysmom! My sister-in-law in Omaha, Neb. wanted to put a bicycle in her front yard and grow flowers around it. I said it would remind me of Appalachia and I thought there were zoning ordinances against that. She didn't do it. A friend of mine from here puts out an old washing machine in the summer, as "decor" (in her backyard). I have the same feeling about that.

When we bought our house, we had an old chicken coop in the back. Not to mention this cool thick iron pipe that was attached to two trees and and the trees had grown around it -- that was a blast to play on. (I didn't find out till much later that was where they slaughtered and drained the chickens.)

Daddy found an old hand driven plow in the chicken shed. He fixed it up and marine varnished it to last outside and plopped it into the front yard -- and did the flowers things and often didn't...

It sat there for oh -- they bought the house in 1964 it was fall... so summer of 1965 till probably two years after Daddy died in 1981 -- 1983... 18 years.

And some guy drove up in a truck and asked Mom if she wanted to sell it -- handed her 100 bucks and took it with him. It distintegrated when he touched it, but he picked up the pieces and drove off.

I just did the math and I have to say it freaks me out that my parents only lived in that house for 18 years before Daddy died. I've lived in my house longer than Daddy lived in the house where I grew up.

Okay -- I feel better -- they'd been married 17 years before they bought the house... I was born 12 years into their marriage (I was supposed to be a boy -- and was SUCH a tomboy I was the closest they got ) and I'd only been married 4 years when we bought our house...

[Seaharbour]

Wow, i wonder what it was that he paid 100 dollar for it? What was it made out of? Copper maybe?

[JoeP]

OK, I said I'd stay out of this, but I've always loved a challenge. I'm confused by your comparison to Portland, tarnas. (I assume you mean Portland, Oregon.) Both have similar size metro areas, but Portland city has 1 1/2 times the population of Pittsburgh. In other words, fewer suburban residents. Pittsburgh actually has a big suburban area, with a city:suburban ration of 1:7 (approx). That is higher than a lot of western cities.

That's true officially, but not every area that's not the core city proper is suburban. The communities that formed long ago on rivers for industry, were not burbs and are very urban in design. If Pittsburgh had annexed accordingly, many of these communities would be the city (and well as newer suburban areas, just like parts of the city of Portland are suburban in design)

[xxxtobymac]

Originally Posted by Shenandoah

We try! But the sheeple just keep voting the Demo's back in!

blessings, Shen

Well' i'm a democrat, and that don't always means no economy upgrade, but i figured with a demo in office, they would have a littler harder fight on the uprising of crime.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Seaharbour

Wow, i wonder what it was that he paid 100 dollar for it? What was it made out of? Copper maybe?

I just saw this today -- no, not copper -- too soft a metal to plow with, just iron -- but it was a horse drawn style plow, and even in pieces it still would have been an antique. If someone had the old parts to repair it, it would be worth a lot to a collector.

I know my Dad did that with an old grandmother's clock his Dad had given him.... when Daddy was young, he was running through the house and he came thundering down the stairs, and the clock fell off the mantel and broke. Grampa said one day he would give that clock to my father to remind him of his sins.

The day came and he gave my Dad the clock and my Dad fixed it -- in some cases making the parts he needed by hand.

Really ticked off my grampa though... he had tried for years to get that thing working...