Why would you & why would you not move to Pittsburgh? (Erie: crime rate, affordable house)

[AfKy]

Hello all,

I have been reading mix reviews about Pittsburgh. I have read that it's got air pollution problem and the crime rate is high. On the other hand, it's called one of the best (livable) cities in the US. Can our Pittsburgher friends share their experience and help me get over my confusion?

And oh yeah, how's it like living in Pittsburgh? The goods and the bads?

Thanks..

[Mr Siegal]

I would say neither of those negatives you heard were true. air pollution is not noticeable compared to larger cities and the crime is restricted to very small pockets of the cities worst neighborhoods.

i would say move here if you get a job or want to go to a good university (there are several). dont move here if you hate traffic or require sophisticated environs

[vtPGH]

As far as the whole air pollution fiasco, this stem's from a once a year report released right about now that always finds 'Pittsburgh' to have the sootiest air in the country. The catch to this study is that their air samples for Pittsburgh come from the Clairton Coke Works, a steel mill 15 miles from Pittsburgh, not even in the city limits. The city and county leaders understandably hate this report and always rail on it every time it comes out. US Steel had planned to clean up the pollution at Clairton works through a $1 billion modernization, but that work has currently been put on hold. Overall, the air pollution is not noticeably bad most all other places in the region, and is a far cry from the steel producing days decades ago.

As far as crime, the city and region is no worse than other major metro regions. Some years are better than others, and in a bad year, the city may put up a not so great murder rate, but one always must recognize that as an underbounded city, we don't have miles and miles of relatively safe, newly built neighborhoods inside our city limits to increase our population and artificially lower our crime rates (i.e. Charlotte, Jacksonville, Houston etc...)

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by AfKy

Hello all,

I have been reading mix reviews about Pittsburgh. I have read that it's got air pollution problem and the crime rate is high. On the other hand, it's called one of the best (livable) cities in the US. Can our Pittsburgher friends share their experience and help me get over my confusion?

And oh yeah, how's it like living in Pittsburgh? The goods and the bads?

Thanks..

I moved down here nearly three years ago. Overall I love living down here. I love all the city neighborhoods and their distinctive shopping/dinning districts and the beautiful city and county parks.

As far as the air quality goes, the others above stated the facts well. On the other hand, I am a severe allergy sufferer, and when I moved down from Erie, I thought they may be better, but it turns out, at nearly 39 years old, my upper respiratory allergies are the worst they have ever been in my life.

My other complaint is the traffic. You will see others rebut me with "it's nothing compared to other cities" which may be true, but this city is full of people who refuse to find multiple ways to their destination, and full of people who sit and let every little ant across the street and in to traffic.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by AfKy

Hello all,

I have been reading mix reviews about Pittsburgh. I have read that it's got air pollution problem and the crime rate is high. On the other hand, it's called one of the best (livable) cities in the US. Can our Pittsburgher friends share their experience and help me get over my confusion?

And oh yeah, how's it like living in Pittsburgh? The goods and the bads?

Thanks..

In general the air polluntion problem is over blown by some stupid report from the American Lung Association that only uses the worst air monitor in a city instead of getting the average from all the air monitors here. (The monitor they use is next to the coke works for goodness sakes!) But the air can be not so great at times during the summer with the haze and allergies are terrible for me. Crime really isn't that terrible but it can be high and happen often in the places it does usually happen. Traffic is another thing since you couldn't build the highways other cities have with the hills and valleys and people for some reason would rather sit in traffic on a one lane each side road than try to find a low traffic route like I usually do. Other than that Pittsburgh is a great city and you will like it here. We have great scenery, buildings, neighborhoods, and people (well the ignorance and sheltered feeling of some can get annoying).

[sr1234]

We have lived here several years and more than hate it - we loathe it. We are definately moving away. Reasons we hate it...traffic infrastructure (worst in all the cities we have visited or lived in), lack & cost of parking, taxes always on the rise, air pollution, dirty city, crime, vagrants wandering the streets, lack of shopping, lack of development downtown, bad and violent schools, and 70 years of democratic ignorance that lives on. Positives...the zoo and museums.

[tibor75]

Frankly crime and pollution aren't reasons not to come. It's an old city with old people and old ideas. In 2000, Allegheny County had the 4th highest percentage of elderly residents in counties with more than 1 million poeple (the only ones higher were the Florida counties - Broward, West Palm). People here have lived here their entire lives and therefore stupidly feel that Pittsburgh is perfect and there is nothing to change.

[steindle]

Originally Posted by sr1234

We have lived here several years and more than hate it - we loathe it. We are definately moving away. Reasons we hate it...traffic infrastructure (worst in all the cities we have visited or lived in), lack & cost of parking, taxes always on the rise, air pollution, dirty city, crime, vagrants wandering the streets, lack of shopping, lack of development downtown, bad and violent schools, and 70 years of democratic ignorance that lives on. Positives...the zoo and museums.

Where exactly do you live? "Vagrants wandering the streets?" You make it sound like the turn of the last century -- do you mean homeless people? Good luck with finding a city lacking in them.

As has been mentioned several times, the crime rate in Pittsburgh is not at all bad in comparison to most cities, and is largely concentrated in avoidable areas. I live in an area that is questionably avoidable (Lawrenceville, where many suburbanites fear to tread), but I routinely walk around at 2-3AM and have never had a single problem.

I can't really speak to the "lack of shopping" and "lack & cost of parking" concerns because in my opinion these are silly reasons to live in a city. In terms of shopping, I've never had trouble finding anything I need in the Strip, somewhere on Butler St/Liberty Ave/Penn Ave, or if absolutely necessary the South Side Works. In terms of parking, who cares? Areas that you might have trouble in -- the South Side, Downtown, and Oakland -- are the most accessible areas of the city by bus. You might even accidentally help the environment and learn to tolerate diversity a little while you're on one.

In terms of education, it's weird that the schools are uniformly bad and violent since I graduated from 12 consecutive years of "inner-city" public schooling and went directly into one of the 10 best private colleges in the country. This August it's on to a Top 20 law school. You should really tell my close friends from high school who work for the New Yorker, have started their own design companies, and work for international development organizations how awful and dangerous our schooling was in the city of Pittsburgh.

[wordzgirl]

Pros: Great museums, beautiful scenery and hills, good schools, hospitals, friendly, wonderful people, affordable house prices

Cons: Ridiculously high taxes, lots of cloudy, overcast days, resistance to change, union-dominated, lack of teaching jobs

[robertjohnson]

Originally Posted by tibor75

Frankly crime and pollution aren't reasons not to come. It's an old city with old people and old ideas. In 2000, Allegheny County had the 4th highest percentage of elderly residents in counties with more than 1 million poeple (the only ones higher were the Florida counties - Broward, West Palm). People here have lived here their entire lives and therefore stupidly feel that Pittsburgh is perfect and there is nothing to change.

Old people old ideas?
I thought your local government had
those stamped with expiration dates and
provided convienent recycling centers.
If they persist and exceed shelf life
slap a tax on them.
They will leave on their own.