Pittsburgh again rated "Most Livable" (relocating, hotel)

[OREGONRAIN]

I don't go by these city rankings that are published, It makes them look like complete idiots. Pittsburgh making two lists in one week, Best place to live and 2nd most polluted city, and only after of all places Los Angeles. I mean cmon who is going to trust these ridiculous surveys. I say always visit places over and over until you feel comfortable with a place based on your own personal rankings, and screw these other published rankings.

[springpure]

Local folks in Pittsburgh have no idea of what they have. There seems to be a culture of criticism here that comes from the disgruntled former manufacturing workers. For those who are bemoaning the end of the old dirty mills, along with those jobs, Pittsburgh might not be a great place. But for those willing to look ahead, and open their eyes to the present, it is a real gem. Check out this page, and look for independent judgements on the quality of Pittsburgh. http://seniorark.com/Pennsylvania%20Retirement.htm. Also check out this article:http://seniorark.com/Pittsburgh__America's_Best-Kept_Vacation_Secret.htm. Wake up Pittsburghers. Quit knocking your city. The rest of the world thinks it's pretty darned great!

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by springpure

The rest of the world thinks it's pretty darned great!

It is pretty darn great!

It's so pretty darn great that I think these critics might be doing us a favor by keeping it from becoming another rat race with a booming population.

Imagine Pittsburgh with 1-1/2 hour commutes one way because of congestion from being over populated!

The cost of living would soar too!

I don't want Pittsburgh to ever become like that!

[guylocke]

Amen Hopes! I think a little healthy growth each year would be swell, but nothing like sun-belt cities. ICK.

[OREGONRAIN]

The sunbelt cities are only desirable because we are told they are for years now. When people move there in droves, they become very undesirable over time, as has happened in the majority of them. That is why you now see a turn around people looking for other regions of the country, that may not seem so crowded and expensive. I think Pittsburgh is going to see a increase in population as cities like Phoenix, Orlando etc, may gain population, but also lose population more and more each year, in other words very transient undesirable places to live and overwhelmed by traffic and tourists.

[Sharon2226]

I have loved living in Pgh for the past 10 years. Schools are great...Greentree, Bethel Park...southhills in general...ROCKS. I never liked northhills much, but that's just me. Nice there, but too far away from Pgh. But, I have a great career oppty moving us to Tampa now, and my husband's job has always been waivering here. Changes with companies. Businesses going out of business or merging. Pgh's problem is not the weather. New York has bad winters, and they are still king of the corporate world. It's that Pgh doesn't 'know' what it wants to be when it grows up. It's no longer a steel town...it was morphing at one point into a tech town...but people are leaving because of the high property taxes, and parking costs downtown. And the fact that there aren't enough jobs...corporate jobs to go around.

There are tons of empty/for rent/for sale buildings everywhere from West Mifflin straight to the airport. It's sad, because it's a great city...but it's run down and needs a face lift. It needs to start attracting younger families...and the only way to do that is to make the area attractive to top companies.

Anyways...I will miss this town, though.

[bboy36win]

Originally Posted by Sharon2226

...but people are leaving because of the high property taxes, and parking costs downtown.

"Gee honey, I love the city; there's so much to see and do ... I'd love to stay here, but yesterday I paid 8 bucks to park downtown. That's it! I've had enough! I'm leaving! "

[pghlibrarian]

Originally Posted by bboy36win

"Gee honey, I love the city; there's so much to see and do ... I'd love to stay here, but yesterday I paid 8 bucks to park downtown. That's it! I've had enough! I'm leaving! "

As a newcomer to Pittsburgh, I guess I just don't get the complaint about the high price of parking downtown. I've lived places (San Francisco and DC) where the daily parking rate downtown was $20-30. Even in my hometown of Buffalo, NY weekday downtown parking can be more than $15 a day, especially in an enclosed garage.

[jasper 21]

Originally Posted by pghlibrarian

As a newcomer to Pittsburgh, I guess I just don't get the complaint about the high price of parking downtown. I've lived places (San Francisco and DC) where the daily parking rate downtown was $20-30. Even in my hometown of Buffalo, NY weekday downtown parking can be more than $15 a day, especially in an enclosed garage.

Give yourself sometime and you'll understand. When you look in your wallet and you got lets say $12.00 and it's a day away from payday, that $8.00 dollars is a real big deal. The wages around here are still the wages from the late 80's. The cost of housing may be lower than elsewhere, but other things are not. Just take a look in the supermakets. It's insane compared to your paycheck.

I live off route 51, since 1991 and I didn't need Lynn Swann to tell by how many people move out of the area last summer. The truth is just outside my window daily. To bad our Governor can't see it.

[bboy36win]

Originally Posted by jasper 21

When you look in your wallet and you got lets say $12.00 and it's a day away from payday, that $8.00 dollars is a real big deal. The wages around here are still the wages from the late 80's.

When you live paycheck to paycheck - to the point that an $8 parking charge one day before payday kills you - then the parking charge itself (and the city where you'll find it) is probably not the problem.