moving from SanFran to Pittsburgh-culture shock? (California, Denver: appointed, gated, restaurants)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by yakshikiz

I"m excited, if a bit scared about this winter. i spent a january in chicago once and it wasn't so bad, as long as you were walking in the right direction (out of the wind). I mean, people here react like I'm going to Siberia. But somehow entire populations seem to survive every year, so I'm sure they can teach me the survival skills a la Nanook of Pittsburgh.

Our winters aren't that bad. It's not windy like Chicago. Last winter, we had two weeks of single digit temperatures, but the rest of the winter was relatively mild and it seemed to rarely snow IMO. The real bad weather is north of us towards Erie. Dont' get me wrong---bad weather comes in waves here. We haven't had a real blizzard since the early 90s. We're overdue for a winter like that.

Originally Posted by yakshikiz

I know PIttsburgh isn't NY or Boston, but is there still some type of East Coast reserve/attitude I should be aware of?

As much as I hate to say it, we're more of a midwestern town. Too many mountains separate us from the East Coast to get overly influenced. We're not midwestern or east coast, but if I had to chose, we're definitely more midwestern. The reality is we're sort of our own region. There's a thread here discussing that. We're really in Appalachia, but dont' tell your SF friends that! Seriously, we're not culturally Appalachia (that designation is reserved for Central and South Appalachia), but that fact we're located in the Appalachian mountains (or foothills depending on who you're talking to) means that Pittsburghers aren't really East Coast or Midwest. We're a blend of something all our own, but that blend definitely doesn't include reserved/attitude east coastness. Coming from San Francisco, you might find us reserved politically and socially, as in more conservative, but we're not snobby elitists.

[BrianTH]

In my experience as a transplant, people in Pittsburgh don't necessarily come across as extremely friendly at first (meaning they might seem a bit reserved and even cold), but they quickly respond in kind to people who are themselves friendly. There aren't a lot of formal rules of behavior and such--again, just avoid treating people like backwoods hicks and you should be perfectly fine.

By the way, the winter winds are nothing like Chicago's. Having grown up in Michigan and spent a few winters in Chicago, I actually think of the winters here as relatively mild.

[Bagger]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

In my experience as a transplant, people in Pittsburgh don't necessarily come across as extremely friendly at first (meaning they might seem a bit reserved and even cold), but they quickly respond in kind to people who are themselves friendly. There aren't a lot of formal rules of behavior and such--again, just avoid treating people like backwoods hicks and you should be perfectly fine.

By the way, the winter winds are nothing like Chicago's. Having grown up in Michigan and spent a few winters in Chicago, I actually think of the winters here as relatively mild.

I lived in Chicago and Pittsburgh and you're right, while it can get cold in Pittsburgh, Chicago could be down right brutal. I remember the first winter I spent in Chicago after moving... -26 F and with wind chill -66. And the wind was something... they even had ropes outside the IBM building so that you could pull yourself in. I'm not kidding about that.

Found this at Wisch List - Chronicling Chicago (and other stuff) since 2002 » Blog Archive » Cold Case: Chicago:
“I worked at the IBM Building (330 N. Wabash) in the 1970s. When the weather got bad, the building would put up ‘life ropes’ at each corner of the building. This was to help anyone who walked over the Chicago River Bridge, as they could grasp a line and ‘pull’ themselves in. Known as the windiest place in Chicago, it became even windier when the river froze and the wind, falling off buildings, would come down the river and accelerate.
“There was also a `life guard’ posted at the southern corner of the building whose job was to rescue anyone who could not pull themselves into the building. I saw an elderly lady blown down, and she was carrying along until the life guard got her and dragged her in.You calculate the wind chill of a negative-10 degree day with 65 mph winds, and that’s cold.
“This was the day I decided to pursue opportunities away from One IBM Plaza.”
– S.C. Argento

Maybe winters are milder now in Pittsburgh... I did move away in 1979.

[Hopes]

That's super wild! Thanks for sharing, Bagger!

That article certainly puts into perspective what a bad winter can really be.

I don't recall Pittsburgh ever being that bad---even during blizzards here.

[Sunnnee]

Its different in the midwest. I lived in Missouri and it was hard to get use to. I was use to seeing everyone on a daily basis (blacks, whites, asians, somoans, philipino's etc) and when I got there I was told..oh they live over there and they live over there. It wasn't as "multi-cultural" like california, but it may have changed since I was there.

[raubre]

Originally Posted by yakshikiz

I heard Duquesne was a top school for various health care professions, that was the third school I mentioned.

Actually Duquesne is a big law school. Pitt (Univ of Pgh) is the big med school

[goodgirl49]

Originally Posted by Hopes

The biggest problem people from all over the country have with Californians is their constant need to tell everyone how much better it is in California.

Needless to say, people would rather those people moved back to California!

Well said Hopes! I'm originally from Pittsburgh, even though I've lived around Los Angeles since 1977. Even though there are lots of great things about California, I still miss Pittsburgh and consider it my true home. I'm never going around telling people that. Your comment is true of a lot of Californians though.

[greg42]

Regarding east coast vs midwest attitude: from my own talks with people who have come from both directions, they draw different conclusions. The people who first started our company came from Utah. The owner grew up there, and a former partner no longer with the company grew up in Missouri. They considered Pittsburgh an east coast town. In fact, I remember the quote from the one no longer here "Filthy stinking in your face eastern town".

On the other hand, the people I've talked to who came from the big east coast cities like NY and Boston find Pittsburgh not to be an east coast town at all. They consider it to be the midwest. Personally, I can't judge that well. I grew up in a smaller place, and I spent 9 months in Philly about 20 years ago (went to Drexel for a year). Then about a year and a half back home, then I've been here in Pittsburgh ever since (18 years). Certainly Pittsburgh is not abrasive like Philly, but that is Philly we are talking about. ;-) I've spent more time around Boston than NY. Boston people move fast and are pretty abrupt, in the city anyway. Pittsburgh is less like that.

My contention is the reality is somewhere in between. It's not fully midwest, and it's not fully east coast either. But, for someone coming from the west, it'll probably seem more east coast, based on the reactions I've seen. I'm not sure the distinction will matter unless you've spent enough time in a midwest or east coast city to be able to discern that difference.

[WILWRadio]

Greg42. I'm from Connecticut. I suspect the people from the East Coast that label Pittsburgh as Midwestern have not spent much time there. Location wise it is borderline Midwestern because of its proximity to Ohio which is a Midwestern state though it does have Northeastern influences.

I've lived in the Midwest long enough to know that western PA is not Midwestern. I think in some ways it is very similar to some areas of northern New England. Pittsburgh is a Northeastern city with some Appalachian and Midwestern influences.

[creepsinc]

Ok, I was born to post here. I moved to Pittsburgh from SF, by way of five years in Seattle and several months back in my hometown in Virginia, but still...I've lived in both places. You said you were somewhat conservative? I'm not at all (nor am I knee-jerk liberal), but I recognize that Pittsburgh is somewhat more socially conservative so that should suit you fine. It's solidly Democratic, but kind of old-school, if you know what I mean. It's got plenty of funky artsy types, but not the white-dudes-with-dreads who keep SF (or Portland or Seattle etc) "weird" . You won't miss the hills, because Pittsburgh arguably has more, and Observatory Hill, at around 1300 feet (there's a plaque in the woods a block from my house) is higher than Mt. Davidson, at 938 or so feet. And like a previous poster said, we have more steps. I've read that we have more than SF and Portland combined, so there's that. And like someone said, we have TREES. Pittsburgh was carved out of the Appalachian forest, not built on sand dunes. And we have deer and wild turkeys, in city neighborhoods. You'll occasionally see them running down sidewalks! The deer, that is. The turkeys just run down the street.

One thing I missed in SF were bridges. Don't laugh. Sure, there are a couple of world-famous ones there, and a few more less famous ones, but they all cost an arm and a leg to cross and they're no fun sitting in traffic. We have bridges everywhere, and every kind but drawbridges. Allegedly more than any other city in the world. I think we also edge out SF in the museum department, but it's close.

Cons? Food, but there's a whole new realm here if you're into heavy Eastern European-style food. We have Thai and Vietnamese and Korean too, just not on every corner. A few of each type of Asian restaurant, so you'll have to get used to that, but they're here. And honestly, I really don't care what color people are or what culture they come from. Pittsburgh is very white and black, but we probably have more varieties of white people (Italian, Polish, Croat, etc.) than anywhere! Cultures are cultures, and those count, so to me it's still more diverse than a lot of places I've been. In fact, this is the most European city I've been to in the US. Lots of narrow, winding streets, many of them cobblestone. Onion dome churches and the like. I guess it's more Eastern European than anything. And I like that it's not East Coast, or Midwest, or the South. It's somewhere in the middle of all of that, and you're relatively close to all of those regions, especially the Midwest, which technically starts about 40 miles away in Ohio. In other words, I love it here, and don't miss SF (or Seattle, or anywhere else I've ever lived) much at all. Sounds like you're coming here with a positive attitude about it, and that's often all you need coming into a new place. Especially this place.

Good luck with your move. And welcome to Pittsburgh!

Edit: I forgot: It's sometimes referred to as "The Poor Man's San Francisco" which is pretty accurate geographically, right down to the lack of an ocean. I like "Paris of the Appalachians" better, though. Also, I hated winter when I moved here. Now after two of them, I'm starting to look forward to it.