Western Pioneers in the Burgh (Pittsburgh, California: real estate, houses, neighborhood)

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

Funny, this thread has focused on winter gloom or cold (Pittsburgh, Colorado,Wyoming, PNW). I recall that friends who moved those places from the upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan) laugh at all our whining about cold or clouds.

Exactly! That was me when I moved to Oregon. I thought the winter was so incredibly mild, I loved it. The drizzle of rain was very pleasant compared to the refridgerator/freezer bone-chilling winters of MI/MN.

Even now, when I read the forums, tons of generally Californians commenting how PNW is out of the question because of the rain! Drizzling rain with 1-2 ice storms was incredibly mild compared to months and months of seemingly solid snow on the ground and dreaming of the shocking feeling of noticing the sight of grass again once everything thaws out sometime in mid-March!

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I'm not sure if I qualify for this thread as I've never lived in Pittsburgh!

But I have lived out west - San Francisco, Portland Oregon and Grand Canyon Arizona (the last one sounds odd, but there are concessionaires at the nat'l parks - hotel & restaurant services).

Nontheless, on the 'east of the mississippi' side, I've lived in Minneapolis, New York City and my homestate of Michigan.

I think overall, I certainly prefer the Western side of the U.S...but NYC certainly was my somewhat perfect city. SF didn't match NYC at all. Both had the negatives of near impossible home ownership - which I'm seeking next without major compromise.

Personally, I have some reservations about settling down in a cold winter city, but I keep rationalizing that both MI & MN were MUCH colder! Looks like Pittsburgh is similar to NYC, which I found not particularly desireable but relatively mild compared to MN/MI.

I keep viewing other cities like Denver, etc. There is one area there that looks cool on google maps, that is 'Highlands'. I also keep looking at many other random cities all over the U.S. Nothing looks remotely cool as Pittsburgh's housing though! I still can't get over it.

That being said, I do kinda like Las Vegas & Nevada in general...desert and stucco and low prices and climate and such...other than that, Pittsburgh, as far as cities go, just looks too cool and too interesting. After hours of viewing multiple cities on google tonight, I went back to Pittsburgh again, and WOW.

Hey Tiger Beer,

Since we have veered into the endless void of climate discussions, I must say that my personal idea of climate hell would be Las Vegas, NV (Las Vegas, NM in contrast sounds like paradise to me!). Sheesh, endless summer, sprawl, and relentless sun. If that is your thing, go for it. Certainly cool places nearby, as you explained in a previous post. Just amazing how folks tastes can vary so much in their preferences, but probably a good thing in the big picture.

Great to get your take on things from a larger perspective too about East vs. West. I know many people prefer the West, but I am a bit contrary, and really in search of a good value in the work/life/economics equation. That has become hard to find out here. I agree about the unique architecture of Pittsburgh. That sort of housing is simply not present or available to anyone in the middle class in most cities.

[Tiger Beer]

There is a small...err...no...large part of me that really wants to live somewhere warm!

Every winter I've had in the U.S., has been NY, MN, MI, OR, and SF-CA. SF was the mildest/warmest one by far, and I rather liked it! So I am still dreaming of living in a city during the winter and beyond more south than that! Unfortunately all of the southern cities are sprawl cities. I have no interest in the South or Texas - despite hearing good things about Austin. So it limits it to FL, NV, AZ, NM. I've driven around all of those places (and the South and TX too)...and NV appealed the most of all those sprawly places!

Ideally, if I could find a Pittsburgh in a warm climate it would be ideal! But that doesn't seem to exist. Let me change that, New Orleans is one really cool-looking city with really warm weather - but too many other issues/problems I don't like that put me off of that one to consider.

[Fiddlehead]

Well, to get back on the Burgh, I gather the winters there are not very pleasant. Certainly not brutal, but long enough (Nov-March) that you would notice. That doesn't bother me, because as a research scientist, I like to analyze my data and write papers in the winter, so I have plenty to do on cold winter nights. Also, I love snow, winter clothes, and the like for a few months of the year.

If warmth is the thing, I see your interest in Sacramento and Vegas, and Las Cruces. Have you checked out Tucson? It seems a bit nicer than Phoenix, at least, but I don't know about housing costs there. Phoenix, Vegas, and Sac. were all overbuilt, so I am sure bargains can be had. But not sure I would like to live in a hastily built subdivision. I gather that much of the recent construction was very shoddy. Illegal alien workers with low experience and pay, exploited in the housing bubble greedfest. I would imagine Sac. would have the best architecture,with many older and historic neighborhoods, and IMO the best climate, flood concerns aside. You do not have to go far from Sac. to seem some fabulous country, including redwood forest, alpine areas,etc. My 2 cents. Not that you asked!

[creepsinc]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

I love snow, winter clothes, and the like for a few months of the year.

If that's true, then you might find winter here very pleasant, indeed. It snows often, but it doesn't seem to pile up much. Also, while I'm quite sure you'll hear otherwise (), they seem to be good about keeping the streets plowed. Nobody's any better at driving in it here than anywhere else, though. People are pretty much morons everywhere, especially behind the wheel.

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by creepsinc

People are pretty much morons everywhere, especially behind the wheel.

Amen to that! I would add sociopaths. It never ceased to amaze me how otherwise normal people act moronic and loosely hinged when driving. My lovely wife, prudish and proper most of the time, swears like an Australian sailor when behind the wheel.

Hey that kind of winter sounds great-for me. Tiger Beer was just suggesting he is a warm climate lover, so I was saying Pittsburgh might not score five stars on that scale. I am also not sure that I would discount the cloud concerns. Certainly sun in the winter helps it feel a bit warmer, so freezing temps with no sun bothers some folks a lot. I just bust out the wool trench coat, hat, gloves, and scarf and head out. I love taking walks in the snow. I have learned the worst thing to do in winter is to stay indoors all the time. Even a cloudy day has much, much more light than in your house.

[creepsinc]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

Amen to that! I would add sociopaths. It never ceased to amaze me how otherwise normal people act moronic and loosely hinged when driving. My lovely wife, prudish and proper most of the time, swears like an Australian sailor when behind the wheel.

Hey that kind of winter sounds great-for me. Tiger Beer was just suggesting he is a warm climate lover, so I was saying Pittsburgh might not score five stars on that scale. I am also not sure that I would discount the cloud concerns. Certainly sun in the winter helps it feel a bit warmer, so freezing temps with no sun bothers some folks a lot. I just bust out the wool trench coat, hat, gloves, and scarf and head out. I love taking walks in the snow. I have learned the worst thing to do in winter is to stay indoors all the time. Even a cloudy day has much, much more light than in your house.

I go for walks around the neighborhood when it's snowing.

[Hopes]

Call me weird. I love rain. I like being in it. I like the feel of it. I like the sound of it. Snow, I'd rather look at from inside---unless I'm skiing.

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Call me weird. I love rain. I like being in it. I like the feel of it. I like the sound of it. Snow, I'd rather look at from inside---unless I'm skiing.

Hey Hopes,

Not weird at all. I love the rain too, most of the time. In fact, my wife and I were out last night in the mist and the air felt so rich and nice. And summer rain is a blessing, especially with lots of lightning! What I don't care for is a cold, cold heavy rain in the middle of winter at about 35 degrees. A bit colder and snowing is actually easier for me. We get quite a bit of the former, and not enough of the latter here in winter. And I share your love of looking at snow through the window too. We have a great second floor British Pub here in town, and when it snows, I like hitting the pub and looking at the snow falling next to a warm fire with a cool pint in hand. Perfect!

[SewickleyPA]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

Well, to get back on the Burgh, I gather the winters there are not very pleasant. Certainly not brutal, but long enough (Nov-March) that you would notice. That doesn't bother me, because as a research scientist, I like to analyze my data and write papers in the winter, so I have plenty to do on cold winter nights. Also, I love snow, winter clothes, and the like for a few months of the year.

Well, let me tell you from someone living here right now... it was 67 and sunny today and the forecast is more of the same for the next several days, and it is already mid November. We have had only one bad week of cold/rainy/cloudy so far this fall which was back in mid-October.

Winter has never started in November from what I can remember in the past. November is like the fall version of March, you can get pretty much anything in those two months... though probably due to global warming winters have been much shorter and milder then they were 30 years ago.

If you want to know the what I would consider the cutoff for the very cold/cloudiness period of winter, I would say it's from the first week of December to about the first week of March. December is fun due to the holiday season and nobody is tired of the cold/snow yet. Jan/Febuary starts to become a drag to people who hate cold/snow with every fiber of their being. Don't let yourself become one of those people and you will be fine. I actually take advantage of it and enjoy skiing and other winter sports. Though even those 3 winter months are nothing like they used to be anymore, like they were back in the mid-90's. We don't get much snow anymore and there always seems to be a yearly January heat wave that brings in a day or so of 60s-70s.