The Burgh vs. the Triangle, what gives? (Pittsburgh, Hamburg: home, prices)

[Hopes]

FYI -- Pittsburgh is also known as the Golden Triangle. When I first saw your thread title, I thought you were wondering why we call Pittsburgh the Golden Triangle.

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by Hopes

FYI -- Pittsburgh is also known as the Golden Triangle. When I first saw your thread title, I thought you were wondering why we call Pittsburgh the Golden Triangle.

I get the triangle part, where does the golden come from?

[Hopes]

I'm just guessing.

Pittsburgh was historically considered the Key to the West.

So, maybe the golden part has to do with the gold rush similar to the reason St. Louis has the Golden Arch because it was the Gateway to the West.

Pittsburgh was considered a gateway too. That's why we have an office complex near the point called Gateway Center.

[TelecasterBlues]

The thing about Raleigh is it's being pieced together right now, just saying...it's a clean, "new" type of city. It's a 2 hour drive to the beach, 3 hour drive to the mountains, and as said before, people are flocking there for whatever reason. I gave it a try just because I didn't think I would get a job around here, just that simple. The Triangle as a whole was/is one of the economic strong holds for bio tech and whatnot. More or less, UNC/Duke/NC State are all located within Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh so there's a ton of college grads to plug into the Triangle's industries and they're able to retain a lot of people within the area after college. As a whole, the are is very educated. I don't know how it's fairing with today's economy, but before things crapped out, the Triangle was one of the biggest successes of the decade from an economic standpoint.

Point in case, Raleigh's population shot up from 276,000 in 2000 to somewhere between 392-405,000 at the moment...that's an increase of 42% over 9 years and pretty crazy. Point is, there's tons of people moving there and with people comes development. It's 100% identical to where Austin was 10 years ago and poised for the same kind of quick downtown boom. There's something like 5 tower projects that are going to break ground within the next few years. I know that some crazy 4 tower complex called "The Edison" has already broken ground and not too long ago the RBC tower was completed. Raleigh doesn't look like much at the moment, but projects like this should be quite the difference in terms of it starting to look like a real city: http://www.gogoraleigh.com/wp-conten...son-aerial.jpg

[TelecasterBlues]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

Yep.

As a person who follows a lot of boards...it seems that MANY Northeasterners want to get out of the Northeast because of the cold. The warmest place south that isn't too far south is NORTH CAROLINA. Plus there are tons of Floridians fleeing Florida...as well as 'Half-Backers'....they are the ones from the Northeast who found Florida to be to hot and humid and far away from home, so went 'half back' home to North Carolina.

So...NORTH CAROLINA...has more or less become the CO/OR/WA of the eastern side of the States. So much so, that that is probably one of the reasons that NC turned blue for Obama last election.

The mass majority of it probably isn't from Californians though, it is mostly from NY/Boston/Phila/DC...

I think this sums things up. Austin is growing ridiculously due to people fleeing the high expense and/or failed economies of California, Nevada, and Arizona...Raleigh is growing ridiculously due to people fleeing the high expense and cold weather of the north eastern states and terrible situation in Florida. NC is in a good "middle ground" location between north and south and has proximity to the beach. Parts of South Carolina like Columbia are starting to grow too.

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I'm just guessing.

Pittsburgh was historically considered the Key to the West.

So, maybe the golden part has to do with the gold rush similar to the reason St. Louis has the Golden Arch because it was the Gateway to the West.

Pittsburgh was considered a gateway too. That's why we have an office complex near the point called Gateway Center.

Yea, I suppose that gateway role then passed to Chicago, Denver, and....a coworker went to Northwestern in Chicago, a great school, but always struck me as odd since she came from Oregon...

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by TelecasterBlues

I think this sums things up. Austin is growing ridiculously due to people fleeing the high expense and/or failed economies of California, Nevada, and Arizona...Raleigh is growing ridiculously due to people fleeing the high expense and cold weather of the north eastern states and terrible situation in Florida. NC is in a good "middle ground" location between north and south and has proximity to the beach. Parts of South Carolina like Columbia are starting to grow too.

Hey Telecaster,

Did some looking at homes in Chapel Hill area, and they are not as bad as I thought. Apparently a lot of fairly stately homes on large lots in the country. I am not sure whether they go on for miles and miles of endless suburbia, but they are much more home than could be had out here for twice the price. So definitely not as bad as the coasts yet, but perhaps heading that way.

[BrianTH]

The origin of the name "Golden Triangle" is apparently a bit of a mystery:

Book Explores History Of Names Found In Pittsburgh - kdka.com (http://kdka.com/kdcountry/pittsburgh.names.kd.2.1154445.html - broken link)

[Bob Regan, author of "The Names of Pittsburgh"] couldn't find answers for every question, however.

"The Golden Triangle was a little frustrating," Regan said "I couldn't find the exact origin. The first reference to it was in a 1914 Saturday Evening Post article."

1914 is a little past Pittsburgh's Gateway to the West days. My guess is that "Golden" was just meant to connote concentrated wealth.

[creepsinc]

It's pretty simple. One look around the forum will tell you that NC is paradise. Everything that Pittsburgh isn't. Hope this helped.

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by creepsinc

It's pretty simple. One look around the forum will tell you that NC is paradise. Everything that Pittsburgh isn't. Hope this helped.

Well I have been to the Smokies and Linville Gorge, so I am inclined to agree close imitations of paradise can be found hiding in parts of NC. But my personal idea of paradise is to live on a street in a gated community with nothing but bubble-enriched New Yorkers, Bostonians, DCites, AND Californians. I haven't had that pleasure yet. I can imagine the convenience of raw foods markets, yoga studios, prep schools,athiest churches, Volvo mechanics, and vegetarian restaurants on every corner. In Pittsburgh, I have heard you have some really nice deals on iceberg lettuce and Swanson dinners at the "Eagle."