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I am actually considering both of these cities for my next home. My salary would be similar in both cities. Based on my research, it looks like taxes and housing would be cheaper in Pittsburgh over the Twin Cities. Does this sound right?
Do you ever feel secluded living in Minneapolis? It's a large city, but it's far from huge cities like NY or Boston. Pittsburgh is a lot closer to larger cities.
I generally prefer living in small or medium sized cities, so I'm wondering if Pittsburgh might be the best place for me.
I am actually considering both of these cities for my next home. My salary would be similar in both cities. Based on my research, it looks like taxes and housing would be cheaper in Pittsburgh over the Twin Cities. Does this sound right?
Do you ever feel secluded living in Minneapolis? It's a large city, but it's far from huge cities like NY or Boston. Pittsburgh is a lot closer to larger cities.
I generally prefer living in small or medium sized cities, so I'm wondering if Pittsburgh might be the best place for me.
My sister had a choice between Pittsburgh and Minneapolis for graduate school, she chose Pittsburgh primarily due to
1)Weather
2)Isolation (Minneapolis is far more isolated than Pittsburgh)
Now she is at Harvard in Boston, so all worked well for her. But at the time of the decision, the program in Pittsburgh was far weaker and newer than the one in Minneapolis, so she literally had to weigh the QOL for her for 4 years living in Minneapolis versus,at least on paper, a more promising future. Didn't seem to matter in the end.
I keep saying this, but the weather is a big factor in Minneapolis. People can downplay, but if Minneapolis was located in a climatic zone of at least 20F warmer, it would be much bigger. The thing is, employers are desperate to lure people to Minneapolis and have trouble to do, so if your paycheck is similar in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis, I wouldn't look back and go to Pittsburgh. But you'd probably be able to bargain that paycheck up in Minneapolis by 20-30%. Just tell them you have a competing offer in Pittsburgh and don't take well to their winters.
My point exactly. Perhaps you aren't aware that adults can enjoy winter because you live in Pittsburgh.
And, unless you were sledding down hills taller than 10 story buildings, there is no difference between sledding in Pittsburgh and the Twin Cities. I somehow managed to go sledding where I grew up, just not on streets toward four way intersections.
As someone else already asked, how often do people really do these winter activities? So people regularly come home from work and then go nordic skiing or go to some ski jump in the evening? When it's about 10 degrees outside? Really?
And I really am curious, how do kids go sled-riding on flat land? Being a hill-billy all my life, it's not something that I've ever even thought about.
I keep saying this, but the weather is a big factor in Minneapolis. People can downplay, but if Minneapolis was located in a climatic zone of at least 20F warmer, it would be much bigger.
I had a student from Minnesota. She said that the winters were bearable (or at least she could deal with it), but that the summers were just as hot as states in the South. She said that if the summers were comfortable like the Pacific NW, she would have been able to deal with the winters.
As of right now, it's 80F in Minneapolis and 83F in Atlanta. Not much of a difference...
My wife and I say that we will be able to handle the winters (after all, it gets fairly cold where we live right now), but we may grow tired of the weather after a few years.
As someone else already asked, how often do people really do these winter activities? So people regularly come home from work and then go nordic skiing or go to some ski jump in the evening? When it's about 10 degrees outside? Really?
And I really am curious, how do kids go sled-riding on flat land? Being a hill-billy all my life, it's not something that I've ever even thought about.
First of all, there are plenty of hills in the Twin Cities on which kids sled, and it's not on flat land. If the elevation change is too steep or the hill too large, it would be dangerous to sled down anyways. Sledding hills aren't very large, and the Twin Cities have an abundance of them. It isn't completely flat, as there are three major rivers that cause lots of elevation change.
Second of all, I already answered your first question. Did you see my post? You clearly saw the post I quoted.
"Otherwise, when it comes to general winter recreation, yes, many people in Minneapolis ski, primarily cross country ski. Of course, the majority don't, just like any city anywhere. But, most people who care about physical fitness in the Twin Cities (which is a large population, considering Minneapolis is one of the most physically fit cities in the country) choose to cross country ski in the winter rather than run or bike. They don't go to resorts to do this, they go to professionally groomed trails (some cost money, most don't) in city parks, regional parks, golf courses, park reserves, etc.
Cross country skiing is so prevalent in the Twin Cities that several private parks and golf courses (such as the Three Rivers Park District) use snow making technology to cover miles of trails every morning, and charge fees for daily and season passes. I ski on a daily basis in the winter, and I see people of all ages, races, genders, family sizes, etc., skiing every single day. This past winter was warmer than usual, so there wasn't always a ton of snow, however, after every snowfall, Hyland Park Reserve in Bloomington would be so packed that there would be traffic to get there, and the ski trails were jammed full of people. Also, cross country skiing is profitable profitable enough that the government jumps in, and the DNR charges everyone over the age of 16 a Minnesota cross country ski license (just like hunting) to be able to legally ski on public land. As does the city of Minneapolis, and as I said, it is profitable enough for the city that it grooms and makes artificial snow for not only Theodore Wirth Park (the largest park in the city, parts of which are also a high difficulty world-class race course), but grooms permanent trails on the frozen lakes in the city (Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles. and Lake Calhoun).
Many people in the Twin Cities ski on more than a weekly basis, as is evident by the number of private and public entities that make money off of the sport. It is not something that people go out and do once or twice per winter (there are exceptions, or course), but do consistently throughout the entire winter, as no matter where you live in the core cities or the suburbs, there are groomed trails close by. Nearly every single high school in the metro area has a Nordic Ski team, and these high school teams graduate some of the most talented skiers in the continent and the world."
I don't have raw numbers, but if you came here in the winter and visited any of the 347.9 miles of cross country ski trails spread throughout the metro, you would see that a lot of people do ski on a regular basis. The Nordic skiing population in the winter roughly (though slightly less) balances out with the running population from the spring, summer, and fall.
I had a student from Minnesota. She said that the winters were bearable (or at least she could deal with it), but that the summers were just as hot as states in the South. She said that if the summers were comfortable like the Pacific NW, she would have been able to deal with the winters.
As of right now, it's 80F in Minneapolis and 83F in Atlanta. Not much of a difference...
My wife and I say that we will be able to handle the winters (after all, it gets fairly cold where we live right now), but we may grow tired of the weather after a few years.
I spent 1 year in Minneapolis, I would describe it as a "cold" summer even though it wasn't cold per se, just not warm. I think it hit 90 maybe once or twice, and had quite a bit of 70 degree days which for me is fairly cold
Either way, regardless of what she told you, the Minneapolis city comes alive in the summer and dies in the winter. In the corporate world, they even instituted (from Memorial day to Labor Day) "Summer Hours" which meant you could leave at noon (!!!) on Friday to take advantage of the great weather. There is a definite sense in Minneapolis to take advantage of the summer before it leaves, it's definitely the limiting quantity there with winter being the one everyone could do less of.
I am actually considering both of these cities for my next home. My salary would be similar in both cities. Based on my research, it looks like taxes and housing would be cheaper in Pittsburgh over the Twin Cities. Does this sound right?
Do you ever feel secluded living in Minneapolis? It's a large city, but it's far from huge cities like NY or Boston. Pittsburgh is a lot closer to larger cities.
I generally prefer living in small or medium sized cities, so I'm wondering if Pittsburgh might be the best place for me.
Again, I'm not going to slag on Minneapolis, but even though housing costs have risen here in Pittsburgh, you can buy so much more house for your money out here. If Minneapolis paid you more, I'd say go there, but at the same salary I think there's no contest that you'll live better in Pittsburgh.
If you gave me particulars about what you'd be interested in (rent, buy, housing age, price range, etc) I'd give you more tips, but for now I'll leave it at that.
Again, I'm not going to slag on Minneapolis, but even though housing costs have risen here in Pittsburgh, you can buy so much more house for your money out here. If Minneapolis paid you more, I'd say go there, but at the same salary I think there's no contest that you'll live better in Pittsburgh.
If you gave me particulars about what you'd be interested in (rent, buy, housing age, price range, etc) I'd give you more tips, but for now I'll leave it at that.
I would probably be renting for a little bit.
The wife and I have always wanted a log cabin.
I'm sure we could find land maybe 45min-1hr outside of Minneapolis to build, but what about Pittsburgh? Would a log cabin look out of place outside of Pittsburgh (maybe off the highway going towards Butler or somewhere else?)?
I'm sure we could find land maybe 45min-1hr outside of Minneapolis to build, but what about Pittsburgh? Would a log cabin look out of place outside of Pittsburgh (maybe off the highway going towards Butler or somewhere else?)?
Not really. There's log cabins scattered about. My wife's parents live next door to one.
I think it's obvious that Lou is a Minneapolis poster that is trying to denigrate Pitt by finding the most dumpy regions in Pitts and posting them as shining examples of "old-school" housing and neighborhoods.
Most dumpy? This house is two blocks from there: 5136 Holmes Street, Lawrenceville, PA, 15201 | Lawrenceville Real Estate
325k is a pretty high price for the Pittsburgh area, I assure you. I guess it's good to live in the most dumpy neighborhood. Perhaps you're a little out of touch, living in Bel Air?
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