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I know plenty about Pittsburgh. My parents escaped a dying coal/steel town in the fifties called Brownsville, in Fayette County, part of the Pitt metro designation. They moved to California and took us along, got tired of Cali after 50 years and now live in VA.
I have visited the Burgh on and off my whole life. I have seen the tech marvels transform parts of the city but it is in no way booming with gentrification happening all over the place. It has no significant art or food scene to compare to Richmond. The hipsters are in Bridgeville and the Strip and a few other neighborhoods. The higher learning segments do very well and have provided the city with an escape route from extended blight and deterioration.
So, you're connected to a depressed mill-town, 40 miles outside of the city. Gotcha.
In addition to the The affluent neighborhoods that never went into decline (Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Highland Park, Point Breeze etc), which compare favorably to The Fan and Museum District, Pittsburgh has seen redevelopment and gentrification in:
The Strip
Lawerenceville
East Liberty
Allegheny Center
East Allegheny
Southside Flats
Mexican War Streets
Polish Hill
Garfield
Bridgeville, is an afterthought of a suburb. Next time you're in Pittsburgh take a look at the construction going on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Poquoson7
I have nothing against Pitt but at the end of the day Richmond is WAY ahead in quality of life, climate, accessibility to all things geographically desirable and a diversity of population that Pitt would be hard pressed to match.
What the future holds for both cities is up for debate. What I do know is that Richmond has a vibe of progress and increasing sophistication in all things "good life" and this vibe has evolved organically. What I also know is that Pittsburgh wants to have that same vibe and is TRYING to make it happen but it is just that, TRYING, it's not happening organically for the Burgh.
So.....I guess I did a dissertation anyway....
I quite like Richmond. As I stated in an earlier reply, I've lived in both cities, in the 21st century. There are no more than four years in my life that I haven't visited Richmond. I've been there three times THIS year, alone, so I know where the city has been, and where it is. The part I bolded is completely subjective. Richmond is significantly closer to a beach, and an hour closer to DC (yes, it takes three hours to drive from DC to Richmond. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, or hasn't taken the drive in the last five years), but Pittsburgh is no further away from any of the other Bos-Wash cities than Richmond, 5 hours away from Toronto, and in reasonable driving distance to the Chicago, Detroit and the major Ohio cities,
Pittsburgh has more walkable neighborhoods with amenities. It has MUCH better public transit, and an actual international airport, which Richmond lacks (although PIT isn't all that great). It also has a couple of city neighborhoods where middle-class families are actually willing to send their kids to public school from K-12. It has all of this, with much lower housing costs and crime rates. I don't know what goes into your quality of life equation, but Pittsburgh ranks higher on mine.
Again, I like Richmond, and I think it's underrated.
Last edited by gladhands; 07-26-2016 at 08:05 PM..
It's not growing that fast. Pittsburgh is larger, and it's going to stay just like that for a long time.
Your crystal ball and my crystal ball are in marked disagreement and I'll leave it at that. Not going to get into another mind bending tit for tat with you.
So, you're connected to a depressed mill-town, 40 miles outside of the city. Gotcha.
In addition to the The affluent neighborhoods that never went into decline (Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Highland Park, Point Breeze etc), which compare favorably to The Fan and Museum District, Pittsburgh has seen redevelopment and gentrification in:
The Strip
Lawerenceville
East Liberty
Allegheny Center
East Allegheny
Southside Flats
Mexican War Streets
Polish Hill
Garfield
Bridgeville, is an afterthought of a suburb. Next time you're in Pittsburgh take a look at the construction going on.
I quite like Richmond. As I stated in an earlier reply, I've lived in both cities, in the 21st century. There are no more than four years in my life that I haven't visited Richmond. I've been there three times THIS year, alone, so I know where the city has been, and where it is. The part I bolded is completely subjective. Richmond is significantly closer to a beach, and an hour closer to DC (yes, it takes three hours to drive from DC to Richmond. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying, or hasn't taken the drive in the last five years), but Pittsburgh is no further away from any of the other Bos-Wash cities than Richmond, 5 hours away from Toronto, and in reasonable driving distance to the Chicago, Detroit and the major Ohio cities,
Pittsburgh has more walkable neighborhoods with amenities. It has MUCH better public transit, and an actual international airport, which Richmond lacks (although PIT isn't all that great). It also has a couple of city neighborhoods where middle-class families are actually willing to send their kids to public school from K-12. It has all of this, with much lower housing costs and crime rates. I don't know what goes into your quality of life equation, but Pittsburgh ranks higher on mine.
Again, I like Richmond, and I think it's underrated.
My "depressed mill town" lies with a string of other depressed mill towns that make up the greater Pittsburgh area, it's really glaringly obvious that the region is in decline and has been for decades.
I like physical Pittsburgh but the rest of the Pitt gestalt doesn't move me.
SOPHISTICATION and non- provincialism play into my "quality of life equation", both of which Pittsburgh lacks in relation to Richmond.
Richmond ranks higher for me. We're both convinced that we're correct so basically it's a done deal fellow traveler.....
Last edited by Poquoson7; 07-27-2016 at 01:25 AM..
I know plenty about Pittsburgh. My parents escaped a dying coal/steel town in the fifties called Brownsville, in Fayette County, part of the Pitt metro designation. They moved to California and took us along, got tired of Cali after 50 years and now live in VA.
I have visited the Burgh on and off my whole life. I have seen the tech marvels transform parts of the city but it is in no way booming with gentrification happening all over the place. It has no significant art or food scene to compare to Richmond. The hipsters are in Bridgeville and the Strip and a few other neighborhoods. The higher learning segments do very well and have provided the city with an escape route from extended blight and deterioration.
I have nothing against Pitt but at the end of the day Richmond is WAY ahead in quality of life, climate, accessibility to all things geographically desirable and a diversity of population that Pitt would be hard pressed to match.
What the future holds for both cities is up for debate. What I do know is that Richmond has a vibe of progress and increasing sophistication in all things "good life" and this vibe has evolved organically. What I also know is that Pittsburgh wants to have that same vibe and is TRYING to make it happen but it is just that, TRYING, it's not happening organically for the Burgh.
So.....I guess I did a dissertation anyway....
well I think you've proven with the bolded statements that you don't really know much of anything about Pittsburgh. What does the hipster comment have to do with anything? BTW, those are not hipster neighborhoods, and Bridgeville isn't even in the city or even very close.. how did you get that information - are you just repeating what someone else told you? I don't see how anybody could visit those two areas and think they are "hipster".
As for Richmond, you may be a little delusional - I don't think it's very high on anybody's list of sophisticated cities. and compared to Pittsburgh, it is lacking in what most people consider sophisticated cultural experiences (museums, symphony, opera, ballet, theater, etc). That's very understandable due to Richmond's smaller size, but it is the state capital which should help.
Also, why believe Richmond is the better food city, let's not act like Pittsburgh pales in comparison to. It's a good food city and getting better, And the nation is paying attention.
To address the population thing, Pittsburgh had almost no new construction prior to 2014. It's revitalization involved single and dual income childless people displacing larger families. The city has one of the fastest-growing millennial populations in the country. Now that new apartment and condo construction has begun, new residence won't have to displace old residence and you will see a real population growth.
This talk of sophistication seems arbitrary. I think this is a case of someone who's perspective on Pittsburgh is based on blue-collar relatives in the far-flung fringes of the MSA.
Also, why believe Richmond is the better food city, let's not act like Pittsburgh pales in comparison to. It's a good food city and getting better, And the nation is paying attention.
To address the population thing, Pittsburgh had almost no new construction prior to 2014. It's revitalization involved single and dual income childless people displacing larger families. The city has one of the fastest-growing millennial populations in the country. Now that new apartment and condo construction has begun, new residence won't have to displace old residence and you will see a real population growth.
This talk of sophistication seems arbitrary. I think this is a case of someone who's perspective on Pittsburgh is based on blue-collar relatives in the far-flung fringes of the MSA.
There's way too much trivialization of the accomplishments of both of these cities of late, but it does open the door to to an interesting discussion about the regions' trajectories. Pittsburgh itself is experiencing and perhaps leading the phenomenon taking hold in many of the nation's post-industrial, rust belt cities (Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, etc). It's becoming a leaner, meaner innovation center, leveraging its top universities and burgeoning tech community to become a better place to live despite empirical losses in population and an aging metro outside the core. There is no denying that millennials are pouring into the core, but the numbers haven't caught up with out-migration just yet. It is a renaissance that will likely be followed by clear growth once in-bound migration catches up with existing population dynamics in the region. Between 2010 and 2015, Pittsburgh city had a loss of about 1k while its metro ebbed and flowed to a loss of roughly 3k. At the same time, the city has seen lots of investment and revitalization.
On a different note, cities like Richmond (and Louisville, and Boulder, etc.) are starting to get noticed and appreciated for their quality of life. Millennials are starting to realize they can experience similar access to amenities in mid-size metros in good locations as opposed to the larger, more expensive cities nearby. This, in conjunction with job growth is fueling its own renaissance of sorts. Richmond has experienced tremendous revitalization in its core. But in comparison to the sun belt, the growth is more organic. Between 2010 and 2015, Richmond city's tiny borders added about 16k and its metro added a little over 63k. That's pretty good considering its size, and indications are that growth is actually accelerating.
Both Richmond and Pittsburgh rank highly as destinations for millennials right now. (link 1 | link 2)
As for sophistication, as I posted in another thread, Richmond is underrated.
Your crystal ball and my crystal ball are in marked disagreement and I'll leave it at that. Not going to get into another mind bending tit for tat with you.
No crystal ball. Just facts. Richmond is smaller, and won't be passing Pittsburgh in importance or population soon. When it does, you can let us all know.
My "depressed mill town" lies with a string of other depressed mill towns that make up the greater Pittsburgh area, it's really glaringly obvious that the region is in decline and has been for decades.
I like physical Pittsburgh but the rest of the Pitt gestalt doesn't move me.
SOPHISTICATION and non- provincialism play into my "quality of life equation", both of which Pittsburgh lacks in relation to Richmond.
Richmond ranks higher for me. We're both convinced that we're correct so basically it's a done deal fellow traveler.....
You really have no idea what you're talking about. It's not 1980 anymore.
You really have no idea what you're talking about. It's not 1980 anymore.
If it was, Richmond with sucked too. The two cities are very similar. Well Richmond was never as heavily industrial, it did see major decline in the 70s, 80s and 90s. At one point, it had the highest per capita murder rate in the country. Richmond rebuilt itself, and has become a hip, cosmopolitan city with a bright future. It deserves every bit of good press that it gets. I think people don't have that much of a negative impression of the cities past because it wasn't on the radar. people are stuck with their impression of Pittsburgh from 20-30 years ago, whereas they had no impression of Richmond to begin with.
well I think you've proven with the bolded statements that you don't really know much of anything about Pittsburgh. What does the hipster comment have to do with anything? BTW, those are not hipster neighborhoods, and Bridgeville isn't even in the city or even very close.. how did you get that information - are you just repeating what someone else told you? I don't see how anybody could visit those two areas and think they are "hipster".
As for Richmond, you may be a little delusional - I don't think it's very high on anybody's list of sophisticated cities. and compared to Pittsburgh, it is lacking in what most people consider sophisticated cultural experiences (museums, symphony, opera, ballet, theater, etc). That's very understandable due to Richmond's smaller size, but it is the state capital which should help.
Why yes, I constantly repeat what someone else tells me, is there any other way?
Oh, you nabbed me on my delusions as well, dang.
Richmond has museums , symphony, opera, ballet, theatre etc....btw, check out VMFA i.e. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, very highly rated everywhere, largest Faberge Egg collection in the world outside Russia...whoa you say, an egg collection? Google it dude, along with the rest of RVA because you don't know much of what you speak.
Have you been to Richmond Buster or did you just touch it with your tires while driving the 95?
If you haven't been to Richmond please visit and get back to me and the others around here. The others might not be waiting with baited breath but I will.
peace out....
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well I think you've proven with the bolded statements that you don't really know much of anything about Pittsburgh. What does the hipster comment have to do with anything? BTW, those are not hipster neighborhoods, and Bridgeville isn't even in the city or even very close.. how did you get that information - are you just repeating what someone else told you? I don't see how anybody could visit those two areas and think they are "hipster".
