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Pittsburgh is quite a bit ahead of the rest, which are more or less equal (but pretty different).
Lmao no it isn't, and I'm a huge Pittsburgh fan. All of these cities are same stature, who you have ahead or behind is a matter of preference but little separates these cities. Only one I haven't been to is Denver...
There isn't a weak skyline or downtown or core in this group of cities, so there is no Pittsburgh separation there...
You can find great dining options in every large city. You don't hear about Charlotte alot in this arena but I lived there and personally think it's really underrated when it comes to high end, luxury dining...
Baltimore is more walkable and uniformly urban than Pittsburgh, which has stairs all over the place lol. Is it more walkable to be able to walk in a straight line or have to walk up and down stairs everywhere?
Pittsburgh can be argued to have the worst transit infrastructure in this group, though I'd say none are bad by any stretch, so I'm saying that within context...
Pittsburgh does not have good traffic, it's the only major city I've been to that has two lane interstates within the city. Not quite as congested as other places but definitely not a beacon of positive traffic, and let's not talk about condition of the roads, which leads back to transportation infrastructure...
Pittsburgh is a significantly more violent city than Denver or Charlotte...
I think all of these cities have great shopping, this is another area you dont hear about Charlotte as much but it is unassumingly strong here...
It can certainly be argued Denver is greater for recreational opportunities...
Livability depends on what you value...
To make myself really clear, I'm only giving pushback to the idea Pittsburgh is "quite a bit ahead of the rest". I love Pittsburgh and definitely think its arguably the greatest city of its size in the nation, but it's only arguable. It isn't dominating the cities mentioned here though, by any stretch of the imagination...
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Which one has the "best" downtown - I like Denver's downtown. It's come a long way from a fairly average downtown to a pretty vibrant and rapidly developing one in a short amount of time. I like the breweries, LoDo, the new Union Station development, Confluence Park, and a lot of new infill development. Inner Harbor in Baltimore would be my next choice, then Pittsburgh, Charlotte's Uptown is clean with a great skyline but overall feels like a corporate financial district.
Skyline/Architecture - Pittsburgh has my favorite skyline out of the bunch. Baltimore has the best historic architecture. Charlotte has the most modern edgy skyline..
Food Options Baltimore, Maryland Crab and Little Italy puts me in my happy place.
Walkability - Baltimore and Pittsburgh have an edge being historic legacy cities. I think Denver does well here too, it has a very walkable downtown core and surrounding neighborhoods and lots of bike trails and quality parks all over the city.
Transportation - Baltimore has the most well developed system with its combination of Commuter Rail, a heavy rail metro line, light rail, and inter city rail connections on the Bos-Wash corridors. Denver does well at funneling suburban commuter lines into downtown, but not much intra-city rail transit to connect all the neighborhoods around town. Charlotte has surprisingly come a long way with light rail given the sprawly suburban lay out of the land. Seems like a TOD focused development with future dense urban development to come around the stations. Pittsburgh has a subway tunnel downtown for light rail but seems like an underserved city with rail especially east of downtown.
Traffic - Please name me a city where people aren't complaining about this, I've yet to see one.
Shopping - Denver comes to mind because its the largest hub of commerce in the mountain states that its the center of gravity for a lot of retail.
Safety - Overall feeling is Denver.
Recreational activities - Denver can arguably lead being right at the foot of the Rockies, but its not a runaway winner. Some people just can't do landlocked and would prefer Baltimore's coastal location on the Bay. Being an outdoors enthusiast I've always appreciated the outdoorsmanship mindset of Denver and Colorado overall and it has lots of sunny days. My favorite mountain areas of Colorado were not the crowded I-70 options but six hours away from Denver in the San Juan range (Durango/Telluride). Charlotte has nice mountain areas close by and not too distant from the Carolina coast.
General livability- Subjective, they all offer nice qualities.
The Denver downtown doesn't do much for me but the residential area around Washington Park and the Univ of Denver walkable to light rail is a really nice place to live.
Skyline/Architecture - Pittsburgh for architecture, Denver for size
Food Options - I'm sure they all have great and plentiful options
Walkability - Going off of walk score: Baltimore has the best walkability, Pittsburgh has the best transit, and Denver has the best bike score. Charlotte seems to fall behind the rest
Transportation - Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Denver are fairly even
Traffic - I've only been to Denver and Charlotte, Denver's traffic seemed worse
Shopping - No clue, but I'm sure you could find what you're looking for in any of them
Safety - Denver/Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Baltimore
Recreational activities - Baltimore/Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Denver. I personally based this on unique things to do.
General livability - I guess this depends on what type of lifestyle you're after.
Miscellaneous - Denver and Charlotte are changing rapidly, while the other two are pretty well established. Denver has successfully developed LoDo/Union Station, and is creating new neighborhoods adjacent to downtown. It would be interesting to see this comparison in 5-10 years
Skyline/Architecture: Pittsburgh
Food Options: Denver
Walkability: Pittsburgh
Transportation: Baltimore
Traffic: eh, the least possibly Charlotte, but they all have similar traffic issues.
Shopping: Denver
Safety: Charlotte
Recreational activities: Denver
General livability: Pittsburgh for lowest cost of living
Miscellaneous: I would select Denver or Pittsburgh out of this list. Denver is getting pricey though, so Pittsburgh is tops out of these 4 cities.
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