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quality of life- Pittsburgh. Based on the fact that Pittsburgh has more safe, affordable and even walkable city neighborhoods, and a couple of decent public schools. Beyond elementary school, Richmond has two good magnets and zero good neighborhood schools. A decent amount of crime seeps into the nice city neighborhoods, as well.
economy- Richmond's economy is more diverse and growing faster, but on an absolute level, Pittsburgh has more jobs. I think I might give the slight nod to Richmond, but it's a virtual tie.
nightlife- Pittsburgh has more. Richmond has better
scenery- Tie. Richmond's prettiest neighborhoods are prettier than Pittsburgh's, and Pittsburgh's ugliest neighborhoods are hideous, but Pittsburgh's topography is better.
Edited to add: Richmond is more diverse and is a better food city. As far as suburbs go, Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover Counties >>> Allegheny (minus the city), Westmoreland and Butler Counties. Anything beyond those counties isn't a legit suburb of either city.
When I was on 376 looking north towards downtown Pittsburgh, I was reminded of looking towards downtown Richmond from the Downtown Expressway. Also their were a number of gritty, industrial areas I saw in Pittsburgh that were reminiscent of those in Richmond (thinking Scott's Addition, Manchester here), and some of the hilly terrain in is reminiscent, though Pittsburgh is far more hilly. I have no disagreements with your analysis. Have you noticed any resemblances in the urban landscapes of Pittsburgh and Richmond?
When I was on 376 looking north towards downtown Pittsburgh, I was reminded of looking towards downtown Richmond from the Downtown Expressway. Also their were a number of gritty, industrial areas I saw in Pittsburgh that were reminiscent of those in Richmond (thinking Scott's Addition, Manchester here), and some of the hilly terrain in is reminiscent, though Pittsburgh is far more hilly. I have no disagreements with your analysis. Have you noticed any resemblances in the urban landscapes of Pittsburgh and Richmond?
There are a lot of similarities between the two cities, especially the neighborhood you named. Pittsburgh also has a neighborhood called Manchester which bears a lot of similarities to Jackson Ward. Oregon Hill also has that Appalacian urban quality that you find in Pittsburgh. I’m willing to venture that the cities were a lot more similar back in the trolley days.
People love to talk about how midwestern Pittsburgh is, but I see it as an amalgam of Richmond, Baltimore, and Philly.
There are a lot of similarities between the two cities, especially the neighborhood you named. Pittsburgh also has a neighborhood called Manchester which bears a lot of similarities to Jackson Ward. Oregon Hill also has that Appalacian urban quality that you find in Pittsburgh. I’m willing to venture that the cities were a lot more similar back in the trolley days.
People love to talk about how midwestern Pittsburgh is, but I see it as an amalgam of Richmond, Baltimore, and Philly.
Same here, I don't get a "Midwest" vibe in Pittsburgh. It's not coastal so I think people take that and liken it to Midwestern. I'd heard a lot about Pittsburgh and Cleveland being similar bit the immediate thing that struck me when going to Cleveland was Buffalo (and Rochester); those cities seem more internally similar to Cleveland than Pittsburgh. Though I would say Pittsburgh has Great Lake Midwest influences, so I guess that's what people mean and misspeakon it lol...
I think a similar play is how people describe Richmond as "undoubtedly" southern. Richmond is a smaller version of DC and Baltimore. Richmond can never be completely um-southern and noticeable traces of the South are around, but the most southern aspect of Richmond is its history...
Same here, I don't get a "Midwest" vibe in Pittsburgh. It's not coastal so I think people take that and liken it to Midwestern. I'd heard a lot about Pittsburgh and Cleveland being similar bit the immediate thing that struck me when going to Cleveland was Buffalo (and Rochester); those cities seem more internally similar to Cleveland than Pittsburgh. Though I would say Pittsburgh has Great Lake Midwest influences, so I guess that's what people mean and misspeakon it lol...
I think a similar play is how people describe Richmond as "undoubtedly" southern. Richmond is a smaller version of DC and Baltimore. Richmond can never be completely um-southern and noticeable traces of the South are around, but the most southern aspect of Richmond is its history...
I do believe that Richmond is undoubtably Southern, but it’s southern in the way the Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans are Southern. To a lesser degree, Baltimore. I’ve never been to Birmingham, but I suspect that it is similar.
To me, Pittsburgh is far more similar to Baltimore and Philadelphia then it is to Cleveland, Milwaukee or any other midwestern city. I would argue that it’s not even that similar to Buffalo, the other not-quite-East-Coast Northeastern city. I think people just have a real problem acknowledging that the Northeast extends more than 200 miles inland, or they try to compare Pittsburgh to cities with four-to-twelve times the population.
Why is Richmond's economy better than Pittsburgh's?
Richmond has a very diverse economy and solid job growth, year over year. [source] (employment growth rate from January to June of 2017). Pittsburgh has a strong innovative sector powered by top universities while Richmond is only now beginning to expand its tech sector. While Pittsburgh's economy has completely transformed, that growth has not necessarily translated into new jobs, rising incomes or population growth. Richmond has seen steady gains with an economy, largely rooted in legal, medicine, and finance, benefiting from favorable costs of doing business and laws that are attractive for corporate expansion. Richmond may be small, but hosts eight F500 companies, several homegrown and several the result of merger/relocations.
On the whole, Pittsburgh is a larger city and metro area that has more offerings. But Richmond is coming into its own and has actually been learning from Pittsburgh. FYI, 189 Richmond civic officials and business leaders took a trip to Pittsburgh in April to learn from Pittsburgh leaders. Both have great local culture. Foodwise, Pittsburgh has a chill variety of local and multicultural/heritage cuisine while Richmond blends Mid-Atlantic influences into sophisticated and traditional low country fare. Outdoors are important to both cities yet there is greater access diverse topography in Pittsburgh. I might be one to argue that Central Virginia has a healthier quality of life than Western PA on some metrics. Also, Richmond is smaller but more connected to its neighboring metros than Pittsburgh is to say, Cleveland. In fact, Pittsburgh is more connected to Philly, DC, and even Baltimore than it is to its nearest neighbor, which is pretty interesting.
IMHO, some neighborhood comparisons:
(PGH) East Liberty > Scott's Addition (RVA)
(PGH) Squirrel Hill < The Fan (RVA)
(PGH) Shadyshide > Carytown (RVA)
(PGH) The Strip < Shockoe Bottom + Shockoe Slip (RVA)
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