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I really like Pittsburg, but no way is it on a different level than KC. They are pretty close actually.
Urban KCMO offers a lot. It's not as sprawly as people seem to think. I'm not saying it's chicago or anything, but it can hang with mose mid sized eastern citys.
I have heard good things about KC when I lived in Denver. I heard it has a very good music scene, and a cool historic central core with good Architecture. It is one of the top cities I would like to explore as long as St. Louis. Both of those cities I have driven through a couple of times, but never explored. I feel that it was a stupid thing to do.
I personally can't compare them. However, I would think KC would be a cool inner city with a cool music scene. But very sprawly conservative suburbs with far right winged Christians. Maybe I am wrong on this assessment.
I have heard good things about KC when I lived in Denver. I heard it has a very good music scene, and a cool historic central core with good Architecture. It is one of the top cities I would like to explore as long as St. Louis. Both of those cities I have driven through a couple of times, but never explored. I feel that it was a stupid thing to do.
I personally can't compare them. However, I would think KC would be a cool inner city with a cool music scene. But very sprawly conservative suburbs with far right winged Christians. Maybe I am wrong on this assessment.
Honestly, I think you are wrong about the far right winged stuff. While outstate/rural Missouri and Kansas is like that, the suburbs around KC are not. I would say they are just average suburbs, very similar to those around the DC or Chicago or St Louis areas (other cities I have lived in) and not all that different from the suburbs around Denver. There are some exceptions of course but I think of OKC's suburban areas as being far winged christians, but not KC's. It's not widespread in KC at least. Some of KC's suburbs are VERY white collar with a lot of transplants, asians etc. Overland Park for example is about like Tyson's Corner in DC.
It's too bad Jeff City and Topeka tend to give the states a bad name because KC and StL are pretty different than what goes on at the state level.
Also, I have found Pittsburgh to be more blue collar / redneckish than KC. When you attend a ball game or festival in Pittsburgh that brings a lot of people into the city from the region, you see a pretty interesting spectrum of demographics that is much more blue collar than similar events in KC. That's not a bad thing. Just an observation.
As far as KC vs Pitts. I really think it's a tossup. I think Pitts has the edge on urban core neighborhoods around downtown and has better urban universities, but KC has a more lively central urban core and nicer suburbs and a true full blown college town 30 minutes away. KC has more wide spread ghetto and Pitts is closer to more cities and outdoor recreation, but KC has a better music and arts scene and probably a better economy over the long term.
I could live in either. They are both great and highly underrated cities.
...people who describe it as "Pennsyssippi" or "filled with squirrel-eating mullets" or "like Portland after a nuclear holocaust".
Ironically, those people you speak of are the ignorant ones. I've already detailed the differences between rural western Pennsylvania and whichever your favorite "redneck" punchline might be, whether it's Kentucky, Mississippi or Alabama, but apparently I'll have to keep doing it. So here are some of the main differences:
1. List of things that are higher in rural western Pennsylvania than in Kentucky, Mississippi or Alabama: Income, income growth, high-school graduation rate, percentage of adults with a college degree, and percentage of adults with health insurance.
2. List of things that are lower in rural western Pennsylvania than in Kentucky, Mississippi or Alabama: Poverty rate, obesity rate, drug abuse rate, teen pregnancy rate, and STD rate.
3. In terms of religion, rural western Pennsylvania has a Catholic plurality and more subdued religiosity, while Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama have Protestant pluralities (particularly Baptist), and more obvious religiosity.
4. Many of the smaller towns in rural western Pennsylvania have an industrial background that few (if any) towns of similar size in Kentucky, Mississippi or Alabama had. A few towns in Pennsylvania are mining towns like those all over eastern Kentucky, but that's where the similarities end.
In short, enjoying whiskey, hunting and country music doesn't necessarily make rural western Pennsylvania very similar to Kentucky, Mississippi or Alabama. May the comparisons end once and for all, now that you know the facts.
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Originally Posted by s.davis
I know two people who grew up in Pittsburgh (both now live in Oregon), 3 people that went to college or grad school there, and a former professor who lived in Shadyside.
I should note that a great many people who move to the West from the Northeast or the Midwest seem to be running away from something, which is why I always take what they have to say about their former hometowns with a grain of salt. People who live in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region, and even the coastal South all have a much better idea of what's going on in Pittsburgh these days than those who live 2,000+ miles away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by s.davis
For what its worth, I think KC has better architecture, is a handsomer town (though Pittsburgh has better topography, and Appalachia is my choice for the single most gorgeous region of America), better weather, a funkier, hipper culture, better food, and a better job market.
Pittsburgh actually has a better job market than Kansas City these days. As of April, it's less than 10,000 jobs off its all-time high...
Ironically, those people you speak of are the ignorant ones. I've already
If I recall correctly, Kansas City either lost jobs in 2011, or barely gained any.
I think KC is starting to bounce back nicely now. Normally KC is pretty immune to recessions compared to the rest of the country. It doesn't boom or bust there, but they got hammered this time. It's the reason I work in DC now .
Honestly, I think you are wrong about the far right winged stuff. While outstate/rural Missouri and Kansas is like that, the suburbs around KC are not. I would say they are just average suburbs, very similar to those around the DC or Chicago or St Louis areas (other cities I have lived in) and not all that different from the suburbs around Denver. There are some exceptions of course but I think of OKC's suburban areas as being far winged christians, but not KC's. It's not widespread in KC at least. Some of KC's suburbs are VERY white collar with a lot of transplants, asians etc. Overland Park for example is about like Tyson's Corner in DC.
It's too bad Jeff City and Topeka tend to give the states a bad name because KC and StL are pretty different than what goes on at the state level.
Also, I have found Pittsburgh to be more blue collar / redneckish than KC. When you attend a ball game or festival in Pittsburgh that brings a lot of people into the city from the region, you see a pretty interesting spectrum of demographics that is much more blue collar than similar events in KC. That's not a bad thing. Just an observation.
As far as KC vs Pitts. I really think it's a tossup. I think Pitts has the edge on urban core neighborhoods around downtown and has better urban universities, but KC has a more lively central urban core and nicer suburbs and a true full blown college town 30 minutes away. KC has more wide spread ghetto and Pitts is closer to more cities and outdoor recreation, but KC has a better music and arts scene and probably a better economy over the long term.
I could live in either. They are both great and highly underrated cities.
I was not really stating it as fact, more just expressing what I would assume. I don't know much about KC besides driving through it, and speaking to people from there when I lived in Denver.
I don't disagree about the people outside the Allegheny county area of Pittsburgh. Just look at the local Pittsburgh news' FB page. It brings in the most asinine hillbillies I have ever seen. It is absurd. The city itself isn't that bad.
I was not really stating it as fact, more just expressing what I would assume. I don't know much about KC besides driving through it, and speaking to people from there when I lived in Denver.
I don't disagree about the people outside the Allegheny county area of Pittsburgh. Just look at the local Pittsburgh news' FB page. It brings in the most asinine hillbillies I have ever seen. It is absurd. The city itself isn't that bad.
Allegheny County is fine. Most of what anybody might consider "hicks" live in the outlying counties. That's the price of progress, though. Those who don't appreciate the rebirth of Pittsburgh move out into the outlying counties, and, depending on what kind of narrow-minded person they are, either pretend that their exurb and their quality of life would remain intact even without Pittsburgh and Allegheny County nearby, or settle into the sticks and talk about how "expensive" and "scary" Pittsburgh has become, which is another way of lamenting the increase in rich people and racial minorities in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.
For the record, I like Kansas City. It's one of only about a dozen cities where I wouldn't mind living.
I know three people in KC originally from Pittsburgh, and I have been to Pittsburgh and loved it. The three people I know all say KC and Pittsburgh is the same. I think so to, Pittsburgh felt midwestern to me. Thought Pittsburgh was a beautiful city and I could live there.
Well I had posted a thread comparing these two cities and listed about a dozen criteria to judge by and included a poll, but it was deleted because apparently I am to resurrect this 5+ year old thread which does not include a poll to discuss this topic. I'm not going to re-list the criteria because it took a considerable amount of time and this isn't my thread to introduce my own criteria, but I am wondering what you think about how these two cities stack up against each other in 2015? They both seem to be improving tremendously, and I think each city has its advantages and each has room for improvement.
Well I had posted a thread comparing these two cities and listed about a dozen criteria to judge by and included a poll, but it was deleted because apparently I am to resurrect this 5+ year old thread which does not include a poll to discuss this topic. I'm not going to re-list the criteria because it took a considerable amount of time and this isn't my thread to introduce my own criteria, but I am wondering what you think about how these two cities stack up against each other in 2015? They both seem to be improving tremendously, and I think each city has its advantages and each has room for improvement.
I don't get why the two topics weren't merged. I had a detailed reply too.
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