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My wife and I are seriously considering making a move to Pittsburgh from the DC Suburbs (Arlington).
We've read through quite a few of the threads here on Mt Lebo, USC, Peters, etc -and we're pretty excited about those three areas for now - and all of the commentary has been extremely helpful.
We're interested in hearing from some folks who have relocated from the DC suburbs to any of those three areas of Pittsburgh (USC, Mt. Lebo, Peters).
Just looking for any thoughts/comparisons/pros-cons vs DC area schools, healthcare, amenities, weather, friendliness, etc...
I'll just do a list on what I think is better or worse based on the few things you offered. BTW I've never lived in Pittsburgh, but been there enough and know somethings so I'll do my best.
Schools- I would say what you would find here and the DC suburbs (bases on the areas you are looking at around here) the schools will be comparable, maybe slightly better here since school districts here don't have to spend $ on ESL students as I imagine districts in DC have to do so that will mean more money for the regular classes.
Healthcare- Don't know much about health care in DC but we West Penn Allegheny and UPMC are the two major hospital systems in the area and the both have high quality services.
Weather- Pittsburgh definitely. We don't get the humidity in the summer as badly, a day in the 70's in July actually happens here, we have much more of a winter (if that's your thing; I love winter), and are snowier. We may be cloudy but you really won't notice or care from March-Sept. Your kids won't get snowdays like they do in DC.
Friendliness- Pittsburgh for sure. I've talked to many people form NOVA and DC and one of the things they say they miss the most is the sense of community and friendliness of neighbors that you can find in Pittsburgh.
Amenities- You won't find the things you can in DC here but we have many great ones with our park system, Carnegie museums, art galleries, Warhol Museum, Cultural District, and the Pittsburgh sympathony. And no one can come close to the view on Mt. Washington!
Schools - from what I've heard, Mount Lebanon and Upper St. Clair are the top rated districts in the state. But here's the problem of PA schools vs. DC area. I know MD's districts are designed at the county level and I'm assuming VA is similar as well. In PA however, school districts are designed not at the county level but by a bunch of clusters of municipalities who rely heavily on property taxes. The state has 500 school districts, which means a lot of $$ to fund administrative costs. So essentially you will have differences between school districts in terms of funding, resources, and educational quality based on their community tax base. It really is a mess and will save the state and taxpayers $$ if they just combine school districts (not buildings, but school boards and cut out a lot of admin. costs for superintendents). The same goes to municipal taxes, too. PA has tons of municipalities with less than 5,000 people, which often results in duplicated services such as fire dept, police, admin. costs, etc.
Higher Education - The Pittsburgh area boosts excellent colleges/universities such as Carnegie Mellon and the Univ. of Pittsburgh. Of course the DC area has way more schools, but you won't be disappointed with these Pgh area institutions.
Healthcare - The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is nationally recognized and offers plenty of career opportunities in the health field. West Penn Allegheny as well.
Weather - I think Pittsburgh is about 3-5 degrees cooler than DC on average. Sometimes the gap is a little more but it's not like you are moving to Alaska. It rains about the same but Pgh usually won't experience the effects of tropical storms brewing up the East Coast like DC, Philly, and NYC does. Summers are usually in the 80s. July temps can often hover around 90 but not like DC, which often hits 95. You can enjoy the outdoors pretty comfortably here and won't have to worry about extreme heat (sometimes it will get really hot). Fall and Spring are mild (again slightly cooler than DC). Winter in Pgh is much snowier than DC but it usually won't affect travel (occassionally we can experience heavy snow). The snow usually melts pretty quickly. As far as sunshine vs. overcast, DC and Pittsburgh are about the same from April-November. Like DC, clouds come and go. Like DC, you can wake up to clear blue skies in the morning and then overcast late afternoon and vice-versa. November-March are a little different. Expect to see overcast skies with no sunshine for at least 4-5 consecutive days or more in a week before the clouds clear for some sun. Your average Jan week will have only a couple days of sunshine while the rest of the week is overcast. Not gray overcast, but more like a white casting in the sky. You get plenty of those in DC as well but you will have more of then during winter in Pittsburgh. Other than that, I really can't see you depressed with the weather here.
Friendliness - It's a toss-up. Viriginia is a pretty friendly state but it's hard to compare that to Pittsburgh. They are similar. It's not like you're comparing it to NYC.
Amenities - There's plenty of neighborhoods with plenty of things going on. South Side has a ton of bars, museums are found throughout the city, great place to go to football, ice hockey, and baseball games. When it's warm you can go kayaking on the rivers. Mt. Washington offers some of the most striking views of the Pittsburgh skyline. This city was built for 600,000 people, but now with half the population it use to, you receive the benefits of less congestion to get into these places. There's buses running throughout the city and Allegheny County daily so you don't always have to drive. The downside of the transportation here are PA roads (the worst in the country!!)
Schools - from what I've heard, Mount Lebanon and Upper St. Clair are the top rated districts in the state. But here's the problem of PA schools vs. DC area. I know MD's districts are designed at the county level and I'm assuming VA is similar as well. In PA however, school districts are designed not at the county level but by a bunch of clusters of municipalities who rely heavily on property taxes. The state has 500 school districts, which means a lot of $$ to fund administrative costs. So essentially you will have differences between school districts in terms of funding, resources, and educational quality based on their community tax base. It really is a mess and will save the state and taxpayers $$ if they just combine school districts (not buildings, but school boards and cut out a lot of admin. costs for superintendents).
I moved here early this year from MD and the following things popped out at me:
The bad:
1) Wow, the roads suck. They are curvy. The intersections are bizarre. There are a lot of unwritten traffic rules at these weird intersections fabricated and known only to those people that have been driving them for 20 years, yet they will yell out their window if you don't follow them. The street names often aren't marked. There's potholes everywhere. Yinzers haven't heard of a shoulder, or a merge lane. The rare straight road will change names every 1/2 mile, yet you may make several turns at intersections and still be on the same road. Oh yeah, the construction never ends. There's always cones and signs laying all over the place, and a detour will spring up just when you really need to be somewhere (and of course, there is no notice until you have already committed to the route)... nothing like MD where they do construction at night and pick it all up again by morning! The upside, if there is any, is that there are less people overall on the roads, so if you manage to figure out your little part of town, you will be getting places a little faster than Arlington (assuming a random detour hasn't popped up).
2) There are hardly any minorities or foreigners. I didn't think this was a big deal to me when I moved here, but I have eaten at several "Mexican" restaurants and most ranked barely higher than "revolting" in my book. I hope you like pierogies, sausage, and big sloppy subs, cause that's pretty much all there is to eat around here. I have found some decent Thai, but I had to do some decent hunting to find it.
3) People may be friendlier around here, but you have to hold up your end of the bargain - promptly place a Virgin Mary statue and Steelers flag in your yard.. and don't get caught outside doing something else during a pittsburgh sporting event (pirates are an exception).
4) There's a lot of old people here. Not really BAD but it isn't exactly exciting to younger folks either.
5) Stuff is old. Again, I am undecided if this is BAD. There are plenty of old neighborhoods that look dumpy at first glance that are full of perfectly normal middle class families. But, it's definitely a change from MD where old neighborhood = crime.
The good:
1) Regular people like to hang around downtown. Not just people who live in the ghetto. (Sorry, I am from Baltimore)
2) You can go from urban to rural seclusion QUICKLY.
3) The weather has been amazing so far this year.
4) The waterways are less commercialized. I first noticed the lack of riverfront restaurants and clubs, but was pleasantly surprised at the bike path, kayak rentals, and other more nature-oriented activities.
5) With all the hills, walking the dog will give you some sexy calves.
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