Pittsburgh vs. Minneapolis (Edgewood, Oakland: power lines, rent, home)

[Tiger Beer]

Each person is different, but when I left Minneapolis, I moved to Portland, Oregon. I was absolutely in HEAVEN not dealing with incredibly brutal winters. Portland was cloudy and rained a lot, but I quickly took it over six months of brutal winds and brutal cold. I mean in Minnesota, you feel like your ears and cheeks will fall off, and your fingers will freeze if you don't have every skin part covered all the time. When I moved to cloudy/rainy Oregon, that ceased to exist.

Additionally, I not so fondly recall winters in MPLS have sunsets at 4:30pm and sunrises were bad as well...so most of my Minnesota winters (I suffered through two of them there), I worked 9-5, and felt like I was in perpetual darkness with NO SUN at all. Felt like.

Basically, what I'm saying is I really think weather is an issue if someone is relocating from a better climate to Pittsburgh, and a pretty much non-issue if they are relocating from a worse climate. When a person comes from the Upper Midwest, especially Minnesota, pretty much anywhere they go will be a massive weather improvement comparitively.

[nuwaver88]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

I really get sick of that "Everywheres better than Pittsburgh" BS that so many homers on here continuously spout but can never put up vital facts of how these other cities are sooo much better....It really gets annoying

The reason why they just blurt out statements without facts is that we will be able to match them pound for pound with Pittsburgh's attributes. For example, yes it is cold, wet, and dreary here in the winter. So what? It was a dry summer, yet there was no drought threat due to ample ground water due to our previous cold, wet and dreary winter.

[rhondee]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

Whattttttt what are you talking about....You make it sound like Minneapolis St Paul is NYC to Pittsburgh....Please...What's not here that's in MSP?

From what I'm told the 2 cities are very comparable...

Here we go with that Pittsburgh Pessimistic Attitude??? Everywhere's better than here! UGH!

I agree Blackbeauty 212, Pittsburgh seems to always get minimized but to put an accurate comparison between the 2 areas:

MSP ( msa) has approx 1/2 mill more people than the Pittsburgh msa, so MSP does have a bigger population.

However...

Pittsburgh still has much in the way of amenities since many of it's institutions were founded/built when the city population was double its current size.
In essence, you get the best of both worlds. Bigger city amenities with a smaller city comfort and affordability.

[BrianTH]

My personal impression of Minneapolis-St Paul is that it is comparable to Pittsburgh in terms of urban amenities, and I certainly didn't get the impression it had twice as many. Personally, the biggest difference is that MSP feels a lot newer to me than Pittsburgh (overall).

Anyway, I don't think people in Pittsburgh are hostile to newcomers, but in some areas they aren't accustomed to having a lot of them around. I think your best bet is to look in the "East End", where many of the hospitals and universities are located, because that area has lots of transplants (often mixed with old-school Pittsburghers, but that can be fun). Some of the neighborhoods suggested above--Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, Friendship, and Polish Hill--should be fine, as would be some of the neighborhoods in the Regent Square area (where we--a transplant couple--live).

[slamont61]

In my opinion MSP seems much bigger than Pittsburgh, at least traffic wise. While the burgh has it's traffic volume areas and typical rush hour stuff, it isn't on par with MSP. That one is a good trade off.

The neighborhoods in Pittsburgh have a real personality each one a bit different from the next. You will like it if you do chose to re-locate.

The Winter while somewhat gray isn't even remotely close to what you experience in Minnesota. In reality I minded the Pittsburgh winter more because it doesn't get below freezing and stay that way, it gets slushy and messy all winter long. No one can get used to the colder temps when it doesn't stay cold.

[mngirl66]

Thanks for all the input guys! I looked into the Bloomfield/Friendship/Lawrenceville area a little more & I like it a lot.

& as for the weather, I'll gladly take slightly warmer temps & sloppy snow vs. freezing cold dry air & crunchy solid snow. loved it as a kid, but I can't handle it anymore. it's already in the fifties & forties here & losing several minutes of daylight a day & I'm already feeling bummed out.

From what I can tell, the neighborhoods in Pittsburgh are a lot more charming than anything here. it seems like they're almost mini cities within the city with their own shops & different character. I love that. I currently live in pretty much the only neighborhood that has that in St. Paul/Minneap (Highland Park for anyone who knows the area).

I was just perusing the picture thread on here & it seems like a lovely place

Thanks again for all the help!

[BrianTH]

No problem. And I think your impression about the neighborhoods having their own vibe, and often own local commercial scene, is correct, and one of our top attractions.

[Blackbeauty212]

Pittsburgh is definitely unique - in the fact that it's a city Built on its neighborhoods.....Pittsburgh's pulse is not 100% concentrated within Downtown like many cities...Not sure if MSP is this way or not....

Some people love it other hate it, because to them everything is suppose to be at a central point and not so scattered and distributed throughout the city, and to many it makes the Burgh seem like it offers less because of what's lacking Downtown...

I guess Pittsburgh is laid out NYC in a way if you think about it...Think of Pittsburgh proper as Manhattan the entire city is a Downtown were the activity/culture/pulse is all over and about the various neighborhoods, and the rest of Allegheny County is the NYC Boroughs of sort...best way i can describe it...

To me I love this lay out, I'd rather have a city where neighborhoods are vibrant and bustling with character and amenities, rather than having to go Downtown or live Downtown for any sort of urban life experience....

[mngirl66]

Yeah, I think the Twin Cities relies a lot on it's downtowns, more Minneapolis than St. Paul. It gets a little annoying. I like the whole unique vibe of the individual neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. Is Pittsburgh's downtown not really like other cities then? Just more of a business center?

[Blackbeauty212]

Exactly - but it is changing...The Cultural District (Penn Liberty Avs) does have a Pulse into the later hours....During the daytime hours Downtown Pittsburgh has a Manhattan feel with all of the students and office workers bustling about, take a notice say around 12noon-1pm its really alive with activity.....

After 7pm most of it starts to really become quiet....because it was tradition for people to do all of their shopping and "living" in their Neighborhoods not downtown....So it was like after the business day there's this mass exodus of Downtown and the Neighborhoods come alive in sense.

Again as they focus on getting more people living downtown it will become more of a neighborhood rather than just a CBD but its a work in progress.