Pittsburgh #4 Best Places For Babies (Washington, Carnegie: to live, bill, estimates)

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Right, but I think there is ample evidence the coverage surrounding the G20 helped to create a permanent shift in the way people talk about Pittsburgh in other contexts.

In fact for a while afterward, outside commentary on Pittsburgh still took what I consider to be the basic G20 approach: "Pittsburgh--not nearly as sucky as you think!" In other words, the framing implicitly acknowledged that it would be news to most people that Pittsburgh would be considered a nice place. But increasingly even that approach seems to be fading away, and I am seeing more commentary just matter-of-factly talking positively about Pittsburgh, as if there should be nothing surprising or newsworthy about that.

Anyway, I admit this is all based on my personal impressions. Still, I consider myself to be relatively well-acquainted with the flow of what people are saying about Pittsburgh, and I do personally think there was a notable shift that occurred during the G20.

Just yesterday, we were talking about taking trips at work. One of the docs, an educated person from Texas originally, said "I wish I were going on a trip". I said "I"m going to Pittsburgh soon", to which he replied, "Maybe I don't want to go on a trip after all". That's just one example, but the attitude towards Pittsburgh is still there. A few people, who have actually been there (not many of my co-workers; Pgh is not a vacation destination) say they were "pleasantly surprised", which is, of course, a backhanded compliment.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Just yesterday, we were talking about taking trips at work. One of the docs, an educated person from Texas originally, said "I wish I were going on a trip". I said "I"m going to Pittsburgh soon", to which he replied, "Maybe I don't want to go on a trip after all". That's just one example, but the attitude towards Pittsburgh is still there. A few people, who have actually been there (not many of my co-workers; Pgh is not a vacation destination) say they were "pleasantly surprised", which is, of course, a backhanded compliment.

We're talking about two different things. I am talking about how the media and other elites talk about Pittsburgh, and you are talking about popular perceptions of Pittsburgh. Changes in your category are likely to lag changes in my category, perhaps on a generational scale.

By the way, as a timely example of what I was referring to (and which I discovered only afterward), here is an author commenting on her new book and a related study about the best places to restart your career. Given her methodology, Pittsburgh ended up ranked #8 on her Top 30 list:

Best Places to Restart Your Career - The Daily Beast

Relevant excerpts:

When I ran my eyes down the list, based on objective criteria, I smiled. Several of these top-ranking cities are ones I visited during my three-year trek across the country reporting my new book, What's Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job. I met people who had launched successful second careers and learned their deepest secrets in Washington, DC. Seattle, Nashville, Pittsburgh, New York, and Boston.

A lot of this is familiar territory for those of us following recent Pittsburgh commentary, but what I find really remarkable is those two words in the part that I bolded: "of course." This is a writer acknowledging that the story of Pittsburgh's post-steel-bust recovery is no longer surprising, in fact it is conventional wisdom. So to her it just isn't remarkable if Pittsburgh is on a list like this with Washington, Seattle, New York, and Boston. "Of course" it will be on a list like that--everyone knows it should be, right?

Now of course this particular writer is deep into these topics, and isn't speaking from the perspective of your doctor from Texas. Still, the mere fact that people like this writer are talking about Pittsburgh in this way is a huge change--I really don't think you would expect to find that "of course" in similar commentary from even just a few years ago.

[Katarina Witt]

The doc from Texas is a member of your generation. I don't think the generations matter, except perhaps for the 65+ crowd.

Where did you get the text about the cities? I'd like to see what they say about Denver, which many out your way still see as a "cowtown".

[BrianTH]

Sorry, I thought I had cut that article down enough. Here is the relevant line:

These are college towns with thriving medical centers—both good omens for job seekers, since they tend to be recession-resistant. . . . Pittsburgh, of course, has long left the steel trade, even if the Steelers still remain, and has a huge health-care economy buoyed by UPMC, western Pennsylvania’s largest employer, with almost 50,000 employees.

Denver was #9 on the list, but the author didn't write anything about Denver in the accompanying commentary.

By the way, my generation grew up with maybe the worst possible impressions of Pittsburgh, since we came of age during the steel bust.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Sorry, I thought I had cut that article down enough. Here is the relevant line:



Denver was #9 on the list, but the author didn't write anything about Denver in the accompanying commentary.

By the way, my generation grew up with maybe the worst possible impressions of Pittsburgh, since we came of age during the steel bust.

Thank you.

The generation preceding yours had a pretty bad impression of Pgh, too, when the steel mills were going full blast (no pun intended). It WAS dirty, sooty, etc at the time. Combine that with the gray skies of winter and it was not attractive at times. However, it meant money in people's pockets. My mom was from a farm in northern Wisconsin and she once made a comment about it being sooty (this happened in the late 40s/early 50s) and about got her head chewed off. Now my mom was one of the meekest souls on earth; I'm sure she said it diplomatically, but no matter.

[pman]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

By the way, my generation grew up with maybe the worst possible impressions of Pittsburgh, since we came of age during the steel bust.

my grandmother absolutely hated pittsburgh, long before the steel bust. disgusting, dirty, dingy...were words she used. she grew up in nearby johnstown (and left for philadelphia, then ny). prettiest city she'd seen? detroit. things can and do change, for better and for worse. while steel paid good wages it also made the city somewhat undesirable for those not involved in that trade, or so it seems.

[BrianTH]

Right, I didn't mean to imply that popular impressions of Pittsburgh were actually good before my generation. But my generation saw it as dirty AND dying, which is worse than just dirty. Note I am speaking from the perspective of someone with no notable first-hand knowledge of Pittsburgh when I was coming of age. People from in or around the area might have had a more nuanced view (or not).

So it may take a long time before these casual impressions of Pittsburgh, and resulting jokes at Pittsburgh's expense, die off. But all of that isn't particularly relevant to the point I was making, which was about the commentary about Pittsburgh among media and other elites.

Nor, for that matter, is it necessarily the most important question from a practical standpoint. To the extent Pittsburgh should care about impressions, what matters is the impressions being formed by those on the cusp of a relevant decision (where to go to college, whether to accept a job offer, where to start a business or locate a new business operation, and so forth). Presumably a lot of people in that situation aren't going to just rely on their original impression, but instead will look into things a bit more, and that's where a different conventional wisdom among media and other elites could prove helpful. Of course maybe sometimes people will not include Pittsburgh in some initial cut before even doing that research (that might be most relevant in something like a tourism context), but my point is that casual impressions are not the only important impressions, and probably not the most important.

[BrianTH]

By the way, speaking of changing perceptions, check out this really quite amazing writeup of Pittsburgh in a Chicago-based publication:

Gapers Block : Mechanics : Chicago Politics - A Steel Tree: Return to Pittsburgh

This is an explicit followup to this prior article:

Gapers Block : Mechanics : Chicago Politics - Pittsburgh, and the Magic of Failure

And that prior article specifically referenced the G20. So if you are looking to connect a few dots between current commentary on Pittsburgh and the G20, that is one explicit example.

[rhondee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

By the way, speaking of changing perceptions, check out this really quite amazing writeup of Pittsburgh in a Chicago-based publication:

Gapers Block : Mechanics : Chicago Politics - A Steel Tree: Return to Pittsburgh

This is an explicit followup to this prior article:

Gapers Block : Mechanics : Chicago Politics - Pittsburgh, and the Magic of Failure

And that prior article specifically referenced the G20. So if you are looking to connect a few dots between current commentary on Pittsburgh and the G20, that is one explicit example.

Both articles were very complimentary for Pittsburgh, and I loved the before and after picture with the steel tree.
I was reading the reader comments below the article and many sounded just like CD forum with comments like "Pittsburgh is going to be the next Altoona" Blah Blah Blah (LOL!!!)
But I loved the comparison of our streets to MC Escher's work.I think the landscape here does look similar to the landcape in Escher's House In The Lava Near Sicily!

[rhondee]

Originally Posted by Katiana

Just yesterday, we were talking about taking trips at work. One of the docs, an educated person from Texas originally, said "I wish I were going on a trip". I said "I"m going to Pittsburgh soon", to which he replied, "Maybe I don't want to go on a trip after all". That's just one example, but the attitude towards Pittsburgh is still there. A few people, who have actually been there (not many of my co-workers; Pgh is not a vacation destination) say they were "pleasantly surprised", which is, of course, a backhanded compliment.

Just goes to show that being well educated and being intelligent are two very different things.