Weather/Scenery SUCKS, but people are friendliest ever (Pittsburgh, Washington: how much, neighborhoods)

[JD984]

Originally Posted by Heit

Opinions are like..............well, you know. I guess that's why this ugly city has been rated the NUMBER 1 most livable city in the nation, more than once!

When you find UTOPIA let us all know so we can move there.

The studies that rank Pittsburgh highly in livability focus on factors such as the cost of living and income growth in recent years. They don't attempt to assess whether a city is physically attractive. That's how Forbes (which rated Pittsburgh #1) could place Trenton NJ above San Francisco or Boston.

There's a Utopia Parkway in Queens, NY (and a notable source of inspiration to Fountains of Wayne), so pack your bags. While it's indeed Utopia, you'll need to bring earplugs to deal with the airplane noise from LaGuardia.

[Tobiasfunkee]

Originally Posted by JEB77

The studies that rank Pittsburgh highly in livability focus on factors such as the cost of living and income growth in recent years. They don't attempt to assess whether a city is physically attractive. That's how Forbes (which rated Pittsburgh #1) could place Trenton NJ above San Francisco or Boston.

There's a Utopia Parkway in Queens, NY (and a source of inspiration to Fountains of Wayne), so pack your bags.

Pitt is extremely livable but not physically attractive. I'm not talking about the people, but more the buildings and the arrangement of the city. Compared to Manhattan, or San Francisco, or Georgetown its pretty ugly.

[Steelers10]

OUCH! I wonder if the OP is rethinking the "friendliest people" thing. Troll or not the originial post doesn't seem overwhelmingly inflammatory. "Rust Belt" cities' landscapes aren't everyone's cup of tea. Living more or less in between Pittsburgh and DC (or Baltimore) I think I can view his opinion somewhat objectively. I definitely like the customer service aspect of Pittsburgh more. I can't think of a "sit-down" restaurant that I've gone to where the manager hasn't at least personally asked how we were doing. I don't mind "blue collar" personalities and I can't really say I have had any conflicts with anyone here. However, I kinda feel that that transit operators (mainly bus drivers) were kinda rude and it is interesting in light of the union struggles and absenteeism that happened recently.

But Washington DC has better scenery than Pittsburgh? Both have pretty magnificent central cities IMO but residential areas that haven't experienced growth and new construction since the 1950s. Some of the neighborhoods are well kept and others are not. I'm not seeing where DC is anymore aesthetically pleasing than Pittsburgh. Also, I am missing where DC weather is better than Pittsburgh. Once again, I'm in between both metros and I honestly don't see an appreciable difference except Pittsburgh can get remnants of lake effect snow where DC does not. But we're not exactly talking about the difference between Western Maryland and Palm Beach here.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by Tobiasfunkee

Pitt is extremely livable but not physically attractive. I'm not talking about the people, but more the buildings and the arrangement of the city. Compared to Manhattan, or San Francisco, or Georgetown its pretty ugly.

Sort of like taking your girlfriend to the Miss American pageant and turning to her and calling her ugly.

[Mugatu]

Interesting opinion. I find the scenery amazing here and I actually like the weather (even winter! ), but find the people ruder than their friendly reputation (double ). So basically I feel the complete opposite of the OP. lol

Maybe I should start a thread presenting my opinion as fact, like he did. Then everyone can bash me and get riled up.

[Steelers10]

Originally Posted by Tobiasfunkee

Pitt is extremely livable but not physically attractive. I'm not talking about the people, but more the buildings and the arrangement of the city. Compared to Manhattan, or San Francisco, or Georgetown its pretty ugly.

Once again, Manhattan has a higher population density and taller buildings, but better looking? It just has more stuff than Pittsburgh. I'm not going to keep going in circles but having been to all of these places numerous times I'm just not seeing how they are any better looking than Pittsburgh, just different. One thing that can be said for San Francisco is that in the 1950s both it and Pittsburgh were similarly sized in area and population. After both went into a state of decline for a 20 year period, San Francisco has really been revitalized whereas Pittsburgh continues to bleed population.

DC seems to be turning the corner to but some of the abandoned landscapes of Pittsburgh really need to be rectified. One thing I have never understood about Pittsburgh and Baltimore is how real estate could be so comparatively cheap yet rowhouses are not absolutely gobbled up. Forget the high taxes; in-town living is exponentially cheaper than the burbs!

[sparrowmint]

Originally Posted by Faer

Winter is horrible, but the summer here, in my opinion, is magnificent (all the green-ness and mild humidity/temps). I compare this to L.A., where I grew up before moving here two years ago, and I think PGH summers are definitely superior (I feel only slightly less this way about late spring and early fall).

I wish I could call the summer here "mild" humidity-wise. It's like walking through hot soup. I'd take the average day in the winter over the height of summer here any day.

[nuwaver88]

I work in the hotel industry and have never heard a visitor refer to Pittsburgh as a whole as "ugly." I have heard "beautiful" hundreds of times. Granted, there are neighborhoods that may be ugly. Some are gritty. After all, Pittsburgh is an old city in the rust belt. It is going to have blighted areas. To describe our Downtown area as "ugly has been the exact opposite of my experience.

[Mugatu]

Originally Posted by sparrowmint

I wish I could call the summer here "mild" humidity-wise. It's like walking through hot soup. I'd take the average day in the winter over the height of summer here any day.

LOL, I still don't understand why so many people think Pittsburgh is so humid in the summer. You've obviously never lived in the southeast.

[ctoocheck]

Originally Posted by Tobiasfunkee

Pitt is extremely livable but not physically attractive. I'm not talking about the people, but more the buildings and the arrangement of the city. Compared to Manhattan, or San Francisco, or Georgetown its pretty ugly.

You do realize you just named three super wealthy parts of three generally wealthy cities to compare the whole of Pittsburgh to, right? Though I personally think many parts of Manhattan are uglier than many parts of Pittsburgh. And while much of NE DC is indeed beautiful (due to lots of concentrated wealth), much of the rest of the city is not.

Sure, most of the buildings around here aren't super fancy, or even always in good repair. It makes sense given our history that some neighborhoods would be kind of run-down. But I've been a lot of places and seen a lot of things, and I personally think most parts of Pittsburgh are beautiful, in spite of, and even sometimes because of, some decay.