Any New York transplants in Pittsburgh? (Houston, Austin: 2013, condos, home)

[serum86]

I'm from NYC and moved to Pittsburgh from Queens in 2001 (a week before 9-11 actually). I love Pittsburgh even though I'm currently looking to move back to New York, but that's only to be closer to family. Otherwise I wouldn't even think of leaving.

Pittsburgh is the best bargain in America. I've travelled extensivly and nowhere have I found another place where you get so much for so little. You can buy a decent home in a decent neighborhood for under $100K. You can buy a nice home in a nice neighborhood for under $200K. $200K-$400K will get you an awesome home. Above that you'll live like a sultan. New Yorkers tend to go bonkers over the Mexican War Streets because it's kind of like what the Village used to be. Not my favorite part of town - a little too snobbish.

Pittsburgh has everything you need and just about anything you'd want, just not in the same quantities as NY. What a New Yorker will appreciate is how accessable everything is in the city. Moving between neighborhoods in NYC is exhausting and travelling between boroughs is a day trip, so few people actually do. You can be anywhere in Pittsburgh in 20 minutes or less by car. Public transit sucks. It's actually about the same size as the Bronx in square miles.

The topography is beautiful, especially in fall. The people are for the most part charming. I'm not saying it's all gravy, and I will always maintain that there is no place like NYC, but it's pretty damn good.

[SCIKasey]

Myself and my fiancee lived in New York for over ten years, and moved back to open Steel City Improv Theater, which is devoted to long form improv. We have planted ourselves in East Deutschtown, which reminds us of Williamsburg. But at the theater, there are a good deal of ex-NYC'ers that have gravitated here, which is pretty awesome.

We find each other - eventually!

[JD984]

Originally Posted by serum86

I'm from NYC and moved to Pittsburgh from Queens in 2001 (a week before 9-11 actually). I love Pittsburgh even though I'm currently looking to move back to New York, but that's only to be closer to family. Otherwise I wouldn't even think of leaving.

Pittsburgh is the best bargain in America. I've travelled extensivly and nowhere have I found another place where you get so much for so little. You can buy a decent home in a decent neighborhood for under $100K. You can buy a nice home in a nice neighborhood for under $200K. $200K-$400K will get you an awesome home. Above that you'll live like a sultan. New Yorkers tend to go bonkers over the Mexican War Streets because it's kind of like what the Village used to be. Not my favorite part of town - a little too snobbish.

Pittsburgh has everything you need and just about anything you'd want, just not in the same quantities as NY. What a New Yorker will appreciate is how accessable everything is in the city. Moving between neighborhoods in NYC is exhausting and travelling between boroughs is a day trip, so few people actually do. You can be anywhere in Pittsburgh in 20 minutes or less by car. Public transit sucks. It's actually about the same size as the Bronx in square miles.

The topography is beautiful, especially in fall. The people are for the most part charming. I'm not saying it's all gravy, and I will always maintain that there is no place like NYC, but it's pretty damn good.

Sweet post, but moving between neighborhoods in NYC is not exhausting, nor is traveling between boroughs a day trip. It's a subway ride, and the subways in question cover a lot of ground and run 24 hours a day.

[thelazyone]

Originally Posted by serum86

I'm from NYC and moved to Pittsburgh from Queens in 2001 (a week before 9-11 actually). I love Pittsburgh even though I'm currently looking to move back to New York, but that's only to be closer to family. Otherwise I wouldn't even think of leaving.

Pittsburgh is the best bargain in America. I've travelled extensivly and nowhere have I found another place where you get so much for so little. You can buy a decent home in a decent neighborhood for under $100K. You can buy a nice home in a nice neighborhood for under $200K. $200K-$400K will get you an awesome home. Above that you'll live like a sultan. New Yorkers tend to go bonkers over the Mexican War Streets because it's kind of like what the Village used to be. Not my favorite part of town - a little too snobbish.

Pittsburgh has everything you need and just about anything you'd want, just not in the same quantities as NY. What a New Yorker will appreciate is how accessable everything is in the city. Moving between neighborhoods in NYC is exhausting and travelling between boroughs is a day trip, so few people actually do. You can be anywhere in Pittsburgh in 20 minutes or less by car. Public transit sucks. It's actually about the same size as the Bronx in square miles.

The topography is beautiful, especially in fall. The people are for the most part charming. I'm not saying it's all gravy, and I will always maintain that there is no place like NYC, but it's pretty damn good.

I feel bad for you. I refuse to move back. I am really looking forward to the visit. As much as I am attracted to the south west, a move there just doesn't seem to be in my cards. Hopefully my wife and I will be able to take in a lot in 36 hours.

[thelazyone]

Originally Posted by SCIKasey

Myself and my fiancee lived in New York for over ten years, and moved back to open Steel City Improv Theater, which is devoted to long form improv. We have planted ourselves in East Deutschtown, which reminds us of Williamsburg. But at the theater, there are a good deal of ex-NYC'ers that have gravitated here, which is pretty awesome.

We find each other - eventually!

I found plenty of ex-new yorkers living in Albuquerque as well. Williamsburg is a strange little community.

[TimGyves]

Originally Posted by thelazyone

I was born and raised in Brooklyn and lived in NYC for most of my life. Bought a house up in the hudson valley and lived up there for about 4 years in dairy country. Got tired of country life and made the move to PA. ..... Pittsburgh seems to have big city attractions but a small town feel to it. Maybe I'm wrong on both notations.

Maybe I'm wrong on both notations.

I'd say you're right, actually - world class arts and culture though i think it tends to skew a little older audience wise on the music and theater front. restaurants have come a long way since I've even been here. Sports if you want 'em, ignorable if you don't. A pretty impressive series of speakers and humanities programs, in part thanks to the universities and foundations at work.

Small town feel can increase or decrease depending on how far you live out and what neighborhood you end up in. Somewhere between Brooklyn and the Hudson River Valley, perhaps. And with jobs.

[nygalinpa]

Originally Posted by serum86

Pittsburgh has everything you need and just about anything you'd want, just not in the same quantities as NY. What a New Yorker will appreciate is how accessable everything is in the city. Moving between neighborhoods in NYC is exhausting and travelling between boroughs is a day trip, so few people actually do. You can be anywhere in Pittsburgh in 20 minutes or less by car. Public transit sucks. It's actually about the same size as the Bronx in square miles.

.

I have to disagree with the part of travelling between boroughs. I am also from Queens and have friends all over. I never had any issues driving up to the bronx or catching a train to Brooklyn. On the other hand travelling around Pittsburgh, meaning the region as well, can be exhausting which is why you run into people here who wont cross bridges LOL

I've met many NY transplants at the mets/pirates games I attend every season.

[Blackbeauty212]

As someone from the Burgh currently living in NYC....Yes there are alot of people who live in what I call Borough Bubbles here people living on Manhattan wont leave the Island of Manhattan, people in Brooklyn will not leave Brooklyn etc its in every borough...It is true there are these same type in the Burgh but its more so where they will not live more than were they will not travel, North Side people will not live anywhere but the North Side.

I have a friend who is moving to the Burgh at the end of the year from NYC. Her and her Hubby were just fed up with the Extreme COL, Insane Taxes, and Long Long commutes on LI plus the Quality of life is nowhere near what it once was, nor up to the premium price they paid to live there..

They wanted Suburb in the City life...All the Conveniences of the City with a Suburban atmosphere (I think Pittsburgh offers a pretty good selection of this)...They had a couple of other cities in mind but Pittsburgh's closeness to driving back for visit was a plus.

Once I got them here, they were floored at the beauty of the city, the amenities that were available here without being an Overcrowded metropolis, the Homes, and Green-ness of the city (Coming from NYC it's not hard to understand the shock)...I told them about a dozen or so neighborhoods that fit exactly what they were looking for, they chose Aspinwall in the end they just loved its homes and the conveniences surrounding the area and how they could get to and from the city very easily and with a number of routes....

[Ace1021]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Travel articles about Pittsburgh in the NY papers have been popping up periodically recently. The theme is generally something like, "Hey, Pittsburgh is kinda cool, almost like a mini-New York!"

Here is a recent example (in the NY Post, and it actually uses the phrase "In some ways, it is like a mini-New York"):

[URL="http://www.nypost.com/p/lifestyle/travel/springtime_for_pittsburgh_B1bDQx2sPR9pEA19f4gdsL"]Pitt stop - NYPOST.com[/URL]

Obviously that claim could be overdone, but I do think there is a distant family resemblance between NYC and Pittsburgh.

That right! Thats the only resemblance. Pittsburgh may decent external qualities, however, the people are narrow minded and wholly ignorant.

I'm a new-yorker living in Pitts. I don't like it. Period. They claim to have a cultural scene, however its just a bunch of variations of the same thing. Boring. I will say the topography is beautiful. anytime of the year. The people are dogishly resistant to progressive change the kind that fuels ny to be what it has become. The ppl of Pitts need that and willingly don't want it. They have an old mentality.

that is true. This is country. Period. Housing is a benefit.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Ace1021

That right! Thats the only resemblance. Pittsburgh may decent external qualities, however, the people are narrow minded and wholly ignorant.

I'm a new-yorker living in Pitts. I don't like it. Period. They claim to have a cultural scene, however its just a bunch of variations of the same thing. Boring. I will say the topography is beautiful. anytime of the year. The people are dogishly resistant to progressive change the kind that fuels ny to be what it has become. The ppl of Pitts need that and willingly don't want it. They have an old mentality.

that is true. This is country. Period. Housing is a benefit.

Because the high taxes, horrible COL, and terrible commutes are things that every Pittsburgher wants. The New York metro area has one of the largest out-migration rates in the country; if New York wasn't an immigrant destination the metro's population would have fell big time this decade. Some people are provincial here, but those people are everywhere and are dying out locally. I think there has been a decent shift in mentality in the last decade, but there's still some work to do.