Study: 90% of Pittsburgh's young adults unfit for military service (credit, job market)

[toooldforthis]

Per the PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW:

Pittsburgh's young adults are so physically unfit and uneducated that up to 90 percent of them can't get into the military, according to a scathing report to be released today by a consortium of 200 top retired military officers and several nonprofits.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_736843.html

I agree with the article. I recently moved away from Pittsburgh and I found it to be all of these things and worse.

Admittingly, at least the city was smart enough to place the sports arenas and universities downtown. And it does have the remnants of a bygone era to enjoy from wealthy families that used to live in the area generations ago. However so do most other cities nowadays.

This article is much more realistic to what Pittsburgh and its surrounding areas are truly like.

It's unfortunate that so many bright young individuals come into the city to study only to leave the entire WPA area when they graduate.

I too left immediately. I did not enjoy the area because it was inexplicably dirty, rundown, old (age of residents), and it was not welcoming to many outsiders.
However, many of the rustbelt cities are in this situation also.

Thank you for my education - but it's such a downer of a place I highly doubt I would ever return even for a day. I do have to say though, the PR the city receives is amazing! But unfortunately, other than the above stated examples, it doesn't deserve the praise it receives.

[ditchdigger]

Pittsburgh kids know how to do it...

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by toooldforthis

It's unfortunate that so many bright young individuals come into the city to study only to leave the entire WPA area when they graduate.

I too left immediately. I did not enjoy the area because it was inexplicably dirty, rundown, old (age of residents), and it was not welcoming to many outsiders.
However, many of the rustbelt cities are in this situation also.

Thank you for my education - but it's such a downer of a place I highly doubt I would ever return even for a day. I do have to say though, the PR the city receives is amazing! But unfortunately, other than the above stated examples, it doesn't deserve the praise it receives.

Care to 'splain any of dis?

[youngabe]

Well all that can be said is that aside from the article, the negative opinions here are just that--your opinion. Pittsburgh is not the city for you, good luck elsewhere.

The amount of positive feedback Pittsburgh receives from accredited media sources and the general public highly outweighs the negative, so majority rules in this case. But, to each his own.

[EveKendall]

I was mostly concerned with the perspective of the story. So we only care about early childhood education (and the education system in general) because of how it impacts our potential military down the road? And forget about the billions of dollars spent on wars while school budgets are cut and early childhood and social programs are eliminated. I'm all for more money for high quality pre-K programs, but the motivation behind this is bizarre.

[toooldforthis]

Originally Posted by raffy71

I was mostly concerned with the perspective of the story. So we only care about early childhood education (and the education system in general) because of how it impacts our potential military down the road? And forget about the billions of dollars spent on wars while school budgets are cut and early childhood and social programs are eliminated. I'm all for more money for high quality pre-K programs, but the motivation behind this is bizarre.

This report also comes at a time when kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs are bound to be cut by a number of school districts facing huge budget shortfalls. The PA Gov. Tom Corbett is most likely cutting education funding in the state by more than $1 billion!!!

I must go now.

[toooldforthis]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Care to 'splain any of dis?

I replied privately to you.

Good day to you.

[youngabe]

Pittsburgh is having such a tough time with it's stable job market, stable housing market, low-cost of living and upcoming developments. Damn, what a depressed area.

[ctoocheck]

I'm sure Mission: Readiness would say similar things about numerous other states and cities. It seems they have similar reports for Virginia, Nebraska, Maine, and Mississippi. And, in fact, in Too Fat to Fight, at least, PA has a relatively low rate of obesity, at least. And this report doesn't really compare Pgh vs. the US in general, it seems. I dunno. It just seems this is not a fair report to support your judgments.

I'm curious to know where you moved to...

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by ctoocheck

I'm sure Mission: Readiness would say similar things about numerous other states and cities. It seems they have similar reports for Virginia, Nebraska, Maine, and Mississippi. And, in fact, in Too Fat to Fight, at least, PA has a relatively low rate of obesity.

But other states don't have litter and drunk sports fans.