Anyone moved to Pittsburgh from NoVA/DC area? (Scranton, Bethel Park: neighborhood, living)

[BrianTH]

If you are working with a good placement person, you can try to get the sort of arrangement you want--meaning if you want a serious temp-to-hire possibility, which not everyone wants or would be suited for, they may be able to find it for you (depending of course on what is available).

[subdivisions]

My husband temped for a while when we first moved here, and because of that temping was subsequently hired at a "regular" position, with a very good salary.

I kind of have the impression reading everyone's experiences (and based on some other people I know) that this is The Way to find a job in Pittsburgh - temp first for 6 months to a year and get hired to a permanent position you find via temping. Maybe that seems bad to some people? It worked out for my husband just fine. He didn't mind the temping in general, and it actually allowed him to weed out at least one job that would have been a really bad fit on a permanent basis.

[gg]

Originally Posted by groar

yes, football is huge here but all he was saying is that you don't have to love football to love pittsburgh. i'm living proof of that - i don't give a crap about football. i'm happy for other pittsburghers when the steelers do well, and i like how happy everyone is on the bus the morning after a big win, but that's pretty much the extent of it. and i love living in pittsburgh. i don't feel like anyone judges me negatively for that either, besides expressing mock horror when i say i don't like football.

so, your assertion was wrong. you can leave all the dumb political baiting out of it.

It was obviously wrong, but you can tell we are not dealing with the brightest bulb.

[claremarie]

Originally Posted by PghWA22

Even if you live in an affluent area, despite what the articles say, Pittsburgh still has a strong yinzer/blue-collar influence. Yes, there are many white-collar professionals here and many with college degrees, but they aren't as noticeable as the yinzer people here are. So many smokers, so many people littering, cussing in public, dressing like slobs, etc.

Couldn't agree more. Both DH and I grew up in Pittsburgh, then lived in the DC area for decades, but both sets of parents and most of his sibs still live in Pittsburgh. Maybe the yinzers are not as noticeable to newcomers who live in one of the "hip" city neighborhoods filled with enthusiastic younger transplants, but if you spend time in the un-gentrified city areas or the downscale suburbs you will be surrounded by them. We visited many times when we lived in DC, and the contrast was astounding. It's one of the prices you pay for a lower cost of living and a greater ease in getting around and doing stuff (because there are a lot fewer People Like You with whom you are competing for these things).

[Penguins Fan]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

It was obviously wrong, but you can tell we are not dealing with the brightest bulb.

Personal insults aren't supposed to be allowed...or is that how you deal with someone who you don't agree with?

Let me return the favor, pinhead.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by claremarie

Couldn't agree more. Both DH and I grew up in Pittsburgh, then lived in the DC area for decades, but both sets of parents and most of his sibs still live in Pittsburgh. Maybe the yinzers are not as noticeable to newcomers who live in one of the "hip" city neighborhoods filled with enthusiastic younger transplants, but if you spend time in the un-gentrified city areas or the downscale suburbs you will be surrounded by them. We visited many times when we lived in DC, and the contrast was astounding. It's one of the prices you pay for a lower cost of living and a greater ease in getting around and doing stuff (because there are a lot fewer People Like You with whom you are competing for these things).

The flipside to all of this is that there are virtually no areas of DC which are in close proximity to downtown which are liveable & affordable whereas there are many here even if you add in the so called yinzer contingent. The areas immediately around DC (i.e in the same closeness to downtown as most of pittsburgh's neighborhoods are) you either have areas which are very nice but ungodly expensive or areas that no one would want to live in because they are pure ghetto. A few pockets of 'up & coming' areas on the fringe do exist, but they are rare & still not cheap at all.

What DC does have going for it in a major way that Pgh lacks is an excellent mass transit system in the form of their metro which makes ir more feasible to live much further outside of the city center and still have a somewhat reasonable commute to work which gives some access to affordable & nice neighborhoods but a direct comparison between the 2 areas isnt really applicable.

[BrianTH]

It is true you are likely to interact with a lot of working-class Pittsburgh natives no matter where you go in the core area, in part because there aren't wide swaths of expensive housing, and in any event often some older folks have been living in the nicer neighborhoods since they weren't so nice.

But I have absolutely no problem with that. If you get to talking with working-class Pittsburgh natives, you will often find they are interesting people, and certainly they are generally friendly.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by airwave09

Yeah, um this isn't Somalia. Every house has hot water... where do you people come up with this crap?? A window unit AC costs $100, which would be like $8 extra dollars a month in rent.

>>>What can I say? He complained all winter that he had no hot water and was afraid to tell his landlord. He has complained all summer about the heat. MANY people have suggested a window unit AC, but he won't do it. You'll have to ask him why he won't.<<<

The grayest months are from December to March, the rest of the year is pretty much normal.

I don't think that I have ever been to Pittsburgh when the sun came out although I haven't been there in June, July, or August. The last time I was there was April and it rained/drizzled everyday of our visit. Seattle is the same way which is why we only visit there the end of July and beginning of August. SeaFair week is awesome. The weather always seems to be great the first week in August. Unlike Pittsburgh, Seattle is not humid in the summer and not nearly as hot. I'm sure Pittsburgh must have that kind of weather some time in the summer. I just haven't found that sweet spot yet in Pittsburgh.

[PeterRabbit]

Have you ever heard that April showers bring May flowers? We don't drizzle forever like Seattle. It rains hard here and is soon over. Then we wait for our electricity to be turned back on. Even so, there's a very good reason why Pittsburgh is so often voted the most livable city and Seattle isn't. Our people are kind and helpful and in Seattle it's the opposite.

[RUSDC]

Originally Posted by UKyank

The flipside to all of this is that there are virtually no areas of DC which are in close proximity to downtown which are liveable & affordable whereas there are many here even if you add in the so called yinzer contingent. The areas immediately around DC (i.e in the same closeness to downtown as most of pittsburgh's neighborhoods are) you either have areas which are very nice but ungodly expensive or areas that no one would want to live in because they are pure ghetto. A few pockets of 'up & coming' areas on the fringe do exist, but they are rare & still not cheap at all.

What DC does have going for it in a major way that Pgh lacks is an excellent mass transit system in the form of their metro which makes ir more feasible to live much further outside of the city center and still have a somewhat reasonable commute to work which gives some access to affordable & nice neighborhoods but a direct comparison between the 2 areas isnt really applicable.

DC metro is pretty bad
Unreliable, slow and not designed to handle to load these days
I used to use it but no more...