I am tired of hearing how great Pittsburgh is! (California: wedding, military)

[greg42]

Originally Posted by slavicamerican

Are you talking nationally or Pittsburgh?

Nationally, it is very meaningful and supports what we know from common sense and observation. While cities have become more attractive to the young and prosperous, the housing and credit bust hit suburban America particularly hard. The challenge for policy makers is calling this spade a spade and tackling the needs of poor suburbanites. Currently, social services are concentrated in cities, suburbs lack public transportation, etc.

I'm talking about the numbers is quoted from GeneW's post. They don't say that the rate of poverty is higher outside the cities, be it Pittsburgh or elsewhere. They say that by sheer numbers more people who are in poverty live outside of "cities", here and nationally. Which from a stats perspective tells us little. That "percentage" would keep changing depending upon which other counties of the metro you decided to include in the mix. Stopping at just Allegheny is as arbitrary as stopping at the city limits.

Your point about services is important if any are provided by the city government only to city residents. But in counting it up this line and those numbers are arbitrary.

[gortonator]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I'm tired of seeing this thread title at the top of the forum.

me too - it was dug out of it's grave and reborn.

I wonder what happened to ThumbingMyWay? Hope he found somewhere that met his expectations ...

(oops ...it's at the top again!!)

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by slavicamerican

The "WV discussion" always puts me in an awkward position. Having been raised in Weirton, I'm definitely a WVian by at least one definition. Therefore, I feel compelled to defend the state. On the other hand, I don't feel much of a connection to the state and its larger culture and history (think moonshine, southern twang, Baptists and clog dancing) and I don't know the state anywhere near as well as I do PA. The fact is... I am from the "Pittsburgh area," which includes Weirton, Steubenville and Latrobe.

My primary issue with the incest and goat jokes (which I get from time to time) is that I can't get myself to adopt a WV identity enough to care enough to push back. I'm simply not sure what to do when a hillbilly joke is directed at my Slavic, pirogi-eating, polka-dancing, Pittsburgh-living self.

It's a conundrum.

Although I was born and raised in Carlisle, PA, my family is mostly from the Northern Panhandle (Moundsville and Cameron, specifically). I feel your pain as far as having to defend West By God to old Yinzers and snotty Pitt students, while having to defend the city of Pittsburgh to West By Godders from the twangier parts of the state, who I have to remind would still be paying taxes to Richmond if us Ohio Vally folk hadn't dragged them kicking and screaming back into the Union and the right side of history.

Culturally, the only difference between the Northern Panhandle and the rural counties of Western PA is the beer joints have a flying WV next to the Steelers logo behind the bar.

However, I don't share your issues with fighting back when some dimwitted yinzer starts with the inbred jokes, probably because the healthy shot of genuine Appalachian blend Scotch-Irish/Black Irish/Welsh hellfire that anchors my ancestral cocktail keeps me from keeping my mouth shut. And because common sense dictates that Appalachian Americans shouldn't put up with ridiculous, degrading stereotypes

[ajl777]

I just moved from here. Wish I would have done it sooner.

[Gee Whiz]

Originally Posted by ajl777

I just moved from here. Wish I would have done it sooner.

That makes sense.

[reddesertfox]

Originally Posted by ThumbingMyWay

Quick background about myself: I am a 27 yr old male from Eastern PA who moved to Pittsburgh after graduating from college to start a career. I heard a lot of good things about Pittsburgh before I moved here (and did visit a few times) and thought it would an exciting place to live as a young professional.

So I have been living in Pittsburgh for 4 years and have realized it is time for me to move on from this place. Pittsburgh to me has just been honestly very underwhelming. Since I have lived here there have been numerous articles praising Pittsburgh as a great place to live and most posts on this site make it sound like the only people who don't like Pittsburgh are the ones who have never been here. I'm here to say lets take it easy on all the praise this city has been getting.

I don't mean this to come off as a rant. I guess I am here to tell potential residents a few things about Pittsburgh to watch out for; and to make it known to the current residents that not everybody loves it here. Here's my issues with this place:

- Weather: Pittsburgh weather is pretty bad. When I first moved here I joked with a friend about the constant rain and gray skies we were having that I felt like I moved to Seattle, and soon after discovered Pitt and Seattle get about the same amount of sunny days per year. From Dec to April can get downright depressing when you go days/even weeks without seeing some sunshine. Don't get me wrong, the changing seasons can be nice, but there aren't enough nice summer days to make up for what comes in November.

- Underwhelming Outdoor Activities: besides the weather, this is probably one thing I wish I could tell everybody moving here, the outdoor activities around Pittsburgh are average at best. I'm tired of hearing people say "we have skiing, hiking, biking, water sports" but nobody ever mentions how mediocre it all is. The skiing here (yes Seven Springs) is disappointing. As for hiking you have to drive at least 1.5 hours to find something worthwhile (like Ohio Pyle), and even that isn't anything to get excited about. Yes there are about 8-10 parks to walk in, but I find it hard to believe you couldn't find parks in every other city in the USA.

- Far from the beach: if you enjoy the beach, Pittsburgh probably isn't for you. You're looking at a 7+ hour drive to Virginia beach or the outer banks (around 6 hours if you want to settle for the jersey shore). "Well Lake Erie is only 2 hours away" they say. I've never met one person here that was excited to go to Lake Erie.

Some other minor gripes:
- the downtown highways/roads were poorly planned and can be frustrating
- the local music scene is lacking
- if you aren't a Steelers or Penguins fan it can get annoying when it's all you hear about.
- as for the Arts, I could be wrong but I feel like it is nothing you couldn't find in any other major city.

Don't get me wrong Pittsburgh deserves credit for growing into much more than just a steel city. The cost of living is relatively low and the job market seems above average. It's definitely not all bad and I know the people that grew up here love it. However, right or wrong, I just feel there are better and more exciting places out there (for me and I'm sure for others).

If anyone moving here has any questions on why I feel like I do about Pittsburgh please let me know. Maybe Pittsburgh just isn't right for me. Maybe I am just a grass is greener guy and am giving other cities too much credit in what they could offer. If you are a person who only cares about work this may be a place for you. If you want something exciting to during your free time, I would advise looking at a different city to live in.

You are 100% correct young man.

[reddesertfox]

Originally Posted by gortonator

You think the weather is gloomy here? Move to Seattle or Portland. I don't see many sunny 80+ degree days in those places in May. Summer there is called August. I've driven up freeways outside Seattle with logs (big ones) floating down them. I've spent weeks in Portland where it hasn't stopped raining and the cloud deck is below the top of the city buildings. SFO is not much better unless you like fog. It must be said though, access to great skiing is a little better over there, and I miss that. But there's fun to be had around here - at Snowshoe for sure and 7 Springs on a good day. And its not that far to drive to Vermont/Upstate NY.

I know I've only lived here 4 months, but on that limited sample, the weather has been quite fine. maybe I'm in for a shock? But first I have to ride to work through a beautiful inner city park in the morning sun.

My dear man.I have been forced to live in Portland,Seattle and all fifty states.Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania is the gloomiest and the sunshine is virtually absent.

[goofy328]

Originally Posted by ThumbingMyWay

Quick background about myself: I am a 27 yr old male from Eastern PA who moved to Pittsburgh after graduating from college to start a career. I heard a lot of good things about Pittsburgh before I moved here (and did visit a few times) and thought it would an exciting place to live as a young professional.

So I have been living in Pittsburgh for 4 years and have realized it is time for me to move on from this place. Pittsburgh to me has just been honestly very underwhelming. Since I have lived here there have been numerous articles praising Pittsburgh as a great place to live and most posts on this site make it sound like the only people who don't like Pittsburgh are the ones who have never been here. I'm here to say lets take it easy on all the praise this city has been getting.

I don't mean this to come off as a rant. I guess I am here to tell potential residents a few things about Pittsburgh to watch out for; and to make it known to the current residents that not everybody loves it here. Here's my issues with this place:

- Weather: Pittsburgh weather is pretty bad. When I first moved here I joked with a friend about the constant rain and gray skies we were having that I felt like I moved to Seattle, and soon after discovered Pitt and Seattle get about the same amount of sunny days per year. From Dec to April can get downright depressing when you go days/even weeks without seeing some sunshine. Don't get me wrong, the changing seasons can be nice, but there aren't enough nice summer days to make up for what comes in November.

- Underwhelming Outdoor Activities: besides the weather, this is probably one thing I wish I could tell everybody moving here, the outdoor activities around Pittsburgh are average at best. I'm tired of hearing people say "we have skiing, hiking, biking, water sports" but nobody ever mentions how mediocre it all is. The skiing here (yes Seven Springs) is disappointing. As for hiking you have to drive at least 1.5 hours to find something worthwhile (like Ohio Pyle), and even that isn't anything to get excited about. Yes there are about 8-10 parks to walk in, but I find it hard to believe you couldn't find parks in every other city in the USA.

- Far from the beach: if you enjoy the beach, Pittsburgh probably isn't for you. You're looking at a 7+ hour drive to Virginia beach or the outer banks (around 6 hours if you want to settle for the jersey shore). "Well Lake Erie is only 2 hours away" they say. I've never met one person here that was excited to go to Lake Erie.

Some other minor gripes:
- the downtown highways/roads were poorly planned and can be frustrating


- the local music scene is lacking
- if you aren't a Steelers or Penguins fan it can get annoying when it's all you hear about.
- as for the Arts, I could be wrong but I feel like it is nothing you couldn't find in any other major city.

Don't get me wrong Pittsburgh deserves credit for growing into much more than just a steel city. The cost of living is relatively low and the job market seems above average. It's definitely not all bad and I know the people that grew up here love it. However, right or wrong, I just feel there are better and more exciting places out there (for me and I'm sure for others).

If anyone moving here has any questions on why I feel like I do about Pittsburgh please let me know. Maybe Pittsburgh just isn't right for me. Maybe I am just a grass is greener guy and am giving other cities too much credit in what they could offer. If you are a person who only cares about work this may be a place for you. If you want something exciting to during your free time, I would advise looking at a different city to live in.

The beach is not all its cracked up to be. Being from Ohio and only having experienced Lake Erie I was expecting something better but Virginia Beach leaves much to be desired. I would not recommend anyone move here for the beach when the Oceanfront can be an hour away depending on traffic WITHIN Hampton Roads. Getting to Tidewater is half the battle...

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by reddesertfox

My dear man.I have been forced to live in Portland,Seattle and all fifty states.Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania is the gloomiest and the sunshine is virtually absent.

You've been forced to live in all 50 states?

What the! Please tell that story.

[www21]

I moved to Pittsburgh recently from Chicago

I love it