For those who left PGH looking for greener pastures... (Pittsburgh: rental car, 2013)

[gortonator]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

^ Absolutely agree with this. The sheer number of Northern Virginians who rarely, if ever, set foot in DC, their "host" city, boggled my mind when I lived there. There's more to life than Applebee's, Costco, and parking lots.

now now, that's simply taking things too far ....

[robrobrob]

My wife and I are both from Pittsburgh. Other than grad school, both of us have never lived anywhere else. She did move across a couple of bridges from her parents. I moved down the hill from mine. We have kids now so any move would involve them changing schools. Not the worst thing but still something to consider. I switched schools a couple of times. My wife didn't. I hated my second switch but liked my first switch. So, it is possible.

At times we want to live where the weather is a little nicer in the winter but at the same time we don't want the summers to be unbearably hot. We live in an excellent school district. Out cost of living is pretty low but even more so when you consider that we live in an excellent school district. When we watch HGTV we see what we could afford in other cities. It is amazing how much house we can afford in other cities. So, I am not sure how our cost of living compares with other cities. Maybe we would make more elsewhere? A friend took a 40% pay cut when he moved here from DC. So for him Pittsburgh is more expensive than DC. Maybe it is the same for us?

Our kids get to see their grandparents all the time. It is something we have gotten used to and something we probably wouldn't want to give up.

[hinsey86]

I suppose I can answer for my husband who is the Pittsburgh native. He left at 18 to go to college in Michigan and ended up leaving early to join the Navy. He literally lived all over the world over the next 26 years..picking me up along the way in Virginia. He always talked lovingly and highly of Pittsburgh but did not make plans to return. We visited as much as possible and I liked it too. I was the one who actually suggested settling here after his retirement from the military. We literally could have gone nearly anywhere but family was more important. We came back here 7 years ago and have no regrets. He was worried about it not having a large military community to draw from for employment but he excelled in his second career without it.

People often talk about the wages here and I must say we have had very very good economic growth in a relatively short time. My salary was actually just a bit more than it was in Seattle but I have since stopped working...which was a result of dh doubling his salary in just a few years.

I don't miss the Southern weather at all but I do get excited when I hear someone with a Southern drawl. I am sure he would love to get up and go diving on a whim like he did in Guam but he is just as joyous over biking the hills of Western PA. All of the areas he and I lived had their charm but overall we made a great choice. We recently moved out of Allegheny county to Beaver county and have loved it.

[trackstar13]

I have left Pittsburgh for greener pastures a few times and I am still away, just much closer than I was in the past. There are pros and cons to every city, but the main thing I believe I have gained by living in other areas of the country is that I now have a better understanding of what I want out of an area. I really enjoyed living in the Twin Cities and I would rate the area higher than Pittsburgh in many categories, but the traffic, high income and sales taxes, and extremely cold weather definitely were big negatives to living in the Twin Cities when compared to Pittsburgh. When I lived in Louisville the taxes were very low, especially property taxes, but the area was very segregated and it was hard to find a decent livable neighborhood close to where I worked in the city. Also, the public transportation in Louisville is very bad and much of the new development (shopping) is very far away from the city. Overall, though I was very happy in Louisville and the city parks were very nice. Philadelphia was one of my favorite places to live and I loved being able to walk to almost everything (I lived in Center City), but after my job was transferred to the burbs I started to become more frustrated with the area because I had to spend so much time commuting and dealing with the gridlock. Overall, Pittsburgh to me is very nice because while the traffic is bad it is not too bad and while the cost of living may be increasing it is not too high. Pittsburgh will always be my hometown and I may or may not live there in the future again, but I will always visit and I know my family will never leave. My top 3 places I have lived would be in no particular order: Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, and Philly. Currently, I rate them all about the same because of the pros and cons of each area. However, I am not sure I will ever move back to Minneapolis unless I can get a winter home somewhere warmer

[Aqua Teen Carl]

I visit DC about once a year and it's fun as hell. Much more to see and do in comparison to Pittsburgh (that's sacrilegious to say on this forum but I think it's true). Of course, if you limit yourself to just hanging around the United States of Applebees you're gonna have a bad time.

[fleetiebelle]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

I visit DC about once a year and it's fun as hell. Much more to see and do in comparison to Pittsburgh (that's sacrilegious to say on this forum but I think it's true). Of course, if you limit yourself to just hanging around the United States of Applebees you're gonna have a bad time.

That's always been a plus in Pittsburgh's favor for me--that you have several major cities (and many other smaller cities) within a 5-6 hour drive if you need your metropolitan fix.

[Mr. Mon]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

I visit DC about once a year and it's fun as hell. Much more to see and do in comparison to Pittsburgh (that's sacrilegious to say on this forum but I think it's true).

DC should have a lot more to see and do than Pittsburgh considering it's the national capital and has three times the metropolitan population.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

That's always been a plus in Pittsburgh's favor for me--that you have several major cities (and many other smaller cities) within a 5-6 hour drive if you need your metropolitan fix.

Totally agree! Pittsburgh has plenty of interesting towns and cities to explore within a few hours' drive. Glad to see this getting back to discussing Pittsburgh, too.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Mr. Mon

DC should have a lot more to see and do than Pittsburgh considering it's the national capital and has three times the metropolitan population.

Yeah, it's kinda like the nation's capital should have more to see n'at.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

When we watch HGTV we see what we could afford in other cities. It is amazing how much house we can afford in other cities. So, I am not sure how our cost of living compares with other cities. Maybe we would make more elsewhere? A friend took a 40% pay cut when he moved here from DC. So for him Pittsburgh is more expensive than DC. Maybe it is the same for us?

It really depends on each family's specific financial situation and career. I quickly researched Seattle and discovered that the average for my husband's profession is only 10k higher there. He makes significantly more than our average here. No idea how much he would make out there.

The biggest hindrance is the housing costs. Our house is paid off here. If we sold it to buy there, we'd need a mortgage even if we put all of the money we got for our house as a down payment. So we'd be taking on a mortgage without a significant enough salary increase to justify the mortgage payment. On the flip side, my small business would be more in demand and more profitable in Seattle than Pittsburgh, simply because there's a larger denser population that enjoys independent businesses more than here in Pittsburgh.

It's very unlikely that we will move to the PNW because real estate is just super expensive. You can't compare the houses people are buying on TV to your house in a top school district. Those houses aren't necessarily in a top district. If you're considering the Carolinas, the school system is crap compared to here, especially compared to Fox Chapel.