Something to consider before you move to Pittsburgh (Philadelphia, Penn Hills: houses, employment)

[fleetiebelle]

Well I always hear the exact opposite.

Me too. All of my family and a lot of my friends are from out of town, and usually before they come visit they say things like "what are we going to do? Weld stuff?" After they visit I always get a call or an email that says "Pittsburgh is great! When can we come back?"

[guylocke]

Me too. All of my family and a lot of my friends are from out of town, and usually before they come visit they say things like "what're we going to do? Weld stuff?" After they visit I always get a call or an email that says "Pittsburgh is great! When can we come back?"

Yeah my brother and sister-in-law just got married a couple months ago (maybe you remember me posting?) and her family is all from Denver and they LOVED Pittsburgh. They call weekly asking when they can come back.

I was at ANOTHER wedding last year, one of my best friends, and HIS side of the family is all from Detroit and they said the exact same thing. They thought Pittsburgh was the greenest, most beautiful, and charming city they've ever been to.

Furthermore, I don't even believe gspwa, because I've had affiliates who have worked at the convention center and all I hear is RAVE things about people who come to the Pittsburgh Convention Center. It is actually world-renown. I was at the car show about 2 years ago and there was a group of Japanese just wondering around with notebooks and stuff, and I asked my dad who they were, and he found out they were actually in Pittsburgh to study the design and architecture (being green and all).

Furthermore, Pittsburgh and homeless? If people come to Pittsburgh and think homeless people are everywhere, they have TRULY never been to any other major city in the USA.

[gswpa]

I am just relating what other people have said. Sorry ya'll can't take it. The convention is held in a different city every year. Three cars full of people attending the convention got lost when arriving to the city (They complained about the lack of signs and one way streets). One group sat outside the Squirrel Hill tunnel for over an hour and a half. More than one complained about the homeless people peeing in the streets. And then one said "It's worse than Philly". That person HATES Philly so you can imagine how that went.

[gswpa]

Originally Posted by guylocke

I've just chosen to simply not believe you. If someone else told me what happened, say, fleetiebelle for example, I would have no problem believing it. :P

Ignorance is the reason why Pittsburgh is in such bad shape. You are a perfect example of the status quo philosophy - Pittsburgh's in great financial shape, we are in a population boom, companies are making the city their new headquarters, our housing market is red hot!
Whatever.

[guylocke]

Ignorance is the reason why Pittsburgh is in such bad shape. You are a perfect example of the status quo philosophy

Ya know, you're probably so right. Meh.

Pittsburgh's in great financial shape, we are in a population boom, companies are making the city their new headquarters, our housing market is red hot!

I have NEVER said any of those things, except maybe the thing about new headquarters, after all, that IS true. LOL.

Whatever.

My thoughts exactly. *muah*

FYI, you argument, like always, falls completely flat on it's face. In actuality, one of Pittsburgh's largest problems is that the local population actually suffers from a great deal of self-deprecation that is holding the city back and spiraling into malaise. I don't think your average Pittsburgh BY ANY MEANS is saying anything like you said about population boon, red hot market, or great financial shape. Pittsburgher's are Pittsburgh's own worst enemy.

[fleetiebelle]

More than one complained about the homeless people peeing in the streets.

I don't know the stats, but from personal experience the number of homeless people in Pittsburgh is miniscule. New York, DC, Chicago, and especially San Francisco are just rife with street people. I wouldn't put Pittsburgh in their ranks at all.

[guylocke]

I don't know the stats, but from personal experience the number of homeless people in Pittsburgh is miniscule. New York, DC, Chicago, and especially San Francisco are just rife with street people. I wouldn't put Pittsburgh in their ranks at all.

I'm not sure there are stats, I'm sure there are somewhere, but I more than agree and was saying that earlier.

You should see parts of Seattle!!

[kpoeppel]

There aren't as many homeless people in Pittsburgh as there are in southern cities where the weather is warmer. I've been to downtown Atlanta...I know. I don't think Pittsburgh has a huge homeless problem compared to other cities. Some consider San Francisco to be "world class" and it has a HUGE homeless population.

Pittsburgh gets a bad rap about being "dirty" and "polluted" when it really isn't. Sure, there's some lingering water pollution and we will always have the problem of smog getting trapped in valleys in certain weather conditions.

It really is a very pretty city when viewed from the many overlooks, especially at night. The architecture is superb, it's just in serious need of repair and TLC in many cases. Many visitors are surprised at how scenic Pittsburgh can be...they expected to see nothing but smoke when they arrived.

The main problem with Pittsburgh, IMO, is the economy. It doesn't matter how nice an area is if people cannot find good jobs.

On a positive note, Pittsburgh isn't doing as badly as other "rust belt" cities like Cleveland, Buffalo, and Detroit. What's frustrating to me is the political and economic philosophy of this region. Cities in the south are growing so much that it is actually causing them major problems. They have a low-tax, small government, pro-business philosophy of government which attracts investment and creates jobs. But our leaders and power-brokers refuse to emulate that model. It seems Pittsburgh and PA wouldn't have to move very far "to the right" (economically) to spur economic growth. I would say that we wouldn't want the huge rates of growth and all of the problems associated with it. We could have our slow-to-moderate growth and still "throw the occasional bone" to the traditional sacred cows of professional sports, organized labor, and environmentalism. Even if we could grow at 1/4 the rate of Atlanta or Charlotte, that would be spectacular. Imagine...large numbers of new young (and not so young) people moving in with good jobs that pay well enough for them to restore the architecture, spur growth in retail and housing, increase the tax base, etc. New tax revenue that, if spent wisely, could fix up our roads and infrastructure and make the area even more attractive.

It seems we just need something to "get the ball rolling." Think tanks like Allegheny Institute and Pittsburgh's Future LLC offer plenty of suggestions for major reform that would let outsiders know that Pittsburgh is "open for business."

Even when Republicans were in control in PA, we didn't see many major changes. It seems both parties just want bigger government and more control. Now the Republicans have the baggage of the Iraq war and pork-barrel spending in Congress, etc. Those issues probably hurt DeSantis even though they are largely irrelevant for a mayor.

Do we need a "third party" Libertarian movement? Guylocke...could you support a Libertarian? I know you're not fond of Republicans...

[guylocke]

Libertarian movement? Guylocke...could you support a Libertarian? I know you're not fond of Republicans...

Truthfully? Yes, I probably could under the right circumstances.

Very nice post, btw kpoeppel, I couldn't agree more. Seems like we get along a lot more than we have in the past for some reason, lol. As is, I'm not really sure a democrat or republican could do the job, or maybe both could, I think one of the bigger problems is that no matter what party, liberal or conservative, it seems that they are still hung up with a huge "traditionalist" mindset. I'm completely for preserving many things, but christ, if something isn't work it, throw it out the window and do something that does work.

[guylocke]

You know, I was thinking about this today. Pittsburgh and even all of Pennsylvania is embracing "green" in a big way. Going green is really big business, I wonder if we will see results of that in the near future. We are already a big contributer to biofuel and GM has picked Pittsburgh to be one out of I think two cities to launch a huge alternative fuel campaign. Of course Pittsburgh itself can actually be considered one of the "greenest" cities in America.

I wonder if this will really start paying off, because the green movement is going to explode soon. You would think all these facilities going up in Pittsburgh becoming LEED certified could really help improve the way we use energy to our benefit.

Not to mention the energy contracts were just renegotiated and Pittsburgh definitely got a winning deal. A lot of companies are really excited at what Pittsburgh just did in terms of energy, I wish I knew the specifics.

This could all turn into huge business, do you think?