What pieces of the puzzle does Pittsburgh lack to be a great city? (Philadelphia: hotel, vacation)

[alConn3]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

Pittsburgh is a much better city than Columbus, growth be damned.

Also, the Allegheny County towns and suburbs are generally very urban / historic. Most of the suburbs of Pittsburgh are as old as much of the surviving core of Columbus.

If you looked at the radius from downtown Pittsburgh to the edge of the city limit, and applied that circle over the center of Columbus, I wonder how much growth you would see in that perimeter.

At least you can get places in Columbus - beltways are great.

Then again, I'm not native to Pittsburgh (or Columbus) and have lived in other major metropolitan areas (Boston, DC, KC), so my perspective is a bit different.

But as many have said, Cbus and Pgh are quite different for a variety of reasons, so it is sort of irrelevant as a comparison beyond personal preference.

Pittsburgh either needs to build a light-rail system like Chicago/Boston or expand all the highways to 4 lanes each way. Pick one.

And yes, I know neither will happen, but seriously, the horrid infrastructure makes me not want to live in Pittsburgh when there are many other good reasons to live here (cost of living, certain amenities, medium sized city, etc.). Natives are used to it, have grown up with it, but it's an issue.

[steindle]

Originally Posted by alConn3

At least you can get places in Columbus - beltways are great.

Yeah, 65, 279, and 28 did great things for the Northside -- maybe we can make one really broad road that tears out all of Observatory Hill or something.

[pman]

Originally Posted by alConn3

At least you can get places in Columbus - beltways are great.

you can "get places" because it's not very dense not because it has beltways. Pittsburgh's problem is less the lack of a beltway than the traffic on the current road and the lack of good altenratives to it. beltways are not so much an alternative as a means to reduce density and spread demand out over a larger area. I do think that what Pittsburgh is missing is a decent commuter line that can carry a sizable number of people. unlike columbus pittsburgh has very dense concentrations of jobs. still, for set highway dollars, I'd address capacity on current bottlenecks before beuilding new highways.

[doo dah]

I think I'll just put this article here:
Road Trip: Pittsburgh - Adventure Seekers

"...Toronto can learn a thing or two from Pittsburgh in how to market itself to tourists..."

Huh.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by doo dah

I think I'll just put this article here:
Road Trip: Pittsburgh - Adventure Seekers

"...Toronto can learn a thing or two from Pittsburgh in how to market itself to tourists..."

Huh.

That's kinda true, at least in my experience.

I mean, even on here people say "there's no good city destinations within driving distance to Pittsburgh". Huh? Toronto (a world class city) is only 5 hours away! I don't think I know a single person in my age group that has been to Toronto within the past decade. Even those that go to Canada only go to Niagara Falls and never make the short drive from there to Toronto. That's just weird to me.

[Geeo]

I think we have to stop our navel-gazing about how we "stack up" with every other city on earth. This piece from Toronto says it all - sometimes we don't realize what we have until it's pointed out by others. I was in Toronto a few years ago for a long weekend with friends. We stopped in a coffee shop on Church Street and the group of natives at the next table heard our American accents and asked where we were from. When we told them, they said, "Thanks God! You always see the same people in Toronto!"

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

That's kinda true, at least in my experience.

I mean, even on here people say "there's no good city destinations within driving distance to Pittsburgh". Huh? Toronto (a world class city) is only 5 hours away! I don't think I know a single person in my age group that has been to Toronto within the past decade. Even those that go to Canada only go to Niagara Falls and never make the short drive from there to Toronto. That's just weird to me.

I'm 26. I went to Toronto in 2005. It was awesome. I'm one of those "whiners". For me I just hate the lack of DAY-TRIPPING options. Toronto is too far to day-trip and is more of a long weekend excursion. What are our day-tripping options?

Erie? (Cool, but we've been there a lot).
Youngstown/Warren? (Also cool, but once again we're exhausting it).
Wheeling/Moundsville? (See the past two).
Johnstown? (Yawn).
Ligonier? (Yawn).
Cranberry? (EWWWW!!!)

I grew up in the northeastern corner of the state where we were just two hours to two-and-a-half hours from NYC, Philadelphia, the Jersey Shore, Bucks County, Amish Country, Finger Lakes, Harrisburg/Hershey, etc. There's just not much around us. Pittsburgh is great, but most of what surrounds us is bleak---horribly bleak.

[gortonator]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I grew up in the northeastern corner of the state where we were just two hours to two-and-a-half hours from NYC, Philadelphia, the Jersey Shore, Bucks County, Amish Country, Finger Lakes, Harrisburg/Hershey, etc. There's just not much around us. Pittsburgh is great, but most of what surrounds us is bleak---horribly bleak.

I know. I hate wandering through those bleak lonely forests, along quiet undulating trails, or riding my bike along serene riverside paths with almost no one around. or camping by a lake under the stars, kayaking, or partying at Seven Springs during ski season.

It's all just so horrbly, horribly bleak. If only there were more Steeler fans around, then it'd be ok (obscure cross-thread sarcastic reference, sorry ...)

[speagles84]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I'm 26. I went to Toronto in 2005. It was awesome. I'm one of those "whiners". For me I just hate the lack of DAY-TRIPPING options. Toronto is too far to day-trip and is more of a long weekend excursion. What are our day-tripping options?

Erie? (Cool, but we've been there a lot).
Youngstown/Warren? (Also cool, but once again we're exhausting it).
Wheeling/Moundsville? (See the past two).
Johnstown? (Yawn).
Ligonier? (Yawn).
Cranberry? (EWWWW!!!)

I grew up in the northeastern corner of the state where we were just two hours to two-and-a-half hours from NYC, Philadelphia, the Jersey Shore, Bucks County, Amish Country, Finger Lakes, Harrisburg/Hershey, etc. There's just not much around us. Pittsburgh is great, but most of what surrounds us is bleak---horribly bleak.

How is there nothing around us?

North - Lake Erie, Niagra Falls, Allegheny National Forest
East - Mountains (real ones, not like the Poconos which barely count as mountains-sorry)
South - 3.5 hours to DC, Baltimore etc
West - meh could be better

[pman]

3.5 (or 4 hours) southeast isn't daytrip length. SCR has a point, at least in terms of "places" rather than nature. johnstown is depressing. ligonier and bedford are nice but small. altoona not so great