Pittsburg vs Atlanta (Pittsburgh, Lebanon, Upper St. Clair: lofts, neighborhood, college)

[MathmanMathman]

Very different places. Depends on what you mean by "culture". Pittsburgh has most of your standard cultural amenities symphony, ballet, opera, theater, and museums.

"Vibe" is very subjective. What are you looking for?

[DaBurgh]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

Do you mean Pittsburgh here in PA... or one of the dozens of Pittsburgs in other states?

I think this needs to go to another forum, right?

[SammyKhalifa]

I'm going to give the guy the benefit of doubt considering his handle is "Albania 67" and might not be from around these parts, and about as familiar with the different cities in North America as I am with the ones in Africa.

Anyhow, most of Atlanta grew after the automobile and air conditioning came along, and you can definitely tell. Atlanta is a lot bigger but also a lot lot more spread out. Most of Atlanta is newer than Pittsburgh.

[gg]

I really don't care for Atlanta. Don't know how people can live in such a traffic congested place that is so horribly hot in the summer. Pittsburgh has a lot more charm and is way nicer in every way EXCEPT, ATL is head and shoulders above PIT airport. You can actually fly places out of ATL and that is huge!

[SammyKhalifa]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

I really don't care for Atlanta. Don't know how people can live in such a traffic congested place that is so horribly hot in the summer. Pittsburgh has a lot more charm and is way nicer in every way EXCEPT, ATL is head and shoulders above PIT airport. You can actually fly places out of ATL and that is huge!

My only experience with Atlanta is from a few years ago when I was trying to follow my friend through the city on the one big highway (was it 75? can't remember) that was about 6 or 8 lanes in each direction of pure craziness. And I'm trying to follow him through the weaving and insanity and sudden exit ramps. So no, my impression isn't very good either. We were staying at a friend's house which looked like any other suburban place in any other city in America.

I do remember that every road there seemed to be named Peachtree Street/Peach Road/Peach Avenue/Peachville Expressway/ Etc. They sure do like their peaches there, you gotta give 'em that.

I also like the city when we're playing the Braves. I hate the Braves like any other good Pirates fan, but when we play them you get to say "HotLanta" a lot. Work it into conversation at any cost. Say it early and often. HotLanta HotLanta HotLanta. It really really annoys people and that's awesome.

[Stijl Council]

I'm from Atlanta (I grew up in the north suburbs and lived intown for maybe six years after college) and I've lived here almost 10 years.

Honestly I like both Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Museums are better here -- really the only things Atlanta is better on culturally are the Symphony and the theater scene. Nightlife is much better in Atlanta; things don't close nearly as early there as they do here. Lots more late night dining options there too.

I think this is a better place to raise a family on the whole. So many free/cheap cool things to do close together. The libraries are better here. The best public schools in the Atlanta area are noticeably better statistically than the best ones here; having so many tiny school districts is just insane. Private school is much more affordable here.

Traffic is much worse in Atlanta if you're going to/from the burbs or getting around some of the more crowded suburbs, but if you live and work in town there it's honestly not bad. Public transit is not great in either city but I think it's (slightly) more usable here. (Atlanta's great if you're traveling by train but the buses are terrible.)

Atlanta has a much more diverse restaurant scene. When I moved here the top end was significantly better in Atlanta too but within the last 4-5 years there are places here that can absolutely hang with anywhere I ever tried there. I do really miss having lots and lots of good options for Latin American food.

Groceries are cheaper there and the major grocery chains are so much nicer than Giant Eagle. I especially miss the Dekalb Farmers Market -- there is nothing that comes close to that here. I wouldn't know about malls or whatnot.

It's easier to do outdoorsy stuff here. You have to get quite a ways out of Atlanta before you can get to decent hiking, etc.

This is a huge generalization, but Southerners tend to be surface-friendly yet tough to get to know. (In fairness, Atlanta has a ton of inmigration so most people you meet there are not from Atlanta). I've found it easier to make friends here.

I don't like the summers there or the winters here so I'll call the weather a wash for my own personal tastes.

[SorryIMovedBack]

If you want a quick-reference for demographics numbers, look at State and County QuickFacts

Pittsburgh, and western PA, to me, is very "old" in its thinking. Conservative in its own way, ethnocentric, insular, a bit small town, and definitely family-centric. Except in certain occupations like education, medicine, and finance, there is not much economic growth to cause people to migrate to Pittsburgh for jobs, so most of the people older than college age are locals who've lived there their entire lives, and their social circle revolves around blood relatives and a few lifelong friends. Western PA, in general, was factories and agriculture. There was massive outward migration of college grads in the Baby Boomer generation because old Rust Belt cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland lacked more than entry-level jobs for them. Lots of those educated professional people ended up in the Sun Belt: NC, SC, GA, TX. Or larger cities like Chicago, NYC, LA, Phoenix. In the Pittsburgh area, the younger professionals and well-heeled families might actually live in Cranberry Township of Butler County, or Nottingham Township in Washington County, and they just work in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh city itself is hilly and has a lot of neighborhoods and they might all differ in character.

You could just as easily have insular Atlanta families as insular Pittsburgh families. Cities like Atlanta, where you have many transplants, have a better network of transplant people to socialize with. So even if the old-time Southerners are just as insular as Pittsburgh's insular and ethnic families, there are far more transplants for transplants to associate with, LOL. Any city or workplace that has a large number of people who "are not from around here" has a much different vibe toward outsiders than one where the majority have grown up there and lived there for decades.

[Geeo]

I think the only thing similar to both cities is that they are both northern, since most people down there came from up here (northeast and mid-west). But Atlanta didn't even reach a million population until 1959, so most of it has been built in the last 50 years, and it's a pretty new-looking city for now. I don't care much for its highways and office buildings surrounded by parking lots and how you need a car to do anything. But there are several nice in-town neighborhoods that are older and have their own business districts.

Atlanta has managed to be its biggest booster, but there are still a lot of underlying problems like poverty and segregation. It's on the bottom of the list of upward mobility cities - meaning that if you're born poor n Atlanta, you have a pretty good chance of remaining poor.

[pit2atl]

No comparison.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by pit2atl

No comparison.

Exactly; I'd never want to live in Atlanta