Leaving Pittsburgh (final thoughts) (Monongahela, Oakland: neighborhood, university, live)

[Antequera]

Well, I will be leaving Pittsburgh for good in a few days as I graduate from university. I wanted to give my final impressions of the city as I leave and head back to NJ. Things I liked and things I didn't like.

Things I liked:

• The many views of the city
• The bridges
• Oakland is a pleasant neighborhood
• Kebab places
• Some of the museums
• Not many rednecks seemingly
• Nice churches and a diversity of churches (e.g. Eastern Orthodox)
• City seems to be pretty tolerant to other races and religions
• City is growing and developing continuously, hi-tech is increasing

Things I didn't like:

• The transportation system
• Not a lot of diversity (e.g. very few latinos)
• Food in general is so-so
• Downtown is pretty dead, not much to do
• Airport is declining and expensive to fly from
• Not very good food selection in the supermarkets - never liked Giant Eagle
• Can't get a decent bagel or pizza
• Not many events
• You get a bit bored of the city after a while

I won't complain about the weather because we get the exact same weather in NJ!

[Aqua Teen Carl]

ITT: people ignoring any pro's OP mentioned and will continuously argue about the cons.

[Gee Whiz]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

ITT: people ignoring any pro's OP mentioned and will continuously argue about the cons.

There is no need to argue or call people names. It is ok to question or debate certain criteria. Downtown is vibrant during the day and not so much at night, but is getting better. Ditto the food scene. Taste in pizza is relative. Not familiar with kebab scene. I agree with everything else.

[speagles84]

Originally Posted by Maast

Well, I will be leaving Pittsburgh for good in a few days as I graduate from university. I wanted to give my final impressions of the city as I leave and head back to NJ. Things I liked and things I didn't like.

Things I liked:

• The many views of the city Agree
• The bridges Agree
• Oakland is a pleasant neighborhood Disagree
• Kebab places Agree
• Some of the museums Agree
• Not many rednecks seemingly Agree, Oakland is very urban though. Beyond the urban limits, you will find a good amount.
• Nice churches and a diversity of churches (e.g. Eastern Orthodox) Agree; you must have lived near me on Dawson
• City seems to be pretty tolerant to other races and religions Agree
• City is growing and developing continuously, hi-tech is increasing Agree

Things I didn't like:

• The transportation system Agree
• Not a lot of diversity (e.g. very few latinos) Agree. It will continue to diversify (especially with Hispanics/Latinos, but even now its still low by US standards.
• Food in general is so-so Disagree
• Downtown is pretty dead, not much to do Disagree
• Airport is declining and expensive to fly from Agree, kind of sad
• Not very good food selection in the supermarkets - never liked Giant Eagle Did you explore much? I know GE is the easiest, but there are plenty of smaller places. That Italian Market on McKee was my personal favorite
• Can't get a decent bagel or pizza Haha. You lived in Oakland. $5 pizza is what you get there
• You get a bit bored of the city after a while Disagree

I won't complain about the weather because we get the exact same weather in NJ!

Disagree. NJ is so much more humid and warmer. I spend a lot of time in Bucks County, PA and the summers there are miserably humid and hot and winters are an occasional heavier snow that melts 2 days later.

Happy you generally enjoyed your career here. Good luck to you in your future endeavors!

[sealie]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

ITT: people ignoring any pro's OP mentioned and will continuously argue about the cons.

At least he didn't say anything about the natives for some people to go all No True Scotsman about. That should limit that a bit.

[pghdude28]

I'm sure this thread will be about 20+ pages. I agree with most except the weather... it's much nicer in NJ than the crap we experience here. I'll keep this OP format in mind when I post my "Leaving Pgh" thread in 2 weeks. Good luck with your future!

[Buckeye Burgher]

Originally Posted by Maast

Well, I will be leaving Pittsburgh for good in a few days as I graduate from university. I wanted to give my final impressions of the city as I leave and head back to NJ. Things I liked and things I didn't like.









Things I liked:

• The many views of the city Agree, it is visually striking.
• The bridges Interesting if you aren't trying to drive across one at rush hour.
• Oakland is a pleasant neighborhood Most Pittsburghers would not agree with you. Most find it too noisy and chaotic. Though one who would agree with you is my boss, who moved here from Hoboken and lived in Oakland for a number of years.
• Kebab places Not my favorite cuisine, but we have many Syrian and Lebanese people here who prepare very authentic food.
• Some of the museums There are some outstanding ones.
• Not many rednecks seemingly Whoa! Cross the Monongahela River sometime. I can take you to places within six miles of Downtown where you'll swear you are actually in Central West Virginia. Not that being a redneck is necessarily a bad thing.
• Nice churches and a diversity of churches (e.g. Eastern Orthodox) Yes, has always been a strength of our area. I know of one place where a Russian Orthodox church and a Ukrainian Catholic one share a street corner. They would not co-exist so peacefully back home.
• City seems to be pretty tolerant to other races and religions I think so. Yet this urban legend that Pittsburgh is one of the most racist cities on the planet continues to circulate in the rest of the country.
• City is growing and developing continuously, hi-tech is increasing A big change from when I was a kid and Big Steel died a sudden, painful death.

Things I didn't like:

• The transportation system It is a mess. Thoroughly fubared by out-of-control unions and incompetent management.
• Not a lot of diversity (e.g. very few latinos) Until recently our economy was not growing rapidly enough to attract them here. There is a Latino community in Beechview that seems to be thriving.
• Food in general is so-so Compared to where? Seems pretty subjective.
• Downtown is pretty dead, not much to do Has been that way for a long time, though it appears to be changing.
• Airport is declining and expensive to fly from Blame stupid decisions local government made 20 years ago that strapped us with a bigger, more expensive airport than we really needed. And which stifled competition. All to please US Air who of course was going to keep those thousands of jobs here forever and ever and ever.
• Not very good food selection in the supermarkets - never liked Giant Eagle GE managed to obtain a near-monopoly here at one point. Militant unions drove most other chains away in the 1970's. Has reversed itself recently with new entrants at the low-price end (Bottom Dollar, Aldi) and high end (The Fresh Market, Trader Joe's, etc.)
• Can't get a decent bagel or pizza Come to the South Hills. Many Italians with mom-and-pop pizza joints using old family recipes.
• Not many events Compared to where? The City Paper never seems to have a shortage of event listings.
• You get a bit bored of the city after a while I've lived in Flint and Toledo. Give those a try, and then come back and tell me about it.

I won't complain about the weather because we get the exact same weather in NJ!

Per other posters, have entered my comments above.

I once left thinking I'd never come back either. As did my parents.
Don't be surprised if life throws you that curveball as well.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by Maast

Things I didn't like:

• The transportation system
• Not a lot of diversity (e.g. very few latinos)
• Food in general is so-so
• Downtown is pretty dead, not much to do
• Airport is declining and expensive to fly from
• Not very good food selection in the supermarkets - never liked Giant Eagle
• Can't get a decent bagel or pizza
• Not many events
• You get a bit bored of the city after a while

I won't complain about the weather because we get the exact same weather in NJ!

The good thing to me is that nearly all the negatives are on a rapidly improving trajectory, possibly with the exception of the airport. I get that the food here isn't up to the standards of what you would see in the NYC area, however, there is definitely good pizza, quality high-end food options and more grocery selection than just Giant Eagle available today. You actually need to leave Oakland to find them though.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Maast

Well, I will be leaving Pittsburgh for good in a few days as I graduate from university. I wanted to give my final impressions of the city as I leave and head back to NJ. Things I liked and things I didn't like.

Things I liked:

• The many views of the city Agreed.
• The bridges Agreed.
• Oakland is a pleasant neighborhood To me, Oakland is more ambient than pleasant, but that's why I like it.
• Kebab places Whatever floats your boat.
• Some of the museums Agreed.
• Not many rednecks seemingly They're almost extinct in the city, and they're increasingly rare in Allegheny County too, but the remainder of western Pennsylvania compensates for this.
• Nice churches and a diversity of churches (e.g. Eastern Orthodox) Agreed.
• City seems to be pretty tolerant to other races and religions Yes and no. Some white people still pretend there's no such thing as educated and upwardly-mobile black people, and that really needs to change. Relations with Asians and Latinos seem to be OK, generally.
• City is growing and developing continuously, hi-tech is increasing This applies to Allegheny County as well. Sadly, it does not apply to the rest of the metropolitan area.

Things I didn't like:

• The transportation system Agreed.
• Not a lot of diversity (e.g. very few latinos) Agreed, but it's begun to change in the last 10 years or so.
• Food in general is so-so I disagree. Then again, nobody would ever describe me as a connoisseur of food.
• Downtown is pretty dead, not much to do See my comments on diversity.
• Airport is declining and expensive to fly from Agreed for now. That could change after 2017, though.
• Not very good food selection in the supermarkets - never liked Giant Eagle Most of their suburban locations are fine with me, and people from all over the United States have raved about the Market District at Settler's Ridge. Sure, some of their stores in the city and river towns are a bit neglected, but I still think people underrate Giant Eagle a bit.
• Can't get a decent bagel or pizza I don't like bagels, so I couldn't tell you. And I'd recommend Vincent's Pizza, though, again, I'm not a connoisseur of food.
• Not many events See my comments on diversity.
• You get a bit bored of the city after a while Personally, I've never been at a loss for things to do in Pittsburgh.

I won't complain about the weather because we get the exact same weather in NJ! Thank God.

My replies are shaded in BLUE.

[EveKendall]

Originally Posted by Maast

Things I didn't like:

• Not a lot of diversity (e.g. very few latinos)

This is a sincere question from someone trying to understand U.S. culture: why would more Latinos make a city better? I ask because I see a lot of this type of comments here, and this is not soemthing that Europeans worry about so much (e.g., Italians never sit around wishing there were more French people). i sincerely find this curious. In my neighborhood I regularly hear people speaking Yiddish, Russian, Polish, and even Italian, but there seems to be a type of diversity that is better, and it seems to be Hispanic/Latino.

I don't mean to derail the thread, I just find these comments puzzling and I want to understand. I wish you luck Maast.