Hey, Pittsburgh :-) (Sandy: house, living in, cost)

[Fran66]

Ya know , I knew you'd come through. Thanks so much. You are why it just killed me to stop considering Pittsburgh. In fact, I was talking with a new New Jersey transplant (here) just this morning, and I mentioned this 'great city back east' which I had seriously considered moving to, because the resident posters on this topic (on C-D) had been so nice to me (and to each other and to others), but that my fear of the long winters and summer humidity had stopped me from moving there. And she interrupted me, "Pittsburgh!" She said she had seriously considered moving there too, because the people are so friendly in Pittsburgh, but her only daughter and grandchildren are here in NM.

You guys MUST have a good reputation?!

As for your recent brutal winter -- at least you aren't MA! I have a pen pal in Worchester and over the winter all he could talk about was all the snow.

Again -- thanks! I think I'll stick around here for the next couple of years. :-) I know I'll learn a lot.

[okaydorothy]

We are transplants and really like it here. We actually like the topography, the weather and the people.

[Fran66]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

We are transplants and really like it here. We actually like the topography, the weather and the people.

Thanks, Dorothy.

[Copanut]

I rate my Winters like my Summers. I only had to use AC 3 days last Summer, and only called the snowplow guy 4 times this Winter. Pretty, pretty, pretty good if you ask me.

[sparrowmint]

Myself and my husband especially find the summers to be too humid. Such things are a matter of perspective. He comes from an area of low humidity, and even after nearly six years here, the humidity during parts of the summer is extremely intolerable for him. For someone used to a desert climate, you might feel similar to him. People who consistently lived with humidity wouldn't have the same experience as that (though I grew up in an area with humid summers, and they still make me nauseous).

That said, I'd get the heck away from the coming water wars of the southwest too, humidity or no.

[ditchdigger]

I work outside all year long, and plowed snow for 19 years, and my strictly anecdotal observation on Pittsburgh winter is that, generally, of the three months, December, January, and February, two of them will be cold and snowy, like "stereotypical" winter, and the other one won't be so bad. Of course, there's no telling until it happens which two months those will be, and they don't necessarily have to be two months in a row. Sometimes January is the least miserable of the three...

[Fran66]

Originally Posted by sparrowmint

Myself and my husband especially find the summers to be too humid. Such things are a matter of perspective. He comes from an area of low humidity, and even after nearly six years here, the humidity during parts of the summer is extremely intolerable for him. For someone used to a desert climate, you might feel similar to him. People who consistently lived with humidity wouldn't have the same experience as that (though I grew up in an area with humid summers, and they still make me nauseous).

That said, I'd get the heck away from the coming water wars of the southwest too, humidity or no.

I have already thought about what you wrote. Yes, it's all a matter of perspective. I do understand that. I mean, Pittsburgh is right by all that water -- LOL -- it HAS to be pretty humid during the summer. But thank you for pointing it out to me -- after all, I might not have thought about it hard enough.

High humidity makes me ill. I would have retired in Boston -- but the humidity in OCTOBER made me ill. (And everyone I know from MA cracks up at that, because, of course, October is not bad. LOL)

My thought is this: altho' New Mexico has only one humid month (August), we have 4 months of very hot weather. Most days we have to be back in our home and the AC by between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Actually, around noon. Not to mention that our summer aftn heat is too bad on the average car's engine to be driving around in the heat of the aftn/early evening. SO -

I think I'm going to find an independent living place close to Pittsburgh (I've already found at least one), live there, and hibernate during the summers. We don't have bad winters here, but I've lived in places with bad winters -- I can do it again -- even in my older age -- it just doesn't scare me (not very much). I won't be driving, of course, but I'll find other ways of transportation OR I'll hibernate. OR I'll spend some weeks in San Diego too.

I'd love to move back to San Diego, but CA's water situation is far worse than a lot of residents know/believe/admit. I have friends there who just want out -- the water situation is scary, the taxes are too high, the traffic is terrible, there are too many people, etc. SO -- I'll live in Pittsburgh and vacation in SD.

And, seriously, if I ever move to Pittsburgh -- and I do think I will -- I'd like to meet some of you. So -- looking forward to that day. But it'll be a couple of years (I think).

Thanks so much to all of you for your input. :-)

Fran

[shadowfax]

Personally I have never experienced what I would call brutally hot and humid in Pittsburgh and an average winters here is far from brutal. Generally winter lasts just long enough for you to be sick of it. It snows often but usually small amounts. Late January to late February can be uncomfortably cold and late July into August can be rather warm. It rarely gets above 85 or below zero though so really weather here is not so bad. We do get a lot of precipitation, so a lot of wet gray days. We definitely don't lack for enough water.


But them I grew up in New England (very close to Worcester actually) where humidity could be pretty significant and winter storms dump snow that often measures in feet. So to me Pittsburgh weather is really pretty mild on average.

[Fran66]

Originally Posted by shadowfax

Personally I have never experienced what I would call brutally hot and humid in Pittsburgh and an average winters here is far from brutal. Generally winter lasts just long enough for you to be sick of it. It snows often but usually small amounts. Late January to late February can be uncomfortably cold and late July into August can be rather warm. It rarely gets above 85 or below zero though so really weather here is not so bad. We do get a lot of precipitation, so a lot of wet gray days. We definitely don't lack for enough water.


But them I grew up in New England where humidity could be pretty significant and winter storms dump snow that often measures in feet. So to me Pittsburgh weather is really pretty mild on average.

Well, of course -- it's a matter of perspective. I come from Southern CA (and most of those 45 years, it wasn't nearly as humid as it has been, increasingly, the past 15 years). If the humidity here in ABQ gets above 5% -- I get sick. LOLOLOLOLOLOL That's an exaggeration -- but not by much. :-)

You know, I'll manage. I will. I love to read, I have indoor hobbies -- I'll be fine during the summers. () And I love cold winters -- I just hate it if they last forever. :-)

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Fran66

OH -- you brought tears to my eyes. LOL How kind of you.

I'm 66 now (just turned). I just re-enrolled in college (it's virtually free here, at our public CC, for 65+) and the tech degree I'm working on will take two years, at least. And then maybe I'll look at independent living around Pittsburgh (it's expensive IN Pittsburgh proper). But I just found out that some independent places back there have 3- to 5-year waiting lists! Maybe I'd better get on some now.

I do remember all the good things about Pittsburgh, even the good neighborhoods. :-)

I'm just kinda 'skittish' about the weather -- I don't mind snow/cold -- or even cloudy and rainy days -- I love them all -- but I hate LONG winters -- and the summer humidity scares the H out of me. LLLLLLLLOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLL

Pittsburghers will ***** about these last two winters while failing to remember that they were abnormally cold. Key word: abnormally. In other words, it's not normal for winter to be as cold as it has been these last two. These are the average high temperature ranges in Pittsburgh throughout the year, according to AccuWeather...


30s: January 1 - February 15
40s: February 16 - March 17
50s: March 18 - April 9
60s: April 10 - May 11
70s: May 12 - June 17
80s: June 18 - August 29
70s: August 30 - September 26
60s: September 27 - October 25
50s: October 26 - November 18
40s: November 19 - December 14
30s: December 15 - December 31


In other words, it's normally "shorts weather" for four and a half months from mid-May through late September, and "outdoor weather" for six and a half months from mid-April through late October. It's normally "coat and gloves" weather for only three and a half months from late November through mid-March. That three-and-a-half-month period of time coincides with the mostly cloudy period of the year that Pittsburghers ***** about ad nauseum and pathologically exaggerate its duration. Basically, if you can deal with three to four months of mostly cold and mostly cloudy weather, the rest of the year is mostly pleasant.