What are Pittsburgh's peer cities? (Philadelphia, York: best city, houses, living in)

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

The Mapplethorpe controversy would never have happened here.

When you meet someone from Pittsburgh, you've met somebody who enjoys sadomasochistic homoerotic photography.

[Losfrisco]

Not just here but also on Twitter, I"ve noticed likening Pittsburgh to Austin and Portland is the smart "hot take" for some reason. I've never been to Austin, but I would think its being a seat of government would knock it below Pittsburgh (could be wrong, I have to look at data). I've been to Portland, and my first take was that it was the Pittsburgh of the west coast, for these specific reasons-Portland is a non-coastal, but a day trip to a coast, the air tram going to the medical complex reminded me of the Duquesne incline, and both cities have a tradition of rugged blue-collar fused with intellectuals.

Then I went to Seattle (for the first time) and went back to Pittsburgh a few months later and decided Pittsburgh is much closer to Seattle than Portland. Let's not forget:

"For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment; it had the most U.S. stockholders per capita."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh

IMO, Pittsburgh's institutions still tower high above the vast majority of its peers.

So my answer to this question is the same as if I had been asked when I was a child-Cleveland.

[Losfrisco]

Originally Posted by Delco21

Good question. As I see nobody has answered it yet. This is where Pittsburgh and Cleveland are so similar. Pittsburgh has joined Cleveland in a superiority complex against Columbus. Both people from Pittsburgh and Cleveland will give a million reasons as to why their respective city is so much better. Yet it is not reflected in population numbers. If both places had so much to offer they would grow as well.

People vote with their feet. They are voting for Columbus and not Cleveland or Pittsburgh. Let's remember the good old days when Pittsburgh and Cleveland were important cities. Forget learning about 50 years of mistakes and misdeeds. Let's bash the growing metro and stay the course as it was 1950.

You can have your bests lists. We will gladly beat you for smart city money and take the growing tax base to make our city and suburbs better.

Peace out.

Delco21

People don't always move to places like Columbus because they want to, but to survive economically. I'm an example of that, I was uprooted from Pittsburgh to move to Columbus when I was 8. Pittsburgh and Cleveland "have joined in a superiority complex against Columbus" because they are both, by a wide margin, superior to Columbus.

Columbus, WI (population 711) has an Amtrak station. Columbus, OH does not. Think about that for a second.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

When you meet someone from Pittsburgh, you've met somebody who enjoys sadomasochistic homoerotic photography.

Absolutely!

[MountainDewGuy]

Originally Posted by JoeP

No, Pittsburgh does not have an superiority complex regarding Columbus. I doubt Cleveland does either. What an odd statement.

Sure we do. Though to be fair, it isn't aimed specifically at Columbus. Many people in Pittsburgh just assume that Pittsburgh is the best place in the world and there is no arguing against that point.

Originally Posted by JoeP

As for population change - That's complicated. It's not a simple as a preference.

We can make just about anything complicated if we want, but in this case I think it is very simple. People like other places better, which is why they have left here and moved elsewhere. We can come up with 1000 different reasons like employment, weather, etc, but those things matter to people and the bottom line is what it is.

The reasons why people choose to live in Pittsburgh is because cheaper housing can still be found, and there are a good number of cultural amenities for a city of this size thanks to Pittsburgh being an actual booming city decades ago. But cheaper housing comes as a result of the region not doing nearly enough to position the City for growth. It's a shame because decades of incompetent leadership will result in stunting that growth potential. Our infrastructure will be horrendously inadequate, unless every neighborhood gets a pro sports team... then we can fast track new rail lines to those venues!

[PreservationPioneer]

Columbus has tons of cheap housing. It's in Ohio..

I don't think cheap housing is always relative to lack of growth, and Columbus having $10k houses proves it.

[fleetiebelle]

Originally Posted by MountainDewGuy

Sure we do. Though to be fair, it isn't aimed specifically at Columbus. Many people in Pittsburgh just assume that Pittsburgh is the best place in the world and there is no arguing against that point.

I think this has less to do with provincialism and more to do with the fact that until very recently Pittsburgh was regularly the butt of jokes as being an armpit of a city. Pittsburghers, both lifers and transplants, have had to defend the place maybe not as the best place in the world, but certainly not a terrible place to be.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

I think this has less to do with provincialism and more to do with the fact that until very recently Pittsburgh was regularly the butt of jokes as being an armpit of a city. Pittsburghers, both lifers and transplants, have had to defend the place maybe not as the best place in the world, but certainly not a terrible place to be.

This is true, although with regard to Columbus, few people regarded Columbus as a major city until recently. Most folks generally saw Columbus as something closer to Richmond, or Toledo, as opposed to Cleveland, or Cincy, which have long been seen as big league cities. This is the root of why people in the other cities mentioned tend to sneer a bit at Columbus. This is why other Johnny-come-latelys like Indy, and Charlotte, went so hard for NFL teams. It stamped them as "big league" in the eyes of both outsiders, and themselves.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

This is true, although with regard to Columbus, few people regarded Columbus as a major city until recently. Most folks generally saw Columbus as something closer to Richmond, or Toledo, as opposed to Cleveland, or Cincy, which have long been seen as big league cities. This is the root of why people in the other cities mentioned tend to sneer a bit at Columbus. This is why other Johnny-come-latelys like Indy, and Charlotte, went so hard for NFL teams. It stamped them as "big league" in the eyes of both outsiders, and themselves.

Well, one interpretation of "major league city" is a city with major league sports! I like to tell DH that I am from a major league city while he (Omaha, Nebraska native) is not.

[Delco21]

Originally Posted by MountainDewGuy

Sure we do. Though to be fair, it isn't aimed specifically at Columbus. Many people in Pittsburgh just assume that Pittsburgh is the best place in the world and there is no arguing against that point.




We can make just about anything complicated if we want, but in this case I think it is very simple. People like other places better, which is why they have left here and moved elsewhere. We can come up with 1000 different reasons like employment, weather, etc, but those things matter to people and the bottom line is what it is.

The reasons why people choose to live in Pittsburgh is because cheaper housing can still be found, and there are a good number of cultural amenities for a city of this size thanks to Pittsburgh being an actual booming city decades ago. But cheaper housing comes as a result of the region not doing nearly enough to position the City for growth. It's a shame because decades of incompetent leadership will result in stunting that growth potential. Our infrastructure will be horrendously inadequate, unless every neighborhood gets a pro sports team... then we can fast track new rail lines to those venues!

Cleveland like Pittsburgh suffers from the exact same complex. A once important big city that no longer serves the purpose for what it was originally created.

Both cities have trouble moving forward and leaving the past behind. Touting best lists or how great we once were aren't enough to attract people or business. That is not a long term strategy for growth. Pittsburgh is mostly a city of residents from there. You have a vocal minority in a few select city neighborhoods of transplants posting on here. A 2 square mile area does not make a city.

Pittsburgh has tons of cheap houses in large swaths of the city. Cleveland is the same way. The reason these large swaths are cheap is desirability. Nobody wants to live there. All those hardcore city dwellers refuse to put money where their mouth is. Why not invest in a Sheridan, carrick or Marshall shade land if you are hardcore about living in the city? None of them will pony up the money to live in an affordable yet undesirable neighborhood.

Pittsburgh still struggles with job growth and wages with a state government that is regressive and still in the 1900s mindset. If anything, Cleveland has a huge edge over Pittsburgh in that regard. Ohio is not as regressive nor as corrupt as PA.

When people from Pittsburgh can answer your earlier question instead of skirting it then they are on the correct path. Pittsburgh much like Cleveland still doesn't get it