Pittsburgh not as good a place as we thought? (Philadelphia: fit in, 2015)

[_Buster]

I thought everyone knew by now that these lists are just marketing bait for the publishers? If they don't switch the rankings around and create some controversy, then they wouldn't make the headlines on various websites, which is their goal.

[gg]

Another click bait story that puts Pittsburgh right up there. Guess we are great again. Thank goodness.

The 12 cities where you can live large on $60,000

[okaydorothy]

Also after 5 years here, yes the cost of housing is less. But Pittsburgh is really getting as expensive as any other city however the wages are not there.

Groceries are more expensive here than in the Poconos, eating out again, is as expensive as any other metro area. Clothing is also as expensive. I went to a diner on Long Island last week for breakfast and it was about the same cost for 2 as First Watch is.

[gg]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

Groceries are more expensive here than in the Poconos, eating out again, is as expensive as any other metro area. Clothing is also as expensive. I went to a diner on Long Island last week for breakfast and it was about the same cost for 2 as First Watch is.

Hmm, some suggestions. Aldi and Trader Joes are very reasonable and Aldi is really changing a lot for the better. Eating out is about the same here as in most any metro? I agree, we are on par with even NYC. I don't know about clothing, since we don't tax it in our state, so aren't we saving on clothes here?

The real estate market is pretty brisk in Pittsburgh, but I have been looking at other areas for relocation and prices are pretty high everywhere it seems. I can't believe how expensive it has gotten down south, which used to be so cheap. Geez!

I have a feeling you are moving back. I think you did well for your kids though. They seemed to thrive here and that is important.

[okaydorothy]

Originally Posted by gg

Hmm, some suggestions. Aldi and Trader Joes are very reasonable and Aldi is really changing a lot for the better. Eating out is about the same here as in most any metro? I agree, we are on par with even NYC. I don't know about clothing, since we don't tax it in our state, so aren't we saving on clothes here?

The real estate market is pretty brisk in Pittsburgh, but I have been looking at other areas for relocation and prices are pretty high everywhere it seems. I can't believe how expensive it has gotten down south, which used to be so cheap. Geez!

I have a feeling you are moving back. I think you did well for your kids though. They seemed to thrive here and that is important.

Yes, our kids definitely thrived here and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I cannot complain about that one bit. Yes, I will be moving once our youngest graduates.

[216facts]

Toledo #71 is better than New York #80. I don't want to knock Toledo, or any other city, but what exactly am I supposed to glean from these lists?

[PreservationPioneer]

These lists were always pointless. People lost their minds when Pittsburgh was rated highly on a few lists. It was always a crock, though. Pittsburgh has always been an interesting, authentic place. It doesn't need fake validation. I feel like it just attracted attention from people who chase trends.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

These lists were always pointless. People lost their minds when Pittsburgh was rated highly on a few lists. It was always a crock, though. Pittsburgh has always been an interesting, authentic place. It doesn't need fake validation. I feel like it just attracted attention from people who chase trends.

Agree, and have said so in past.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

These lists were always pointless. People lost their minds when Pittsburgh was rated highly on a few lists. It was always a crock, though. Pittsburgh has always been an interesting, authentic place. It doesn't need fake validation. I feel like it just attracted attention from people who chase trends.

Good point, but when this city started making lists, they (the lists) were not as ubiquitous as they are now. Am I right - at one time there was the Rand McNally most liveable cities, then maybe Money, and Fortune, with the last two having a different criteria.

Now there are so many. So I do not agree it was "always a crock", but "fake validation"? Yes, nowadays that is what it seems to be. Yet sometimes we revel in places we admire (San Francisco, for example) when they rate high in some kind of list.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

Good point, but when this city started making lists, they (the lists) were not as ubiquitous as they are now. Am I right - at one time there was the Rand McNally most liveable cities, then maybe Money, and Fortune, with the last two having a different criteria.

Now there are so many. So I do not agree it was "always a crock", but "fake validation"? Yes, nowadays that is what it seems to be. Yet sometimes we revel in places we admire (San Francisco, for example) when they rate high in some kind of list.

Yes, it's always been a crock. I think you misjudge how ubiquitous these lists were "back in the day". I have an old Rand-McNally "Places Rated" from . . . .1985! That's before some of you were even born, I'm sure. Even then, people disagreed with the methodology. (How can you say Champaign, IL has a better climate than Denver, etc.) [The Places Rated guys admitted they biased towards 'mild' for climate, but they seemed to just take the numbers on paper and not look into it IRL.] Before the internet, there was the mass media. When I was a mother of young kids, Parents magazine was always doing lists of "best places to raise a child", etc. Travel magazines did "best places" to travel for this, that, and the other. Interest magazines, bicycling for example, did articles about "best places" to bike. Hiking, other activity mags did the same. And it's easy to finagle the criteria to make it show anything you want. Plus, many of these "lists" go for geographic balance, so some of the strangest places get ranked as "best".