We're #2!

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by Goodjules

Pittsburgh came in at number 20 in the top 20 US large communities on SMU's Arts Vibrancy Index....Pittsburgh is knocking it out of the park, IMHO. Pittsburgh's vibrant arts scene was one of the reasons I chose to live here...
The Top 40 Most Vibrant Arts Communities in America (2018) | SMU DataArts

Important point. Somehow, despite the more popular archetype of a "mill town", and after that, a "blue collar town" (not that there is anything wrong with those concepts), Pittsburgh has always had that "artsy" element. Even in the 1970s, channel 13 had arguably a pioneering approach to television.

If you want to go way back, there is a legacy in jazz, and maybe even big band.

The presence of the universities probably helped this culture of arts alive.

But maybe ALL cities claim themselves to be that way. Have you ever been somewhere where a local proudly extols some "funky, hip" area, and you say to yourself "its nice, but that's all you have, like 2 blocks of street artists?" I've found that in the mid-western cities I've been to, not counting Chicago.

[PGH423]

Originally Posted by Pughnose

I was kind of stunned to see that Pittsburgh was awarded 96.4/100 on infrastructure, given our potholed streets and our widely-leaded and occasionally undrinkable water supply and our inability to handle heavy rain without flooding and sewer overflows, etc. In that category, among the 16 US cities rated highest overall, we shared a four-way tie for second.

(Chart is here: https://www.post-gazette.com/local/n...s/201808200090.)

Is water considered infrastructure?

I'm sure every city has roads with problems. I'm thankful we don't see the kind of prolonged, massive flooding here you see in many places. Our "natural disasters" tend to be a 2 on a 1 to 10 scale.