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Strange, isn't it? I have a nephew who is SCR's age, he too has a BS degree, the difference is he makes $105K. He began a career when he finished college, stayed with it, worked hard, and has done very well. My son made more than that at age 30 because he's a computer engineer. I don't know anyone, in any state, with a college degree who is making only $15 an hour. Nor do I know anyone without a degree who is still making $15 hour at age 30. Something's not right with SCR's story. He can make more than that in ANY entry level accounting job. Just sayin'.........
You’re very lucky. I’m going to assume you’re an upper class baby boomer.
I graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor’s degree, and I’ve been struggling to make more than $15 hourly. I have insane student loan debt on top of it. I don’t know anyone who makes 105k a year.
Unfortunately, not everyone is cut out to be a doctor, engineer, or IT related worker. Please send me some job listings. I obviously don’t have the proper connections. Way to look down on others and rub their face in your privilege! Adding “Just Sayin’ is the cherry in top. Wow. You’re really out of touch.
I came from a working class family and thought a college degree was the answer. Perhaps you live in Mt.Lebo, Sewickley, or Upper Saint Clair and have that class advantage. Your comment has really struck a nerve with me.
Let me guess, you paid off your student loans over the summer. Or better yet, you never went to college, you got a job as a mail clerk at Highmark in 1985, and you diligently worked your way up to 100k. Perhaps you married a lawyer and you really can’t understand people who struggle...just sayin’ Life is good and easy peasy for you. There are class differences that may not be obvious.
It’s as easy as showing devotion to our employer, right? Anyone can do it! We should all just pull ourselves up by our lazy ass bootstraps. Please take a look at Pitt’s in-state tuition cost. It’s reasonable, isn’t it? Imagine paying that off with a ****ty paying job and high rent. Admittedly, I have a degree in the liberal arts, so I probably have no reason to complain. I screwed myself because I didn’t have the brain power to be a lawyer, doctor, or software engineer.
As a woman and a mother, I find it difficult to get up that next rung. I’ve been working office jobs since 2005. I went back to school thinking that would help my earning power. It hasn’t, so what am I doing wrong? If $15hr plus jobs are plentiful, why can’t I find them. Why is minimum wage $7.25 in 2019? My sister has her MSW, she makes 30k a year as a therapist. How dare she go to school to help others. She has over 10 years experience in social work. What an idiot. She should have learned to code. It’s all her fault.
What do your nephew’s parents do for a living? Let me guess...
I work at Pitt with people who make $11hr with masters and doctorate degrees. I wish I was joking. Do you know how much they pay adjunct professors? Why are these highly educated people working for peanuts? The Pittsburgh job market is saturated with highly educated applicants who will work for low pay? Why? Why are people getting their Masters degrees in droves when it’s so easy to get a 100k job after graduation? Most entry level office jobs in Pittsburgh start around 20k-30k. If you don’t get a degree in computer science or engineering, it’s difficult out there.
Last edited by fjy3; 04-13-2019 at 08:11 PM..
Reason: More ranting
I work at Pitt with people who make $11hr with masters and doctorate degrees. I wish I was joking. Do you know how much they pay adjunct professors? Why are these highly educated people working for peanuts? The Pittsburgh job market is saturated with highly educated applicants who will work for low pay? Why? Why are people getting their Masters degrees in droves when it’s so easy to get a 100k job after graduation? Most entry level office jobs in Pittsburgh start around 20k-30k. If you don’t get a degree in computer science or engineering, it’s difficult out there.
Why do people stay in Pittsburgh and complain about paltry wages? I just don’t understand. No common sense it seems. It is a known fact people don’t get paid average wages there.
A little secret. The Midwest has more jobs than applicants. Start applying to jobs in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. And these states are typically cheaper than Pittsburgh. I know rent is. Don’t look at the coasts either it is expensive and good jobs pay roughly the same in the Midwest.
Columbus, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis and the Detroit metro all have more and better paying jobs than Pittsburgh. I will throw Louisville and Lexington as well.
Stop complaining and wasting time in a city that can’t provide enough decent paying jobs to absorb all the college grads. You can come back and report the better job you got elsewhere.
Why do people stay in Pittsburgh and complain about paltry wages? I just don’t understand. No common sense it seems. It is a known fact people don’t get paid average wages there.
Why do people stay in Pittsburgh and complain about paltry wages? I just don’t understand. No common sense it seems. It is a known fact people don’t get paid average wages there.
A little secret. The Midwest has more jobs than applicants. Start applying to jobs in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. And these states are typically cheaper than Pittsburgh. I know rent is. Don’t look at the coasts either it is expensive and good jobs pay roughly the same in the Midwest.
Columbus, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis and the Detroit metro all have more and better paying jobs than Pittsburgh. I will throw Louisville and Lexington as well.
Stop complaining and wasting time in a city that can’t provide enough decent paying jobs to absorb all the college grads. You can come back and report the better job you got elsewhere.
Who in the hell would want to move to Ohio, Indiana or Michigan?? I would rather eat vomit. Columbus would be the only viable option. DC, Philadelphia, NJ or NC.
Who in the hell would want to move to Ohio, Indiana or Michigan?? I would rather eat vomit. Columbus would be the only viable option. DC, Philadelphia, NJ or NC.
There’s some beautiful areas in Michigan and Ohio, especially near the water. Same with NC.
Why do people stay in Pittsburgh and complain about paltry wages? I just don’t understand. No common sense it seems. It is a known fact people don’t get paid average wages there.
A little secret. The Midwest has more jobs than applicants. Start applying to jobs in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. And these states are typically cheaper than Pittsburgh. I know rent is. Don’t look at the coasts either it is expensive and good jobs pay roughly the same in the Midwest.
Columbus, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis and the Detroit metro all have more and better paying jobs than Pittsburgh. I will throw Louisville and Lexington as well.
Stop complaining and wasting time in a city that can’t provide enough decent paying jobs to absorb all the college grads. You can come back and report the better job you got elsewhere.
Great idea. All the born and bred Pittsburgh youth should leave. All the college transplants should leave too. That will most definitely help the city to revitalize and grow.
I actually did leave for three years. I made more money in Seattle in 2005 with just an associates degree than I’m making now.
This is my home town, my family lives here, and I love it. I’m not going anywhere. It doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be upset about the rising cost of living, a broken educational system that creates extreme debt, and pathetic wages that can’t keep up. That’s not just a Pittsburgh issue!
Great idea. All the born and bred Pittsburgh youth should leave. All the college transplants should leave too. That will most definitely help the city to revitalize and grow.
I actually did leave for three years. I made more money in Seattle in 2005 with just an associates degree than I’m making now.
This is my home town, my family lives here, and I love it. I’m not going anywhere. It doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be upset about the rising cost of living, a broken educational system that creates extreme debt, and pathetic wages that can’t keep up. That’s not just a Pittsburgh issue!
Employers know people aren’t going anywhere so they’re going to pay what they pay until they have no other option. Conform to the field/s that pay more money or expect the same thing.
You’re very lucky. I’m going to assume you’re an upper class baby boomer.
I graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor’s degree, and I’ve been struggling to make more than $15 hourly. I have insane student loan debt on top of it. I don’t know anyone who makes 105k a year.
Unfortunately, not everyone is cut out to be a doctor, engineer, or IT related worker. Please send me some job listings. I obviously don’t have the proper connections. Way to look down on others and rub their face in your privilege! Adding “Just Sayin’ is the cherry in top. Wow. You’re really out of touch.
I came from a working class family and thought a college degree was the answer. Perhaps you live in Mt.Lebo, Sewickley, or Upper Saint Clair and have that class advantage. Your comment has really struck a nerve with me.
Let me guess, you paid off your student loans over the summer. Or better yet, you never went to college, you got a job as a mail clerk at Highmark in 1985, and you diligently worked your way up to 100k. Perhaps you married a lawyer and you really can’t understand people who struggle...just sayin’ Life is good and easy peasy for you. There are class differences that may not be obvious.
It’s as easy as showing devotion to our employer, right? Anyone can do it! We should all just pull ourselves up by our lazy ass bootstraps. Please take a look at Pitt’s in-state tuition cost. It’s reasonable, isn’t it? Imagine paying that off with a ****ty paying job and high rent. Admittedly, I have a degree in the liberal arts, so I probably have no reason to complain. I screwed myself because I didn’t have the brain power to be a lawyer, doctor, or software engineer.
As a woman and a mother, I find it difficult to get up that next rung. I’ve been working office jobs since 2005. I went back to school thinking that would help my earning power. It hasn’t, so what am I doing wrong? If $15hr plus jobs are plentiful, why can’t I find them. Why is minimum wage $7.25 in 2019? My sister has her MSW, she makes 30k a year as a therapist. How dare she go to school to help others. She has over 10 years experience in social work. What an idiot. She should have learned to code. It’s all her fault.
What do your nephew’s parents do for a living? Let me guess...
I work at Pitt with people who make $11hr with masters and doctorate degrees. I wish I was joking. Do you know how much they pay adjunct professors? Why are these highly educated people working for peanuts? The Pittsburgh job market is saturated with highly educated applicants who will work for low pay? Why? Why are people getting their Masters degrees in droves when it’s so easy to get a 100k job after graduation? Most entry level office jobs in Pittsburgh start around 20k-30k. If you don’t get a degree in computer science or engineering, it’s difficult out there.
I sympathize. Here's some random advice that has helped me become successful in my career, but it generally applies: Work hard, be persistent, socialize with more successful people, take calculated risks, always be optimistic, always be polite, strive for empathy, always help others, work on your team building skills, take on responsibilities outside of your perceived boundaries, be patient. It's OK to have bad days and not do any of these, we all have bad days, just try to minimize them as best you can.
I've lived in this area (NEO) most of my life, I saw the blue collar jobs evaporate, the middle class families suffer tremendously, my old town is a ghost town today, a mini Youngstown. I've seen the mill towns along the Ohio river dry up, the auto company towns die, the hard working class neighborhoods turn to shambles. The other day I was sipping a craft brew at a micro-outpost in an otherwise shattered neighborhood, across the street was the 6 story behemoth Richman Brothers building that used to employ thousands, keeping thousands more in a middle class lifestyle. All gone, its all gone.
Go STEM they say, get that engineering degree, like I did. Not every kid should have to do that to get a middle class life. Not sure how long the STEM degree will assure a middle class lifestyle anyway. I have two kids, they're both engineers and both make really good money, hope it lasts.
But lets finish on a happy note, that 2 penny advice I gave is good I think, even if you want to be a farmer.
If that’s the case then family should be most important and not money. You can’t have it all. They made one sacrifice for another. It just gets old. Pittsburgh is what it is and what you see is what you get. It isn’t a city that people go to for making lots of money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wpipkins2
Who in the hell would want to move to Ohio, Indiana or Michigan?? I would rather eat vomit. Columbus would be the only viable option. DC, Philadelphia, NJ or NC.
The jobs pay better, it is cheaper and there are not an over abundance of college educated applicants. Pittsburgh is over saturated with college grads and people will cut throats for 40K a year salary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by erieguy
There’s some beautiful areas in Michigan and Ohio, especially near the water. Same with NC.
Correct there are. A good value too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fjy3
Great idea. All the born and bred Pittsburgh youth should leave. All the college transplants should leave too. That will most definitely help the city to revitalize and grow.
I actually did leave for three years. I made more money in Seattle in 2005 with just an associates degree than I’m making now.
This is my home town, my family lives here, and I love it. I’m not going anywhere. It doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be upset about the rising cost of living, a broken educational system that creates extreme debt, and pathetic wages that can’t keep up. That’s not just a Pittsburgh issue!
Then you shouldn’t be here complaining. You already know and chose family over money. So why are you here complaining? You are right it just isn’t a Pittsburgh issue. It isn’t an issue for most midwestern cities that are cheaper and pay better salaries tho. I was offered two jobs at the same time one in Indiana that paid more than in Baltimore DC area. I ended up in Indiana. And yes I left Pittsburgh for that job. It was 30,000 more a year than what I was making in Pittsburgh.
You obviously know it isn’t going to change anytime soon. You have been at it since at least 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by erieguy
Employers know people aren’t going anywhere so they’re going to pay what they pay until they have no other option. Conform to the field/s that pay more money or expect the same thing.
Bingo. Pittsburgh is known for great colleges. But it is over saturated with college grads and the wages do not compensate you for your diploma. Lots of people are afraid to leave their families in rural isolated towns. Pittsburgh is like that on a large urban scale, with lots of jobs that pay similar to those towns, sub 30K a year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 216facts
I sympathize. Here's some random advice that has helped me become successful in my career, but it generally applies: Work hard, be persistent, socialize with more successful people, take calculated risks, always be optimistic, always be polite, strive for empathy, always help others, work on your team building skills, take on responsibilities outside of your perceived boundaries, be patient. It's OK to have bad days and not do any of these, we all have bad days, just try to minimize them as best you can.
I've lived in this area (NEO) most of my life, I saw the blue collar jobs evaporate, the middle class families suffer tremendously, my old town is a ghost town today, a mini Youngstown. I've seen the mill towns along the Ohio river dry up, the auto company towns die, the hard working class neighborhoods turn to shambles. The other day I was sipping a craft brew at a micro-outpost in an otherwise shattered neighborhood, across the street was the 6 story behemoth Richman Brothers building that used to employ thousands, keeping thousands more in a middle class lifestyle. All gone, its all gone.
Go STEM they say, get that engineering degree, like I did. Not every kid should have to do that to get a middle class life. Not sure how long the STEM degree will assure a middle class lifestyle anyway. I have two kids, they're both engineers and both make really good money, hope it lasts.
But lets finish on a happy note, that 2 penny advice I gave is good I think, even if you want to be a farmer.
Good advice. I believe going and getting your moneys worth out of your education. Sitting here complaining about low paying jobs means you need to expand your job search to other places.
As a homeowner, I cant really cash out and go anywhere else because all prices have gone up. So yes I can get more for my house than I paid for it (however I put a substantial investment into it), but I would sink all of that profit or more into a comparable house probably in a not as good location.
^^^^^^This^^^^^^Yep. And it's not really profit if you bought a cheap fixer upper, because that's what you could afford & fixed it up over 10-15 years, as you could afford to, which many locals have done. It's only profit for flippers who buy low, do a cheap 'cover up' or cosmetic fix up & resell high. There is a difference.
I have some questions, but 1st a statement.
As a Pittsburgher all of my life, I do know why the city fell to horrible condition. It certainly was not that people did not care. It was because people could not afford their houses. I lived through the steel mills shutting down. My family was affected. Aside from losing jobs with benefits, many people also lost their pensions. This affects the entire family unit, not just 1 person who lost the job. It takes generations to recover from. This did not just affect the steelworkers, but also every other industry that was reliant upon them for their business. Older people 'displaced' younger people in lower paying jobs because that was what was scarcely available at the time. They needed to take whatever work they could to just keep a roof over their heads. When a family with children loses the breadwinning job & there are no more jobs in that field, you're broke-you can't just pick up & move. That costs money.
Choices were made between fixing the house & putting food on the table, clothes on your back.
We are seeing a recovery, & have been, but this is the main reason this region fell to crap. People who have not grown up here think we just let the city become dilapidated. It takes time & more than a few years to recover from something like that.
Now onto my questions:
I have always wondered about 'affordable housing' being required in unaffordable places. Mainly I wonder how & why this is some sort of requirement. And how was it decided that this makes sense?
If a development company builds a highrise of luxury apartments, or townhomes, which are marketed to people who can afford them, why are they sometimes required to provide a certain # of units that are subsidized to people who CANNOT afford them?
I'm the 1st person who would love to grab a $1500+/mo apartment for $500 or less per month, or get a $150,000k townhouse for less than 1/2.
It'd be like hitting the lottery if you're a renter, but for a homeowner it would be a recipe setting up for failure, IMHO-due to taxes/maintenance, since that subsidized amount is based upon lower income, which it is. Any $$ saved in cost of the home being subsidized is paid back in high property tax on full value & is going to deplete that homeowners ability to maintain it, because well, they are living beyond their actual means.
How does this actually help?
And for the renters who pay full price for their luxury apartment, with the neighbor who pays only a tiny fraction because their rent is based upon their earnings, how did it come that this was fair?
FYI: I'm a homeowner who has purchased what I can afford (read:cheap fixer upper) & fixes as income provides. Doing the wrong repairs 1st (outside renovation-windows/siding/painting/pretty landscaping)
leads to serious property tax increases, which leaves less $$ for continued renovation. I learned that the HARD WAY. I've had to fight property tax assessments as if my life depended upon it, because it does. I live in a poor neighborhood that is not gentrified, yet, but outsiders are trying.
I work & am not eligible for any type of subsidy because my income is not low enough.
What I am saying is: I'd not be able to afford the property taxes on a $150k house, even if that mortgage was subsidized, the taxes are not. There'd be nothing left for anything else.
How is it a good idea to put someone who earns less than me in a situation they cannot afford?
How is/are these type of programs geared towards lower income people looking to purchase, & eligible based on income even considered as providing 'affordable housing'?
It looks like smoke & mirrors to me, unless the bet is that somehow this low income person will all of a sudden land a job paying substantially more than what remaining subsidized provides.
That's just not realistic in this region.
Remember, it's often not just the mortgage that is subsidized, it's often food & utilities as well. Once you cross over to the income level that is no longer subsidized, which is pretty low, all subsidies end. Then you pay full price for food/housing/utilities, add that to property taxes & that person just sunk themselves into debt, because the house immediately becomes living well beyond their means, as opposed to just beyond their means.
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