Considering moving FU to Pittsburgh. Are we a fit? (Beaver Falls: cul-de-sac, fit in)

[Lost_in_UT]

FU= Family Unit

What a whirlwind of thought, so much so that I cannot process it fast enough. Please remain as I sort through the myriad of thoughts and possibilites. 2 weeks ago, I was just content working at my high tech job at my desk at my office just a few miles from my house in Northern UT (south of Salt Lake City).

We moved to UT to get out of Southern CA in a sort of holding pattern. I moved up after my last start up in San Diego was sold for intellectual property to another firm. We decided it was time to leave SoCal for a while and I needed a break. We have been here for 2 years, and I do feel like I am ready for my next big challenge.

Low and behold, and old colleague whom I highly respect lives in Lingonier, PA. He is on the cusp of a pretty groundbreaking new technology with his current firm. He calls me, same old dance, the company is ready to ramp to the next level. I have worked for about 6 startups in just as many years, and this one is probably the most exciting.

So, the decision is before me- Dance or don't dance. I like to dance.

Here is a snapshot about us-

College Educated, middle of the road politically, family of 4 with one on the way in a few months, white collar with blue collar roots. Family is super tight and really #1. We play together and stay together. We enjoy movies and eating out at chain restaurants. We like to make weekend trips to new places. Just a normal family.

What we want-

Good public schools, decent home with 1+ acres for <$350k, low crime area, good public programs for kids (soccer, dancing, sports, etc).

The R&D portion of the firm is in a business park north of Pittsburgh. This is where I would hang my badge. Where should we look for homes with up to say a 20-30 minute commute 1 way?

Based on what little you know, are we a good PA fit?

[PghREA]

I'm assuming the business park is located either in Cranberry or O'Hara Township. The description of your FU sounds like a good fit for the north Pittsburgh suburbs.

[LRobinson]

You sound like someone who would fit in easilyh in this area. We moved to Cranberry Township 4 years ago from NJ and really like the area. Although many of the replies on this website boast Cranberry Township to be a horrible sterile cul-de-sac, that is not so. Cranberry Township has great public schools, private preschools and lots of churches to choose from. It is also easy on and off to the expressway. We have met lots of families who are very similar to ours and find the general people here to be friendly and inviting. My biggest complaint is the traffic but we recently went to the South hills and found the traffic there to be much worse. You also might try looking in Mars, Evans City and Zelienople...all three have a nice smalltown atmosphere.

[Katarina Witt]

Well, I think you should stay in Salt Lake. I say this as a former Pittsburgher who moved to the Denver area 27 yrs ago. Pittsburgh is way too provincial. You will meet people who have never been to Ohio. If, however, you feel you must move there, you might also look at Wexford. It is mostly suburbanish with a little business area, used to be a little farming community.

[Drover]

You're telling someone from Salt Lake that Pittsburgh is provincial.... I've got nothing against Salt Lake; to each their own, after all. But Pittsburgh, humble as it is by any standard, is a study in ideological diversity by comparison.

[subdivisions]

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

Well, I think you should stay in Salt Lake. I say this as a former Pittsburgher who moved to the Denver area 27 yrs ago. Pittsburgh is way too provincial.

As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time in both Salt Lake City and Denver, I have to say that this statement amuses me greatly. Particularly the Salt Lake part. You haven't seen "provincial" until you've moved to Utah.

[Katarina Witt]

Pittsburgh is provincial. I have never lived in Salt Lake, have visitied several times. I also have a friend from there. While the LDS atmosphere is everywhere, I doubt there are more Mormons in Salt Lake than there are Catholics in Pittsburgh (not that I have anything aginst either). As a kid growing up in Pittsburgh (Beaver Falls), I learned to say I was a "protestant" when asked my religion because many people had never heard of a Lutheran! That was a long time ago, of course. Things have changed everywhere.

However, there still are, I think, people in Pittsburgh who have never been as far away as Ohio. You don't see that out west here, though you do meet some who think Illinois is the east.

As has been reflected elsewhere in this forum, people in Pgh can be pretty insular and mainly socialize within their own families. I have also heard this in conversation with people who moved there, and my own experience reflects it as well. However, I think the newer areas of the suburbs would be more open to outsiders simply because there are more outsiders there (Cranberry, Mars, Wexford, McCandless, etc). This can be verified by the statistics on city data.

In any event, a transplant from California via Utah would be in for a major culture shock by moving anywhere in the Pittsburgh area. My nephew just moved there from Colorado, and is having a hard time adjusting to the climate, specifically the lack of sun. His wife thinks that, contrary to some on this forum, people drive agressively in Pgh. Their daughter's kindergarten class recently had a "grandparent's day". Fortunately, my brother lives near there and attended, but what about the kids whose grandparents are all in California? Of course, this never occurred to the teacher, because s/he has probably never been to Ohio!

Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

because s/he has probably never been to Ohio!

This refrain is getting old...

[ontheroad]

As far as I can make out, most of the country is provincial.

pro·vin·cial /prəˈvɪnʃəl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pruh-vin-shuhl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1. belonging or peculiar to some particular province; local: the provincial newspaper.
2. of or pertaining to the provinces: provincial customs; provincial dress.
3. having or showing the manners, viewpoints, etc., considered characteristic of unsophisticated inhabitants of a province; rustic; narrow or illiberal; parochial: a provincial point of view.
4. (often initial capital letter) Fine Arts. noting or pertaining to the styles of architecture, furniture, etc., found in the provinces, esp. when imitating styles currently or formerly in fashion in or around the capital: Italian Provincial.
5. History/Historical. of or pertaining to any of the American provinces of Great Britain.
–noun
6. a person who lives in or comes from the provinces.
7. a person who lacks urban sophistication or broad-mindedness.
8. Ecclesiastical.
a. the head of an ecclesiastical province.
b. a member of a religious order presiding over the order in a given district or province.

[Katarina Witt]

I am using definition 3. You are correct, most of the country has provinicial people by that definition. I spend a lot of time here in Colorado correcting sterotypes people have of the east. BUT, I honestly think there is more of it in Pittsburgh than many other places.
Perhaps you are familiar with the story of the student from Beaver Falls High School (my alma mater) who was harrassed by a teacher for wearing a Broncos jersey to school the Friday before the Steelers and Broncos played a playoff game. Ironically, the same day that story broke, the Boulder newspaper ran an article about Steelers fans in the area. A man from Pittsburgh was quoted as saying he'd rather be a Steelers fan in Colorado than a Broncos fan in Pittsburgh. The reason? There are more outsiders here. There is not this feeling of "how could you be for (fill in the blank)? That is what I meant about Utah being less provincial.