Los Angeles to Pittsburgh (Oakland: how much, employment, transfer)

[PittNewbie]

Recently accepted a job that will transfer me to your great city. I have never lived in the snow or even seen it fall on the ground ...any advice?

[PittNewbie]

Question: is Public transportation used often by the locals?

[PeterRabbit]

I was in army boot camp with a few guys who never saw snow. The first time it snowed they broke formation and ran and hid from it. It's pretty and covers up the gloom.

[BrianTH]

On snow: the key is to keep yourself dry, in which case handling the snow is just a matter of taking a little extra (on rare occasions, a lot extra) time to do things. But if you get wet, the cold can be dangerous.

On public transportation: for a city of its modest size and density, there is a relatively high amount of public transit use here. That said, the system is focused mostly on getting people to and from the central areas of the city, and the farther out you go the fewer neighborhoods you will find with decent transit. So if you want to be a regular transit user--and we are, with both my wife and I commuting by bus--you will need to make sure your job and residence are appropriately located.

[PittNewbie]

Thanks for the replies.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by PittNewbie

Question: is Public transportation used often by the locals?

No, public transportation is not used enough by locals. Locals are perfectly happy sitting in the longest lines of traffic while on their way to their destinations, taking the longest possible route to that said destination. No sarcasm intended.

[Geeo]

If you've never seen snow, it'll be a treat. I never mind it (except for those once-every-fifteen-year blizzards we get!) We get about 40 - 45 inches in a season, which is not an incredible amount. A six-inch snowfall is considered pretty big. You'll have to learn to drive in this weather, but the streets are usually cleared pretty quickly and you shouldn't have a problem.

I believe that Pittsburgh is in the top ten per capita in transit ridership. The bus and rail system is pretty good in the city and inner suburbs, and they are starting to realign routes to better reflect demand and employment centers. Most service is oriented toward downtown and Oakland, because that's where the highest concentration of workers are. About half of the 150,000 people who go downtown every day take the bus or the T (light rail).

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by Geeo

About half of the 150,000 people who go downtown every day take the bus or the T (light rail).

Wow, if that's correct, I'm surprised.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

Wow, if that's correct, I'm surprised.

It sure would justify public funding of the transit systems! Could you imagine twice as many cars trying to get to downtown? Let alone how much the price of parking would increase.

[ferraris]

List of U.S. cities with high transit ridership - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As you can see Pittsburgh is #11 with 21.14% of people using public transit to commute to work, which is pretty good, I think.

List of U.S. cities with most pedestrian commuters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We are also #13 in the nation for pedestrian commuters with 10.02%

Combine those two statistics and throw in a few bicycle commuters and I think it is safe to say that 1 in 3 city residents commute via means other than personal vehicle. Which is amazing to me.