10 things I hate about Pittsburgh! (Atwood: real estate, taxes, to live in)

[feline6]

1) terrible traffic congestiosn because of the tunnels--- 376 a living nightmare!!!
2) terrible state of public transport
3) limited choice in restaurants offering muticultural cusines
4) hardly any diversity in th epopulation...shows a lack of growth and incentives for people to move into the area
5) pirates suck!!!
6) roads in terrible conditions
7) downtowm dead after 6
8) high property taxes
9) political corruption
10) terrible choices in flights out of the place--- does no one evr fly out of this place????

[metalforever]

From a Transplant:

Bad:
10. Traffic. The roads just dont seem "bad" to me though(aka potholes), because I came from central PA, where its 10x worse. The roads werent even painted in a lot of places(and i lived in a "city"). Be glad you dont live there. Infact, pittsburgh has the best roads I have seen of any PA city.
9. No good buffets that I know of...
8. ****ty downtown
7. There is nothing to do. Or maybe, im just boring. Im on a budget, so i cant afford a lot of the things in the cultural district. I am sick of going "out" for food and calling that entertainment.
6. Almost all of the music venues are 21+. You guys call music entertainment DJs. If i wanted to hear recorded music, id do that at my house. Cover too expensive... lack of live bands(local ones to me arent "good", and the big bands arent the ones I want to see).
5. High sales tax. "Expensive" food (for me... Im used to 89 cent 2 liter name brand cola and places with a waitress and good food that cost $5 total, including a drink...)
4. Political corruption.
3. You guys dropped the ball on that snowstorm.
2. Entertainment mostly in dangerous areas for a young female(aka south side). Might just come with the territory.
1. Lack of a Wendys near oakland. Lack of a walmart. Grocery store monopoly.
(yeah, i was running out of bad things...)


Best, from a transplant:
10. Cheap for a city.
9. Steelers
8. Public transportation, you guys really have no idea how good it actually is.
7. Every little area has their own culture.
6. A lot of museums.
5. There is a lot of greenery in pittsburgh.
4. Jobs, jobs and more jobs. I make more money as an 18 year old than my parents combined back home.
3. Seems to be more educated people.
2. Diverse compared to where I came from.
1. Cheap housing.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by metalforever

1. Lack of a Wendys near oakland.

There's a Wendy's on 5th Ave @ Atwood Street.

[metalforever]

Went out of business. I have no idea why- you would think a lot of college kids would eat there.

[Renaldo5000]

Originally Posted by metalforever

From a Transplant:

2. Entertainment mostly in dangerous areas for a young female(aka south side). Might just come with the territory.

You think South Side is dangerous? I've never had a problem there.

Originally Posted by metalforever

1. Lack of a Wendys near oakland. Lack of a walmart. Grocery store monopoly.

Blech!! Wendy's is gross anyway!

Originally Posted by metalforever

4. Jobs, jobs and more jobs. I make more money as an 18 year old than my parents combined back home.

The economy is awesome here compared to Bum****ville, PA (I should know...I'm from there...), but it still isn't good nor has it been in 40 years.

[fleetiebelle]

7. There is nothing to do. Or maybe, im just boring.

When people say there's nothing to do in Pittsburgh it makes me curious--what would you like to be doing that you're not doing or you can't do here?

[nuwaver88]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

When people say there's nothing to do in Pittsburgh it makes me curious--what would you like to be doing that you're not doing or you can't do here?

I agree. People must not look very hard. There are countless things to do here seven days/nights a week, besides drinking. Pick up City Paper.
From my experience, one has to be pro-active. The fun is not going to come to you in any city unless your girlfriend or boyfriend comes over or you call up a hooker. Go out and find the fun. It is out there no matter what tickles your fancy.

[BrianTH]

In decent cities, the Fun Bus pulls up to your doorstep each evening and takes you on an endless variety of magical adventures.

[caroline2]

1. Nowhere near as cheap as it should be. Yeah, you can buy a decent house for $60k in Lawrenceville or Beechview, but if you want your kids to get into the good feeder patterns or have them live on a block that isn't infested with pitbulls or has decent sidewalks for them to ride bikes (or even walk without breaking an ankle), your options are very limited and very competitive, and the housing prices reflect that. The "good" suburbs are as pricey or pricier than those of comparable cities, and those other cities don't have a bridge/tunnel bottleneck.

2. Related to above, the schools. We spend so much money on our schools, and we're hardly the most troubled of cities, and yet... There are the magnet and charter programs, but of course, children are penalized in the lottery for not being poor.

3. Infrastructure. It's not just the roads, it's the sidewalks, the sewer system, the utility poles... Everything is falling apart, rusted, dangerous, and leads to a giant waste of our time.

4. The insidious influence of special interest groups. If you are not old or in a union (preferably public employee), you don't matter to most of the local politicians.

5. A bit of an anti-social attitude as compared to other cities. The reckless and aggressive driving, the throwing your butts on other people's property... definitely too much of an "I don't give a f@$#" attitude for my taste.

That's it. If we could just clear up those few minor issues, Pittsburgh would be paradise.

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

Originally Posted by caroline2

1. Nowhere near as cheap as it should be. Yeah, you can buy a decent house for $60k in Lawrenceville or Beechview, but if you want your kids to get into the good feeder patterns or have them live on a block that isn't infested with pitbulls or has decent sidewalks for them to ride bikes (or even walk without breaking an ankle), your options are very limited and very competitive, and the housing prices reflect that. The "good" suburbs are as pricey or pricier than those of comparable cities, and those other cities don't have a bridge/tunnel bottleneck.

Really? I can buy a nice home is respectable, above average school districts within 15-20 minutes of downtown for under $150K, sometimes much lower. Places like Crafton, Greentree, Avalon, Bellvue, Emsworth, West View, etc... are all over the place. I certainly think housing in Pittsburgh is still a bargain for what you get. This will end as soon as our population numbers start to turn around.