if your not from Pittsburgh you never fit in? (how much, home)

[Agbor]

I remember the Decade and the New Wave scene in Oakland...I liked the narrow neck ties and the dark
slacks I reminded me of the early Beatles look..I thought the glasses were cool too..I remember in the
'80s they would play New Wave music videos along with the House videos in some of the bars down town as you could dance to both..


If you go to Orlando and South Beach or Chicago you hear House Music all the time..like in the supermarkets, and the Malls...Here they play a lot of 60s Oldies which is cool too..

I agree..I think when the yinzers and the hip hop Alpha Males become the exception Pittsburgh will
modernize..there was an article in the Press once comparing Pittsburgh to Boston once and it said
what is holding Pittsburgh back is: 1. Too much government 2. Negative attitudes 3. lack of large
immigration...

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by Agbor

lack of large immigration...

Doesn't have to be large...but at least some visible presense somewhere. I didn't even realize there were cities in America without that element happening. It certainly enriches areas.

I think it's inevitable at some point though. I'm actually surprised the biotechnology direction that Pittsburgh is going in, hasn't been attracting higher educated immigrants, at the very least.

[fleetiebelle]

Because the radio station that most people in this city seem to put on a pedestal, WDVE, does not play New Wave, hence, they do not know what I play, so no drinks come my way.

DVE is a craptastic radio station, but I think you're giving it too much credit. If you went to Belvedere's or Lava Lounge on their 80s nights, or picked all the New Wave in the jukebox at Kelly's or Gooski's, you'd probably find a lot of people buying you drinks and giving you the thumbs-up. If you're doing it at a sports bar in West Mifflin, probably not so much.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

I think it's inevitable at some point though. I'm actually surprised the biotechnology direction that Pittsburgh is going in, hasn't been attracting higher educated immigrants, at the very least.

Pittsburgh does have a very large number of highly educated immigrants. You'd be amazed at the number of highly educated immigrants living in Pittsburgh.

What Pittsburgh lacks is a large number of the uneducated, unskilled, or labor immigrants. To an extent, that's a good thing because many Pittsburghers are willing to do those jobs. A large influx of unskilled immigrants would drive down wages and cause employment problems for the young and elderly.

The only area where I see a need for unskilled labor is in the landscaping and lawn maintenance fields. It's becoming hard to find Pittsburghers who are willing to do those jobs. But Pittsburghers are still willing to do housecleaning and childcare (the full time housekeeper/nanny type jobs) because the going rate is $15 to $20 per hour under the table. With Pittsburgh's low cost of living, that's not a bad second income for a middle class family.

Pittsburgh's economy works the way it is. It's not a boom/bust economy here. It's stable. People think Pittsburgh needs to be like other cities. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is fairing better than most other cities across the nation right now.

[badguykc]

Most people from outside the area have this attitude about Pittsburgh is that if you're not a Steelers, Penguins, or Pirates fan or drink Iron City Beer, you won't fit in. That's horsepuckey.

Pittsburgh is EASY to make friends in, although some people are insular and backward until you get to know them (that's ANYWHERE, though). People are for the most part non-judgmental as well. I hate the Steelers and I still made friends in the 'Burgh...so it's not as bad as people make it out to be.

[badguykc]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

DVE is a craptastic radio station, but I think you're giving it too much credit. If you went to Belvedere's or Lava Lounge on their 80s nights, or picked all the New Wave in the jukebox at Kelly's or Gooski's, you'd probably find a lot of people buying you drinks and giving you the thumbs-up. If you're doing it at a sports bar in West Mifflin, probably not so much.

DVE Rocks! Couldn't resist

[Drover]

You know, I've never had anyone buy me drinks based on juke box selection no matter where I went. Maybe it's because my taste in music sucks, but I've never witnessed or heard of any such thing either. Maybe it's an east coast thing?

[claremarie]

"Pittsburgh does have a very large number of highly educated immigrants. You'd be amazed at the number of highly educated immigrants living in Pittsburgh."

I would be amazed, if it were true. But Allegheny County has an extremely small foreign-born population -- less than 4% according to the most recent Census data. The figure for the US as a whole is about 12%.

[nuwaver88]

Originally Posted by Drover

You know, I've never had anyone buy me drinks based on juke box selection no matter where I went. Maybe it's because my taste in music sucks, but I've never witnessed or heard of any such thing either. Maybe it's an east coast thing?

It happened to me in Daytona Beach at a Boston Bar. So many good new wave/alt/indie bands come out of Boston. I guess the average Bostonite is more familiarized with the genre than the average Pittsburgher. Not to say that there is not a scene here at Gooski's, Dee's, 31st Street Pub etc. I was a DJ in college, so I am steeped in 80s underground. I guess only the true new wave aficianados know my music. Why should I play stuff that is played on the radio all of the time like the yinzers do? That is why I love the internet jukebox.

[BrianTH]

So here are some statistics on the foreign born by education in various relevant units, 25 and older population, from the combined 2005-2007 American Community Surveys available from the U.S. Census:

For the U.S. as a whole (note higher categories are cumulative of lower categories):

All foreign born: 15.68%
with at least some college/associate's: 6.92%
with at least bachelor's: 4.17%
with graduate/professional degree: 1.70%

For the Pittsburgh Metro Area, the equivalent numbers are 3.47%, 2.36%, 1.77%, 1.13%. So, lower across the board, but you can see how the proportional gap is closing significantly as you move up in educational attainment (e.g., 3.47% is less than one quarter of 15.68%, but 1.13% is nearly two-thirds of 1.70%).

For the Pittsburgh Urbanized Area (a Census-defined unit that is basically the City and suburbs, but not rural areas or exurbs), the numbers are 4.35%, 3.01%, 2.31%, 1.47%. So the same basic pattern as the Metro Area, but getting even closer at higher educational attainment (e.g., 1.47% is almost seven-eighths of 1.70%).

Finally, for just the City of Pittsburgh the numbers are 8.55%, 6.15%, 5.38%, 3.67%. So, the City is still much lower that the nation as a whole among foreign born with no college, just a little lower among foreign born with at least some college, substantially higher among foreign born with bachelor's degrees, and much higher among foreign born with graduate/professional degrees.

Given these statistics, I think it is safe to say that while the foreign born percentages in the area are low overall, they are relatively concentrated among higher-educated people. Accordingly, if you were just looking at foreign born percentages and weren't aware of this educational pattern, you might well be "amazed" (or at least wouldn't have predicted accurately) the percentages of higher-educated foreign born.

By the way, I would personally say that we could in fact use a bit more international immigration, but holding aside humanitarian concerns, I would also suggest that it is in the area's interests to see this pattern of disproportionately well-educated international immigration continue. In other words, I wouldn't mind seeing the Pittsburgh Metro and Urbanized Areas move in the same direction as the City (and the City to move up proportionately), but I wouldn't necessarily want the Metro and Urbanized Areas to move in the same direction as the United States as a whole (again holding aside humanitarian concerns).