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I like visiting any or every city I can. If I have a chance to visit a city then I am always down with it. Pittsburgh is a very unique and different city than many others in the country. I can see why some open minded people, who love urban cities, architecture, etc would want to come visit here if they had a chance.
Maybe me and some people are just different though. I would rather visit Cincinnati, Buffalo, St. Louis over a place like Myrtle Beach. Myrtle beach has the ocean, but the endless box after box of beach stores mixed with beach condos isn't as interesting to me. I am a weirdo though. I can understand that there are some who would rather like the surburbanization of lancaster County over the old urbanization of Sh-ittsburgh. To each their own though.
Pittsburgh is sort of the American version of the cities I like visiting in other countries--the really big "global" cities tend not to be my favorites, and I prefer the more historic, somewhat smaller, quirkier places. And it is a very manageable place to visit: you can see a lot in a day or two, and if you have more time than that you can add in some interesting day trip destinations (like Fallingwater).
Incidentally, if there was ever a real highspeed train from the East Coast to Chicago, I actually think Pittsburgh would become flooded with foreign tourists in particular.
2. Weather. Like other areas just south of the Great Lakes, Pgh is very overcast. You don't see the sun much in winter. It is humid for the northeast, but nothing like south.
I lived along the Great Lakes for five years. While Pittsburgh is not the sunniest place on Earth, it's no where near as dreary as Cleveland, Buffalo or Erie... and even Erie had fairly sunny summers, as does Pittsburgh. The OP being from San Antonio, though, certainly Pittsburgh would seem far less sunny than "normal"
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4. Restaurants. If you are from a big city and use to lots of good restaurants, be prepared to eat at home a lot in Pgh. It has the worst restaurants of any big city. And don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise. You get a lot of homer pollyanna opinions on this board. There's a lot of things to like about Pgh, but good restaurants isn't one of them. For example, ethnic restaurants are few and awful because there is little immigration, outside the university area in Oakland. The one bright spot, surprisingly, is seafood. Go figure.
You won't get much variety throughout much of town, or in most of even the immediately surrounding suburbs, but I would argue against this point, as a whole. You mentioned Oakland, but you will get plenty of variety throughout the East Side. This naturally mirrors just about anything your could say about the city... the East Side is well-populated, expanding, and vital. Much of the rest of the city is not, especially the West End (at least within city limits) and the suburbs of Pittsburgh, with a handful of notable exceptions (Mt. Lebanon, Sewickley... Mt. Lebanon and Swickley) range between boring and cookie cutter (Robinson, Upper Sinclair), to being 10 years past their glory days (Monroeville), to being downright rundown and scary (Wilkinsburg, and pretty, much anything in the Mon Valley).
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5. You can't get there from here. Be prepared for the fact that getting around is very difficult. The hills and rivers limit the movement in the city. Commuting is a nightmare. If you have to cross a river, be prepared for the day that the bridge needs repair (or as they say in Pittsburgh, "repaired")and your commuting time triples. (It happened to me.) You live in the Burgh, you stay in your own little pocket. This is what gives the city its primary character - a rather provincial and neighborhood-oriented kind of antique charm.
While that is accurate, it's a blessing in disguise. If you move to the right place, then your won't have to drive much precisely because of the topography. Things in Pittsburgh can't be as randomly placed as they are in most cities, and so that preserves alot of walkable space, and complete neighborhoods, which you simply don't see in many other cities or large towns. Pittsburgh is, essentially, alot of small towns/cities, each having their own downtowns, that you can access on foot, or with a very short drive. If you pick the right place to live, then you simply won't have to drive much of anywhere.
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6.Point Breeze, Regent Square, Shadyside. These are a little too close to Homewood and S'liberty for my liking. Especially Point Breeze.Even Squirrel Hill gets some crime from them.
This is wrong on so many levels. Let me start by saying that I walk through East Liberty pretty much every day, it's not the extremely dangerous place that everyone thinks it is. Would I walk through there alone, at night? While I have, admittedly it wouldn't be my first choice. But unless you go looking for trouble, you aren't likely to find it there, or anyplace near by. The only people who still think East Liberty is dangerous are those who grew up remembering what it was like in the 80's, and refuse to shake that image, or those who pretty much think that all urban areas are at least somewhat dangerous and suspect (I'll avoid saying why they think that way, and why they are wrong, so as to preserve a pleasant decorum).
I have said this on here before, and I will say it again... even the areas of the city considered "really bad" (mostly by people who live in places like Swickley, and not in the city itself) are pretty safe, because at the very least, you are never really that far away from either a "nice" area, or a location where there are plenty of eyes on the street. There are NO areas of the City of Pittsburgh in which I would say "I would never walk there alone in broad daylight". As I said, you here from plenty of people who will say differently, but most of them do not live in the city itself, and only go off what they have heard from other people who don't live here. I bump into people all the time who still think that Lawrenceville is a bad neighborhood, to which I can only laugh.
The qualifier to what I said above is that there are certainly areas that are not in the city limits where I would never even want to drive alone, unless I were in an armored personnel carrier of some sort, but the reason for that has to do largely with the fact that those areas are not only crime ridden, and extremely run down, but also largely vacated... to be dramatic, if something happens, no one will here you scream. Criminals feed off of that... even looking at a place like Monroeville, which isn't a bad area, there is tons of crime because there are large open stretches of shopping districts where no one lives, and no one will be around to stop crime from occurring... that's what you really have to watch out for, not a place like East Liberty where there are lots of eyes on the street, for the most part.
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7. If you don't plan to become a diehard Steelers fan, don't bother moving to Pittsburgh. As others will tell you, this is no joke.
This isn't even close to being true, anymore. Plenty of areas have enough transplants that its not as big a deal... and frankly, while you will notice the fervor for the Steelers the instant football season starts, its not the first question someone is likely to ask you. On top of that, I know plenty of people around here who are huge Pens fans but are pretty much lukewarm on the Steelers.
P.S. I live on the Bloomfield side of the point where it meets Shadyside, Friendship and East Liberty... so I "deal" with East Liberty and Garfield everyday. So you can take my word for it on that one.
Last edited by supersoulty; 06-07-2010 at 12:59 PM..
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While that is accurate, it's a blessing in disguise. If you move to the right place, then your won't have to drive much precisely because of the topography. Things in Pittsburgh can't be as randomly placed as they are in most cities, and so that preserves alot of walkable space, and complete neighborhoods, which you simply don't see in many other cities or large towns. Pittsburgh is, essentially, alot of small towns/cities, each having their own downtowns, that you can access on foot, or with a very short drive. If you pick the right place to live, then you simply won't have to drive much of anywhere.
This is so true. I just had some family come in the other week and they asked me why Pittsburgh is so walkable, and the best answer I could come up with is because it's a PITA to get to a lot of places, especially when traveling North-South.
You do not see the sun in summer either,nor spring,nor fall. quote-"I am of a healthy long lived race and our minds improve with age." W.B.YEATS
Come on man. That is quite a exageration. I lived in one of the most sunniest metros, and back in the Burgh. This June has been getting annoying for sure, but it isn't that bad.
I lived along the Great Lakes for five years. While Pittsburgh is not the sunniest place on Earth, it's no where near as dreary as Cleveland, Buffalo or Erie... and even Erie had fairly sunny summers, as does Pittsburgh. The OP being from San Antonio, though, certainly Pittsburgh would seem far less sunny than "normal"
Being somewhat of a weather nut, I can post some data on these three cities.
Come on man. That is quite a exageration. I lived in one of the most sunniest metros, and back in the Burgh. This June has been getting annoying for sure, but it isn't that bad.
Some people on this forum make me wonder.
Agreed. Reddesertfox's statement is a flat out LIE! NO SUN.........get real.
Mon.Tues.W.T.F. You have me on the floor sir,you are a talent with TRUE one liners. RED DESERT FOX
PITTSBUGH IS NOT A VERY SUNNY PLACE. It's not in the fall, winter, spring or fall!
It would seem that is the sun appears for approximately 5 minutes -- it is considered a sunny day! Yay! Get a grip. It's not sunny nor is it even slightly sunny in Pittsburgh.
And TigerBeer - have you ever even BEEN to Pittsburgh? Because much of what you say seems to be said just to pacify the regulars. I think you will find that the suburbs of Detroit are WAAAAAAAY better than anything you will find around here. Even many areas of the city of Detroit are nicer than here. I'm just sayin'.......[/quote]
Mon.Tues.W.T.F. You have me on the floor sir,you are a talent with TRUE one liners. RED DESERT FOX
PITTSBUGH IS NOT A VERY SUNNY PLACE. It's not in the fall, winter, spring or fall!
It would seem that is the sun appears for approximately 5 minutes -- it is considered a sunny day! Yay! Get a grip. It's not sunny nor is it even slightly sunny in Pittsburgh.
And TigerBeer - have you ever even BEEN to Pittsburgh? Because much of what you say seems to be said just to pacify the regulars. I think you will find that the suburbs of Detroit are WAAAAAAAY better than anything you will find around here. Even many areas of the city of Detroit are nicer than here. I'm just sayin'.......
You are a real life Debbie Downer.
What do you know of Detroit?
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NO SUN.........get real.
Cloudburgh,pa.sounds like a dream come true.
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