ElRay wrote:
No "You insulted my town" bullet here... but a bullet for mis-spelling: That's Pittsburgh-with-an-H and don't you forget it!!! 
More seriously, if it's been more than 10 years or so your impression is thoroughly out of date. It is true that the downtown area is less-than-vibrant -- with the notable exception of the cultural district near Heinz Hall (the Symphony Hall). That's because the economic center-of-gravity has moved to the Oakland neighborhood which is where Carnegie Mellon University, the Univ. of Pittsburgh (Pitt), and about 2 dozen major hospitals are located. High-tech employment passed up the steel industry's peak numbers 15 years ago, and has been climbing since.
And if you want your country acres, while still having easy access to the city, the hospitals, and the cultural district, that's not a problem. You can still find countryside within 20 minutes' drive of Oakland, or within 25 minutes of downtown (assuming you're not travelling at rush-hour, that is).
I would list only two significant negatives at the moment. One is the current status of downtown. It's currently on a cusp between reviving and sinking. The cultural district's renovation and improvement is a significant bright spot; the (failed) plans to redevelop other parts of downtown are not (largely because the plans were truly stupid!). The second significant negative issue is city finances. The city government is on the verge of bankruptcy. This appears to be rooted in three major issues, listed here by my personal view of importance:[list=1][*]A century of one-party government. The City of Pittsburgh has been a Democratic party stronghold for about 130 years; the Republicans haven't been able to compete for the last century. No intended dis of Democrats in general. Rather, a total lack of competition does not foster efficient, lean, effective government.[*]Tax Base. 60% of all property within the city limits is non-taxable. Either it's city/county/state government owned, or it's Universities & Hospitals & other giant non-profits, or it's regional non-profit attractions like the Zoo, the Aviary, Museums, large parks, etc. This puts a real strain on city finances. [*]Historically, the city of Pittsburgh hasn't swallowed up its suburbs. That means that the City proper is quite small (350K people), even though the metropolitan region is rather large (2.8M people). But the city still contains the main regional assets. See the previous item for why that's a problem.
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Now that I've fully disclosed the problems -- which are not too severe in my book -- I can rave about the advantages. Prices for housing and land are well below national averages. The local employment outlook is good and getting better. Unbelievably good cultural resources. Beyond what I mentioned in my last note, I should add that the Carnegie Museum has the world's finest collection of dinosaur bones (and they'll even have them well displayed in another 5 years or so, when they finish revamping that section of the museum), along with the world's leading biennial invitational show of new art at the Art museum. There's the Andy Warhol museum on the North Side, along with a darn good Science Center. In addition to over-all good schooling, Carnegie Mellon is home to the world's finest School of Computer Science (OK, it's a 3- or 4-way tie between MIT, Stanford, CMU, and sometimes Berkeley), and one of the nation's finest Drama schools. I'm sure I forgot to mention major-league sports teams in every sport except basketball. Did I remember to mention the low cost of living?
There's easy access to fine outdoor activities. Hiking in the Laurel Highlands, white-water nearby (moderate on the Youghageny river, advanced on the Cheat in W. Virginia), good hunting and fishing, boating on the rivers and in a variety of lakes. Lousy skiing though -- I spent my gradeschool and Jr. High years in Salt Lake City, consider anything with less than a 100" base to be "poor to sandy," and don't even ask me about needing snow-making equipment.
The grad students I know who are into climbing tell me that there are lots of good places within an hour's drive or so.
Did I mention the excellent cultural opportunities and the low cost of living??
Dean
P.S. On previewing this note I see that I've rather gone on and on. Really, I don't feel like you've insulted my town. It's just that I really really like living here.
quote:
Hopefully I'll dogge one more "You insulted my town bullet, but Pittsburg seemed to have that same past it's peak, which was during the Industrial Boom, run down, steel town, feel. Again, it's been a while, plus I was just passing through, so I didn't really have a chance to see much off the beaten path.
Hopefully I'll dogge one more "You insulted my town bullet, but Pittsburg seemed to have that same past it's peak, which was during the Industrial Boom, run down, steel town, feel. Again, it's been a while, plus I was just passing through, so I didn't really have a chance to see much off the beaten path.
More seriously, if it's been more than 10 years or so your impression is thoroughly out of date. It is true that the downtown area is less-than-vibrant -- with the notable exception of the cultural district near Heinz Hall (the Symphony Hall). That's because the economic center-of-gravity has moved to the Oakland neighborhood which is where Carnegie Mellon University, the Univ. of Pittsburgh (Pitt), and about 2 dozen major hospitals are located. High-tech employment passed up the steel industry's peak numbers 15 years ago, and has been climbing since.
And if you want your country acres, while still having easy access to the city, the hospitals, and the cultural district, that's not a problem. You can still find countryside within 20 minutes' drive of Oakland, or within 25 minutes of downtown (assuming you're not travelling at rush-hour, that is).
I would list only two significant negatives at the moment. One is the current status of downtown. It's currently on a cusp between reviving and sinking. The cultural district's renovation and improvement is a significant bright spot; the (failed) plans to redevelop other parts of downtown are not (largely because the plans were truly stupid!). The second significant negative issue is city finances. The city government is on the verge of bankruptcy. This appears to be rooted in three major issues, listed here by my personal view of importance:[list=1][*]A century of one-party government. The City of Pittsburgh has been a Democratic party stronghold for about 130 years; the Republicans haven't been able to compete for the last century. No intended dis of Democrats in general. Rather, a total lack of competition does not foster efficient, lean, effective government.[*]Tax Base. 60% of all property within the city limits is non-taxable. Either it's city/county/state government owned, or it's Universities & Hospitals & other giant non-profits, or it's regional non-profit attractions like the Zoo, the Aviary, Museums, large parks, etc. This puts a real strain on city finances. [*]Historically, the city of Pittsburgh hasn't swallowed up its suburbs. That means that the City proper is quite small (350K people), even though the metropolitan region is rather large (2.8M people). But the city still contains the main regional assets. See the previous item for why that's a problem.
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Now that I've fully disclosed the problems -- which are not too severe in my book -- I can rave about the advantages. Prices for housing and land are well below national averages. The local employment outlook is good and getting better. Unbelievably good cultural resources. Beyond what I mentioned in my last note, I should add that the Carnegie Museum has the world's finest collection of dinosaur bones (and they'll even have them well displayed in another 5 years or so, when they finish revamping that section of the museum), along with the world's leading biennial invitational show of new art at the Art museum. There's the Andy Warhol museum on the North Side, along with a darn good Science Center. In addition to over-all good schooling, Carnegie Mellon is home to the world's finest School of Computer Science (OK, it's a 3- or 4-way tie between MIT, Stanford, CMU, and sometimes Berkeley), and one of the nation's finest Drama schools. I'm sure I forgot to mention major-league sports teams in every sport except basketball. Did I remember to mention the low cost of living?
There's easy access to fine outdoor activities. Hiking in the Laurel Highlands, white-water nearby (moderate on the Youghageny river, advanced on the Cheat in W. Virginia), good hunting and fishing, boating on the rivers and in a variety of lakes. Lousy skiing though -- I spent my gradeschool and Jr. High years in Salt Lake City, consider anything with less than a 100" base to be "poor to sandy," and don't even ask me about needing snow-making equipment.
The grad students I know who are into climbing tell me that there are lots of good places within an hour's drive or so.Did I mention the excellent cultural opportunities and the low cost of living??
Dean
P.S. On previewing this note I see that I've rather gone on and on. Really, I don't feel like you've insulted my town. It's just that I really really like living here.
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