Offered a job in Pittsburgh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI, Portland Oregon is the whitest city, not Pittsburgh.

The PP said whitest large metro area, not whitest city. Of the 50 largest metro areas in the 2010 census, the Pittsburgh area was indeed the whitest. 86.9% white.
https://hailtoyou.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/the-usas-large-metro-areas-by-level-of-whiteness/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am also writing from Pittsburgh. From here. Have lived all over east coast including DC, but came back to Pittsburgh (my home town).

Here are some pros:
- Cheap living, which has SO very many benefits compared to DC.
- EASY to live here. Easy to get around, enough to do with kids. I actually go do all the things like museums that are too far away to take advantage of in DC.
- Very authentic place with real soul. I personally found DC to be sterile and boring. Pittsburgh is gritty and has "real" working class people, which I like.
- A great place to have kids. You can have a yard and a big beautiful house. Lots of parks. Lots of green.
- Professionally if you can get a good job (see below) it is the best of both worlds. I have an international job in a city that has small town convenience. I am very rich relative to most Pittsburghers and live very well.
- People are friendly.
- There is tons of culture for a city this size. Great food scene. Very intellectual and international, at least in the east end, thanks especially to CMU, Pitt/UPMC.
- Pittsburgh is getting a ton of press right now as a city on the upswing for many of the above reasons.

Here are some cons:
- I wouldn't want to live here in the suburbs. I love being a Pittsburgher in the city, but IMO if you are an 'east coast person' the suburbs would be tough (I grew up in them).
- I think it would hard to be black here. While there is a significant black population in the city, Pittsburgh can be a segregated town, not black-white segregation, but across different ethnic lines. This is positive and negative. It is positive in that Pittsburgh is a city of neighborhoods....real neighborhoods with walkable commercial areas that are years and years old with real stores and real history (in contrast, DC for me was pretty artificial with most of the neighborhoods being either literally fake (think Rockville town center) or recently gentrified fake (a la Capital Hill). You get to know people in your neighborhood and see them. I live where some of my grandparents and parents and great grandparents lived. Community is a very real thing. It is awesome for me. On the other hand, the neighborhoods historically were ethnically-centric. There were, and to some extent still are, neighborhoods that are polish, Italian, jewish, black, Slavic, irish. And my impression is that like other cities with this kind of history, it can be a racist town. I don't know what non-white you are. As others have said, if you are Indian or Asian, you will find no issue in the East End thanks to the influence of CMU and UPMC/Pitt. I think it would be harder to be black in Pittsburgh. Also, there are almost no Latinos, although that is changing.
- It can be hard to get a job in Pittsburgh relative to DC. If you have a great job, that is great. But if you need a new job, the opportunities are just much less than DC.
- Weather kind of sucks here. It just does. It is one of the grayest cities in the US (top 4). But if you don't like DC summers, the good news is our summer are pleasant.
- There is a bit of a culture of people associating with friends from growing up. That goes back to the city of neighborhoods thing.

School wise, if you are going to be in the East End, you'll really want to make sure you are in Colfax/Alderdice boundaries, or plan to send your kid to private school or a less quality magnet/public school. The schools leave a lot to be desired. For older kids though I hear great things about Obama and CAPA.

Capitol Hill is hardly "recently gentrified". It seems like you don't know much about DC if you don't think it has any "real history"...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI, Portland Oregon is the whitest city, not Pittsburgh.

The PP said whitest large metro area, not whitest city. Of the 50 largest metro areas in the 2010 census, the Pittsburgh area was indeed the whitest. 86.9% white.
https://hailtoyou.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/the-usas-large-metro-areas-by-level-of-whiteness/

FWIW, the Pittsburgh metro area is huge, and includes parts of SW PA, NW WVA, Ohio... so while it's an interesting factoid I'm not sure how relevant it is to someone relocating to the city, which is considerably more diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also writing from Pittsburgh. From here. Have lived all over east coast including DC, but came back to Pittsburgh (my home town).

Here are some pros:
- Cheap living, which has SO very many benefits compared to DC.
- EASY to live here. Easy to get around, enough to do with kids. I actually go do all the things like museums that are too far away to take advantage of in DC.
- Very authentic place with real soul. I personally found DC to be sterile and boring. Pittsburgh is gritty and has "real" working class people, which I like.
- A great place to have kids. You can have a yard and a big beautiful house. Lots of parks. Lots of green.
- Professionally if you can get a good job (see below) it is the best of both worlds. I have an international job in a city that has small town convenience. I am very rich relative to most Pittsburghers and live very well.
- People are friendly.
- There is tons of culture for a city this size. Great food scene. Very intellectual and international, at least in the east end, thanks especially to CMU, Pitt/UPMC.
- Pittsburgh is getting a ton of press right now as a city on the upswing for many of the above reasons.

Here are some cons:
- I wouldn't want to live here in the suburbs. I love being a Pittsburgher in the city, but IMO if you are an 'east coast person' the suburbs would be tough (I grew up in them).
- I think it would hard to be black here. While there is a significant black population in the city, Pittsburgh can be a segregated town, not black-white segregation, but across different ethnic lines. This is positive and negative. It is positive in that Pittsburgh is a city of neighborhoods....real neighborhoods with walkable commercial areas that are years and years old with real stores and real history (in contrast, DC for me was pretty artificial with most of the neighborhoods being either literally fake (think Rockville town center) or recently gentrified fake (a la Capital Hill). You get to know people in your neighborhood and see them. I live where some of my grandparents and parents and great grandparents lived. Community is a very real thing. It is awesome for me. On the other hand, the neighborhoods historically were ethnically-centric. There were, and to some extent still are, neighborhoods that are polish, Italian, jewish, black, Slavic, irish. And my impression is that like other cities with this kind of history, it can be a racist town. I don't know what non-white you are. As others have said, if you are Indian or Asian, you will find no issue in the East End thanks to the influence of CMU and UPMC/Pitt. I think it would be harder to be black in Pittsburgh. Also, there are almost no Latinos, although that is changing.
- It can be hard to get a job in Pittsburgh relative to DC. If you have a great job, that is great. But if you need a new job, the opportunities are just much less than DC.
- Weather kind of sucks here. It just does. It is one of the grayest cities in the US (top 4). But if you don't like DC summers, the good news is our summer are pleasant.
- There is a bit of a culture of people associating with friends from growing up. That goes back to the city of neighborhoods thing.

School wise, if you are going to be in the East End, you'll really want to make sure you are in Colfax/Alderdice boundaries, or plan to send your kid to private school or a less quality magnet/public school. The schools leave a lot to be desired. For older kids though I hear great things about Obama and CAPA.

Capitol Hill is hardly "recently gentrified". It seems like you don't know much about DC if you don't think it has any "real history"...

Other than having lived there over 6 years....

In fairness, there is a genuine and rich black culture in DC. The point I was trying to make is in Pittsburgh the same communities have lived in neighborhoods for a hundred years. How many people in Capitol Hill today lived there 25 or even 10 years ago, let alone can trace their families back there? There is a great community there but it is not the community that existed a generation ago.

In Pittsburgh, I literally live around the corner from houses that my great-grandmother on my dad's side, my grandmother on my mom's side, my father in law and mother in law lived in (and their parents) (and I could keep going). The house we bought belonged to close friends of my grandparents. When people ask me where I live, I say "the so-and-so's house" and that means something to them. That is Pittsburgh for you...at least the city neighborhoods. And yes, I don't think DC has that, except perhaps in the black community. Feel free to tell my I am wrong, but that was my experience in DC. DC is great but it is not a place with roots (again other than the black community).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am African-American. I grew up in Pittsburgh and still live there, now in the suburbs. I am UMC. It is extremely hard to find and connect with other UMC singles or families. It is not a good place for blacks. Google "African-Americans in Pittsburgh".

UMC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am African-American. I grew up in Pittsburgh and still live there, now in the suburbs. I am UMC. It is extremely hard to find and connect with other UMC singles or families. It is not a good place for blacks. Google "African-Americans in Pittsburgh".

UMC?

Upper middle class.

[Anonymous]

Born and raised, you'll be fine.

[Anonymous]

I hate it. I've never lived there, just visited. It's always cloudy, and the hills,bridges, and architecture are bleak looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI, Portland Oregon is the whitest city, not Pittsburgh.

The PP said whitest large metro area, not whitest city. Of the 50 largest metro areas in the 2010 census, the Pittsburgh area was indeed the whitest. 86.9% white.
https://hailtoyou.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/the-usas-large-metro-areas-by-level-of-whiteness/

FWIW, the Pittsburgh metro area is huge, and includes parts of SW PA, NW WVA, Ohio... so while it's an interesting factoid I'm not sure how relevant it is to someone relocating to the city, which is considerably more diverse.

Sure, but it definitely influences the feel of the area. I wouldn't want to live in a city where as soon as I left the city limits every face for miles was white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FYI, Portland Oregon is the whitest city, not Pittsburgh.

The PP said whitest large metro area, not whitest city. Of the 50 largest metro areas in the 2010 census, the Pittsburgh area was indeed the whitest. 86.9% white.
https://hailtoyou.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/the-usas-large-metro-areas-by-level-of-whiteness/

FWIW, the Pittsburgh metro area is huge, and includes parts of SW PA, NW WVA, Ohio... so while it's an interesting factoid I'm not sure how relevant it is to someone relocating to the city, which is considerably more diverse.

Sure, but it definitely influences the feel of the area. I wouldn't want to live in a city where as soon as I left the city limits every face for miles was white.

Exactly! How many people only stay closed in their neighborhood? I always venture outside city limits. As a minority you always have to be aware of your surroundings. Some people are dangerous jerks and still harass people. Or they constantly stare like you're some strange fruit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lived in Pittsburgh 2004-2009 and met my husband there. I have a soft spot in my heart for Pittsburgh. It’s cheap and quirky, and it’s gotten much more “conventionally hip” in recent years. That said, I moved for a reason. Public transit is terrible, doesn’t have all the amenities of a bigger city, does not have an east coast feel.

Sure there are non-white people associated with CMU, but Pittsburgh is still pretty freaking white. I remember reading soon after I moved away that the Pittsburgh metro area is the whitest large metro area in the country. The city is obviously going to be less white than the burbs, but still.

Weather wise, it’s consistently about 10 degrees cooler there than here. An extra month of winter. The sky is gray all the time. You always need to bring an umbrella. In the winter it is constantly snowing a small amount. Back when I lived there the city was broke and no one took care of the roads, but not sure if that is still the case.

That is probably because it is not on the east coast.

[Anonymous]

We moved from DC to PGH and rented in Aspinwall before buying a house. Rent was 1300 for a 4br Victorian house (this was 3 yrs ago). Aspinwall is Fox Chapel schools, one of the best districts in the North Hills.

[Anonymous]

No, PA as a whole is not my kind of state.

I lived in another PA city and went to check out Pittsburgh and was not the least bit impressed. I'm not from PA anyway so I'm partially bias. I too am single and this was about 8 months ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also writing from Pittsburgh. From here. Have lived all over east coast including DC, but came back to Pittsburgh (my home town).

Here are some pros:
- Cheap living, which has SO very many benefits compared to DC.
- EASY to live here. Easy to get around, enough to do with kids. I actually go do all the things like museums that are too far away to take advantage of in DC.
- Very authentic place with real soul. I personally found DC to be sterile and boring. Pittsburgh is gritty and has "real" working class people, which I like.
- A great place to have kids. You can have a yard and a big beautiful house. Lots of parks. Lots of green.
- Professionally if you can get a good job (see below) it is the best of both worlds. I have an international job in a city that has small town convenience. I am very rich relative to most Pittsburghers and live very well.
- People are friendly.
- There is tons of culture for a city this size. Great food scene. Very intellectual and international, at least in the east end, thanks especially to CMU, Pitt/UPMC.
- Pittsburgh is getting a ton of press right now as a city on the upswing for many of the above reasons.

Here are some cons:
- I wouldn't want to live here in the suburbs. I love being a Pittsburgher in the city, but IMO if you are an 'east coast person' the suburbs would be tough (I grew up in them).
- I think it would hard to be black here. While there is a significant black population in the city, Pittsburgh can be a segregated town, not black-white segregation, but across different ethnic lines. This is positive and negative. It is positive in that Pittsburgh is a city of neighborhoods....real neighborhoods with walkable commercial areas that are years and years old with real stores and real history (in contrast, DC for me was pretty artificial with most of the neighborhoods being either literally fake (think Rockville town center) or recently gentrified fake (a la Capital Hill). You get to know people in your neighborhood and see them. I live where some of my grandparents and parents and great grandparents lived. Community is a very real thing. It is awesome for me. On the other hand, the neighborhoods historically were ethnically-centric. There were, and to some extent still are, neighborhoods that are polish, Italian, jewish, black, Slavic, irish. And my impression is that like other cities with this kind of history, it can be a racist town. I don't know what non-white you are. As others have said, if you are Indian or Asian, you will find no issue in the East End thanks to the influence of CMU and UPMC/Pitt. I think it would be harder to be black in Pittsburgh. Also, there are almost no Latinos, although that is changing.
- It can be hard to get a job in Pittsburgh relative to DC. If you have a great job, that is great. But if you need a new job, the opportunities are just much less than DC.
- Weather kind of sucks here. It just does. It is one of the grayest cities in the US (top 4). But if you don't like DC summers, the good news is our summer are pleasant.
- There is a bit of a culture of people associating with friends from growing up. That goes back to the city of neighborhoods thing.

School wise, if you are going to be in the East End, you'll really want to make sure you are in Colfax/Alderdice boundaries, or plan to send your kid to private school or a less quality magnet/public school. The schools leave a lot to be desired. For older kids though I hear great things about Obama and CAPA.

Capitol Hill is hardly "recently gentrified". It seems like you don't know much about DC if you don't think it has any "real history"...

I understood what PP meant and it was spot on. How many times do you read about yuppies on the Hill claiming something is "up and coming"? You are the type of thin-skinned ignoramus that people are happy not to encounter when they leave DC. Yes, DC has history, but it's not an inviting one.

[Anonymous]

OP here. interviewed with two jobs. turned down the first due to very low pay. might get the second. been driving around looking at housing in point breeze and squirrel hill. this city is so small and so white! i miss the chocolate city already!