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"...

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.

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.

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.

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?

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".

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"...

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/

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.

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