Moving to Pittsburgh

[Brundlefly]

I have landed my dream job in dreamy....Pittsburgh. Moving there at the end of this month. I've never been there before other than to interview. Does anyone have anything positive to say about Pittsburgh? Is Pittsburgh considered Midwest or Northeast? I would be happy to meet any of you who live there for a drink sometime..

[Japher]

Pittsburgh... I so want to go there. Mainly because I want a Primanti Bros Sandwhich



Cole Slaw, Pastrami, fried egg, french fries, and tomato

yum

[Lorizael]

The only good thing about Pittsburgh is that my girlfriend lives there. Unfortunately, I do not.

Seriously though, Pittsburgh is not a bad place. There are parts of that the city that are very beautiful. It's a strange mix of old and new buildings. You can see towering cathedrals right next to towering skyscrapers. You're also up in the mountains, so you don't have to go too far before you can actually see stars at night.

[Theben]

I think Pittsburgh is considered an Eastern town. I'm sure it has some heartland in it.

[DanS]

Pittsburgh is NE, not MW. I don't like the mountainous terrain. I prefer the plains. YMMV.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Pittsburgh is one of America's great cities. I'm not from there, but took my first job there and lived there for ten happy years. Things you can look forward to:

1) The rare combination of a great city with dirt-cheap housing. The 'burgh has 3 major-league sports teams, a world class museum, 2 major universities, a fabulous public park system, terrific medical facilities, good restaurants...and it's still possible to buy a large house for under $200,000.

2) Pittsburghers are incredibly warm and friendly folk -- more midwestern that northeastern in that respect.

3) Because of it's hilly topography, Pittsburgh hasn't been subject to much urban sprawl. The city itself is the greenest urban space I've ever seen.

4) Rolling Rock is now your local beer (so is Iron City, which is swill, but you can't have everything)

5) Get ready to learn a new pronoun: yinz. It's the Pittsburgh equivalent of y'all.

6) If you golf, you'll find that there are about a bazillion golf courses in the area.

The downside? Allegheny County, PA, has the oldest aggregate population of any county outside Florida, and not a lot of highways; get ready to spend lots of time in traffic behind Cadillacs piloted by small, wizened men in fedoras.

[Ted Striker]

Pittsburgh is one of the best cities to live in, as long as you don't mind the cold in the winter.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
Pittsburgh is one of the best cities to live in, as long as you don't mind the cold in the winter.

It's actually not even that cold, compared to other American cities that far north, and it is far enough south of Lake Erie to miss out on the dreaded "lake effect" snow that buries Cleveland and Buffalo every year.

On the downside, it's one of the most overcast cities in America, with almost Seattle-like cloud cover. Bring your sun lamp!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Pittsburgh

[:) Smiley]

Where are you moving there from?

[Shi Huangdi]

4) Rolling Rock is now your local beer (so is Iron City, which is swill, but you can't have everything)

Don't forget Yunegling.

This is my 4th year in Pittsburgh, and it's a pretty nice town. One of the best things about it is it's low cost of living- housing is pretty inexpensive here so whatever money you make will go alot further. It's a pretty clean city as most of the pollution is gone. Pittsburgh has some really nice neighberhoods, if you are a young professional check out Squirrel Hill and Shadyside, or if you are big into partying there is also some housing in the Strip District.

Pittsburgh has alot of ethnic communities in it, and as a result there is really great food. There city is also good in terms of the cultural amenities available, and there are some really great museums. Schenley Park IIRC is the largest urban park in the USA besides Central Park in NYC, and is a really good place to escape from the city scene without actually leaving. There is also some really great hiking in the sorrounding countryside in Western PA that I like to get out to.

There are some downsides as well. Pittsburgh is consistently rated the worst city for singles in the USA, as Rufus mentioned the population is pretty old, and many young people marry at a young age. This may be a plus or minus depending on who you are, but Pittsburgh is also pretty religious and socially conservative- although politically it strongly favors the Democrats. In addition, the roads and the weather suck. Good luck with your move.

As far as MW/NE, Pittsburghers consider themselves Northeasterners. But then snobby people from the Philly area like to trash the city and call it Midwestern. But they're from the Philly area, so you shouldn't take them too seriously.

[Brundlefly]

Smiley - I'm moving there from Philly.

I just found out that I'm snobby, because my perception always was that Pittsburgh is a midwestern town.

Pittsburgh being rated as worst for singles is really bad news. I hope that turns out to be inaccurate because one of my top priorities is to meet a girl and get married within the next couple of years. Being single has been a blast, but I'm getting old and running out of time to start a family...

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Brundlefly
Smiley - I'm moving there from Philly.

I just found out that I'm snobby, because my perception always was that Pittsburgh is a midwestern town.

Pittsburgh being rated as worst for singles is really bad news. I hope that turns out to be inaccurate because one of my top priorities is to meet a girl and get married within the next couple of years. Being single has been a blast, but I'm getting old and running out of time to start a family...

Actually, while Pittsburgh isn't a great town for singles, it is a great town for family values; meeting a girl who wants to settle down wil probably be easier than meeting a girl who wants to date a lot and party all the time, so you may be in luck there.

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly


Actually, while Pittsburgh isn't a great town for singles, it is a great town for family values; meeting a girl who wants to settle down wil probably be easier than meeting a girl who wants to date a lot and party all the time, so you may be in luck there.

Of course, if you are looking to party, that's far from impossible. Just head on down to the Strip District and there's plenty of partying to be found...

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Shi Huangdi


Of course, if you are looking to party, that's far from impossible. Just head on down to the Strip District and there's plenty of partying to be found...

South Side, too, which I always preferred to the Strip. But yeah, you're right about that.