Why should I move back to Pittsburgh?

I was born and raised there, and my family goes back several generations there. Yet I have found success after leaving Pittsburgh, in New York and also Los Angeles. Recently, I've been hearing people say I should come back. I LOVE Pittsburgh, and always will. Yet the world I discovered once I left Pittsburgh has been an amazing one, and I'm not certain my wife and young child would be best served by a move back there. My work is such that I can do it anywhere, so that is not an issue. Obviously, I have fond memories of my life there. My more general question is this: Is Pittsburgh a viable city for the future?

I would appreciate your DU thoughts. You always help me to see what's what.

Since you were born and raised here, and you've lived in NYC and LA, you no doubt realize that Pittsburgh is not a cosmopolitan, urbane place. Far from it. If that's the type of environment where you feel you've done best, then moving back here probably isn't a great idea.

What criteria are you using to evaluate a possible move here?

New York and L.A. have their obvious benefits. Yet Pittsburgh, to me, means a certain peace of mind, a calmness, a positive environment in which to bring up children. I could find the same in certain towns in New York, or Connecticut, or New Jersey which offer as much, and allow me instant access to NYC. Yet as I grow older, I find that my bonds with Pittsburgh remain strong. My family is no longer a presence there, and with a couple of exceptions, my childhood and high-school friends aren't there either (I am 41, for the record).

I have always felt that "cosmopolitan and urbane" are relative terms indeed. There are more wealthy and supposedly "sophisticated" people in L.A. and NYC than in Pittsburgh, yet these are some of the worst people I've ever met (and I'm well travelled). In terms of culture and the arts? My father was a professor, my mother an artist, and so I experienced as much art, theater, music, etc. growing up in Pittsburgh as I have in NYC or L.A. It's there if you take advantage of it, right?

I'm interested in what today's Pittsburghers have to say about the city and its future. If I, in my own small way, could make a difference as a successful businessman in the city wherein my ancestors lived and flourished for five generations, that would probably influence my family's need to relocate. (I grew up in Point Breeze with a great big YARD! You don't get great big YARDS in NYC!)

but without a lot of the large city problems.

We have

ballet
symphony
theatre (off broadway, broadway..etc)
jazz clubs
great restaurants
sports teams..

unlike other cities...you can live downtown or anywhere around the city and find affordable housing.

Now...I have traveled all around the US and I still think Pittsburgh is a great place.
I love Chicago, Boulder, NYC, etc...

but for all the same reasons I like Pittsburgh...

than in the past, i.e., some younger artists, city planners, people opening cool shops, and more people who don't support continuing to do the same thing over and over, just because that's the way it has always been done. Houses are certainly cheaper than LA/NYC, that's for sure. It is a beautiful city in many ways, except for the weather!!! There is much more theatre, dance and relatively cutting edge art and music compared with when I first came here 30 years ago....

Some of the larger business community and some political styles (the same families running for office over and over, provincial attitudes, etc) still seems to be stuck in a rut, though.

Richard Florida's commnents notwithstaking, I do think you can go home again, though. :)

Ten reasons why you should return to Pittsburgh:

1. Southside Works. (www.southsideworks.com)

2. Station Square. (http://www.stationsquare.com/main.asp)

3. Museums, concerts, street festivals (and, coming soon, the Majestic Star Casino).

4. The Duquesne Incline.

5. Steeler Nation!

6. The neighborhoods.

7. Primanti sandwiches and ethnic restaurants.

8. Mom-and-Pop stores.

9. A Democratic Governor.

10. Because you know you want to. ;)

Come home to Pittsburgh. Start your own business. Create jobs, and contribute to the local economy. Yinz are missed! :D (www.teampa.com; http://www.county.allegheny.pa.us/ecodev/)

Westegg, I am also 41 and will return to live in Southside this summer. I had the exact opposite in life experiences as you. I have been in the army for 20 years and got to live in places like Lawton, Oklahoma, Monterey, CA, Tacoma, WA, Leavenworth KS, and Seoul, Korea. The most cosmopolitan place was probaly Tacoma - since I could drive to Seattle. Seoul is defintely a big city - but as an American you are really "fenced" into certain neighborhoods that cater to foreigners.

I know Pittsburgh has its problems, but you can live there at the same standard of living as Oklahoma. I like Southside because you can walk and have access to almost anything you need. Out here in Lawton, I can only walk to an EZ-Go gas station. I went on leave this summer and couldn't believe how much Southside and Pittsburgh has changed since the 1980s.

Comparing to what others have said:

1. I like the mom and pop stores, not two Wal-Marts for a population of 100K
2. Real neighborhoods versus a lack of rational zoning laws
3. Musueums, Theaters,and art
4. Walking distance to a French 4 star resturant and a good pizza place versus a place where the best restaurant in town is "Outback"
5. Going back to a blue state with blue water and occasional blue skies - well, you can guess how most of OK votes.

I love what they've done to the Waterfront. I had kind of a similiar situation (I was in the Air Force but only did six years), and I moved back here because of the cost of living. When I was growing up, I grew up a bit outside the city up in Natrona Heights, but I love it here. As a matter of fact, I'm closing on my first house on the 22nd. I currently live in Westwood, which is between Greentree and Crafton, but we're moving over to Beechview.

Excellent quality of life. Good schools. Wonderful ethnic neighborhoods that rival New York City's. Beautiful landscapes. Great people!

Pittsburgh - and Pennsylvania - are on the precipice of something big. Ed Rendell is taking you there.

And it's long overdue, IMHO.

Yes, there are enormous opportunities in bigger cities to do almost anything you are interested in. However, many people don't have any money left to afford them. In most big cities, everything is more expensive - even everyday items in a CVS store. Housing is outrageous and apartments are so small you can't keep what you want to buy.

Therefore, there is great value in living in a more affordable city - where most of your income does not go to housing, where you can have breathing room, where you can get out to the country in 30 minutes, where half you life is not spent commuting, where you don't need to spend thousands a year on private school tuition, and where you have enough money left over to do many activities.

i lived in the eastern suburbs all of my life and still reside there being i settled on swissvale some years back. to me pittsburgh seems like an oversized small town as the sidewalks tend to roll up at night and there really isn't as much to do here as in other cities or areas of similar size. i have visited other states and cities to make this observation, but not the really big cities like new york or chicago. the mom and pop stores are going extinct too as i've seen quite a few go under. i do fear the laidbackness of the city is fading as time goes by. due to the laidbackness some have said to me that west virginia is a suburb of pittsburgh. i laughed at that. the real problem is pittsburgh isn't modern enough to be at the forefront of future industries and to keep all of its citizens employed, while certain polititians up our taxes for the county to match the tax revenues of the more major urban areas around the nation. it doesn't work as the c. of l. is lower here so they can't be expecting monies from us on par with other areas that have high average incomes for its citizens. they did this with an extra 1% county sales tax and successfully raised all property taxes just by saying everybody's property is now worth more than it really is even with proof by appeals. raising the base value was slick of repug roddy to come up with so that he was able to say he didn't raise the taxes when he really did.
i'm rambling, but if my house would sell on the open market, for a fraction of what the county says it's worth in this depressed area that i live in, i'd move out of this county as so many have already done. i could'nt give a rats tail of the sports here and resent my tax dollars being spent on somebody's business ventures, as in stadiums. i seriously doubt that the pirates, steelers, and penquins would bring into this area more new money than the costs of those stadiums and i say let the city buy those teams if they are to be kept by the city. oh i forgot they're poor. so what am i, rich enough to pay for the perks for those businesses not to have to buy their own property and buildings? too many here are losing their homes to sheriffs sales in record numbers and that says it all. i blame the county polititians for this irregardless of political affiliation as all are condoning the economic raping of the citizens they are supposed to be serving.

Sounds like things haven't changed much.

that Pittsburgh is a place where people are payed 20% less than what they could be making anywhere else in the US and seem to love it. I think employers know that the region is filled with people that never left Allegheny county for anything and actually think that Pittsburgh is a mecca among US cities. As if anyone in LA, Orlando, NYC, Boston, ect is ever thinking or talking about Pittsburgh.

To me the good things about Pittsburgh are the lack of traffic on weekends, fairly affordable for a city (even though it is small), and you can be in the wilderness quickly.

But there is so much bad about it...primarily, it is a rust belt city and has the culture to match. People there still wish and think it is the 70s and can't get beyond the Steelers. Most people in Western PA basically stop doing anything after HS (or college) and just work. It is becoming a city of seniors for senior, and there is zero to no innovative technology coming out of there (take away Pitt and CMU and there is absolutely none).

I left Pittsburgh after college and thank goodness I did. Live someplace else and you likely realize Pittsburgh isn't everything people there told you it was.

I looked up the Craigslist site for Pittsburgh and of course went into shock at how much more limited the job listings were (I'm in the increasingly unaffordable DC area). This is the second time in my life that I have considered moving to Pennsylvania, and I would like some thoughts on the work environment there.

I was amazed a year ago when I found out we had it!

n/t

I've also taught English as a second language and held jobs in retail and in nonprofit work. I currently work for a small newsire.

The issues of commuting, cost of living, and long-term job outlook are things I am very seriously considering. Gridlock in my area is very bad, so that even living close in I have a long commute.

However, I regard the nightmarish commute describe by another poster further down this thread as something that would eat too much of the day. It sounds like hell and makes my current situation seem less stressful by comparison!

Publishing is well represented in the expensive areas (New York, Northern New Jersey, the DC area, etc.), so I'm even wondering about telecommuting in the future. One of my friends is considering just that -- moving back to Ohio and taking a job she can do from home.

There's a ton of Pittsburgh jobs on both of those sites.

Also: http://www.pittsburgh.net/yellow_pages.cfm?CtgID=38&GrpID=10

Careers at UPMC, if you're interested: http://www.upmc.com/Careers/CareersatUPMC

The Pennsylvania State Government job link:
http://www.scsc.state.pa.us/scsc/site/default.asp

Just a few jumping-off points for you to start a job search.

That's quite a lot to work with. :hi:

The last time I considered moving to PA, the Post-Gazette was on strike and I couldn't get the papers here in the DC area. It was hilarious. I'd go to the newsstand and find no Pittsburgh papers.

but I work for a call center out in Moon Township and we're on a massive hiring spree. Its easy work for $10 an hour. It doesn't seem like much but it'll pay the bills and is a good holdover job until something better comes along.

isn't all that great and i feel we never recovered from the reagan era as we've been depressed ever since. you could look up the classifieds from the pittsburgh post gazette and see for yourself. much of the steel industry has left as well as many other big company names and most of the jobs created that the reaganites referred to were low paying. there are a few jobs here and there that are good, but not enough for the area. i considered moving to dc in the late 80s, but after seeing the cost of renting or owning a place i thought the higher wages would've been eaten up by that. do consider the rural areas too, but i've often wondered what that many people in the middle of nowhere do to afford those nice homes they have for there's far less employment available there.

There might be an alternative. Many people are finding good paying jobs in Maryland, and then commuting from affordable housing in central PA. You need to make sure you test out the commute during rush hours before you buy. At best, you could find a job along a train or light rail route in Maryland, so you only need to drive part of the way.

I worked with a guy here in D.C. who commuted every day from Hershey. He left his house at three-thirty a.m. to get to work by six.

He said there was no way he'd move to the D.C. area. The quality of life and affordable housing in Pennsylvania were much more to his liking.

move to NOVA in the mid 80's and still get back to the Burgh during football season. I've often wondered about those nice homes in the middle of nowhere myself.