Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

zedazeni
Living in Pittsburgh
1y ago
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My backstory:

Born and raised in St Louis; university in Fayetteville, AR, Alexandria, VA (DC metro).

My partner (M 27) and I (M 27) moved to Pittsburgh around two months ago from the DC area.

Living in DC was great, except for the never-ending traffic and the skyrocketing cost of living (specifically housing and restaurants).

We visited Pittsburgh for the first time last April and found that the architecture was charming, the nature was abundant, and the city seemed proud without being pretentious.

After having lived here now for nearly two months, the move was definitely worth it—we own a gorgeous 114 year old house for a fraction of what it would’ve cost in DC, have access to dozens of great restaurants within a 15 min walk that cost half of what we were paying for similar fare back in our DC suburb, the traffic is at the very least manageable, and the hills provide such a nice break, especially after living in the seemingly endless suburban expanse of the DC metropolitan area.

What’s more, PGH has the most agreeable climate of any city I’ve lived in, perhaps Tbilisi, Georgia (the country) had a more temperate but still distinctly 4-season climate.

As for your points:

1: it depends on the neighborhood. Squirrel Hill, Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, East Liberty, the Strip District and Oakland have a lot of younger people since they’re close to Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Pittsburgh. The farther away, the more suburban it gets. Cranberry is the new “it” for suburbs, but Robinson and Ross are pretty suburban as well. Overall, you’re not going to be the only younger person in your neighborhood, and with the universities here and Google’s presence, there’s not going to be a shortage of young people coming and going.

2: hiking is great. Frick Park has a lot of good trails. Allegheny County Parks has its own app for hiking, and the parks are huge. If you’re wanting more, there’s a few state parks within a 90 min drive of Pittsburgh as well, so you’ll have no problem going for a long or short hike.

todayiwillthrowitawa
Living in Pittsburgh
8mo ago
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I'm both a PPS graduate and someone who works in/with schools, including PPS, suburban districts, and private schools for nearly ten years.

First off, other people in the thread are correct that how you raise your kid is going to have 100x the impact on how your kid does in adult life than what high school they attend. Having parents who are educated, are interested in intellectually stimulating activities, expose children to new activities and ideas, get involved with their education, etc. is the key to your child having a good life.

The best way to describe the difference between PPS and surrounding districts is that the floor for academic performance is a lot lower, and the very tippy top of the academic ceiling is a little lower. If you have a kid who is really struggling in school or has specific needs, you will see them struggle even more in PPS under most circumstances and I suggest looking private or moving to the suburban districts. If you want your kid to get into specifically Ivy League colleges, private and top tier districts have relationships with the admissions departments in those places that go a little further.

Otherwise, whatever dreams your kid has is within reach with a PPS education, especially if they're in one of the better high schools (Sci-Tech, Allderdice magnet, CAPA) or enrolled in the CAS program. My graduating class at one of the worst PPS high schools had three pharmacists, multiple social workers/counselors, a few teachers (hello), a few physical therapists, two engineers, and a single architect. It also had like a 60% dropout rate. Is it a "bad" school by every numerical measure? Yeah. Did it stop the kids who had solid home lives from succeeding? No. That's the duality you grapple with when talking about PPS.

My suggestion to all parents is to try PPS first. Find a magnet elementary school you like, ride it out, reevaluate at middle school time. The differences between elementary schools are nowhere near as vast as high schools. Your life will probably also change a ton between now and then, and you can rerun the algebra to see if your priorities need changing.

TrafficScales
Living in Pittsburgh
1y ago
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I moved here from Massachusetts in my early 20’s and really like it. The young (tech or tech-adjacent, which I’m guessing you are) professional scene is pretty fun and social compared to what I hear about my friends’ experiences on the coasts.

Some anecdotal pros:

Pittsburgh is surprisingly full of well-kept and easily accessible green space (parks with legitimate hiking trails, cemeteries that function like parks, etc.)

Close to more involved outdoor camping/hiking (Ohiopyle, Allegheny forest).

Major concerts/live shows either come to at least one of here, Columbus, or Philly, meaning that you’ll always be day-trip distance to major concerts if that’s your thing.

The living costs are quite low for a city of its size/amenities.

People don’t move to Pittsburgh because they’re forced to, generally speaking. The transplants that come and settle here are here because they like it, and that results in a happier communities.

Cons:

The vegetarian food scene is pathetic compared to Boston’s.

PIT is not nearly as major of an airport, upping travel time and costs if you fly a lot to places other than the few direct flight locations.

Pittsburgh is built across mountains and between rivers. There is no direct path anywhere— you have to travel two sides of a triangle, always.

landmanpgh
Living in Pittsburgh
1y ago
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I've lived here for over a decade. Coming from the south, it was a bit of a shock for a few years, but that went away. I love it now and will never leave, but every city has some downsides.

The roads suck. People are generally pretty cool, but it can be tough to meet new people as an outsider because everyone grew up here. I don't mind the Steelers/Penguins, but I'm sure some people get tired of the obsession with sports here. Those are really the only downsides for me.

On the flip side, I personally love the weather, especially autumn. I love that Pittsburgh isn't a huge city, but we have pretty much any amenity you could want. I like being able to get from the airport to anywhere in the city in under an hour. And the food scene is really good. Oh, and it's not terribly expensive to live here. Closer to a Midwest feel than East Coast.

I've lived and traveled all over the country, and for me Pittsburgh has been the most liveable city.

Living in PITTSBURGH PROS AND CONS