9 replies to this topic

[TheGerbil]

I have noticed that a lot of people (particularly suburbanite letter writers complaining about their latest trip into town) like to compare us to "other cities." The following is a list of the amazing amenities available in these mysterious "other cities":

-There is always a cab readily available, you never ever have to call for one or wait.
-There are numerous free activies every day (although no one seems to be able to specify what they are).
-Famous bands play on the street just for people's amusement on a regular basis.
-There is an endless supply of fun night-life and you never have to go to the same place twice.
-There are young single people coming out of every crevice.
-There is no litter and you never see homeless people.
-The public transportation is perfect and the buses never show up late. You can get anywhere without transferring and the fare is cheap.
-You can get a good job instantly and it will pay really well.


I sure would like to know where these magical "other cities" are!

[mercurypa]

I think I would like to know as well. I think its located on the planet "Hollywood".  Golly, what a perfect world.

[UrbaniDesDev]

I was in Saint Louis recently. Pittsburgh is so far ahead of the game. There are few shops downtown there. There are numerous "trendy" restaurants but not one pharmacy. I was looking for one. Never found one. There was 1 lone Starbucks. This surprised me because Pittsburgh is supposed to be the poster child for run down abandoned old cities. In Saint Louis there were block after block of abandoned or demolished houses right outside of downtown.

Over the last few years I have been to Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Buffalo and Nashville. There is a cohesion in Pittsburgh that I have not found in any of these places. There is something organic in the way Pittsburgh is developing, or redeveloping.

[HartfordTycoon]

A friend of mine from Hartford who's getting his masters at Carnegie Mellon says Pittsburgh is great and a that we can learn a lot from you guys. So people from cities that are not where you guys are yet do understand reality and realize that Pittsburgh is great city. Sure I wanted to take the Pens, but that's nothing agaist Pittsburgh!

Edited by HartfordTycoon, 06 October 2006 - 02:56 PM.

[TheGerbil]

Heheh, thanks. I think Kansas City wants the Pens too. They sure are popular for a team that doesn't dothat well

[TheGerbil]

I created a new separate topic for the basketball discussion we had going

[goofy328]

TheGerbil, on Oct 3 2006, 10:38 AM, said:

I have noticed that a lot of people (particularly suburbanite letter writers complaining about their latest trip into town) like to compare us to "other cities." The following is a list of the amazing amenities available in these mysterious "other cities":

-There is always a cab readily available, you never ever have to call for one or wait.
-There are numerous free activies every day (although no one seems to be able to specify what they are).
-Famous bands play on the street just for people's amusement on a regular basis.
-There is an endless supply of fun night-life and you never have to go to the same place twice.
-There are young single people coming out of every crevice.
-There is no litter and you never see homeless people.
-The public transportation is perfect and the buses never show up late. You can get anywhere without transferring and the fare is cheap.
-You can get a good job instantly and it will pay really well.


I sure would like to know where these magical "other cities" are!

I haven't found such a city.  As far as jobs perhaps the only city I can think of that would even come close to such perfection is Washington D.C.  Plenty of government jobs and temp jobs, easy to get if you have a little bit of skill and can tweak your resume right.  Though a lot of people there are unemployed though, so maybe not.  Public transportation, yeah right, keep dreaming ...

[urbanophile]

TheGerbil, on Oct 3 2006, 10:38 AM, said:

I have noticed that a lot of people (particularly suburbanite letter writers complaining about their latest trip into town) like to compare us to "other cities." The following is a list of the amazing amenities available in these mysterious "other cities":

-There is always a cab readily available, you never ever have to call for one or wait.
-There are numerous free activies every day (although no one seems to be able to specify what they are).
-Famous bands play on the street just for people's amusement on a regular basis.
-There is an endless supply of fun night-life and you never have to go to the same place twice.
-There are young single people coming out of every crevice.
-There is no litter and you never see homeless people.
-The public transportation is perfect and the buses never show up late. You can get anywhere without transferring and the fare is cheap.
-You can get a good job instantly and it will pay really well.


I sure would like to know where these magical "other cities" are!

With all due respect, I disagree with the notion that cities with the aforementioned traits don't exist.  Asides from the "no litter and you never see homeless people" part, I'd say New York certainly meets all the other criterea.  Asides from NYC, Chicago, Boston, Philly, San Francisco fit the bill. All that said, you really can't compare Pittsburgh with those cities since they're all a lot bigger.  Pittsburgh is definitely better off than Cleveland, Cincy, St. Louis, and a lot of the "peer" cities.  The big difference is that, while Pgh has suffered more severe population decline than those cities, it hasn't devolved into a dangerous ghetto the way parts of those cities have become (particularly Cleveland and St. Louis).  The "danger" (and more so, the fear thereof) causes suburbanites to not venture into the city for activities and for those who can afford to live in the city to move out.  Meanwhile, while Pgh overall has declined in population, there are many thriving and successful middle to upper middle class neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill and Shadyside.

[VistaLakes01]

urbanophile, on May 17 2008, 10:38 AM, said:

With all due respect, I disagree with the notion that cities with the aforementioned traits don't exist.  Asides from the "no litter and you never see homeless people" part, I'd say New York certainly meets all the other criterea.  Asides from NYC, Chicago, Boston, Philly, San Francisco fit the bill. All that said, you really can't compare Pittsburgh with those cities since they're all a lot bigger.  Pittsburgh is definitely better off than Cleveland, Cincy, St. Louis, and a lot of the "peer" cities.  The big difference is that, while Pgh has suffered more severe population decline than those cities, it hasn't devolved into a dangerous ghetto the way parts of those cities have become (particularly Cleveland and St. Louis).  The "danger" (and more so, the fear thereof) causes suburbanites to not venture into the city for activities and for those who can afford to live in the city to move out.  Meanwhile, while Pgh overall has declined in population, there are many thriving and successful middle to upper middle class neighborhoods like Squirrel Hill and Shadyside.

I think Pittsburgh is about the coolest city I visited while I lived for 3 years in Dayton, Ohio. (Except for Chicago) We (Orlando) just passed PSG up in largest CSA population.  We are now number 17 and at 2,693,552 and Pittsburgh being at 2,446,703.  St. Louis is our next obstical at #16.  What is bothering me is an article about Downtown Downturns in Business week.  Copy and paste this link in your address bar and read the article and watch the slide show.  I am amazed that since January the downtown housing market and condo market has been the highest selling area in the entire Orlando metro.  I am also surprised at how small so many downtown populations are in comparison.  Orlando has 22,000 residents living within 1 mile of the CBD and over 100,000 living within 3 miles of the CBD.  Here is the link for Downtown Downturns:

http://realestate.ms...b...5&GT1=35000

[pr sc]

I visited Pittsburgh several years ago and felt "at home". It reminded me of the city I grew up in, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Check it out un UP sometime. Our hills on either side of the river (Grand River) are not as steep and you have to get a bit out of downtown to see the hills rise on the West side. But, a great downtown (still needing a lot of work) and neighborhoods just seemed sort of like to Pitt to me - a comfortable place to be. Lots of beautiful old architecture mixed in with the new.

Edited by pr sc, 21 August 2008 - 03:18 PM.