We’re thinking of moving to Pittsburgh in the next 1-5 years.

[Rooster_Ties]

After 30 years with the federal agency she works for, my wife is now eligible for full retirement from her job that brought us here to DC ~13 year ago — and much as we love living in DC, the cost of living here is insane. (We’ve rented this entire time, so we’d likely be renting wherever we go too, or at least initially for a couple years.)

Anyway, has anyone here lived in Pittsburgh — or have close family there — and what are your thoughts?

Edit: We really don’t know much firsthand about Pittsburgh actually, other than one 4-5 day long weekend there about 9-10 years ago.

On paper, it seems like it would be a good — maybe even great? — fit for us.  And online, I’ve been reading consistently good things about the city for years and years (and few negatives that are dealbreakers for us).

Clearly we need to get back up there again to really scope it out in person — now that my wife is getting more serious about looking at retiring, I’m trying to get out of the mode of constantly sifting through lists of the 10 or 15 cities we haven’t ruled out, and “kinda” like — and now finally looking at a few places a LOT more closely.

Edited November 9, 2024 by Rooster_Ties

[Brad]

Why Pittsburgh?

[Chuck Nessa]

25 minutes ago, Brad said:

Why Pittsburgh?

Indeed!!

 

[Rabshakeh]

I was wondering the same as a not American. What are Pittsburgh's big pull factors?

[Ken Dryden]

Before moving in retirement, you have to put together a list of what is important to you both.

For example: Cost of living, access to medical care and specialists, housing affordability and options, crime, local government, taxes, local laws (some busybody cities and HOAs try to limit your number of pets, even if they are kept indoors).

My sister told me recently that a home they were considering purchasing in the Asheville, North Carolina metropolitan area was in a subdivision with an HOA. It had a limit of four pets, period. When she talked to a representative and he asked, "How many do you own?" her response was "None of your business." I think they owned 6 or 7 cats and 2 dogs at that time.

An example of excessive busybody, greedy local regulations in Chattanooga:

All persons owning, keeping or maintaining more than seven (7) dogs, seven (7) cats, or a combined total of seven (7) dogs and cats shall be required to obtain a multiple-pet license and pay an additional fee for each dog or cat in excess of seven (7), at the following rates:

Fifty dollars ($50.00) for each dog or cat in excess of seven (7) and up to and including ten (10) dogs or cats;

One hundred dollars ($100.00) for each dog or cat in excess of ten (10) and up to and including twenty (20) dogs or cats; and

Two hundred dollars ($200.00) for each dog or cat in excess of twenty (20) dogs or cats.

We have owned three homes in the metropolitan area, none have been in the city limits, though we have never had more than 6 cats at once.

You have to rank which factors are knock outs for cities under consideration.

[Rooster_Ties]

On paper, Pittsburgh checks a lot of boxes for us.

• Proximity to the east coast, without the insane cost-of-living of so much of the mid-Atlantic or New England.

• It’s a real city, with real city amenities — especially walkable neighborhoods, and at least halfway decent public transportation. We haven’t owned a car since we moved to DC 13 years ago — and we do expect to have to buy (just) one car when we move (wherever we move) — but it would be great not to have to take a car everywhere.

• Some less critical amenities— but which serve as a proxy for the kind of places we like — include (at least a couple) halfway world-class museums, an above average symphony orchestra (not a dealbreaker if we don’t have that, but in our experience that’s a good proxy for other performing arts in the area, art house movie theaters, and at least some interesting ethnic food options, etc).

• We also want somewhere with relatively easy access to natural resources, parks, hiking, and day-trips to get halfway in the wild.

• A local music scene that’s halfway interesting, of course. Jazz, but also chamber music, and a nice dash of at least a couple the following:  bluegrass, choral music, really any kind of quality ethnic folk music, etc.

• Good healthcare options. We don’t have kids, and we feel like we need to be somewhere that we can fend for ourselves as we get older (mid-to-late 50’s now).

But walkable city neighborhoods is probably key — not necessarily “downtown” (we’ve never lived in a downtown anywhere), but places with at least some halfway-sorta-vibrant city neighborhoods (or whatever passes for that these days).

We think nothing of walking 1-2 miles to go places and just get stuff down around here in DC (we live 3 miles north of the White House and downtown DC now), and it would be nice NOT to go back to 75+% dependency on a car.

And all the kind of “stuff to do” that cities offer.

We live in a shoebox in DC now (635 sq-ft 1BR apartment) — and will happily fit into something similar wherever we go (although 800 sq-ft would be nice).

Edited November 8, 2024 by Rooster_Ties

[Rooster_Ties]

Other cities we have considered (with various degrees of seriousness)…

• Lots of places in MD, including Baltimore — and also farther out. Not quite as far out as Western Maryland, but maybe and far west as the transition between Western and non-Western MD — and a lot further north than DC (which we know wouldn’t be a ‘city’ but we’ve at least thought about it).

• Some places in VA, incl. Charlottesville and Richmond — neither of which are as big as we’d like, but we certainly like them (if not quite love them).

• PA places, Pittsburgh (obviously), or maybe Lancaster? (Not in love with Lancaster, but it’s certainly ‘alright’-ish.)

• There are definitely some nice places in western New York, but probably also not ‘city’ enough for our ideal.

We moved to DC from Kansas City (and I grew up in St. Louis), and I’ve heard Pittsburgh is very comparable to KC in a number of ways (size, cost of living) — and also that Pittsburgh might be the most ‘Midwestern’-ish city that’s that far east.

So theoretically Pittsburgh checks tons of boxes for us.

We’ve been thinking about Pittsburgh for at least 5 years— but we haven’t been in person since like 9 years ago because of the Covid shutdown. And then after that, after I got rehired on at the Museum I work at here, but my workweek runs Thursdays thru Mondays — and my wife is M-F. So for the first 3 years after the Museum reopened in April 2021, we barely had  2 weeks off at the same time all 3 years (Museum was functioning on a bare-bones staff), and we could never even do weekend trips together (and not even individual days off together, as my wife had troubles taking Tuesday or Wednesdays off, i.e. my ‘weekend’). I also have to go deal with my now 97-year old father about 6-7 weeks a year, so I’ve had to burn all my time off for that.

So, we’ve been researching Pittsburg online mostly, and keep finding more and more reasons to like it — at least on paper.

Edited November 8, 2024 by Rooster_Ties

[clifford_thornton]

My wife grew up in Pittsburgh. I can ask her some things about it; I was there once when I was young, and thought it was really pretty, but it's been forever since I was there.

They do have excellent art museums (Carnegie, Warhol, Mattress Factory, etc), diverse neighborhoods, and lots of hilly terrain to hike/bike/walk around and explore. 

Pitt's jazz program is pretty top-notch and I would think that there'd be some way to get involved as a community member.

[Brad]

44 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Other cities we have considered (with various degrees of seriousness)…

• Lots of places in MD, including Baltimore — and also farther out. Not quite as far out as Western Maryland, but on the edge and a lot further north (which we know wouldn’t be a ‘city’ but we’ve at least thought about it).

• Some places in Virginia, incl: Charlottesville and Richmond — neither of which are as big as we’d like, but we certainly like them (if not quite love them).

• PA places, Pittsburgh (obviously), or maybe Lancaster? (Not in love with Lancaster, but it’s certainly ‘alright’-ish.)

• There are some nice places in western New York, but probably also not ‘city’ enough for our ideal.

We moved to DC from Kansas City (and I grew up in St. Louis), and I’ve heard Pittsburgh is very compatible to KC in a number of ways (size, cost of living), and that Pittsburgh might be the most ‘Midwestern’-ish that’s that far east.

So theoretically Pittsburgh checks tons of boxes for us.

We’ve been thinking about Pittsburgh for at least 5 years— but we haven’t been in person since like 9 years ago because of the Covid shutdown. And then after that, after I got rehired on at the Museum I work at here, my workweek runs Thursdays thru Mondays — and my wife is M-F. So for the first 3 years after the Museum reopened in April 2021, we barely had  2 weeks off at the same time, and could never even do weekend trips together (and not even individual days off together). I have to go deal with my  now 97-year old father about 6-7 weeks a year, so I have to burn all my time off for that.

So we’ve been researching Pittsburg online mostly, and keep finding more and more reasons to like it — at least on paper.

Your reasons make sense but if it were me I’d spend some time in the city to make sure it’s what you imagine it to be. 

[clifford_thornton]

yeah. Things change a lot, too -- obviously the pandemic shifted some things, but we had no idea what the Hudson Valley would become after investigating it a little pre-2020 and making the relocation push in 2020. It's great, but a lot less sleepy than it was before COVID.

[Rooster_Ties]

UPDATE:  We now expect to be moved to Pittsburgh within a year (at most).

I won’t transgress board norms, except to say current events here in DC are necessitating this sudden accelerated timeline.

We still haven’t been to visit but once! (a dozen years ago, and that was just 4-5 days) — but we should have all the time in the world to go scope things out next month, the way things are looking.

If we re-sign our pending lease, our deadline to get out of DC will be a little more than a year from now.

We’re all but sure Pittsburgh will be a good choose for us — baring any unforeseen bumps in the road.

New adventures await.

Edited February 23 by Rooster_Ties

[psu_13]

I just noticed this thread now. I have lived in Pittsburgh most of my adult life (from college until now except for a few years for graduate school). While it has its ups and downs I like it (obviously).

Anyway, if/when you find yourself here feel free to shoot me a DM or something if you have questions. 

[Rooster_Ties]

BIG UPDATE: Kinda sudden, but after 30+ years with the same agency, my wife will be retired in just a few days — with her full retirement benefits intact.

She worked for a Federal agency that’s suddenly undergoing major (existential) upheaval, and that’s probably all I need to say without provoking political conversation here, and I appreciate our politics-free rules.

SO, now we’re looking to get out of Dodge within 6-10 months (maybe 12 months tops) — and we’re all but certain we ARE gonna head for Pittsburgh!!

But we gotta buy a car first (as I mentioned up-thread, we haven’t owned a car in 15 years, and the last car we bought was in 2006) — probably a Prius (we loved our ‘06 Prius, and always love when we end up being able to rent them too).

We’re planning to spend a whole week in Pittsburgh in early May (too many other irons in the fire in April, in part because I need to visit my Dad in St. Louis (maybe twice) for some out-patient surgery he has — he’ll be 98 in a few months!)

This move, and our semi-retirement is a good 3-5 years before we’d really planned — my wife will be just 58 later this year, and I’ll only be 56 later this month).

But neither of us plan to go back to working full time (knock-on-wood), although we’ll both be looking for some good or at least decent part-time jobs (good for us — I’m sure the pay won’t be great, but enough to pay a few bills).

And we’re gonna look for another shoebox of an apartment (like we’ve had here in DC) — but very fortunately we still get along famously!

I’ll gonna continue working here (for now), about 3-4 days a week — and only ramp that down whenever we get a lot closer to actually moving. It’s only about 30 hrs/week, but it gives me the flexibility to go deal with my dad in St. Louis mostly whenever I need to (about 7x per year).

In all honestly, we’re both pretty excited about these changes, sudden as they are. Pittsburgh, here we come!!

[JSngry]

 

[mjzee]

Good luck in Pittsburgh.  I visited it once 25 years ago, so can't speak knowledgeably about it, but it seemed like it had good quirky vibes - I remember taking the cog train going up a really steep hill.  And of course a lot of great jazz musicians came from Pittsburgh, so there's probably something good in the air.  If you're on X/Twitter, follow Salena Zito - her beat covers the Pittsburgh area, and she's an excellent writer.

[JSngry]

Pretty lively town if this documentary is any indication!!!

 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

It might be a good idea to check out the crime rates for various areas before choosing where to rent. There are several good resources on line. Here's one: https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/pa/pittsburgh/crime & here's another: https://crimegrade.org/safest-places-in-pittsburgh-pa/

[felser]

I grew up in Pittsburgh until I was 10 and live an hour east of Lancaster now. @LWayne lives in Pittsburgn and may be able to give you good information on neighborhoods, etc.  It has changed a lot since I lived there (for instance, stadiums now on the rivers where the Steel Mills were when I was there).  Excellent medical care through UPHS, and a true cultural scene with Pitt and Carnegie-Mellon and other institutions being there.   Lancaster in many ways is a very uncomfortable jamming together of two conflicting cultures rather than an integration of the cultures, and it has a lot of issues.

[JSngry]

Consider Hershey. It really does smell like chocolate.

[rostasi]

The quickest way to put you off chocolate is to be constantly surrounded by its smell. Is Hershey (the company) even there anymore? I thought they were HQ'd in Austin.

[JSngry]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hershey_Company

Still there.

[rostasi]

Aaaahhh, OK. Well, it was probably all of the stink when they bought that Austin company and the news about Hershey's threatening to leave Pennsylvania about a decade ago that made me think that.

[JSngry]

[rostasi]

How American!

[JSngry]

Well, it is in America...

Besides, not all company towns come with amusement parks. Some just come with stanky air and poison water!

The Sangrey family has roots in the Pennsylvania Dutch part of Pennsylvania, and my folks went to a family reunion in the early 1960s, in Lancaster IIRC.  Ate Amish ice cream, went to Hershey (no amusement park then, but got a factory tour with free candy everywhere), worked a little bit on my dad's Uncle Clate's farm, etc. A good time for a 6-7 yr old kid.

But that was 1961 or so. Probably wouldn't be as much fun today, although horses, cows, and chickens are always fun in controlled doses. Still!