
Pittsburgh is the most liveable city in the U.S. - cwan
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/marketplace/business-news-briefs/2011/02/its_official_pittsburg_is_1_in.html
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rdouble
D.C. is third and Detroit is 7. This might just be a trick to see if they can
get anyone to buy their $500 report to see WTF they are talking about.

~~~
edw519
I don't know about D.C. or Detroit, but here is my instance of the class
"Pittsburgh":

85 year 2000 sq. ft brick house on 1/4 acre. 4 BR, 2 ba, 2 car garage. Totally
gutted and modernized. 3 miles from downtown, 1 mile from Oakland (Carnegie-
Mellon, Pitt, Carnegie Museum/Library, Schenley Park). Walkability index 92.
Within one hour flying and 8 hours driving of 50% of the U.S. population.
$160K. Same house in Miami: $500K. Same house in California: 7 figures + first
born.

4 distinct seasons, but some people still don't like the weather. I prefer
these thoughts:

"Everybody complains about the weather but no one does anything about it." -
Mark Twain

(Looking at gray sky) "What a beautiful day, Herman!" - Lily Munster

~~~
steveklabnik
Or me: Here's my house:
[http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=641+Maryland+Avenue,+Pittsburgh,+PA&aq=0&sll=40.455046,-79.930215&sspn=0.009372,0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=641+Maryland+Ave,+Pittsburgh,+Allegheny,+Pennsylvania+15232&ll=40.45516,-79.930215&spn=0.009307,0.01929&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.455066,-79.930189&panoid=kLaDfqOqymd2T-qvZoUkPg&cbp=12,48.95,,0,1)

I have the bottom floor. 3 bedrooms. 3 roommates. $1200/month rent, so I'm
paying $300/month. (my girlfriend and I share a room.) I live in one of the
more affluent neighborhoods in town. Yep. It's that cheap.

20 minutes walk from CMU, 30 from Pitt. Buses come either one block or 4
blocks away. CMU shuttle goes _past my house_. One block away: 4 bars. A
restaurant. Two coffee shops. A bunch of other junk. A Japanese grocery store
two blocks away, regular groceries about 5, a Whole Foods about 8. My two
neighbors on either side are families.

Pittsburgh is sweeeeet.

~~~
rdouble
Can you live there without a car?

~~~
steveklabnik
Yep. I do bike a lot because I dislike the bus, and they're never on time.

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jefflinwood
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajbrustein/5222637962/>

It's a shame about the grey, overcast winters and the muggy summers though. I
went to college there for four years, and it's a great city, I just couldn't
stand the weather.

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alexophile
Looking at the worldwide list it seems like access to healthcare plays a
really strong part... which I guess makes sense if you're calling your metric
"Livability"

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jwatzman
Pittsburgh, seriously? Between the small, crowded, pothole-filled roads and
buses which are never on time, it's impossible for me to get anywhere around
here. The Steelers football fanaticism drives me insane and the weather is
terrible. I absolutely cannot wait to move away from here next year; the
city's only redeeming quality in my eyes is the plethora of universities.

~~~
Isamu
> Between the small, crowded, pothole-filled roads

Well, the wide ones have potholes too.

> buses which are never on time

I wouldn't say "never"...

> Steelers football fanaticism

well, yes...

> the weather is terrible

Wait, what? I'll tell you what's terrible. Bright, sunny days all the time are
what's terrible. Downright depressing if you ask me.

> I absolutely cannot wait to move away from here

Some people just don't like "livable". Go figure.

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tmarman
We just moved from NYC and bought a house out here... it's not NYC, but it's a
pretty nice place to live :)

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cyrus_
Pittsburgh can be a bit of a shock for the San Francisco set though. There are
comparatively few of what I'll call "post-hippie" establishments here. They're
around, don't get me wrong, but not like in the liberal bastions of the West
coast (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, etc.)

One of the most celebrated places to eat around here, Primanti Bros., sells
giant greasy, meaty sandwiches with fries and coleslaw inside. Froyo places
have just shown up recently!

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jleyank
By some criteria, I'm sure. But if you like Broadway shows, it's not the best
choice. And while there's a river or two, the surfing's not all that good. I
suspect there are better places weather-wise, too.

And I might be interested in some of those criteria at some point, but it's
like some article that said it was great to retire in Fayetteville, Ark...

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ableal
Again ;-). If memory serves, around 1985 Pittsburgh got that title (from Rand-
McNally, publishers of Places Rated Almanac, I think).

~~~
aothman
Pittsburgh's 1985 win (in the middle of the steel industry collapse) prompted
a lengthy screed about how cumulative ratings are assembled from a UW
psychology prof: <http://www.briem.com/files/Loftus1985.pdf>

Pittsburgh keeps winning most livable city awards today for the same reasons
it won in 1985: it's a city that rates good or very good in everything and bad
in almost nothing.

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whatusername
Pittsburgh is the 29th most liveable city in the World.

