Pittsburgh | PGH is the new PDX
 

In 2009 I moved to Portland looking for the polar opposite of South Florida. Looking for a city with a good food scene, character, a unique local identity and culture, decent transit and walkability Portland seemed to fit the bill. Fast forward roughly 10 years Portland no longer felt like the city I had once fallen in love with.

With the influx of new people changed the culture and I felt like all the "New Portland" restaurants and bars felt pretentious and uptight. My rent went up by $600 a month in a year and my wages lagged far behind the average for an urban planner. Traffic became insane and transit unreliable. My commute often pushed two hours to drive the 9 miles from Tigard to inner SE Portland. Many of my friends were priced out or had to work so much to afford to remain in Portland my social life became abysmal. I had enough and decided to make a change.

While I didn't want to leave the Pacific Northwest, no jobs seemed to work out for me in the region so I expanded my search nationwide and ended up moving to Columbus, Ohio. I thought moving to Columbus would give me an opportunity to explore a new part of the country I've never seen before. The first city I wanted to check out was Pittsburgh.

Growing up in South Florida, there are a ton of Pittsburgh transplants and I was always struck by their unique way of speaking . In planning school it was used as a case study of how to decline gracefully then bounce back revitalizing the city through tech, healthcare, and higher education. The historic neighborhoods always looked appealing with many retail main streets similar to Portland along with pretty topography. The food scene is great and after visiting the people were awesome and the city definitely has a local culture that sets it apart from the average American city of a similar size. I think I've found my new Portland, but the only thing that worries me is that if Amazon picks Pittsburgh it will have the same problems Portland is going through down the road with affordability and out of control homelessness and gentrification. Whatever happens, lets all wish the best for Pittsburgh because it really is a special place.


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I can't wait to go back and explore the city even more. These photos are what I was able to capture on a short weekend trip. Hope you all enjoyed. :cheers:

Thanks for the nice, comprehensive-feeling set. I agree that Pittsburgh is a heck of a city... A real gem! It reminds me of a slightly smaller, substantially more affordable version of Boston, except instead of coastal it's out in the riverlands. The skyline view from Mount Washington is the best I have ever seen of any city! I'm always impressed when I drive out to Pittsburgh.

it's kind of hard to live in atlanta where there are so many other awesome places in the US to live in, case in point.

great shots - it's cool seeing the new interspersed with the old in places like this.

+1 for the traffic. Took me 40 minutes to drive the 6.6 miles home from work today. Would be faster to bike but I don’t trust the drivers on Baseline.

Anyway, Pittsburgh is nice, and thanks for the tour.

This was a weekend tour? Damn that's dedication.

The US has so many structurally solid and attractive cities - Pittsburgh is definitely no exception.

The first picture the angle and the downtown scene are exactly the same as 20 years ago, which means our Dear Pitts hasn't moved any step forward since then. No Good.

Just wow! I fell in love with Pittsburgh from afar after reading every Michael Chabon novel or story set there and my first trip didn’t disappoint. Because of the rivers and dense downtown it really does feel like a mini-Manhattan.

Well, not exactly. Yes, that angle hasn't changed much (though a new tower is visible), other towers have been built in the last 20 years, but are not visible from that angle.

You've convinced me to visit Pittsburgh. Amazing density and "blue collar" urbanism

Please don't encourage more Portlanders to come to Pittsburgh.

fuck this is sick. last time i was there was ten tears ago and it still seemed a bit hungover. looks like a different city, here.

Great pics! I will always have a special place in my heart for PGH and it is one of the most unique cities in the U.S. IMO. And it's isolation keeps it from becoming "too cool" which I think works in its favor.

How do you like Columbus? I haven't been there for a while but I have been hearing great things.

Seems to be the plight of big city life, though, and I can share daily horror stories with my commute here in the Philly area.

Yes. That is all.

Fantastic set!

Pittsburgh is wonderful.

Very nice. I love Pittsburgh. I haven't visited in a few years--definitely time to make a trip up there again!

I'm just stanned by the place and the quality of pics! Cheers from Poland!

Amazing tour of one of America’s classic cities.

Great set. Thank you for sharing.

I was impressed when I visited.

Great pics.

Pittsburgh is quietly becoming one of my favorite cities. Great pics! You gave a good written summation of Cincinnati, one of Pittsburgh?