Pittsburgh, PA Reviews

Pittsburgh deserves more credit - 2/6/2020
Reading the other comments posted about Pittsburgh, I felt that I needed to contribute to give Pittsburgh a bit more credit than has been giving. I lived in Pittsburgh for about four years. Overall, my husband and I enjoyed Pittsburgh and it has a special place in our heart as that is where we got married and made a strong group of friends. We ultimately left because of the job market - there just isn't a huge amount of job opportunities for our industry that pay fairly compared to US market values. To help somebody who is considering moving to Pittsburgh, I've broken out the pros and cons (from my perspective) below:

Pros:
- The people: it's a midwestern city and the people are friendly without feeling fake
- A lot to do: whether you're a sports fan, academic, outdoorsy, foodie, this that or the other, you will find your place in Pittsburgh
- Old city vibe: Pittsburgh was built in the 1800's and has so much beautiful architecture (my favorite being the Read More

Ok if you have a decent job to survive. - 1/3/2020
I grew up here and I left for a few decades and returned. Do not move here unless you have a job lined up and you expect it to be stable. Finding even a low paying job that you can live on ( kinda) is no easy feat. Many I know with experience and college degrees are fighting fit the scapes. Sorry it’s true. Thankfully my husband is close to retirement and we are good. But my advice to anyone just starting out. Don’t come here. Unless you know someone. So many people I know can’t even get an interview at a hotel or Upmc which pays around 9-12 hour. Which are the better jobs for this city. And if you buy a home be very careful where, we have some very bad areas very close to million dollar homes. It’s home to us and we are ok but there are days I wish we could move. Especially when the air pollution is so bad you end up with an asthma attack, yes even in our very nice upper class suburb.
Housing is going up too. Our crime is going down after 20 years we hit a new low for murders. Read More

Just DON'T - 12/22/2019
I'm Pittsburgh born & bred. While I do believe we are the survivors and could live almost anywhere you put us, that's mainly because this city sucks! I've lived in all the counties around Pittsburgh. The roads everywhere are crap. Pothole country. Allot of racism & prejudice on BOTH sides of the fence. Not many opportunities to find a well paying job (I'm lucky to have found one - even luckier I can transfer out of state) where you can pay the high rent prices (unless you wanna live in a bad area), outrageous utility bills, car and insurance, buy food, put gas in your car to get to the job, etc. If you manage to do THIS, and still have money to enjoy your days off, there's NOTHING to do! Unless you like bars. Just be careful you don't get into a fight with some prick there cuz ppl in this city are plain ignorant! No one says hello, holds a door open, waves. I haven't known any of my neighbors since childhood! The public schools are terrible compared to many other states so good luck Read More

Pittsburgh is turning into a Liberal he’ll hole - 11/17/2019
Taxes are so high, people are sick of working to pay for the city full of welfare recipients. Liberal Gov and Mayors in all major cities in PA are dragging down our state, raising taxes faster than our COL raises can handle! Gas prices #2 highest in the country. Mayor talking about Pgh being the next Sanctuary city. Not the place I hoped to raise my children in. Big mistake trying to stay in this state, currently looking to move elsewhere to raise my Read More

Can I give Pittsburgh 0 stars? - 10/31/2019
If it was possible to give Pittsburgh 0 stars. Sadly, there is lack of opportunity for minorities. I am an educated minority female that had to leave Pittsburgh to earn the salary I feel I deserve. Since I moved 4 years ago, my salary has more than doubled. I considered moving back because I missed my family, but an over the phone interview with Robert Half reminded me why I left in the first place. Once they realized the color of my skin, the interview went south right away. They didn't even talk about my skill set, but just about the fact that I wasn't living in Pittsburgh at the time, and when I decide to make my move, call them. Lol, who leaves one city for another without a perspective employer? I could be overreacting, however, this has been my past experience, as well as my current experience, I just did the telephone interview two days ago!

Additionally, the weather is not favorable at all! It is always cold and dreary. Winter lasts way too long, and it is Read More

The facts about Pittsburgh - 7/12/2019
Here are the facts about Pittsburgh that can be Googleable:

- 305 days of cloud cover and high rates of seasonal depression
- 7th most congested city in the United States due to poor infrastructure
- Top 2% cancer risk due to air pollution
- Consistent F ratings for air quality by the American Lung Association every year
- In Pennsylvania which is rated 49th out of 50 for total tax burden (city, county, and state)
- Among the lowest job growth of any large metro in the country
- Lead levels in the water surpass Flint, Michigan
- Among the least diverse large cities in the United States
- Allegheny County has the highest amount of automobile crashes than other county in the state
- Nicknamed the "City of Bridges" but over 3000 bridges in the state of PA have been deemed structurally deficient
- Has lost population for nearly 70 years and counting

Those are the facts, not opinions. There are reasons Read More

Pittsburgh is horrible - 5/30/2019
First of all, the rainfall is wrong. We've been averaging 57 inches of rain per year. All it does is RAIN! I've lived here my entire life, and I want out. People drive horribly, as if they don't know what a speed limit is. In fact, a lot of people I've met believe the speed limit is a suggestion. Yes, a suggestion. So, mostly you'll do 10mph under the speed limit. When it isn't raining in Pittsburgh, it's so humid in the summer from the moisture in the air, you can hardly breathe. It's a horrible place to live. Our roads are some if the WORST I've saw. I've been to a lot of states, and nothing tops western Pennsylvania. We have the highest gas tax to boot. Supposedly to "take care of the roads". Allegheny county screwed up paperwork, so we also pay EXTRA for gas on TOP of the gas tax. It's quite comical. Why anyone would want to visit this place is beyond me. There's not much to really do, either. Unless you want to cruise the bars ??. Read More

Brown - 4/3/2018
This place has no sun. This winter has been hard. We are in April and Next 2 week forecast is rain, low temps. Of course we could get hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. but we get constant flooding. Don’t move here if u like Read More

Good and Bad..depends on what you are looking for - 11/28/2017
Hi, born in Germany, grew up in Queens/Manhattan. Lived in Ohio, Cali, PA, CT, MI and Europe. Have traveled all over the states and the world. Have lived very rural to big city. People coming from a more diverse area ( large city or Cali), you can't expect that a small city in western PA will be the same. That can be said for most of the country, it isn't diverse everywhere, that is somewhat unrealistic. The city can be kind of grungy, so if you are looking for new suburbs with generic new build houses with large great rooms, probably not the city. I personally find many places appalling because they are brand new, tacky and have no soul. But that's my taste, everybody is different I respect that. People are nice, they appear to be genuinely kind, but not over doing it. If you are coming from states with no taxes, well yes then a state that has taxes is a pain. Cost of living is decent, utilities are higher than some areas, there are good jobs depending on what your profession is. Read More

PITTS—burgh - 11/8/2017
As a native that has always been in personal conflict with the non tolerant experiences I have lived through and practices of the majority here I can honestly state; especially after relocating for only 3 years, then returning to care for a sick parent I realize I was the happiest in my life, I felt Free, when I was away as I also had more options...on my way out again Read More