I have lived in Pittsburgh for 26 out of my nearly 34 years. Have any of you ever been here? Most of my readers are not from Pittsburgh, so here is some background

Many people think of Pittsburgh as a smokey steel town. Its hasn't been either for the past 25 years. Many people think of Pittsburgh as the town where the Steelers play. Thats true. But the relevance of that connection also goes back about 25 years.

Some other common misconceptions debunked: It doesn't snow very much here; It isn't a midwest city; It also isn't one hour from Philadelphia; It doesn't have a thriving music scene (did anyone actually think that?).

So what is Pittsburgh now? It is usually uncomfortably cold in the winter, and winter lasts from October through May. It also rains a good deal. And there is less sun here than any city aside from Buffalo. There are four local network-affiliated tv stations, and all of them spend at least half their broadcats on sports and weather. They also have fancy sets and graphics. The people are older here than anywhere. They really are. And its also very conservative, but not necessarily in a bible belt sort of way.

There is a general atmosphere of complacency. Many people wear clothing and have hair styles that were popular in the eighties. Pittsburgh is also a "rock" town, and not in a good way. Try mixing Bruce Springsteen with Tom Petty and then add some George Thoroughgood, and that pretty much covers the musical diversity. And don't get me started on Rusted Root or The Clarks! There is a small "punk" scene, and a small hip hop scene, and a small club scene. This is hardly inspiring, however. These small scenes are more like little refuges in a larger storm of mediocrity. Of course, I have no idea if the the small scenes themselves are mediocre.

Another important feature of the town is that young people leave. They have been leaving for years. There are dozens of decent colleges here, but the young people don't stay. This is usually thought of as a bad thing. I'm not sure actually. I don't much care for young people. On the other hand, I think the lack of young people means that everything stays old and conservative. Pittsburgh has old ideas, old buildings (not in good shape), old people, old politics, and old thinking. This wouldn't be so bad if it was great. It isn't.

Oh, and the town nearly went bankrupt last year, has a 50% parking tax, built an expensive stadium against the people's will for a baseball team that can never win, and everything downtown closes by 8:00.

There are some okay things though. We have a few small communities near town that are good places to go. I quite like Bloomfield and Squirrel Hill. Shadyside is nice, but expensive. And the Southside is busy at night, but as turned into the place where frat guys go to get drunk in public.

What else? Its easy to get to many nice outdoor locations. And there are plenty of good restaurants. And pierogies...

There is a "movement" in Pittsburgh to try to take pride in the town. People of this thinking will tell you that its good to be a "Yinzer" (long story for you out-of-towners), and say things like "its burgh thing". They'll also say how great the stadiums (two were built) are. Personally, I think these folks are doing the equivalent of what black people did when they reclaimed the N-word, but it isn't working as well. I think that if everytime there was a Steelers home game, some sort of urban redevelopment squadron rounded up all of the tailgaters and moved them to somewhere more south (at least Wheeling), that would be a good start. I know, I know... too many of my "solutions" to problems seem a bit too "final".

I lived for 7 years in Philadelphia and I liked it a lot. When I go to cities like Philadelphia, Columbus or Washington DC, I always think that I wish Pittsburgh was like those towns. Not that those places don't have huge problems, but thats a pipe dream.

Some may wonder why I continue to live here. Basically its because my family is here. Its possible that people who stay here have closer ties to family, and consider family to be more important than people elsewhere. Its hard to say.

Perhaps I'll write a post about how to fix Pittsburgh. By "fix", I mean "make it more to MY liking". Such "how to fix Pittsburgh" writing is a cottage industry here. Maybe I'll join the ranks.