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It's official: Pittsburgh is the most liveable city in the U.S.
The Economist Intelligence Unit has released its 2011 Liveability Ranking and Overview, and the Steel City tops the U.S. list, beating out Los Angeles (44th), New York (56th), and even Honolulu (30th).
But it's not all good news. Not a single U.S. city ranked in the world's top 10, or even top 20 most
liveable cities. On that list, Pittsburgh ranked 29th globally. Vancouver, Canada, topped the list, followed by Melbourne, Australia.
"Mid-sized cities in developed countries with relatively low population densities tend to score well by having all the cultural and infrastructural benefits on offer with fewer problems related to crime or congestion," said Jon Copestake, author of the report, in a press release.
The Economist Intelligence Unit was founded in 1946 as the in-house research unit for the Economist Magazine. The livability ranking
examines the living conditions in 140 cities around the world and rates each city across five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
The report didn't hold any good news for Harare, Zimbabwe, which came last place. The report notes that despite high hopes for the 2011 election, Harare's low stability and heath care scores "paint a bleak picture."
Check out Jeremy Hobson's coverage of the 2011 Liveability Ranking and Overview on the Marketplace Morning Report.
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I grew up in PA, lived in DC, most recently Austin, and now to the suburbs of Pittsburgh. Austin gets painted as this "cool town with a cool vibe", but quite frankly, is small potatoes when compared to Pittsburgh. Unless you are into the Longhorns, or are 25 hanging out on 6th Street, its just a big hot sprawled out suburb with strip malls and overcrowded schools. Small Sports scene (just Longhorns), no museums, small performing arts scene, no amusement parks. You do get a lot of sun though.... although 100 for 100 straight days is pushing it. Things catching on fire out of the blue its so hot. If you don't see whats good about Pittsburgh and its charachter, you never will get it and probably are one of those people who just wants to be in the sun all the time. That being said, I'd still give Austin high marks based mainly on the sun and being good in your 20s, and a lot of stuff is within a three hour drive........
This place is probably better in the summer than in the long winter times. I moved here in April 2011 because of a job. From my experience this is more like a big town than a city. You will be very disappointed if you are moving form a big city such as LA, NYC, DC.
This is NOT a place to move to if you are:
1. Single and not white or black (This place is very conservative and folks don't seem to be open to other cultures).
2. If you don't smoke or drink (Lot of social activities involve drinking and smoking).
3. You are not a Steelers/Penguins fan (You automatically are a social outcast).
Don't get me wrong, the folks over here are pretty warm and friendly. They are much better in summer than in winters.
The biggest drawback is that the weather is pretty depressing and no wonder there seem to be a lot of people on some kind of anti-depressants over here. You will notice a lot of people have difficulty smiling/laughing. The roads are terrible, and there is always some kind of construction. Beware, this place does have a lot of bad drivers on the road. I most likely will get out of this area prior to this 2012 Fall.
Top 10 lists are always debatable but this one seems pretty odd -- I wish there were a little more transparency into the methodology.
I also wonder if year-round weather is part of the equation... Toronto winters are pretty harsh to where most of the things that make it great are not fully accessible for 4-5 months of the year.
Or how does it calculate the opportunities for, and value generated by, a city's creative class? Is there a vibrant and sustainable creative culture that elevates a place's desirability?
Life in Austin, TX is generally solid year-round (yes, even the hot summers) and meets a lot of the criteria though every time I leave I find a sense of grandeur that I don't often feel living in Austin... although we are a big family and it's a lot easier to be fundamentally involved with life here... in a way that's difficult in other creative and forward-thinking cities...
Maybe another factor to consider is wether a place allows for an individual to truyly make an impact in their surroundings... how much say do you really have in your city?
Pittsburgh is one of the weirdest cities in the us. It can get 20 straight days of rain here which it often does.
It's morbid and depressing here. Downtown is a joke. Traffic downtown is like driving down paved alley ways. It's almost
as if the whole downtown is one weirdly placed corner that cars, buses and pedestrians have to navigate. I defy anyone
visiting or living in pittsburgh spot a EMC unit that doesn't have it's sirens sounding. The people are even weird.
People here will go out their way to speak to you as if they know you. There's also a weird dynamic that exist between
Pittsburgh's ethnic and caucasian population. It's as if there is an unspoken agreement with both parties saying:
I will give you this and that, and will allow this and that, in exchange for your cooperation on these issues that
your people are known for in other cities.
Trying to stroll the neighborhoods, you are either walking up a hill (often
steep) or down a hill. It seems the biggest industry here is health care related with UPMC being the biggest monopoly.
More than half the city seem to be on food stamps. Unlike the large areas of NY, Philly, Chicago, LA, where wealth is
flaunted like bare breast during spring brake on Virginia beach, What appears to be affluent living in Pittsburgh is
often just a mask for 'just
getting by'.
Bottom line is that Pittsburgh feels like a big city in a small hick town.
Daniel if you are so unhappy with Pittsburgh then leave. The people there are not strange--we are super friendly, which is a refreshing change from being around ignorant rude jerks.And here's a wake up call half of the United States is on food stamps now thanks to the recession.It is called doing what you need to do to have food on the table for your family.
Pittsburgh is a beautiful and great city. there's a ton to do, and everything is a within a short commute. I would recommend moving here to anyone. everyone fits in here. there's also a lot of job opportunities and some great colleges. even areas right outside the city are perfect places to raise children. it's VERY affordable. it's been voted "most livable" multiple times for a reason. there are only a few negative factors: lots of pollution, weird accents, and there are actually a lot of a-holes. oh, and no one really knows how to drive hahaha. other than that, pittsburgh is all around just a good place. the skyline is nothing short of amazing!
"some of the worst weather in the country"..??!! i dont think so. thats a pretty broad statement. sure, we get floods and snow. the snow isn't THAT bad. at least we dont have hurricanes like the south, or extreme temp changes like out west. or insane tornadoes. we get all four seasons perfectly. i dont see why everyone complains about the weather. i know a lot of people who say the weather in pittsburgh is one of their favorite things about it here. we get a taste of everything- and not in excess.
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