See Ya In Da Burgh!

This is a reprint of a post I did for my friend Boo from Discover Boo (formerly Kicking and Screaming). Boo lives in Australia. She asked me to be a guest blogger while she was busy packing up and moving herself, her husband, her young toddler son, a dog and 2 cats to her new home, and one of the things she asked me was to tell her why she should consider moving aaaaaaaallllllllll the way to this side of the big blue marble.

Since I'm really proud of my city, I wanted to print this entry here as well.

Boo says: Give me 20 sound reasons why I should move to Pittsburgh??

I'm going to assume you can all figure out from that question that I am from Pittsburgh.

Then I could go on to give you the standard Pittsburgh line. "Why WOULDN'T anyone want to move to Pittsburgh??!!!" But that's not what Boo's looking for here since she and Tim are seriously considering making some big changes in their lives.

I could send you to one of those "Rah-Rah Pittsburgh" sites, but I think Boo is more interested in hearing my personal opinion.

1. I've never lived anywhere else but Pittsburgh and its surrounding suburbs my entire life, so it's familiar and comfortable to me. I'd be a great tour guide Boo. And showing someone else Pittsburgh let's ME learn more about my hometown.


2. People from Pittsburgh tend to be fiercely loyal to their city. Yes it's a city, but there's a reason most of us call it our "hometown." It has more of a "town" feel as opposed to city, almost anywhere you go in Pittsburgh.


3. And this love of and loyalty to Pittsburgh is not an exclusionary thing. We LOVE to welcome new people and convert them to "Burghers". So you would find yourself welcomed and loved here.


4. Pittsburghers would adore your Aussie accent. And yes you DO have an accent Boo, but just wait until you hear a Pittsburgh accent.


5. We have chipped ham.


6. KENNYWOOD! I have an entire blog post of my own to write about the joy of taking my children to an amusement park that I went to when I was a child, and their grandparents before them. I used to think Kennywood was, at the risk of having rotten tomatoes tossed at me by my fellow Pittsburgher's, rinky-dink and small-town and couldn't possibly compare to some of those national amusement parks like Six Flags or Cedar Point. Until I went to one of those national amusement parks. There is no comparison. You can actually move and breathe and enjoy Kennywood with your children as opposed to having consumer goods shoved down your throat at every turn and waiting in line for a minimum of an hour for every ride. Try standing in line for an hour with a four year old when it is 95 degrees (that's 35 degrees celsius for my international friends) outside. There is nothing "amusing" about that.


7. There are 44 colleges and universities in the Pittsburgh area. Good to know for you and Tim, but even better for Jaxon.


8. Jaxon would have the best treatment available. There are approximately 30 or more hospitals in and around the Pittsburgh area. TOP hospitals. Pittsburgh is where Dr. Jonas Salk invented the polio vaccine, Dr. Thomas Starzl pioneered transplant surgery, Dr. Peter Safer developed modern-day CPR and where they developed Mr. Yuk.
9. You can save your parking space with a folding chair. And nobody will steal it. Really.
10. People wave to you all the time. People are just friendly here. It's not hard at all to strike up a conversation. Sometimes that conversation is with the crazy lady in the grocery store that calls you a drug dealer and rams you with her cart when you're 9 months pregnant (yes boys and girls - TRUE STORY!), but 9 times out of 10 it's just a nice person willing to chat about the weather.


11. Er, let's not mention the weather.


12. OK, the weather. Well, it is true we have a higher than normal percentage of overcast days in Pittsburgh, and we do have the famous three H's (hazy, hot and humid) in the summer, but we also experience a glorious four seasons here. You haven't lived until you've walked down the street on a crisp sunny Autumn day in Pittsburgh when the sun is shining and there's just the faintest hint of nip in the air. It's what we like to call "jacket weather". Take a light jacket or sweater with you and you're good to go for the day.


13. There is something to do here all year round. We don't just hibernate in the winter. Even the outdoor Pittsburgh Zoo is open all winter.

14. Libraries. I don't know about anybody else but I love libraries. I know I'm a complete geek, but when I was a kid I would ask my Mom to take me and my (also geek) friends to the library instead of the mall. We have libraries everywhere in Pittsburgh. And you can return your books to any one of them as long as they're part of the Allegheny County Library Association and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (which most of them are). Yay for no more overdue books! I can dump them wherever I happen to be when I remember. They also have great children's libraries in just about every library here.


15. You can have your pick of doctors and hospitals to deliver your next child. I never realized Pittsburgh has an obscene amount of choices when it comes to maternity until I mentioned online my dilemma of selecting which hospital to deliver at. Apparently it's rare to have so much choice within such a close driving distance. And all of them are top-notch and most have an excellent NICU.


16. Computers. Computers, computers, computers. All of those doctors and hospitals in Pittsburgh? They are all using or in the process of switching over their systems from paper to computers. When I worked for a General Contractor, the guy we paid scads of money to set up our network was SELF-TAUGHT. Does this sound like anyone you know Boo? And if Tim does need a credential, there are several accredited programs right here in, you guessed it - PITTSBURGH.


17. Food. Pittsburgh loves its food. We have a restaurant for every possible ethnic group, culture, style, etc. That Turkish artichoke dip you love so much? I'll bet you an Isaly's chipped ham sandwich you can find it here at one of the many Turkish restaurants in the Pittsburgh area.


18. I just did a Google search for "stained glass Pittsburgh" and it immediately came up with at least 10 local business results for stained glass near Pittsburgh. And you can find a class for any kind of art or craft you find interesting in any community in Pittsburgh. They offer them at the community centers, local High Schools, colleges, or art schools. You want to learn how to do it? You can find an instructor in Pittsburgh.


19. Jaxon would be the coolest guy in school. Pittsburghers, and Americans in general, are fascinated with all things Aussie. Yes we know you're not all like Crocodile Dundee, but you talk cool, and you've got guys like Steve Irwin and Hugh Jackman. We even have a restaurant called "Outback Steakhouse." It has nothing to do with Australian culture that I can tell other than serving Foster's, Cooper's, Toohey's and James Boag's beer (at least the menu claims those are Australian beers). But still - we think it's cool to be from Australia.


20. I live here!