Stephanie, I lived in Pittsburgh for 5 LONG years and always remember watching the morning national shows and seeing New York and DC bathed in sunshine as we were covered with depressing gray day after day ...not just in those dreary winters. P.S. go Chargers!

Stephanie,
Your hallucinations about sunshine just crack me up.

Yes Barry this monday, october 10th was all in my imagination, it was 65 degrees outside and their was a big brilliant yellow ufo in the sky while I was doing some yardwork.

Ya gotta love it!!! Still arguing over The Pitt.
I've been catching bits and pieces of Bound for Glory on ESPN.
Documentary about Montour HiSchool's football team. Good ol' McKees Rox.

Darn nice scenery back there. I thought I saw pix taken in sunshine. Musta been that fancy Hollywood editing?

Still glad I moved from The 'burgh to San Diego.
Yep. How 'bout dem Chargers! :-"

<i>&quot;Here we go Steelers, here we go!&quot;</i>

We're going to try and go back in 2006 for the All Star game at PNC.

:-? I'd suggest a Pitt GTG but it may turn into a barroom brawl!

&quot;Pgh isn't unique there are plenty of smaller cities and towns that have just as much culture as a large ones - just that all the large cities believe they are culturally superior and have to put down other areas down to make themselves feel better. I don't envy them at all - miserable people stuck in overpopulated areas with no real escape.&quot;

Sounds like rationalization to me....

But the fact is: Some people like big cities and like having to pick and choose from thousands of possibilities for their day's activities. Works for me, for one. Are we miserable? Not usually-- just restless and endlessly curious. And we can ALWAYS get away. $129 will get me to New York or Boston, $59 will get me to Las Vegas or San Francisco, a tank of gas gets me to San Diego or Palm Springs or Big Bear.

Other people like familiar things around them and honor tradition. They like the constancy of their small community. And that's just fine as well. I was not raised that way, unfortunately; would my parents have embraced a move to Montr&eacute;al while in their late 50s if they didn't love big-city excitement and a change of scenery? I am their child. But, as they say, YMMV. <i>Chacun son go&ucirc;t, n'est-ce pas?</i>

?you go believe the stats, I'll believe what I see when I go outside. The same cold fronts that cross Pittsburgh end up in Philly the next day. There are plenty of years here that have been more sunny than the east coast. I have visited the coast of Delaware, in July 2001, had 4 straight days of rain, decided to go back to SW PA and it was straight sunshine for the week. Many days in winter I've gone weekend hiking and the sun comes out throughout the winters of the 1990s. Half of December and all of January is very overcast but this time is only 1 1/2 months of the whole year. Stats are very misleading. If there is a partly cloudy day, even though the sun shines half or most of the day, it is considered a cloudy day. Therefore if you don't live in Pittsburgh you believe what some stat tells you.&quot;

The stats on sunshine are based on hours per day, not days, so you don't know what you are talking about.

Wow! It amazes me how some people are so insecure about their decisions in life. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes. I used to love this forum to get travel advice and tips from people who enjoy traveling. When I see posts like this, I just give up on the entire process. It seems like most of these posts are from people with such simple minds and WAY too much time on their hands.

And if you REALLY want to know the truth about Pittsburgh then visit the place. Talk to someone at the local Universities. Or, talk to someone in your profession. You could speak to my neighbor who RETIRED here from Santa Barbara. Why? He is a professor and taught here many years ago and always wanted to come back.

I am a married, well-traveled, liberal, intelligent woman in my 30's who appreciates the arts. I have lived in Boston, Chicago, NYC and LA. I currently live in Pittsburgh for many reasons.

My husband and I truly adore this city. We live IN the city and we have a huge backyard with a swimming pool (that we actually use.) People, why do you quote stats when it is beneficial to your silly theories, and then give reasons for stats that don't fall into your small-minded theories?

We live in a historic neighborhood with with MANY different cultures respresented. We love it here. We do not live in the suburbs. Sadly, many people live in the suburbs that are not included in the Allegheny County &quot;stats.&quot; Many people in the suburbs are young. This elderly thing is crazy. Look to areas outside the city (that in larger cities would be CONSIDERED part of the county) and you will see a better mix of ages for your stats. As for rainy days, PLEASE. We are not the South West. We are no different than other parts of the North East, though. And our winters are a HELL of a lot friendlier.

Pittsburgh has tons of wonderful restaurants. If you want a list, get in touch with me. If you just drive around to silly tourist traps, then you will get what you look for. Pittsburgh has a wonderful arts community. If you were truly into fine dining or the arts, you would know where to find these places.

What are you looking for? If you are looking for a beautiful house (and get off your SILLY crap about crime in these neighborhoods) that will cost you about 1/4 of what you would pay in larger cities, then you should check it out. My husband and I travel more than anyone we know and it is because we don't waste our money on crappy housing in a larger city with insane commute times just to say &quot;aren't we so hip?&quot; It is kind of like All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go. I want to live life. I don't want to watch it pass me by. And I certainly don't want to spend my time commuting. Sure, if you like larger cities, then this one isn't for you. If you like to visit larger cities and enjoy living in a smaller one, then this is a great place to be.

People, please don't take things so personally. I am sercure in myself and my life. I am sure I have seen more and have absorbed more culture in my pinky finger than you bitter fools who ruin a decent travel forum. My husband and I are both extremely successful. We both graduated from Ivy League schools and could move to any city we wanted to. We haven't. That isn't to say that my decision is better or worse than yours. It is to point out that we have options and we chose this one.

This weekend, I will be relaxing in the mountains (and get there in 45 minutes) in a posh cabin watching the leaves fall. I will laugh at the thought of you STARING at your computer screens just waiting to TYPE a response. Life is way too short.

Get out and enjoy life. I sure am and plenty of Pittsburghers are doing the same with me.

I have lived in Pittsburgh all my life, and I don't want to live anywhere else. We have an incredible array of cultural activties (ballet, opera, theater, universities), some of the best health care facilities in the world, a relatively low crime rate. All this and an affordable cost of living rate!

I grew up in the city, but my husband and I have lived about 25 miles north of the city in Butler County for over 20 years, and we love it. It is a very family oriented area, but it is also growing and developing. The property taxes are much, much lower in the outlying counties (Pittsburgh is in Allegheny county and the taxes are murder!). Pennsylvania has fairly high taxes, and this should be a consideration when you are looking to buy a home.

The only thing really wrong about Pittsburgh is that you have to hear about the Pitt Panthers football team far too much.

But there is a fair bit of coverage of the Penn State Nittanly Lions, more than elsewhere in the U.S. anyway, so that is a good thing.

I agree with Kal: LET'S go STEElers.

I'm with you Shari. I love living in the Pittsburgh area and there is plenty of good weather and great events indoor and outdoors to do.