It’s good to be in Pittsburgh…

Yes, again, I’m compelled to brag about living in such a terrific place as Pittsburgh.  Even with its population having one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, we reap the benefits of big-time city life.

Steelers, Penguins, Pirates (so what if they stink, next year’s their year, I can feel it), perogies, ballet, symphony, theater, and cheap housing.  Who could ask for more?

Well, we also have world-class medical care.  Not that this is new.  Pittsburgh’s long been the site of the developement of medical breakthroughs (Polio vaccine, anyone), but according to US News and World Report, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is 13th in the nation.

I like that number and other than the fact UPMC gives crap in the way of taxes (they made a microscopic donation around $2 million last year after making billions or some extraordinary amount) I’ve always loved the fact I was so close to first-class health care. 

Not that I know this for a fact, but I believe that Pittsburgh is a quarter or a third of the size of the cities hosting the hospitals ranked above UPMC.  That ain’t bad.

So for all yinz guys looking  for a new place to hang that Steeler’s cap, try a nice colonial on the cul-de-sac in the town itself. 

It’s good, my friends.  Very good.

9 thoughts on “It’s good to be in Pittsburgh…

  1. It’s nice to live in Pittsburgh and oh, by the way, it’s also nice we have great medical facilities. Pittsburgh would still be great without the fantastic medical facilities.

  2. I would love to live in Pittsburgh again. I just haven’t convinced Duke of the fact. I still call it home even though I haven’t lived there in almost 12 years. I still follow the Pirates and Steelers religiously. I have also got Wes on the bandwagon. I’ll just keep dreaming.

  3. Sorry, I could never live in Pittsburgh. It sounds wonderful and all, but I’m an old school Dallas Cowboys fan, and I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t sit well with other old schoolers like myself. Livin in San Francisco was bad enough in the nineties.

  4. As a transplant to Pittsburgh, I’ve been enjoying reading Emilie Nottle’s blog http://www.IMovedToPittsburgh.com . Most of us ended up in Pittsburgh due to family or job, but Emilie and her husband actually chose to move to Pittsburgh from San Francisco after much research and a road trip visiting several potential destinations. She chronicles that trip as well as the little everyday delights and idiosyncrasies that are our ‘burgh. Check it out.

  5. I do miss Pittsburgh (even though I grew up in Wexford and McMurray, and therefore never really LIVED there). When I was in college my brother lived on the Sou’side and Mahnt Warshington, and I got a taste of the city that way.

    Lexington is a great little city, though. I’m glad to be here.

  6. OMG, what great comments. Dana, you must get your ass back here as soon as possible. For Wes’s sake, of course.
    Scott, that’s very funny and I understand. I’m sure a Pittsburgh transplant searching for a Steeler’s bar in Dallas is on her own..
    Alison, Lexington is a fun place and you must count yourself as a Pittsburgher even having grown up on the outskirts. It’s all the same place…
    Mary, I think a lot of families traipsed through Pittsburgh on their way to wherever they were going–if they didn’t get sucked into a mill or a mine before they made their exit.
    Kathy, retirement somewhere else, eh? I can see it, but I’d prefer my house in Pittsburgh and a second home to visit several times a year. I suppose were dreaming a bit here, huh?
    Anti-wife, I agree the Pacific NW is stunning. My mother and her family are from there and I’ve spent many a summer day relaxing on Clear Lake and camping on the coast of Oregon…and you do have that hospital.
    Jennifer, I agree Pittsburgh would be great in many ways without the med. facilities, but it sure is reassuring!
    Julie, that site sounds great. My mom was a transplant from the West Coast thirty eight years ago and I’m not sure she feels like an insider yet!

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