Pittsburgh seems to be a place that people come from, rather than move to. The famous children of the ‘Burgh grew up and went elsewhere, often to New York. Andy Warhol, Billy Porter, Mary Cassat, and far less luminary but still names you know …I just read Bari Weiss and Mark Cuban are from here.
I did that in reverse. After absorbing so many Yinzers, The City sends one of her own the other way across the PA turnpike.
Since we moved here I cannot count how many times I’ve been asked by locals “why Pittsburgh?” It’s not that like the question comes from any particular animus towards this city, there isn’t much of “this fucking place” sentiment, not that I have been able to sense, in any event.
Nor is it about any particular sentiment about New York.
I picked up on way more…discontent… or let’s call it “second city” feelings in all their complexity when I lived in Boston, and my partner confirms it was the same when he lived in Philly. Living in the long shadow of “The City” is different. This is hundreds of miles away from New York and it just feels irrelevant.
What I have sensed is a great deal of pride, and a feeling that Pittsburgh is a place apart — special, yes, but also hard to categorize.
Is this the Northeast, the Midwest, Appalachia? Yes.
There are parts of Pittsburgh that could easily be in Brooklyn, or Philly, or Chicago, or San Francisco. There are even aspects to life here that remind me of LA — in that it’s a network of many neighborhoods that can have almost nothing to do with one another, neighborhoods could appear to be close geographically, but are logistically and psychologically difficult to get to. There are many, many parts of Pittsburgh that are just suburb and could be anywhere.
One thing it’s not, though, is a place that has “destination” stamped on it in the national imagination.
When I was getting ready to move here, a good friend told me that she thought the city’s slogan should be: Pittsburgh: You’d Be Surprised. I think that’s the overwhelming emotion. When I talk to people from back home or elsewhere who have been here, they usually tell me how nice they think it is — they’re still obviously processing their surprise.
Maybe I am too.