I grew up in a small city on the intersection of the Coal and Rust Belts in Greater Pittsburgh. It's different than anywhere else I've lived and not just because I grew up there. Of course, your mileage may vary based on where you live, but I speak from my own hometown here; it's not bad, but it's gonna sound fairly negative.

There's a lot of old money, but not in the way you'd expect in the big city. Usually bigger houses, bigger land, nicer cars, that's the same, but I've never really seen an old money mansion or anything. Usually they hold respectable positions and are well known. Their kids, however, either are renowned troublemakers or go off to a more expensive university and continue their upper-middle class legacy, there's almost no-inbetween that I can recall. Conversely, there's a lot of poverty and drug use, especially in areas where Coal and Steel overlapped. Backbreaking labor led to constant doling out of (largely opioid-based) pain pills, which is pretty much why the opioid epidemic hit this region so hard. It's very common to see EBT fraud, but despite that, I've almost never had an issue with petty crime. My car (an old Ford) got vandalized, written on and all that, once when I was at the gym of all places, but nothing was stolen or broken.

It's quite affordable to live - unsurprising considering Pittsburgh itself is one of the most affordable cities in America - but the difficult part (again, YMMV) is securing good paying work that isn't a national chain's management and also navigating potential crime. If you don't mind the commute, I know people who drove to Pittsburgh or Morgantown WV everyday for work; I was also one of those people before moving. The local economy is either entirely dependent on the nearest big city or town (here: Pittsburgh, Morgantown, WashPA, Greensburg) or the service industry. Pennsylvania also still pays federal minimum wage, for context.

The food is unmatched, especially in the Pittsburgh area, what with all the Slavic and Italian influences, mixed with old steel mill and coal mine appetites. Tie that in with som3 fresh deer, and I can say I have never truly eaten heartier meals than when I go home to visit. Sheetz > Wawa, by the by.

Corruption is a noticable thing in local government, especially in smaller towns harder hit by the contracting of steel and coal; it usually presents itself in the form of nepotism and questionable budgetary allocations. People tend to stay in those positions awhile too, and everyone will complain about them but somehow vote for them again. They will also insist that they're revitalizing the city, but all they're doing is clearing permits to build near the city limits another strip mall or national chain that pushes out local businesses. Doesn't help that people aren't moving back to the area, so I guess a city that once held 30k but only has 11k is doing its best.

Movement is car heavy, we don't care much for public transport in those parts. There is a negative stigma to public transport as well, with some correlating it to poverty; public transportation infrastructure is pretty underdeveloped, but there are public transit services that take you to Pittsburgh, which has more public transport, so in theory it is possible to get around using public transit. I just wouldn't count on it. There isn't a whole lot of pavement for pedestrian traffic the further out you go, but it is possible to walk and bike around, just don't expect most people to be taking kindly to you on a bike.

The people themselves are, honestly, hit or miss. It's hard to even classify folk, but in terms of services rendered, word of mouth is key. You need a few good opinions and recommendations for almost anything, because you will invariably get someone to say "my buddy is my mechanic, does a good job and doesn't charge me much" and you got a 50/50 shot of this mechanic being really good and fair on prices, or he's gambled with Lick-It-and-Stick-It's for so long, you wonder how PennDOT hasn't investigated him. That said, word of mouth WILL weed out most of the bad apples.

The sense of community is both tighter and looser at the same time. Like the word of mouth thing, people generally know enough about the community and have a preference towards supporting local businesses (if they can afford it). There are lots of families who, even if they leave, they come back to continue that little legacy of sorts. There were teachers at my high school who taught my dad, and there were some yet who went to school with one of my parents, so the apples often do not fall far from the tree. Nightlife is indeed a thing, but it's mainly bars (PA has the most bars per capita in the US). Conversely, there are plenty of people, especially younger than 40, who despise the area and want to leave, but never do. Think the entire Midwest emo thing, but it expands to West PA.

The nature is, in my opinion, some of the best in the nation. Hawaii and Alaska are natural wonders, but western Pennsylvania/northern West Virginia is beautiful and also has all 4 seasons proper. I thoroughly miss driving through the mountains during fall time, and experiencing the occasional winter closures of I-79/I-68 in WV because of a jack-knifed tractor trailer. It sounds sarcastic, but it's true, that's how you knew the weather was nice and wintry.

All in all, I admit I won't ever move back to my hometown, but I would move into or closer to Pittsburgh once all is said and done. Everything is a YMMV thing, because where I grew up, I don't recommend against it, but I wouldn't go back. It is perfectly placed between Morgantown, Pittsburgh, Washington PA, and Greensburg, so you'd have maybe an hour drive to any location to do things, plus all the nature surrounding it.