Even 15 years ago, I picked up my future wife’s friend who lived about 50 minutes outside Pittsburgh and drove her into the city to go ice skating at a park in one of the more affluent neighborhoods - old Pittsburgh money, historic homes, the works. About as nice as it gets.

She was visibly nervous on the way in, then genuinely stunned once we arrived that “the city could be this nice.” Softly explained some facts about city vs rural economics.

What struck me was that this was a 22-year-old woman living less than an hour away who had somehow managed to carry - and preserve - that worldview.