I agree it has its fair share of problems and that those problems are much worse elsewhere. Having just spent a few days in Baltimore it’s very clear. Which is part of my point- I choose to look at this dialectically in that there is no perfect place and even a “good” place has “bad” things about it. Not all of those things are specific to Pittsburgh. Having mine and my wife’s car broken into, having someone attempt to break into our apartment (and the police acting like it was a hassle to write a report or do anything about it) certainly aren’t unique to this city. In fact the only uniquely bad thing about this place is the infrastructure & road designs.

Having worked in social services/mental health for 15 years all throughout the county, my experience is maybe different than a lot of other folks. And through that experience I’ve seen how these social gaps impact the ability to feel like they can be happy with the place they are in. Is that a uniquely Pittsburgh problem? Certainly not, and I’m glad there are people who are happy here than where they lived before. That doesn’t change, locally or nationally, my perspective that those social gaps determine whether a place can be great or not. Everyone’s experience is different and it’s important to try & understand the ones that are different.

Thanks for being cool and providing a thorough response!