Pittsburgh

The NY Times has a travel article about Pittsburgh up right now. I love the opening paragraph.

Pittsburgh has undergone a striking renaissance from a down-and-out smokestack to a gleaming cultural oasis. But old stereotypes die hard, and Pittsburgh probably doesn’t make many people’s short list for a cosmopolitan getaway. Too bad, because this city of 89 distinct neighborhoods is a cool and — dare I say, hip—city. There are great restaurants, excellent shopping, breakthrough galleries and prestigious museums. The convergence of three rivers and surrounding green hills also make it a surprisingly pretty urban setting.

We moved to Pittsburgh because we didn't move to Boston. Boston and MIT were our top choice for relocation for business school. CMU was an ok second choice. When AJ got the scholarship, though, the financial considerations were compelling enough to drop all other options and make a committment to CMU. We drove over in February to visit. Not the best month to see Pittsburgh. It was gray and cold the whole time we were there and the streets were pockmarked with potholes. We didn't venture very far from campus and our hotel because of our schedule and because I get lost easily. After we left to go back to NYC, we were still not so excited about moving there. I still had a picture of an industrial wasteland in my head.

We left NYC at the end of July with all our belongings in a U-Haul and drove across Pennsylvania to our new home that we had never before seen. A good friend had recommended the house and we saw pictures. We drove into town about 4 pm. The area was absolutely beautful. Everything was green and we drove up and down hills. Flowers were out. We drove through interesting neighborhoods to our wonderful and charming new neighborhood. And our house felt enormous after living in a NYC apartment. It was all so perfect. Auntie M took MJ around the corner to the blue slide park where they played until the truck was unloaded. It turns out we were on the edge of one of the city's best parks, with lots of trails and playgrounds and woods to explore. That night, we got pizza from a delicious pizzeria just up the street from our new house. I was giddy for about a week after that. We had simply fallen into a great city, an amazing neighborhood, and a wonderful house. And we later saw that we were in a simply incredible ward.

We would have stayed in Pittsburgh if we could have. I miss living in a city and in a neighborhood where I can walk to the grocery store and library and get interesting ethnic food easily. My new home is just fine, but I think it's ugly (we are slowly trying to change those things that I find most odious, but I don't think we'll ever get rid of the popcorn celings). It's not in an interesting neighborhood, just another generic suburb. And another generic cul de sac. We drive everywhere (except for the park). I like where we live, we have great neighbors, and we absolutely love MJ's school. But, I hope to live in a very different kind of place the next time we move. Maybe even back to Pittsburgh.