Life in Pittsburgh

From Boulder to Pittsburgh - Culture Shock and Life Lessons

I'm the one who moved from Boulder, Colorado to Pittsburgh by choice. I'd met someone there and I was pretty done with Boulder, and off I went.

Once the initial shock wore off I realized that I'd definitely taken a step up. Boulder is a beautiful place, full of beautiful people, living beautiful lifestyles, many with the benefit of trust funds. If you have to work for a living it is very, very hard to live in Boulder. Most of the people who live there are either students, or have moved there from someplace else, leaving their friends and families far behind. There are few old people, fewer families with children, and certainly no crazy relatives. It is an extremly progressive, liberal community and proud of it. Many of the people living in Boulder are world-class athletes, and it's usually ranked as one of the healthiest communities in the US. Boulder feels very isolated from the problems out there in the real world beyond the plains and across the mountains.

Pittsburgh is an old industrial city located in western Pennsylvania, where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers come together to form the Ohio River at The Point. Most of the people in Pittsburgh have lived there all their lives. They tend to live in the same neighborhood they grew up in, often in the same house. Over 60% of Pittsburgh mortages are paid off, and the houses stay in families for generations. The degree of separation is usually about 1 or 2. At any time, in any place, you are likely to run into people who know you, or at least know who you are. It keeps people polite on the street; you could be rude to someone on the bus, and then meet them later in the day for your job interview. I remember talking about a bad manager at work with my husband while we were riding the bus home, and he quietly pointed out that all conversation had stopped and everyone was trying to hear what I was saying in case they knew who I was talking about.

Don't Be Ignorant

Pittsburgh is a working class community and people here still have basic good manners. They are friendly but they won't tolerate people being ignorant jerks. Everyone knows everyone else and you have to take care of your good reputation because it matters. Using the "f-word" in public is frowned upon, and I have had bus drivers threaten to throw off passengers who were cursing in my presence. "Can't you see there's a lady present?!" Men apologize for saying "hell" and "damn". I swore like an academic when I arrived in Pittsburgh and quickly figured out that I needed to clean up my language.

The magic words are "please", "thank you", and "I'm sorry." Street signs at construction sites remind drivers to "Take Your Turn." Which they do. (Drivers tend to be more patient in the mornings; in the afternoons everyone just wants to get home.) During the school year the city intersections are ruled by Crossing Guard Ladies. Do not mess with them; they're armed with whistles and attitude and they will not put up with any bad behavior from drivers.

True Grit

It was humbling to me to see all the old and infirm people in Pittsburgh struggling their way up and down the hilly streets. I was an extreme athlete - a rock and ice climber - who had been living in a community of extreme athletes, and the contrast with Pittsburgh was shocking to me. The first week after I moved to Pittsburgh, I remember watching an old man slowly walking up Murray Ave in Squirrel Hill. The climb from Forward to Beacon is a steep hill. It was so hard for him that even with the use of a cane, he could barely remain upright, and was holding onto the sides of the buildings along the street for balance and to pull himself forward. It took that man more will-power and effort to walk up the street than it would have taken me to climb a multi-pitch route in Boulder. I'll never forget that lesson.

Everywhere I went I saw people struggling with basic mobility from health issues, and I realized that the extreme athlete scene I'd left in Boulder was little more than children's games compared to the life and death struggles I witnessed all around me in Pittsburgh. Shedding my elite athlete conceit was a good takeaway lesson for me. Another was to "keep moving!" Life is a battle and getting through the day takes true grit and stamina. Everywhere I went I also saw people walking and running and biking on the extensive network of trails, boating on the rivers, and playing and exercising in the numerous parks throughout the city.

At Home Everywhere

Pittsburghers are at home wherever they are in the city. They don't just live within the walls of their houses and apartments, they are at home on their porches, in their yards, on their streets, and in their parks and neighborhoods. It was common to see neighbors still dressed in their pajamas going out to get the newspaper or sitting on their front porch with their morning coffee. It took awhile to get used to seeing people sitting on the door stoops of businesses and apartments, reading the books they'd just checked out of the library up the street and eating lunch, or just hanging out.