Pittsburgh - I still like it, but it is so backwards...

Now that I've lived here a few months I feel the desire to share my new opinion of Pittsburgh. While I am still a fan of the city for the most part, there are just so many odd things about this place that I felt the need to elaborate them for all of you:



1. Pothole central:

Traveling across the country to move out here I saw every variation of roads, but I think Pittsburgh sets a whole new record. I am truthfully shocked that I haven't yet shredded a tire from a pothole, but I imagine it is only a matter of time. To emphasize how bad this problem is, the last mayor actually made it part of his election campaign that he would get X amount of potholes fixed. I know they blame it on the fact that the snow cracks the asphalt, and I do get that and give some leeway, but really? This is ridiculous. BTW - the sidewalks are just as bad - walking in heels is just plain dangerous, it's highly possible I will break my ankles walking on of these days.

* I actually have a whole series of rants dealing with driving in Pittsburgh (parking is practically illegal - don't ask how many tickets I've gotten since moving here; the PA version of the DMV far outweighs any inefficiency I have ever seen before, you may get lost even using a GPS, etc.), but I will save you from all of those for now.


2. Alcohol:

PA is one of the few states that still doesn't allow you to buy any sort of liquor in the supermarket. You have to buy wine / liquor from a Wine and Spirits store (think a mini BevMo) and beer from a Beer distributor (and in no quantity smaller than a case). If you want a six-pack you can buy it from a bar or a restaurant for a significant mark-up, but only 2 packs at a time. Want more than that? You can get through a loop-hole in the law by exiting the bar and coming right back in. There is a really tight restriction on the numbers of liquor licenses, so many restaurants cannot serve liquor. However, they call themselves "BYOB" restaurants and let you bring your own liquor. Of course, then they tend to charge you a corkage fee. Gotta love that.



3. Public Transportation:

So the bus system is actually not scary like in California, but they are completely sporadic. There is no way to know when they will show up, and when it snows there is a good chance they will just pass you without even slowing down because they are full. (The other day I got passed by 4 buses and was thus very late to school - not cool.) There are also only 4 taxis in the city. Ok so I don't actually know how many there are, but there aren't nearly enough. Suffice to say if you call for a taxi on a Friday or Saturday night expect them to tell you it will take at least 2 hours to get you, or more often than not that they are "full" for the evening. What?


4. Apartments:

I will start by saying that rent is REALLY cheap - I didn't have to pay any sort of deposit (including for Mooshu), my place is 2x the size of what I had in CA, and my heat is included in my rent (a big deal here). That being said, the buildings are old, could use some serious repairs, and in my case, was disgusting when I moved in (think mold all over the bathroom, trash still in some of the cupboards, no flooring in my bathroom). To answer your question, yes, I cried when I moved in. Don't get me wrong, I moved into one of the nicest places I looked into, it isn't like I picked a slum to live in. My neighborhood and the location are prime and after some serious cleaning the place works, but let's just say this would never fly in CA.


5. Culture / Food

The local Pittsburgh people are referred to as Yinzers. Due to the fact that their phrase is yinz, instead of "you guys" or "y'all". As in "Yinz gonna come out tonight?" - wow. This is supposedly just a Pittsburgh insult though (to be called a Yinzer). Also, back from the days of the Steel workers having only one clean hand to eat lunch with, they started stuffing everything (coleslaw, french fries, etc.) into their sandwiches. Thus, it is still that way today. French Fries are in EVERYTHING - though I hate to admit I actually liked them in a salad I had the other day. Though that totally defeated the purpose of eating a "healthy" salad.