Pittsburgh – Three Month Status Update

Bloom Where You’re Planted

We arrived in Pittsburgh three months ago today. Sometimes it feels like I just got here and sometimes it feels as though I’ve been here a lot longer than three months. Here are my thoughts on Pittsburgh and the move after three months.

Pro’s:

1. Diversity – I am enjoying living where there are all sorts of people, something that is very different from Idaho. Rich and I sat next to a couple at a restaurant that were speaking Flemish?, Dutch?, German? — I’m not even sure — but I like that you hear different languages and see people with different customs.
2. Happiness – Rich is happy with his job, his company seems very happy with him. We moved here for this job, it seems an important “Pro” that he is enjoying the work and doesn’t seem to regret the change.
3. New Experiences/Things To Do – There is something really positive to be said for simply getting out of my routine and seeing and doing new things. That is not to say that I’m not finding ways to do the things I liked in Idaho (hiking & biking specifically) but it is refreshing to mix in new things too. I think it’s been good for my brain.
4. Architecture – I really enjoy the architecture here, the buildings are amazing and it is fun to walk the neighborhoods and see the old houses. Every street seems to contain some historic gem.
5. Weather – I like having more rain than Boise, I like that the rain contributes to so much GREEN. I like that there are days with puffy clouds and the sunshine isn’t relentless.
6. Size/Charm of our Apartment – The size of our duplex apartment is just about perfect. We have plenty of storage (garage and basement) which really helps. But, the actual living space is really nice. If the third bedroom was as big as the other two, we could fit our office stuff in there with Lula Belle’s sleeping space and then we could use the dining room as a dining room. Then it would be the perfect amount of space. But really, I don’t miss the dining room, we eat at the island in the kitchen and I don’t expect we’ll entertain much in this apartment, so the size is really good. And, it has really charming features – nice woodwork, big windows, wood floors, cool doors, cool old light fixtures, a brand new kitchen, decent closet space, nice outdoor space.

Con’s:

1. Distance from Family – I miss my family. This is a very big “Con” for me. If I could pick up everyone that I love and just transport them here that would go a long way toward making this place seem like somewhere I could live for the rest of my life. It has been hard to be so far away.
2. Noise – We live on a busy street. It seems to be the thoroughfare in our neighborhood and it can be quite loud during rush hour especially. The front of the house is noisier, but the back, where the kitchen, deck, and bedroom is, is quite peaceful.
3. Trash/Garbage/Grit – I hate that there is so much trash everywhere. I am getting used to it somewhat, meaning I don’t have the urge to scour the neighborhood for trash every time I go out. But I will never like the fact that there is so much garbage just laying around. You would think that a city with so many rivers would really strive to control the litter and garbage. The garbage collection is so much different than Boise. I miss Boise’s recycling program especially. I loved that big blue bin, and was proud of the fact that our recycling was always more full than our garbage bin ever was. In Pittsburgh, you have to put all your recycling in blue plastic bags and set it out on the curb. It seems so backwards to buy more plastic to contain your recycling. The trash collection is really bad too, they don’t have the trucks with the arms that pick up the barrels because of all the on-street parking, which makes sense, but the guys that are dumping the trash barrels don’t seem to care if the trash they are dumping makes it into the truck or not. So, there’s always trash left all over the street on trash day. Then, it blows around into all the bushes and lawns. It’s gross.
   
4. Traffic – Well, no surprise, there’s more traffic here than in Boise. I’m learning the Pittsburgh driving customs, and I’m doing my best to assimilate. But, I still don’t like the amount of traffic, the very narrow streets, and the potholes (OMG, the potholes).
5. Food – I miss Mexican food. I figured it would be hard to find Mexican food here, and it is and it pains me.
6. Weather – Yes, you read that right, weather appears on both sides of this list. I don’t like the humidity and sometimes the clouds aren’t puffy, they are gloomy and gray and make me sad. You know it’s bad when your automatic lights are coming on at 2:00 in the afternoon on an especially cloudy day. In May, mind you, not December.
7. Apartment – I love the charm of our apartment, it is true. I like the way the wood floors look, they are oak and I like that they aren’t too dark and they aren’t too light. I DON’T like that they are so loud. The loudness of the floors has made us change our routines and habits. The loudness makes me cringe when I know our downstairs neighbor (a hardworking physician) is home after many, many hours of work at the hospital and is probably trying to sleep as I’m walking around in our creaky floors. I would also like to have an electrical outlet in my bathroom. I also miss central cooling and a laundry that isn’t in a basement.

Right now, the Pro’s outweigh the Con’s but I’m still not sure that will always be so. I think being so far from family will only weigh heavier and heavier as time goes on. I am aware that at this point, it feels a bit like I’m just on an adventure. I’m not sure when it will feel like this is permanent and I am afraid that when it does, missing family will become too much for me. I am planning a visit to Idaho in the fall, and I wonder how I will feel going back to Idaho, will I want to return to Pittsburgh? For now, I’ll just enjoy the fun I’m having exploring a brand new place and learning new things. Time will tell if this is the permanent place for me.