Pittsburgh's 'Interesting' and 'Trendy' Geography

Watch out, Pittsburgh is about to go boom. The most recent Sunday New York Times Real Estate section hypes the South Side Slopes. Growing up in Vermont during the late 1980s, I am familiar with the New York City real estate refugees. The Green Mountain State was a hotspot for young and hip urban families hunting for the rural utopia of the Romantic Era. I even recall during my short stint in Pittsburgh during the summer of 1997 a cadre of transplants from New York City who viewed the city as on the leading edge of affordable urban chic.

Pittsburgh is cool again. A geographer by training and passion, I am glad to see that other non-Pittsburghers might begin to appreciate the city's unique and stunning landscape after reading the article:

It's just kind of quirky, funky and real, more organic, built by Europeans and other immigrants. The only other American cities that I find as geographically interesting are maybe San Francisco and Asheville, NC. --Ernie Sota, quoted in the Sunday New York Times

I couldn't move to Pittsburgh fast enough. Of course, I had the same pang when I read a similar Times article about Asheville a few months ago. I think the real estate journalist was a little late to the Asheville scene, but the budding community there seemed inspiring. Pittsburgh's upswing is also likely further along than many locals may suspect. The article will also inspire another wave of pioneers, this time in the Rust Belt.

Be careful what you wish for, Pittsburgh.