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Edited on Thu Sep-15-11 06:17 AM by distantearlywarning
Pittsburgh, PA:
1) Ridiculously low cost-of-living, especially housing 2) Speaking of housing...??? dozen square miles in all directions of gorgeous, cheap, pre-war housing of all different varieties, all with original woodwork, stained glass, fully intact character, stuff that would cost millions in any other city 3) Ridiculously awesome cultural amenities for a such a small, cheap city - world class symphony, ballet, museums 4) Culture is just left of moderate, the few Republicans I know are very sensible and not the Jerry Springer type at all, whole city has been moderate blue-collar pro-union Democrat for 75 years and doesn't seem likely to change any time soon 5) Population is a highly workable and interesting mix of Ph.D.s and blue-collar workers 6) Championship sports teams 7) Best skyline AND unemployment rate in the U.S. right now 8) 4 season climate with pretty leaves in the fall, usually not too much snow, and everything grows like crazy here in the summer so it's easy to have a vegetable garden in one's backyard 9) Very tolerant, diverse culture without being too hippy-dippy or politically correct - a lot of "live and let live" attitude here, and everybody fits in somewhere 10) 300 culturally distinct neighborhoods, each with their own awesome brand of character
Colorado Springs, CO:
1) Chock-full to the brim of fundies, military hawks, and conformist soccer moms 2) Miles and miles and miles as far as the eye can see of beige ticky tacky housing sprawl, where every McMansion looks just like every other McMansion and everyone but me liked it that way 3) Focus on the Family. Enough said. 4) The main issue in the city council the summer before I left that fucking pit was finding ways to take away domestic partner benefits from city employees. Never mind the drought, water restrictions, and major fires burning in the forests outside town - God forbid Teh Gay have health insurance. :grr: 5) Dry, brown, and dead all year round. Nothing would grow. It was like living in a wasteland. Humidity at 5% all winter long - my hands would crack and bleed no matter how much lotion I used and I would get nosebleeds all the time. 6) The mountains were pretty, but they shadowed the west side of town so everything was basically dark by 4:30 pm every night even during the summer. It was horribly oppressive. 7) Colorado Springs version of cultural activities = church and going to the mall 8) Nothing to do there unless you were into church, a mall junkie, or an "outdoorsy" sort of person who could escape the oppressive confines of town by going hiking (I'm not any of those things) 9) No public transportation to speak of - why would you need that when you could just drive your SUV to church or the mall??? 10) The one pocket of liberalism in town - a small, expensive private college - was mostly populated by young, naive trustafarians who felt so threatened by the fundies on their doorstep that they tended to go completely overboard the other way and became walking stereotypes: quoting Marx while living off daddy's monthly stipend, subsisting on sprouts and granola, making sure nobody in their vicinity ever went a minute without feeling guilty about their "insert group here" privilege, basically working as hard as they could to make their young, rich lives as Serious And No Fun As Possible.
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