Hello Jumping in way late, but I relocated from Nashville to Pittsburgh for a few months in 1999-2000. My big shock was that housing was *hugely* expensive, compared to Nashville, as was the downtown parking.
At the time, I had been out of work for several months and so took the job without visiting. If I had it to do over again, I would *definitely* check out the housing situation first. And the local grocery stores. It was a little disconcerting to find that there were bars outside the local Giant Eagle, so you couldnt take your cart into the parking lot. Apparently, theyd had problems with people stealing them.
When I was there, Pittsburgh had really made an effort to provide arts opportunities in the downtown area, although the metal scene at the time wasnt great. You could catch Donnie Iris playing somewhere just about every weekend, though.
I also found it a little difficult to fit in there. Unlike other places that are more of a melting pot, people seem to put roots down in Pittsburgh and stay there. While thats great if you are a native, that makes it hard to break in to a social circle!
