âWhen the borough you call home becomes known as one the most expensive places to live in America, itâs natural to look around for better alternatives,â writes Nicole David in Brooklyn Based.
âFor a hot, Internet second, Buffaloâwhich recently made that list of cities that young college graduates are moving toâlooked like a fine choice, so long as you enjoy brutal winters and more economic initiatives than jobs. But there is another metropolis the 25-34 cohort is gravitating toward that is considerably more buzzworthy, filled with James Beard Award-nominated chefs, tech startups, and the cool factor of a soon-to-open Ace Hotel. The city that holds all this promise? Pittsburgh. It claims more brainpower than Silicon Valley, based upon the number of its college-educated residents, and offers good jobs and a low cost of living for its young transplants. Think Portland, Oregon, except half the size, and with higher employment.
To find out how Pittsburgh stacks up as a second chapter for Brooklynites in search of greener pastures, I spoke to seven expats. If they all sound a little boosterish, itâs not a coincidence. Pittsburghers seem to have a hard time finding fault with their city, despite being landlocked and getting twice the amount of snow as New York City (on average). Nearly everyone I interviewed who has relocated there speaks about Steel City as if they were on the payroll of the cityâs tourism board,â she adds.
The writer talked to Ryan Lammie, Jeremy Waldrup, Bobby Fry, Adam Shuck and more including Bobby Stockard, who worked in a Brooklyn restaurant before moving to Pittsburgh with his wife, Alexis Tragos. Hereâs what he had to say:
âThese restaurants are doing really amazing, creative, locally based work,â said Stockard. âItâs nice to be able to come to Pittsburgh and immerse myself in a community of cooks and chefs who care as much about food as the coastal chefs Iâd known working in Brooklyn.â
To find out what the others had to say, read the full article here.
