www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Pittsburgh or Philly?

I have the opportunity to possibly get a very good job like the one I posted on in the prayer thread. If the Indy job doesn't pan out then I have to opportunity to move either to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia (Springfield).

And there is a chance of also moving to Chicagoland...

Let the fighting begin!!!

So, what are the pros and cons of each city. Why should I or shouldn't I move there?

Slava Isusu Khrystu!

Well one advantage about Philadelphia is there are many holy things there - the Shrine of St. John Neumann, the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal, the shrine of St. Katherine Drexel, the beautiful Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. And at Doylestown - the beatiful shrine of Our Lady of Jasna Gora

Pittsburgh has the beautiful Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Seminary, its many beautiful Ruthenian Catholic Churches and the beautiful Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Cathedral......

The tax structure may be higher in Philadelphia it being a major city, but Pittsburgh is also a major city as well.

To be honest, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County is in decline. The drastic population loss over the last 25-30 years is really having a negative effect on the job market and area economy. Relocate at your own risk!

Ung

Pittsburgh: Steelers, Pirohi, Primanti's Bros Sammiches, Steelers, Penn Brewery, Penguins, Benedum Center, Heinz Hall, Steelers, Isaly's Chipped Ham, the O, Steelers,...

Now you are talking! Never have I had a repeated experience as one of those. The memory still lingers after 25 years. Philly may have their cheese steaks, but one of those ranks above any cheese steak sandwich any day.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

...and a new 10% Allegheny County tax on bar/restaurant alcoholic drinks starting Jan. 1, 2008...

U-C

Definitely Chicago over all - between St. Nicholas, V&O, Ukrainian Village, and the best ethnic food possibly in the entire country (many ethnicities) how could you go wrong?

Father Anthony:

Father bless!!

Have you ever considered calling them and asking if they'd ship you one? One of the shows on the food channel always talks about places that ship. Worth a try--like a date, the only thing they can say negative is NO.

Asking for your blessing and your holy prayers,

BOB

Dr. Eric:

My wife's cousin lives in Springfield, Delaware County. It's a wonderful place with lots to offer and lots to do. My son lives three miles from the King of Prussia Mall--lots there, too.

BOB

There is so much more opportunity in Phila for anyone in the healthcare field **AND** its closer to Da Shore!

Yoy! Bozhe Moi! There is absolutely NO comparison! Comparing Pittsburgh to Philly is like comparing Honolulu to Detroit! Central Philly is comparable to Beruit, Kabul, Mosul, Newark or any other war torn city of your choosing. Nobody there speaks English! Their dialect is totally incomprehensible to civilized people. "Youz wanncher cheese steak wit or witout?" They actually eat and enjoy Cheez Wiz! They have a football team, supposedly, but they are afraid to cross the Alleghenies for fear of being beat up by Western Pennsylvania School Cafeteria Ladies. Property prices in the surrounding counties are astronomical. And commuting into the city is abysmal. But trust me, you don't want to live in the city unless you are prepared to carry an AK47 openly, have a pack of slavering Rottweilers and carry excellent medical insurance. Culturally, it is sad. It is very much a "white bread, lettuce and mayo" kind of place.

Now Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is a totally different animal.
As Fr Deacon Lance has already mentioned, you gotcher Pirohi, Primanti's Bros Sammiches, Steelers, Penguins, Benedum Center, Heinz Hall, Isaly's Chipped Ham, and the O n'at. Whilst not exactly Sunnybrook Farm, one can safely walk the streets of downtown Pittsburgh at night without undue firepower. While it is true that Pittsburghers would vote for Joe Stalin, if'n he was a Democrat n'at, all one has to do is cross the county line in any direction out of Allegheney County, and one enters a different world. I am writing these words looking out across my snow filled, windswept fields, watching the deer eating the hay and corn I left for them. I had a black bear wander through this afternoon, out of hibernation for a look see. I have a lock on my front door, but I lost the key many years ago, and can't say that I really need a new one. Yet even though I see nothing around me but woods and fields, I can be at the Benedum Center for a performance of Phantom of the Opera in about 40 minutes. Property prices are amongst the lowest in the country. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is amongst the premier medical centers in the country. If one hears a foreign language being spoken, it is Slovak, Polish or Italian, not Spanish, Urdu or Hindi. And when it comes to opportunities for Religion, what can I say? When Kruschev visited Pittsburgh back in the early 60's, he compared it to Kiev. There is really no place in the city proper where you can go and not see onion domes. There is even a DVD available from Rich Sebek entitled Holy Pittsburgh, with tours of the various Churches. http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Pittsbur...mp;s=video&qid=1197006299&sr=8-5 I am not too familiar with the RC churches, but St Nicholas in Millvale has some excellent mural work, and there is a RC Church in Troy Hill that has more relics than Rome. St Vincent's ArchAbbey and St Francis University in Loretto come to mind as Catholic higher educational facilities.
But it is in Eastern Christianity, that Pittsburgh has no peer anywhere this side of the Carpathians. BCC, UGCC, ROCOR, OCA, GOA, AOC, SOC, never more than a couple miles apart, and sometimes right next door to each other, as in Carnegie. [Linked Image]

One is never far removed from a pirohi fix, and one can walk into ANY cafe or diner, ask for halushki, and actually get some!
Pittsburgh is often described as a "Midwestern City too far to the East" People here are much more civil than Philly. If you're driving, and want to switch lanes, someone will let you in. At a 4 way stop sign, it's almost comical how people bend over backwards no to be rude. It's also a much better place to raise children than any big East Coast city. And the other nice thing, is that you're only 2 hours from Cleveland, which also, supposedly, has a football team, though we've never seen it, and is almost Pittsburgh Lite. Some posters here live there, though I don't know why. And we have the lovely little town of Erie, with it's wonderful Old Rite Parish of the Nativity. One can enjoy a weekend at Lake Erie, and attend magnificent services Saturday Evening and Sunday morning. Otherwise, once you go west of Pittsburgh, there is nothing but corn, until you hit the gehenna that is the west coast.

As far as Chicago, I actually knew someone who visited there and lived to tell of it. But then, he was always telling all sorts of lies n'at, so I don't know if I believe him!

Alexandr

It's actually "wid or widdout".

Clearly he hasn't been to Philly in a while. Things have changed dramatically since the 1980s.

Real estate prices have gone up by 75% in Center City and continue to rise.

While crime may be up in the poorer areas of the city, crime is actually down in Center City. (I should know since I get the city's official crime report for my job.) I feel completely safe walking through Center City at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.

We are also in the middle of a restaurant renaissance. Several magazines have called Philadelphia the nation's new "Restaurant City", not to mention the "New Athens".

BTW, the accent that Alexandr mentions is only heard in South Philaelphia. And traditional Philadelphia foods are more along the lines of: pepper pot, scrapple, snapper soup, pork roll sandwiches, and fried oyster salad.

There are ethnic neighborhoods here in Philadelphia like Port Richmond where (like Alexandr said) not a word of English is spoken; just Polish by third and fourth generation Polish-Americans who refuse to assimilate completely. You can also walk into restaurants and enjoy a glass of Piast or Okocim or Zlaty Bazant while you wait for a little old babcia to roll the dough for your fresh pierogi. And then afterward head over to the Polish bakery where you are seated and served coffee and whatever the dessert of the day is. Right across the street is one of the city's best Polish parishes.

[Linked Image]
Sw. Wojciech Kosciol

Church-wise we have two Catholic Cathedrals (Roman & Byzantine-Ukrainian); the shrines & bodies of two American Catholic saints; several Catholic national shrines; a Greek Orthodox Cathedral; a ROCA/ROCOR parish with a miraculous icon; a few Moscow Patriarchy parishes; the most "high church" Anglo-Papalist parish in the Episcopal Church; two Armenian churches (one Catholic, one Gregorian); a Romanian Orthodox parish with a good bar in the basement; a Syro-Malabar Rite Catholic parish; several colonial-era churches; etc.

[Linked Image]
Miraculous myrrh-streaming icon of St. Ann

St. Mark's Episcopal Church boasts an amazing Lady Chapel with a pure silver altar inlaid with gems and small silver statues of the saints all set in one of America's finest Gothic Revival buildings.

[Linked Image]
Tympanum over St. Mark's doors

Within walking distance of Center City is an Ivy League University (U. of Penn.) where you can catch a football game in an historic stadium against a team that Penn has been playing for over 100 years; watch a basketball game in one of the country's most famous sports arenas; go catch a Gilbert & Sullivan show; hear a baroque ensemble concert in an auditorium modeled after Mont St. Michel; or visit the nation's best university arch�ological museum where the artifacts come from digs done in conjunction with the British Museum.

Looming over the city is on of the nation's best art museums housed in an imposing classical revival building. As well there is Independence Mall and the historic park surrounding it. There are also several notable "house museums" such as the Rosenbach and the Atwater-Kent. In one day you can see a Van Gogh painting; a copy of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; and the manuscript for James Joyce's Ulysses.

[Linked Image]
Philadelphia Museum of Art

You can go shopping in historic Wannamaker's Department Store (now Macy's) while listening to the largest organ in the world played by one of the city's best organists.

During the summer months there is a festival or parade every weekend on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. One can easily make it to New York or Washington in a two-and-a-half hours.

The list goes on...

Hee Hee! OK, here we go!

It's true that I haven't been to Philly in a while. Why would I? Ain't no reason to go there, unless the Stillers go there to whip up on that group of schoolgirls yunz call the Eagles.
You are right about real estate prices going up there though! And the same can be said about Bucks, Montgomery and Chester counties. Your real estate dollar goes much farther here in Pittsburgh than in Philly. And we have trees. Remember trees? I heard that you still have one or two, but have to lock them up at night so that they don't get stolen!

OK, so you got one neighborhood where you can get a pirog. Hmmph! I could say the same about Cleveland! Pittsburgh was BUILT on a base of Pirohi! It's the Official City Bird! Besides, yunz don't know how to make 'em anyways! Probably put oysters or some udder weird things in 'em!

As far as Church things, We have a Roman Catholic bishop, A Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan! (Beat that!), A OCA Bishop (He passed away, but as Pittsburgh is the Western Hemisphere's capital of Orthodoxy, there will soon be a new one!), A Greek Orthodox Metroplitan, A Serbian Archbishop, An Antiochian Bishop and more Vostoichniks in any city block than youz guys got in yer whole city! We also have a Coptic parish and an Old Rite community 45 minutes away.

As far as cultural stuff n'at, who'd wanna watch a Penn U game anyway, when us real men are used to Pitt and Penn State. Yep, we claim Penn state and all the rest of PA, cause we all agree that Philly is not indicative of PA, and we hate Philly wit a passion!
As far as cultural stuff, you can have yer fancy shmancy artsy stuff. We got em too! Andy Warhola Museum and the Carnegie! Youz guys can't even come close when it comes to dinosaurs!

I don't know if I would consider proximity to NYC or DC a benefit! We thank God every day that the uncivilized hordes stopped at the Alleghenies. When you walk on your knuckles, it's hard to climb hills!

But most importantly, we have kolbasi! You have to travel to Wilkes-Barre or one of our other suburbs to get the real stuff. That alone makes the Boig beat Philly any day of the week.



Alexandr

He has ripped for a start . . .



. . . he�s on a roll, he�s on a roll . . .



and he�s crossed the line.




Alexandr, that was the funniest post I�ve read in a while. Thank you.

-- John