Pittsburgh sucks mightily. I don't know anybody who would stay there given the choice to move somewhere real, like the Bay Area or Boston or New York or LA or San Diego or Chicago or Philadelphia or pretty much any kind of real city, especially one near a coast. The only people I know of who choose to stay there have been there so long that they've forgotten the taste of real food (i.e. food that is not drowned in grease and has not been sitting in a warehouse for three months) and the feeling of living in a real city with real culture.

Now, people who invest generally have money. People who have money generally have a choice of where to live, and are aware of what it's like to live in a real city. Thus, they do not touch Pittsburgh with a ten foot pole.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, and there are good bits around CMU. There are definitely some bookish people there. It's not as bad as a completely random town in the middle of the country.

The weather's pretty bad though. I was surprised to read a few years ago that Pgh was one of the least sunny towns in the country. Then I realized why as a kid I associated sun with being on vacation: when we were on vacation, we were in other places, and everywhere else was sunny by comparison.

A bizarre financial fact about Pittsburgh: it's one of the best places in America to be a slumlord. It is cheaper to own a house than to rent. Last year, I rented a dilapidated 3 bedroom townhouse for $750/monthly. Buying a renovated copy of the same townhouse would cost $550 monthly with no down payment and $450 monthly with 20% down.

The first thing on my list after I make some money is moving.

I'm in PA, but on the East side. There certainly isn't as much going on here as in Boston (where I was before), but it is not negligible either.