(no subject)
tomorrow i will be parent-sitting, so perhaps i will have few chances to reflect on this second stint in pittsburgh. my intention is not to meditate on this too much, so let me give you my impressions:
pittsburgh is not quite a city, not quite a town. the ambiguity arises when you begin to identify the different characters and personalities of certain neighborhoods --
the hipsters live in lawrenceville,
the southside is a bar scene,
oakland is overrun with college students,
bloomfield is the place for italian food,
to shop for proper groceries, the strip district is necessary,
shadyside plays effectively at being posh,
downtown has a lot of interesting things about it, but it dies the early 5-6pm death (after citizens leave after the workday),
and the jewish denizens of squirrel hill can be trusted to keep decent chinese restaurants above the red.
there's more. i think of pittsburgh as a study of contrasts .. at least in terms of possibility. in a single weekend:
i could attend a symphony,
drive an hour or two and go rock-climbing outdoors,
dance on a small floor and flirt with girls,
ponder the mysteries of life in galleries and museums,
curse the ref at a steelers or pens game,
or just whit away the time in my neighborhood bar, and complain about life.
that said, however, pittsburgh is too comfortable of a city for me. i don't think i was as good as a mathematician as i could have been, due to these kinds of distractions (which a more balanced person would call "quality of life" concerns). it would be the best place to start a tenure track job, then get married and settle down in the suburbs and raise kids.
so i enjoyed pittsburgh .. but whether or not it was good for my career, that remains the question.
pittsburgh is not quite a city, not quite a town. the ambiguity arises when you begin to identify the different characters and personalities of certain neighborhoods --
the hipsters live in lawrenceville,
the southside is a bar scene,
oakland is overrun with college students,
bloomfield is the place for italian food,
to shop for proper groceries, the strip district is necessary,
shadyside plays effectively at being posh,
downtown has a lot of interesting things about it, but it dies the early 5-6pm death (after citizens leave after the workday),
and the jewish denizens of squirrel hill can be trusted to keep decent chinese restaurants above the red.
there's more. i think of pittsburgh as a study of contrasts .. at least in terms of possibility. in a single weekend:
i could attend a symphony,
drive an hour or two and go rock-climbing outdoors,
dance on a small floor and flirt with girls,
ponder the mysteries of life in galleries and museums,
curse the ref at a steelers or pens game,
or just whit away the time in my neighborhood bar, and complain about life.
that said, however, pittsburgh is too comfortable of a city for me. i don't think i was as good as a mathematician as i could have been, due to these kinds of distractions (which a more balanced person would call "quality of life" concerns). it would be the best place to start a tenure track job, then get married and settle down in the suburbs and raise kids.
so i enjoyed pittsburgh .. but whether or not it was good for my career, that remains the question.