I really didn’t like Pittsburgh when I first got here. I had no friends, and it was nothing like New York, where I spent most of my time in the US. I wasn’t used to not being able to take the subway anywhere. I wasn’t used to having amazing food around me all the time. I wasn’t used to the lack of diversity of the people around me every day. I wasn’t a fan of sports which is what most people in the city do for fun. Like most things in life though, I persisted.

The primary reason for me being here was work. I spent most of my time at work, and the rest of the time was at home juggling or eating. When I first got here, I did go to all of the “attractions” in pittsburgh - namely the Duquesne Incline and Point state park. Both of them are pretty good places to see, but they aren’t anything compared to what you can see in New york city. Pittsburgh really just didn’t compare at all.

As I spent more time here, and made a few more friends, I started to see the better side of the burgh. The first thing you notice is that there is a lot more nature around. You can actually go around for a run or on a walk on a sunday morning without being run over by people in a rush walking. You don’t have to walk at the edge of the sidewalks to avoid the huge piles of trash that places leave out which take a long time to get collected. You can actually say hi to anyone at a restaurant and for the most part expect a friendly response. People are generally just happier here and more willing to share that happiness with others.

That happiness started to penetrate into my daily life. I feel like I enjoy the littler things in life a lot more. Some days I just feel like walking to work to take in the breeze. I really appreciate the times I get to go out with friends to a local concert, or see a local night market in the next neighborhood down. Pittsburgh isn’t the biggest place you think of, but there are a lot of smaller scale events going on all the time in the city.

Every year I’ve gone to ReplayFx, a huge arcade and pinball convention. I go to check out the car show in schenley park. I even go to the Three Rivers Arts festival every year. When I first got here, this all seemed like lame events that would be happening on any old New york weekend - but they’re a big deal here. People from all over Pennsylvania bring in their families and they all have a good time. You can enjoy eating pierogies, fries in sandwiches, or pickles in Pittsburgh without ever having to think twice. It sounds weird, but as I write it it’s very liberating.

There’s a huge amount of certainty that you get in Pittsburgh that you just don’t get in New York City. If you know me well personally, you would know that I really resented coming to Pittsburgh in this last year. Sitting down and looking at my experiences in retrospect now though, the good parts were really good. At the end of the day, I’m really grateful to a city with objectively less to offer, that is still able to make me a happier person.