America's Most Polluted City - Pittsburgh

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🙁 I was so sad to hear it but wasn't suprised with all the steel mills and industrial aspects of Pittsburgh that are still around. I am not going to Pittsburgh but I went to CMU for undergrad there and continue to travel there to visit my boyfriend and I would say that it wouldn't affect me much. It's still a great big town (rather than a city in my opinion) and it's a great place to live. Cost of living is unbeatable and they have plenty of really great things to do. For those people that would move with families, it has some fantastic schools and is just a wonderful and safe place to raise a family. I hope that people contemplating going to Pitt won't reconsider. But then again, I have a soft spot for that place because I had a wonderful UG there.
 
sounds like a great city to study asthma, pneumonia, and so on.... I keep that in mind when I do a pulmnology fellowship!
 
Hmmm could this be a problem for people who have a history of asthma? When I was younger I had terrible asthma attacks while living in a foreign country with bad pollution. The attacks stopped the minute I came to the US, and I have always presumed it was due to cleaner air. Would moving to America's "most polluted" city possibly be bad for me? Is it worth discussing with my physician?
 
darkelven29 said:
sounds like a great city to study asthma, pneumonia, and so on.... I keep that in mind when I do a pulmnology fellowship!
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Just be careful or your study will be an autobiographical one 😀
 
Yet another reason I am thrilled this term is almost over. :d

(And that I don't have to come back.)
 
FuturePitt12 said:
Does this news bother any of you future/current students at Pitt? I knew Pitt wasn't the greatest city and all, but it seems now there is one less reason to attend the school. Any thoughts??
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Regret that username yet?
 
fireflygirl said:
🙁 I was so sad to hear it but wasn't suprised with all the steel mills and industrial aspects of Pittsburgh that are still around..
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All the steel mills? In the 1970's, sure. Those days are gone. At CMU, did you ever meet a steel worker or see a steel mill? The mills are now either coverted real estate or abandoned factories along the river. Last I heard, the town only had one mill left. The only big role steel plays in Pittsburgh now is history.

It's a shame about the pollution (much of which is inherited from Ohio, btw). I agree with you on the big town aspect. It sure doesn't feel like a city of milllions. Which is a plus in my book.
 
notdeadyet said:
All the steel mills? In the 1970's, sure. Those days are gone. At CMU, did you ever meet a steel worker or see a steel mill? The mills are now either coverted real estate or abandoned factories along the river. Last I heard, the town only had one mill left.
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But there still is a lot of factories in small towns outside of Pittsburgh and if you drive by them, they are pumping out a lot of $hit. In terms of the steel mills, I know they aren't active anymore but as a tour guide, I remember telling people that they were still being used as manufacturing factories for other things. Not all of them are abandoned.

notdeadyet said:
The only big role steel plays in Pittsburgh now is history.
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....and in Flashdance :laugh:
 
Oh great.... I forsee a whole lot more XXXX vs Pitt threads...
Sheesh.. what is with everyone and hating Pitt... It is one of my dream schools.
 
meh. The campus of Pittsburgh is in Oakland, not donwtown pitt 😉
 
SnoPearl said:
Hmmm could this be a problem for people who have a history of asthma? When I was younger I had terrible asthma attacks while living in a foreign country with bad pollution. The attacks stopped the minute I came to the US, and I have always presumed it was due to cleaner air. Would moving to America's "most polluted" city possibly be bad for me? Is it worth discussing with my physician?
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My asthma has only flared up for three reasons this year:

1. I powerwalked up the hill when it was extremely humid (read 85 degrees and about ready to storm)

2. I powerwalked up the hill in the middle of the winter and went straight to the gym.

3. I kept my windows open at night for weeks during the beginning of tree pollen season (my bigget allergy trigger) and after a while my allergies flared up and then my asthma followed a few days later.

None was lifethreatening or anything like that. It was just an annoyance and due to me doing something I knew I shouldn't do.
 
shantster said:
My asthma has only flared up for three reasons this year:

1. I powerwalked up the hill when it was extremely humid (read 85 degrees and about ready to storm)

2. I powerwalked up the hill in the middle of the winter and went straight to the gym.

3. I kept my windows open at night for weeks during the beginning of tree pollen season (my bigget allergy trigger) and after a while my allergies flared up and then my asthma followed a few days later.

None was lifethreatening or anything like that. It was just an annoyance and due to me doing something I knew I shouldn't do.
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Thanks, that's reassuring! Yeah, that hill is going to be fun when I'm running late (which is always lol) 😛
 
I really don't think anyone notices it here. Today was sunny and we've had quite a few days with clear skies recently.

I don't know much about the topic, but would pollution from the mills be completely gone, even if they closed years ago? Pittsburgh used to be really bad in terms of pollution so I'm not surprised that there are still some issues with it.

But like I said, it's really not apparent. Pittsburgh is a beautiful city to live in, in my opinion--and even my boyfriend, who is a die-hard Philadelphia fan for pretty much everything, loves living here.
 
The sad thing is that there is nothing Pittsburgh can do about its air pollution, as very little of it is actually created in the 'Burgh. It's just an unfortunate problem due to pollution from the entire midwest that gets blown to Pittsburgh and gets stuck because of the mountains. The air pollution is definitely not from blast furnaces!
 
notdeadyet said:
Regret that username yet?
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I'm sure futurepitt12 doesn't. 😀 I know I don't.

I have lived in the Pittsburgh area for 37 years already so the damage is already done. I might as well stay here. Seriously, it is a fine area with less traffic than larger cities and lots of nice cultural events and activities. And a fine medical school, of course!🙂 Like Erina said, it's not that noticeable.
 
I 😍 Pittsburgh, and would love to go to Pitt...

Unfortunately it is not reciprocal.🙁
 
jesus christ. I live here. It is as good as anywhere Ive been. I don't care that some report says Pittsburgh has a couple more microns of pollution in the air and some fools still think Pittsburgh has steel mills.

Erina, I thought you were a med student. I don't think air pollution from the steel mills 40 years ago has any lingering effects on the air today.
 
My grandparents were both born and raised in Pittsburgh, and lived there until they were in their mid-60's. My grandfather worked at US Steel for over 40 years and my grandmother worked there for several years. The house they lived in was about a half mile from a steel mill. Neither one has ever had asthma, pneumonia, or any other pulmonary ailment.

Really, the pollution is not that bad. I feel bad for Pittsburgh - it seems like people always try to find ways to make it sound like a bad place when in actuality it's totally fine.
 
I got nothing but 😍 for the 'burgh... but those hills look like they would give me a good work out hehe
 
Character said:
yup. that was the headline i read/ "la not americas sootiest city"..i hate la
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Amen. I dont care if it is no longer the sootiest city. It is dirty, it is conjested, it is ugly, it is loud, the freeway designs MAKE ZERO sense (ie the reason for all of the traffic). You couldnt pay me to live in LA.
 
Guys, Pittsburgh is beautifullll. You aren't going to notice the pollution - which I didn't even realize existed until this thread. There are no hazy cloudy skies due to smoke stacks... nothing like that. It's long gone. The city streets are very clean. The people that live in the burgh love being there, and I've yet to find a town that feels more like a giant family than Pittsburgh. It is "a drinking city with a football problem" after all.

pittsburgh4.jpg
 
saveourpens said:
jesus christ. I live here. It is as good as anywhere Ive been. I don't care that some report says Pittsburgh has a couple more microns of pollution in the air and some fools still think Pittsburgh has steel mills.

Erina, I thought you were a med student. I don't think air pollution from the steel mills 40 years ago has any lingering effects on the air today.
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I AM a med student. And I was just asking a question. I had heard that there are still effects from the steel mills...sorry, didn't realize med students were supposed to know everything.
 
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