Yeah, I think the other thing people forget too is how small Pittsburgh is compared to other places. The population of Austin proper is close to 1m people. We only have about 300k in the city here (greater metro area doesn’t exactly drive the arts). They don’t realize that our options are functionally limited because we don’t have a lot of people.

You’d struggle to find live music here that you want to listen to every night of the week. In Austin, that’d be very easy.

I've never had them either and will likely never get them. I can work from home quite easily and they do a pretty solid job of cleaning the streets quickly where I live. Also as winters like this one show, it's just not consistently cold and snowy enough here to make them worth it. This isn't the Lake Erie snow belt or Montreal.

Exactly. There uses to be a great local music in a wide variety of genres, but that hasn’t been the case for decades (no pun). But in general, they were centered around the universities, primarily Pitt / CMU, with tons of small venues with an easy bus ride or walk from the campuses, but then the real estate prices went up significantly because the universities (and UPMC) were expanding, so the owners sold, and there were no venues to take their place.

There are some, farther out into the ‘burbs, but those are fewer and farther between.

I guess I should be grateful I picked up my COVID infection at Summer Recess.

This sounds like one of those things meant for people who want to be seen and post on Instagram about their supposedly wonderful lives like to go to.

Sheetz

Dog

It’s nice but be warned, almost all of the venues are woefully undersized and the music is usually far too loud.

That's sad. We went the first year it was here and really enjoyed it! There were plenty of food samples along with the wine and whiskey, water was available, wasn't too crowded. There were some places that sold out before we arrived but we chalked that up to first year jitters. Definitely seems that's not the case.

I agree with you 100%. I never lived in Austin but visited frequently specifically for the music scene. If Austin music scene is the bar for comparison, there really isn’t a comparable music scene here. If that’s the expectation, Pittsburgh will be a letdown.

Immerse yourself in the tranquil sounds of running water near the LeafGuard booth

Amish ?

I'm a hip hop head with a degree in music composition. Our classical music scene blows Austin away. Our symphony is exceptional, our opera is very good and progressive for its size, we have a variety of active chamber groups, and CMU has a great program.

Our hip hop scene is sad, but frankly only worse than Austin because we don't have Houston and Dallas churning out great music right down the road. Fedd and Hardo are great and there are some other nice up and coming rappers, but we just don't have an awesome scene on that front. RIP Jimmy Wopo and Flatline Nizzy.

there are tons of musicians and musical groups around the burgh and a hugely diverse amount of venues from the obvious huge ones to diy under the radar spots. this city loves music and creativity, probably similar to austin (which i’ve been to and enjoyed- but yeah ppl have moved there from here and come right back ;)

I’m still glad to have mounted them on my wife’s car. The braking performance on cold wet roads is pretty awesome.

Because they probably live/work in the neighborhood? It’s a really nice thing to have.

Also Beef Ho Fun from Chengdu Gourmet. I believe it is the same dish, but someone please correct me if I am wrong

https://www.szechuanspicepa.com/order/chinese-menu/menu/n8-beef-chow-fun

Was this what the warning sirens were about around 11 pm?

Kids these days won't know the fun of snow days even if we do get enough because of virtual/zoom setups since Covid.

Thai pad see ew is very similar and might scratch the itch. I love Senyai's, although they don't offer beef as an option. You might try Thai Gourmet or Thai Cuisine in Bloomfield if beef is a requirement.

Yeah I don’t get them for here necessarily, I get them for when I travel elsewhere (a bit north). But you’re right

Yea those places are nice but I was thinking 3k ish which I would be ok paying. Gtfo with 4.5k.

Exactly - last I checked, New Dumpling and Chengdu and How Lee all had it.

I would take what people say here with a HUGE grain of salt given you're coming from Austin.

IMO a lot of people in this sub that have only lived in SWPA have very strong opinions on how certain aspects of the area are but they don't align with reality (like hiking/outdoor opportunities, how "bad" our traffic is, how "unaffordable" housing is, etc).

I don't think you'll find a "scene" even exists compared to what you're used to in Austin, but maybe someone with experience in both cities can chime in.