Yeah, it's an institution. Along the same lines of those $10 bagels they fly to SF from NY. There's acually a primanti copycat in SF too.
I'm no football fan, but there seem to be more steelers bars all over the US than any other team. My theory is that so many Pittsburgh natives want to leave :-)
Actually kind do the opposite - everyone wants to stay, but no jobs available. Once the steel industry got outsourced to China due to unions and stricter environmental laws, the local economy went in the crapper. Real estate is cheap, taxes are high, terrible job market.
True, but the weather makes up for all that!
The weather actually is pretty good. Perfect balance of all 4 seasons if you like that kind of thing. When I got out of college, I applied for so many jobs though, and nothing was hitting. I applied for a job with Sony in Elizabethtown (near Pittsburgh) and got the job, but opted to move to VA instead due to the salary difference. 6 months later, the Sony plant shut down - a big relief that I didn't take that job. I probably would have still had a lease on an apartment for a year and all that, which would have really sucked.
Ha! I seem to meet a lot of ex-Pittsburghers (and vicinity) around - especially here in So Cal. I think people want to avoid the weather. At least I did.
I thought that the economy was picking up? I seem to have a lot of college friends who stayed in the area (I went to CMU. I have relatives in the area who went to Pitt). They are all in computers/ programming. I'm pretty sure I'd have a hard time finding a job in semiconductors.
It would be nice to be closer to family, but CA has turned me into a weather wimp.
I'm a lifelong Pittsburgher. I wouldn't miss all the rainy/overcast days if I ever left, but for the most part, the weather suits me just fine.
Computer programming jobs are plentiful right now. My husband and I are both programmers, and we've had to beat off the recruiters with sticks for the past year or so, and our employers have had a lot of competition in finding talented programers. The owner of my company recently attended a local business event and says there was a lot of talk about how much technology is growing in the area. It's also a pretty good area for the health care industry, and lots of people in the surrounding areas have made good money on Marcellus Shale over the past several years.
The industry where I see people struggle the most to get jobs is teaching. Most school districts pay their teachers very well, so there's a lot of competition for teaching jobs. Anyone with a fresh teaching degree either needs to take a job out of town for a few years or make friends with a school board member to get a job.
I've heard older folks complaining about the disappearance of steel mill jobs all my life, but I think most of the people who were directly affected by the disappearance of the steel industry are gone now. All that's left is a general longing for more jobs where a person of limited mental abilities and with little education could work hard and eventually make a good living. Personally, I've seen pictures of the city from the days when the skies were filled with smoke, and I can't fathom wanting the steel mills to return.
I like Primanti's sandwiches, and I do find myself craving them a few times a year. But, my cravings have never been bad enough to pay over $100 for four sandwiches that I'd still have to make myself. I'd rather attempt my own approximation of the recipe. I'm not sure how to make the style cole slaw they use, but I bet I could figure it out.
Ironically, since I dropped cable a few years ago, Primanti's has become one of my favorite frugal options for watching a hockey game. They have dollar pizza by the slice and dollar drafts on game nights, which usually means paying about $10 for my husband and I to watch two periods of hockey and eat some dinner during the play-offs.
A few years ago, Eat 'n Park, another Pittsburgh chain, started shipping their smiley cookies all over the place. Smiley cookies aren't great, but they have a high nostalgia factor if you grew up in the area and used to get them for free after your meal as a kid. When a friend of mine moved out of town, I was tempted to send her a dozen. Then I saw the prices and couldn't bring myself to do it. I forget what the price was at the time, but it'd be $23 to send a dozen today.