Working Class can’t afford the American Dream in Pittsburgh

[guy2073]

Originally Posted by erieguy

I would put that investment money into it and wait for it to happen, because it will.

If the city is offering up the entire development to Amazon that tells me they don't have anyone as a possible tenant other than the robotics lab. I bought into the hype at first but I don't see it now.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by guy2073

If the city is offering up the entire development to Amazon that tells me they don't have anyone as a possible tenant other than the robotics lab. I bought into the hype at first but I don't see it now.

Fair enough. I'll wait for it.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I have yet to dive into this thread, but I suppose there is no better time than the present.

I suppose I'm "working-class". My $28,000/year salary means I'm probably one of the lowest-paid on here (by far). That's okay. My only material aspirations are a tiny older house, a sunflower garden, and a personal masseur named Taylor Lautner!

I believe the title of this thread is misleading. PARTS of Pittsburgh have gone from being working-class-friendly to bourgeois in a hurry (my own beloved Polish Hill included). That doesn't mean the city at-large caters only to poor blacks and rich whites "for votes". Poor whites can live in Brightwood/Woods Run, Perry North/Observatory Hill, Carrick, Beechview, Arlington, Esplen, Elliott, and a few other neighborhoods comfortably and affordably. I'm on Facebook constantly. The page "NextPittsburgh" has been hyping up Carrick as "the next big thing" lately, likely in an effort to assuage the apprehensions incoming socioeconomic refugees from gentrifying parts of the city may have about its reputation.

As much as I love Polish Hill I love the city at-large more. If me staying in Polish Hill as a poor white person with a low IQ isn't commensurate with the long-range vision of the neighborhood, then I'll move to another city neighborhood so an Apple or UBER or Argo AI employee can live within walking distance of their Strip offices.

We're not (yet) at the point where Pittsburgh is unaffordable for the working-class to attain the American Dream, but we are certainly trending in that direction. Oh, and by Pittsburgh I mean the city proper. Some of us with residency requirements can't just move to Etna or McKeesport or Coraopolis for cheaper rent and a better life on a <$30,000 salary. In the coming years salaries for city employees will need to rise, though, if city rents are also continuing to rise, OR residency requirements will have to be abolished. Do San Francisco's low-salaried city employees need to live in the city? If so, then how?

SF city employees aren't low paid. It's very hard for private sector employers to fill lower paying jobs in SF because it's so expensive to live in or near the city.

[CamMcllel]

I was reading the 1940 census. My dad's family were immigrants in living in Ambridge, my grandfather was a crane operator in the steel mill. Coincidentally my mom’s sister, so my aunt, married a man from Sewickley, his dad was the executive director of a steel mill. So my mom and my aunt had kind of a rich man poor man thing going with their spouses families...all fine. Comparing their incomes on the census, saw my grandfather’s income was approximately one ninth of my aunt’s father in laws income. Her father in law was then considered a fairly wealthy man. I suspect the ratio of his income today were he alive and in a similar position, would be considerably higher than that of my grandfathers were he also alive and working in a similar position. My aunt’s father in law may not have been in the top 2%, but close. This is the difference today. The wealthy have much more proportionally than those who work in middle class or working class positions today than in the past. This just isn't right. People need enough to survive. Granted, my dads family worked hard saved their money, but they were able to. The wealthy are receiving far too much in proportion now. They need to at least pay their fair share in taxes proportionally too in my opinion. We would all be a lot better off.

[SteelCityRising]

Some sent me a rep comment and told me that at $28,000/year I'm not working-class. I'm also "too rich" to qualify for government assistance, so I'm not "low-income". What am I, then? Is this another case where people will just say "Well, you're just an outlier..." and move on?

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Some sent me a rep comment and told me that at $28,000/year I'm not working-class.

Don't worry about what their opinion of you is. They're obviously an idiot.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I have yet to dive into this thread, but I suppose there is no better time than the present.

I suppose I'm "working-class". My $28,000/year salary means I'm probably one of the lowest-paid on here (by far). That's okay. My only material aspirations are a tiny older house, a sunflower garden, and a personal masseur named Taylor Lautner!

I believe the title of this thread is misleading. PARTS of Pittsburgh have gone from being working-class-friendly to bourgeois in a hurry (my own beloved Polish Hill included). That doesn't mean the city at-large caters only to poor blacks and rich whites "for votes". Poor whites can live in Brightwood/Woods Run, Perry North/Observatory Hill, Carrick, Beechview, Arlington, Esplen, Elliott, and a few other neighborhoods comfortably and affordably. I'm on Facebook constantly. The page "NextPittsburgh" has been hyping up Carrick as "the next big thing" lately, likely in an effort to assuage the apprehensions incoming socioeconomic refugees from gentrifying parts of the city may have about its reputation.

As much as I love Polish Hill I love the city at-large more. If me staying in Polish Hill as a poor white person with a low IQ isn't commensurate with the long-range vision of the neighborhood, then I'll move to another city neighborhood so an Apple or UBER or Argo AI employee can live within walking distance of their Strip offices.

We're not (yet) at the point where Pittsburgh is unaffordable for the working-class to attain the American Dream, but we are certainly trending in that direction. Oh, and by Pittsburgh I mean the city proper. Some of us with residency requirements can't just move to Etna or McKeesport or Coraopolis for cheaper rent and a better life on a <$30,000 salary. In the coming years salaries for city employees will need to rise, though, if city rents are also continuing to rise, OR residency requirements will have to be abolished. Do San Francisco's low-salaried city employees need to live in the city? If so, then how?

I never worked for the city but did work for the county. The way the county worked is your salary goes up 3 percent each year. A 3 percent raise does add up. You will never be rich working for the city or the county. And you friends if they have jobs in the private sector will have have much more money. It is hard to realize that but those in the private sector are not your peers. They might have been at one point but they aren't now.

[Chasing77]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

I collect Montgomery Ward appliances. I have a Montgomery Ward Signature "Menu Magic" stove and Signature 2000 clothes dryer. I just need a Wards washer to complete my set.

That's so cool! I'm looking at Washer's myself from Wards and it looks like they have a some good options right now: [url]https://bedding.wards.com/search?p=KK&srid=S1-5IADP&lbc=wards&ts=custom&pw=washer%20and%20dryer& uid=149712272&isort=score&view=grid&w=Washing%20Ma chine&rk=2[/url]

I'm personally leaning towards the portable one; let me know what you end up getting!

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Chasing77

That's so cool! I'm looking at Washer's myself from Wards and it looks like they have a some good options right now: https://bedding.wards.com/search?p=K...20Machine&rk=2

I'm personally leaning towards the portable one; let me know what you end up getting!

Well, these are vintage Wards appliances from the mid century, when Wards was a big department store like Sears. I would suggest used appliance outlets. That's how I found mine. The new Wards is just an online retailer. They bought the name, but really aren't the same thing. Wards went out of business in about 2000. That portable washer you linked to is pretty neat, though. It would fit nicely in my Woods Run house.