So, Pittsburgh

[eyégor]

I know nothing about Pittsburgh, but Adventure Boy went there during his senior year in college to some kind of national geography association meeting. He loved the place, and he raved about the local people he met. He would go back in a flash, if opportunity arose.

I know only two people from Pittsburgh, but I'm rather fond of them both.

After a month in South Africa, I am happy to go anywhere that has a police force.

Steve,

I have a friend who is moving to South Africa at the end of the month. (He's involved in AIDS research). He was of the belief that things had improved greatly there.

No so?

[SportsFan68]

Since that's where SteelersFan grew up, my "what's there to do" experiences are mostly family-oriented -- the trip up Mt. Washington, the ferry to a Pirates game, where I got to see Bonds and Bonilla in the same game, a Penguins game, where I got to see Mario and Jagr in the same game, trips to the naval museum, where I got to tour a submarine, Carnegie, Fort Necessity, Laurel State Park, Kennywood, maple syrple farms, the Christmas Light display at Oglebay, Century III shopping, Mossberg's for chicken dumpling soup (OK, that went out of business, and I think there's a real estate office there now), getting my hair cut and having breakfast out for about half what it costs in Colorado, deer hunting (the first day of deer hunting season is a school holiday), golfing, fishing, and on and on... It's a great place, and I'm pretty sure that if PA had elk hunting when SteelersFan graduated college, he'd still be there...

I'd still like to see a Steelers home game -- maybe CousinHoward can get us tix sometime.

[ulysses5019]

Wow! Four BB's in one town!

How many do we have in Houston? Will Pittsburgh soon surpass Houston?

Weren't they both voted Fattest City by some magazine or other?

The southern California area could be the largest number close by but not necessarily in the same city since it's so spread out.

We've got Tim, 15 questions, Bob###. Plasticene, estonut, uly, PSM, Jsuchard, dodgersteve,second chance, a couple who posted a few times & I can't remember their names ...who am I leaving out??

I think only myself, bob#s and 15 q's actually live in the city limits. Merlinsma, who lurks and has posted also lives here. O-man lives in the valley maybe.

[Weyoun]

I know nothing about Pittsburgh, but Adventure Boy went there during his senior year in college to some kind of national geography association meeting. He loved the place, and he raved about the local people he met. He would go back in a flash, if opportunity arose.

I know only two people from Pittsburgh, but I'm rather fond of them both.

After a month in South Africa, I am happy to go anywhere that has a police force.

Steve,

I have a friend who is moving to South Africa at the end of the month. (He's involved in AIDS research). He was of the belief that things had improved greatly there.

No so?

Well, I can speak on two fronts. In terms of AIDS research, absolutely, it's improved greatly. In part due to the government, but mainly due to NGOs, there is a system in place to get patients on effective antiretroviral medication. "I have seen the future, and it works." Obviously, work still needs to be done, but it's vastly better than what was in place at the beginning of this decade.

As for crime, it is hard to tell. I know that, in my many years of living in the US, I've never been the victim of a violent crime. In one month in South Africa, I dodged a mugging and the home I was staying in (in a lower middle class coloured neighborhood) was almost burglarized. Some bad luck, of course, but the police are generally looked down upon and there's not a sense of overall safety. Most people who left the country after 1994 did so for that reason, and that exodus is still present, albeit at a lower level.

It also certainly depends on where you are at - if you are in Constantia or Stellenbosch (i.e., still primarily Afrikaaner areas), it's not so much an issue. But I spent most of the month looking behind my back. Which is a shame, because so many people were warm and friendly.