I find myself repeatedly compelled to speak up to temper long-distance or newbie expectations of this city in the BP forums. To this end, I've made a lot of less-than-stellar prognostications here about the economic future of Pittsburgh, said a lot of negative things about the weather and crumbling infrastructure, talked a great deal about the area's insular mindset. But I also need to bear witness to the unequivocal truth, that Pittsburgh has been very, very, very good to me. There are many things about this town that I greatly appreciate.

From a real estate perspective, I would be hard-pressed to find a place more suitable to small, DIY real estate investing operations. There are tremendous, incredible, only-here-and-nowhere-else advantages for a mom-and-pop operation like ours. If you have measured goals of real estate success, if you actually want to integrate into a community and help improve it, Pittsburgh is a point of pure light on the map of the USA. Do things with clarity and good purpose for all to see, and it is amazing how word spreads like wildfire and entire communities get out of your way or step in to give you a hand.

If you try to come here to "stack and stack," make your pile and get out in three or four years, Pittsburgh will punish you. I have to admit that I like that, too. Slick talk, goop in the hair, cerulean suits, and 'tude-over-substance don't do well here. The locals take a very dim view of lifestyles that don't put family first. Common courtesy is at times insisted upon by normally quiet men and women, once in a while by a smack upside the head when only insolence is offered. You don't come to this city and speak ill of the military, first responders, or God. Nor will you be favored if you decide you want to spread your particular religious beliefs to all and sundry.

I've saved what I feel is the most important and greatest thing about Pittsburgh for last. I have been made extremely aware in the last year and a half, with our business's increasing focus in refugee resettlement, that there's absolutely nothing wrong with Pittsburgh's heart. This is the place to be if you come to the USA running from war, famine, or hatred, hoping to start a new life. There are food pantries around every corner, outreach programs ready and eager to help, philanthropic aid organizations with remarkably robust resources, and then there's the locals. It's not every city in American where you walk into a local store to buy a rug for a Ukrainian refugee family and upon hearing what you're doing, the owner instantly cuts prices to 50% on every carpet remnant he's selling. But that's how things are here.

What do you like about Pittsburgh?