January 29, 2025 • 61 mins
Pittsburgh emerges as a vibrant and welcoming city for the LGBTQ community, particularly for retirees seeking a safe and affordable place to live. Mark Goldstein interviews Mike Madden, a long-time resident who shares insights about the city's unique blend of East Coast and Midwest charm and rich cultural offerings. The discussion highlights Pittsburgh's appealing amenities, including its low cost of living, diverse dining scene, and robust healthcare access, making it an attractive option for those looking to settle down. Mike also emphasizes the city's transformation from its industrial roots to a modern, tech-driven environment while noting the importance of community support and safety. With its engaging neighborhoods and strong LGBTQ presence, Pittsburgh offers a fulfilling lifestyle for retirees seeking culture and connection.
This podcast episode invites listeners to discover why Pittsburgh is a desirable retirement city for the LGBTQ community. Mark Goldstein interviews Mike Madden, who discusses his transformative journey and the city's remarkable evolution. The conversation addresses Pittsburgh's growing reputation as a retirement destination, covering aspects such as climate, safety, healthcare, and cultural vibrancy. Madden's insights reveal a city that balances affordability with rich amenities, making it a practical and attractive option for LGBTQ retirees seeking a welcoming environment to call home.
Throughout the episode, Madden recounts personal anecdotes and shares the various social and recreational opportunities available to residents. The discussion touches on the significance of community engagement and the sense of belonging that Pittsburgh offers to LGBTQ individuals. Listeners will learn about the city's rich history, diverse neighborhoods, and increasing inclusivity, all contributing to a supportive environment for retirees. The episode highlights not only the practical advantages of living in Pittsburgh, such as lower housing costs and free public transportation for seniors but also the emotional fulfillment of being part of a vibrant and connected community, ultimately presenting Pittsburgh as a city where LGBTQ individuals can thrive.
Takeaways:
- Pittsburgh offers a unique blend of urban amenities and a friendly, welcoming atmosphere for the LGBTQ community.
- The city has transformed from its industrial roots into a vibrant, tech-driven environment attracting retirees.
- With no state taxes on pensions or Social Security, Pittsburgh is a financially appealing option for retirees.
- Healthcare access is robust, with a range of quality providers and minimal appointment wait times.
- Pittsburgh's cultural scene includes world-class museums, theaters, and a vibrant dining experience.
- Safety measures in the city have improved, making it a relatively safe place for residents.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Carnegie Mellon
- University of Pittsburgh
- Duquesne University
- UPMC
- Allegheny Health Network
- Eddie Merlot's
- Apteca
- Pusadis Garden
- Con Alma
- Heinz History Museum
- Andy Warhol Museum
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Welcome to the where do gaysretire? Podcast, where we help you
in the LGBTQ community find asafe and affordable retirement place.
Join Mark Goldstein as heinterviews others.
Who live in gay friendlyplaces around the globe. Learn about
the climate, cost of living,healthcare, crime and safety, and
more. Now, here's your hostMark Goldstein. Have you ever wondered
(00:32):
what it's like to live andretire in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania?
It's become very popularlately, so stay tuned and stay to
the end of the podcast episodeand find out. Today we have our special
guest, Mike Madden. Mike wasborn in 1952, raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
(00:55):
He moved to South Bend,Indiana for college and then to Washington,
DC for medical school andresidency. He married and then raised
three sons in northeastPennsylvania, a small town outside
of Erie. Due to a job change,he moved to Pittsburgh in 2002. After
25 years of marriage, hedecided it was time to live authentically
(01:19):
as a gay man. In 2005, he metRon Cenarius, a polyglot and Latin
teacher, and they married in2015. When it was finally legal,
I had to look up polyglot glutbefore together after enjoying traveling
and their travel claim to fameis dancing to dancing Queen on all
(01:44):
seven continents. You have toexplain that to me too.
Sure.
They particularly enjoy gaycruises, ten so far, and land excursions
with gay groups. Mike has alsotraveled to all 50 states. That's
pretty impressive. Covidclipped their travel wings and in
2020 they decided to buy awinter home in Phoenix. Hi neighbor.
(02:09):
And during a bike ride. Familyis important to them, especially
spending time with their fivechildren. Three followed them to
Pittsburgh, one to Phoenix,and their five grandsons. Other interests
include the PittsburghSteelers and the Fighting irish,
hitting the gym, riding bikes,participating in cultural events,
(02:29):
having dinners with friends,supporting gay focused organizations,
and hosting other snowbirds inPhoenix. And Mike, who is Michael
Madden, MD, is a self employedconsultant to health plans and corporations
currently focused on tobaccoharm reduction and efforts to get
(02:50):
to zero new cases of HIV AIDS.Regarding THR, he has published opinion
pieces in Newsweek and severalregional newspapers, testified before
legislative bodies in tenstates, and educated healthcare providers
on this critical public healthstrategy in various settings. Well,
(03:13):
Mike, that's, you did quite alot and you have a good bio. Thank
you so much for joining us.Appreciate it.
Great to be here.
Thank you. And we've actuallymet in person, so it's a little bit
different than your normalpodcast when I don't know what's
(03:34):
going to be or who's going tobe on the other side of the screen.
So welcome, Michael.
Thank you.
So let's open up. What makesPittsburgh such an attractive city
for the LGBTQ community andretirees? There's something unique
about the atmosphere orcommunity that stands out. I know
Pittsburgh lately has beengetting a lot of positive press as
(03:56):
far as retirement city.
Right? Right. It really has.Well, I think that's because it's
an east coast city, sort ofwith a Midwest vibe and friendliness.
It's big enough to have reallygood amenities, about 300,000 people
in the city, 1.2 million inthe county, but limited hassle. And
I think it's got a couple ofgood gay bona fides most people don't
(04:20):
know. Queer as folk was setthere, at least the us version, although
admittedly most of it wasfilmed in Toronto, but it was set
there on Liberty Avenue, nearwhere I live. Mister Rogers is from
Pittsburgh, and I think he'sprobably our first lgbt ally, or
at least a good neighbor. Andone more is that our police chief
(04:42):
happens to be gay. Not toomany cities can say that.
Pretty cool. So. AndPittsburgh has reinvented itself
for years from its industrialpast to a modern, tech driven city.
How do you feel thistransformation has impacted retirees
in the LGBTQ community? Has itimpacted at all?
(05:02):
Sure. Oh, yeah. Well, firstand foremost, the smoke is mostly
gone, so it's no longer thesmoky city. We don't have the world's
best air quality, but it's anothing like it was. There's no gray
buildings anymore, you know, alot of people, with the steel mills
closing, moved out in theeighties and nineties, but since
then, the population hasstabilized to growing slowly. Prior
(05:22):
to Covid, the downtown, Ithought, really felt like a mini
Manhattan. A lot of high risesand lots of activity on the streets.
Covid clipped that a bit. Theoffices obviously are less occupied.
The crowding's down a bit, butit's coming back. I think downtown
Pittsburgh is kind ofreinventing itself the way the whole
city did back with the steelmill change. And it'll take some
(05:44):
time to fully reinvent. Notthat it's gone, but it's going to
take some work to get to whereit was. Fortunately, there's some
assets. You know, withCarnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh,
and Duquesne University, thiswould probably surprise a lot of
people that it's estimated wehave 145,000 college students in
Pittsburgh and Alleghenycounty, and there's a really strong
(06:06):
tech sector, partly because ofthose universities. Lots of AI, lots
of autonomous vehicledevelopment. See these driverless
things going around a goodbit, so.
Oh, you have them, too. InPittsburgh, like we have in Phoenix?
Yep. Definitely do not. Wedon't have. We don't have taxis yet,
but mostly trial at this point.
Yep. Yeah. We have thosedriverless vehicles running all around
(06:31):
Phoenix, as you know. Okay,interesting. So let's talk a little
bit about Pittsburgh'sclimate. How would you describe Pittsburgh's
climate throughout the year,and how have you seen a change in
the past decade due to climate change?
I call it. We have three greatseasons, and 1 think that we're maybe
(06:54):
the second cloudiest big cityin the country after Seattle. But
that's mostly in winter.There's a really nice change of seasons.
I think the fall is lastinglonger with climate change going
later into the year. Spring'scoming earlier. I don't think the
summers have really gottenthat much hotter, though. And, you
know, I think days over 90 arelike, oh, my God, it's terrible.
(07:17):
And that's certainly not muchto Phoenix people. And a lot less
snow than there used to be. Ithink is the other thing I've noticed.
Is it humid in the summer?
You know, it can be sometimes,but it's not really like the east
coast humid or the south, butit can be kind of humid sometimes.
It's certainly relative toPhoenix. Yes.
Right. And not relative toPhoenix. But it's not Florida, right?
(07:41):
No, not Florida, definitely.
Okay. Any flooding concerns?
Well, you know, Pittsburgh isthere because it's the confluence
of three rivers. Two riverscome together and form the Ohio right
there. And so it had a longhistory of flooding, maybe before
flooding became fashionable.Fortunately, in the years gone by,
(08:02):
a lot of work's been done tomitigate that, to prevent flooding,
and with upstream rivers ordams and lakes and things. So I think
Pittsburgh's relativelydisaster free. We have very rare
tornadoes. We've had some rainfrom hurricanes, but unlike poor
southeast right now, you know,the worst rain we ever had from a
(08:23):
hurricane was six inches fromIvan in 2004, and no real earthquake
risk. So I think we're, youknow, relatively disaster free. I
grew up in Oklahoma wherethere were tornadoes all the time.
We don't see that. And interms of what's being done to mitigate
it, you know, I talked aboutthe flooding part. One thing that,
from electrical standpoint,they're doing is that people in Pittsburgh
(08:45):
can opt to get theirelectricity from purely clean sources,
you know, windmills and solar,and that's a checkbox you make in.
Making your electricitycompany decisions, and it doesn't
cost anymore. Right. Okay,that's pretty good. Now, Pittsburgh,
I know in winter they get coldwinters. So how much snow do you
(09:07):
get?
Not that much anymore. Gottathink it. Last year it was no more
than ten or 15 inches for thewhole winter, if that, you know,
I mean, the big snowstorm nowis like three inches.
That's not bad at all. No, I'mused to the New York.
People kind of thinking of thesnow belt, but that's northwest Pennsylvania.
(09:30):
That's about 2 hours north ofPittsburgh. That's where you get
the lake effect snow. And theydo get heavy snows up there, but
that mostly goes away by thetime it gets down because we're about
2 hours south of lake.
Is that like lake Erie up there?
Yes, lake Erie's up there. Yeah.
Okay. So, okay. You're prettysafe from this lake effect. I know
that. The lake effect can be pretty.
(09:53):
Oh, yeah. Well, I lived up there.
Pretty mean.
Yeah. There were times whenyou'd pull up to the intersection
and have to kind of lookaround because the snow was so high.
Right. Okay. With risingconcerns about climate change, has
Pittsburgh started preparingfor. Well, you said they are preparing
(10:13):
for potential impacts withflooding. How about heat waves or
severe storms? Do you knowanything about.
Yeah, we really like to say wedon't have the tornado things that
I grew up with. I mean, I evenhad a tornado shelter in my backyard
growing up. We don't see anyof that in Pittsburgh. And there
was one sort of very brieftornado warning this summer, and
(10:34):
everybody was all excited. Oh,my God, what do you do with that?
There's no tornado sirens orany of.
That kind of stuff, so youdon't feel like Dorothy.
There's none of that going on.And I say the flooding thing really,
I think, has been pretty wellmanaged. I mean, I live on the river,
but we are officially out ofthe floodplain. And I live right
by where the three rivers cometogether. But from a flood standpoint,
(10:57):
they don't consider us in a floodplain.
Okay, let's talk a little bitabout geography. So, for someone
new to Pittsburgh, how doesthe city's geography shape daily
life? Are there certain areasthat are more retiree friendly at
all? Sure. Can you alsoexplain, like, where is Pittsburgh
(11:20):
located in all of Pennsylvania?
Yeah. Well, it's in the.Called southwestern Pennsylvania.
It's kind of the. AndPittsburgh has sometimes been called
the Paris of Appalachia. Andit's in the. Pretty much the southwest
corner. We're about 40 miles,I think, from Ohio and from West
Virginia and a little bit ofWest Virginia that sneaks up there
(11:42):
and so very southwest youknow, about halfway between New York
and Chicago way. Sometimes wedescribe it to people in other countries.
So it's very hilly. We are inthe Appalachians and you know, downtown
is kind of low, but rightacross the river goes up about 400ft,
I think, to an area calledMount Washington, which is great
(12:04):
for views of downtown. Andthey have funiculars going up the
sides of the cliff there.
I saw that. Yeah, I saw thaton a video.
They're fun to take out oftowners on a beautiful walk along
the, the edge of the ridge upthere. And beautiful to look from
our windows across there inthe fall to see the trees there changing.
(12:25):
But. So it's very hilly.Downtown is really in the middle
of the metropolitan area. It'snot like it's lopsided like some
cities. So that kind ofmitigates traffic issues pretty much
because everybody's goingopposite directions. There's one
north south interstate andpretty much two east west ones. And
I. So that makes it veryaccessible that way and mitigates
(12:47):
any real traffic issues otherthan there's a couple of tunnels
and a couple of bridges thathave some backup during rush hour,
but not too much in the way oftraffic. But it's a city of bridges
because of the hills andbecause of the rivers and streams.
In fact, I'm not sure I couldfact check this, but it's said that
we are either the first orsecond bridgiest city in the world.
(13:11):
Right up there with Venice,depending on how you count them and
that sort of thing. And thengeographically, we're close to things.
For instance, the Erie area isabout an hour and a half to 2 hours
north of us where presque IsleState park is. And that's if you
want beach type summervacation. They've got about 7 miles
of a peninsula out into LakeErie. And if it's windy coming from
(13:32):
the west, they get some goodwaves. There's mountains with skiing
just an hour and a half away.To the east, there's raft trips on
the rivers. It's a prettyquick trip up to Niagara Falls or
over to falling water. FrankLloyd Wright's UNESCO heritage architectural
site and even wineries. Kindof the along Lake Erie, you know,
kind of like the finger Lakeregion of New York. So yeah, geographically
(13:58):
a nice bunch of variety.
Now talking about the bridges,the most bridgiest place. I don't
know if I read wrong, but Ithought I read something like Pittsburgh
had like 400 bridges.
Oh, at least.
Yeah, they do.
Oh yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
400 is a lot.
(14:19):
It's a lot of bridges.
It's a lot.
All those hills and then therivers and streams leading to them.
But yeah, there's a lot of hundred.
Where do they have 400bridges? It's pretty funny.
Well, I can see six or sevenright from my condo crossing the
rivers.
Okay. And. Okay. And explainyou. So you live in the downtown
(14:42):
in a condo. Right.
Right.
And let's talk a little bitabout walkability, too.
Sure.
So you said previously that itis pretty walkable where you are.
Can you elaborate on that andtell us?
Well, downtown, I think is, Icall it maybe the most walkable neighborhood
(15:03):
in the United States,depending on what you want to do
and like. Because, andsomebody needs to correct me if I'm
wrong. Fact check this if youwould. But right from my condo within
a mile, I can walk to threemajor league sports venues, you know,
football, baseball and hockey.We've got Point State park across
the street, a casino, lots ofmuseums, world class symphony opera,
(15:28):
Broadway shows, live theater,restaurants, gyms that take silver
sneakers. The benefit for someMedicare advantage people to have
a free gym. My PCP is acrossthe street. I used to work across
the street. There's an Amtrakstation, a long distance bus station,
a bike way right from us allthe way to DC. You know, my husband
(15:50):
and I don't have a car. And soif anybody, any of the listeners
want to tell me of a placethat's got all that within a mile
walking, I'd love to hear itbecause I don't. I say that and every
now and then I wonder, shouldI fact check that? But we, you know,
we don't have a car inPittsburgh. We use transit. We bike,
we use ubers. We can even walkwithout crossing the street to a
(16:11):
rental car facility if we wantto go on a weekend somewhere. And
two of them actually, dollarand Avisde and free grocery delivery.
Not free, but grocery deliveryservices and a downtown target that's
got a grocery.
Pretty amazing.
Yeah. So the public transitfor seniors in Pittsburgh is free.
There's a, like.
That's amazing, too.
That do I.
(16:32):
That amazes me.
Yeah. Free for seniors becausethe ad for the lottery is it supports
older Pennsylvania. So peoplebuy those lottery tickets and I get
a free bus pass.
So is it light rail?
So there are regular buses.They're developing a thing called
bus rapid transit that's kindof a cross between a light rail and
(16:54):
a bus with a dedicated lanebetween downtown and oakland, which
is the college part ofPittsburgh. And then there's dedicated
busways going to the east andto the west. And in fact, we have
a really pretty much nonstopbus from downtown to the airport.
And like I say, you ride itfor free. So it's a really good public
(17:16):
transit with a great app thattells you when the next one's coming.
And so those are great. Sothat's kind of the public transit
side. And we do have a, we dohave a light rail that goes underground
downtown, and over to thenorth shore where the two big stadiums
are. So a lot of people parkdowntown and take the rail under
underground to get over to the stadiums.
(17:36):
And how about I, how far isthe Pittsburgh airport?
Oh, about downtown. You know,there's. There can be traffic at
rush hour. Absent. Absent rushhour traffic. I think I went yes
last time in 18 minutes.
Can't beat it.
Yeah, I got an Uber downthere. It was pretty easy.
(17:57):
Pretty good.
There's lots of Ubers at theairport there. And they even still
have taxis, too.
They still do.
They do. From downtown, actually.
From the airport?
Yeah, yeah. To downtown.
Got it.
Since you mentioned theairport. So we've got a great airport
nonstop service to 52 cities,which a lot of people would be surprised
at, I think. And they'rebuilding a new billion dollar terminal
(18:19):
that's supposed to open nextyear. We got great train service
to Chicago, to Philly and NewYork City on one train line and then
down to DC. And they justannounced that the one to DC is now
going to keep going all theway to Miami with all the kind of
stops along the way. So that'sa great one.
That's awesome.
Really strong bike culture.Again, it's something I think a lot
(18:40):
of people might not thinkabout, particularly in a hilly city
like Pittsburgh.Unfortunately, you can stay along
the rivers and not have toclimb the hills.
Yeah, I don't want to climbthe hills.
Although there's this thingcalled Pogo that you can rent an
electric bike pretty cheaply.One of my jobs gives me access to
that for free. And those arereally fun to take around town. But
(19:02):
the riverfront trails, they'vereally done a good job developing
those and other protected bikelanes. A lot of people would be surprised
to know you can go nonstop ona rail to trails from Pittsburgh
to DC with almost no time oncity streets. It's all rails to trails.
It's called the greatAllegheny Passage, and then other
(19:24):
bike stuff. Once a month inthe summer, there's a thing called
open streets, where they closea whole neighborhood of streets with
no cars and thousands ofpeople bike ride on them. There's
a thing called the dirty dozenhill ride, because we do have the
hills. And if you're reallyinto hill riding, you can challenge
yourself to do that. And thenanother way to challenge yourself
is that every month in thesummer, there's an underwear bike
(19:47):
ride.
That's pretty funny. Soeverybody rides their bike in underwear.
Rides in their bike in theirunderwear and meets up at a bar.
It's an adult activity.
Yes, I'm sure. I'm sure. Thatsounds like fun.
Yeah. And then we got riverboats on the rivers too, for tours.
Or some people park where theyget the riverboat and they take it
(20:08):
over to the stadiums ratherthan parking by the stadiums for
a game.
Awesome, Mike. So let's talk alittle bit about cost of living and
affordability.
Sure.
How accessible is homeownership in Pittsburgh? What is
the. If you know the medianprice for a single family home or
condo right now?
(20:29):
Yeah. Well, I did a littleresearch on that. So in August of
this year, the median listingprice for a home in Pittsburgh was
$259,000, which is up about3.8% from a year ago. And it, despite
that, this listing said thatPittsburgh is only best to buy Detroit
to have the most affordablehousing costs of a major city in
(20:53):
the US. And that was in 2023.Along those lines, the us news and
world report ranking of bestplaces to retire for anybody, not
just gay people. Seven oftheir top ten were in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania.
Yeah. Partly because ofhousing costs, but also because Pennsylvania
doesn't have tax income frompensions, Social Security or 401
(21:17):
ks. So the two of thosetogether, and just so you know, Pittsburgh
was number ten on that list.So there were a few more affordable
places in Pennsylvania thanPittsburgh, but I don't think they've
got our amenities.
Yeah, you have the amenities.Does it change, does you think the
cost of living or price formedian home price changes in the
(21:38):
downtown area? Like, you haveall of that walkable convenience.
It's got a. It's. I can'tpicture 220,000 getting a condo in
downtown.
Well, actually, I mean, if aone bedroom, you might be able to.
In the building I live in, youknow, Pittsburgh unfortunately doesn't
(21:59):
have enough downtown housing,particularly condos. There's only
three or four condo typedevelopments there and so. But I
think you, you could probablysqueeze into a one bedroom from.
For around that currentestimate of ours, which was originally
a three bedroom, but weconverted it into a one bedroom because
(22:19):
we didn't want our kids tolive with us.
Oh, great idea.
It has kind of a guest room,but it's an awful lot.
Just make it all big.
Yeah. Anyway, I think nowzillow kind of estimates 450 for
it.
Okay. Still reasonable. Nowlet's talk a little bit about property
(22:43):
tax. So Pennsylvania'sproperty tax is pretty high in comparison
to other states like Arizona,for example.
Right, right. Well, it's theprimary way to fund the schools for
one. And then countygovernment too is how that's funded.
There's no, you know, kind ofcounty tax. There's a little bit
(23:04):
of a earned income tax in thecity of Pittsburgh, but not a general
income tax if you're notearning money. So that is one way
to do it. There's a weird partof the assessment law in Pennsylvania
though that like our placehasn't had. Most houses have not
been reassessed unless they'vesold since 2013. So they can have
(23:24):
a pretty low assessment onthem. I think Gars is assessed for
230 or something like that.And they don't increase it so far
until it sells. Sounfortunately, somebody who might
buy it may have. But at 238, Ithink is our assessment. We pay about
4000 to the county and about1000 to the city.
(23:46):
So a little bit over 5000 total.
Right.
Okay. It's still as compared.I'm comparing it to Arizona, of course,
and Arizona. And what's yoursquare footage?
1700.
Okay, so I have a 1700 inPhoenix and we pay 26 and change.
(24:07):
So.
Okay.
Yeah, but most, I don't thinkmost of that goes to education. That's
the difference.
Yeah. And the state. But thestate income tax is only 3%. I'm
not sure what Arizona's is.And that's for the income that we
would have to pay for, whichmost of our income isn't taxed at
the state level.
Right. Okay. Okay. How aboutrenting? If you were to rent one
(24:32):
to two bedroom apartment inthe city, what would it cost?
Well, I looked that up and theaverage rent in Pittsburgh is 1300
a month, which is 16% lowerthan the national average. And Zillow
said it's about 1100 for a onebedroom and 1400 for a two bedroom.
Now I got to tell you thataverage may come down because of
(24:54):
some neighborhoods that Ithink gay people may not choose to
live in. So I suspect that therents would be higher in many of
the places gays would want tomove and retire to. But that is the
average. And so if you got tocompare averages, that's the average.
Right. Okay, that's fair. Andhow about cost of groceries and utilities
(25:15):
to the national average? Is it cheaper?
Well, I couldn't find a costcomparison for electricity, except
that our rate is about. In thestate is about 14.5 cents per kilowatt
hour, which to me seemed likekind of in the middle. And the rates
in Pittsburgh, for somereason, are slightly higher than
(25:36):
the state average. Food andtransportation, by the one listing
I saw, said that on average,the state, the rest of the state
goods and services are 6%lower than the national average.
And healthcare is like 8%lower than national average.
Wow. So we're getting bargains there.
(25:57):
Yeah, well, that's. I guessthat's why so many are in that us
news and world report list.
Yes. At least seven inPennsylvania. Yeah. That's incredible.
Okay, so less than thenational average is always good.
You like that?
Yeah, I like that.
Yeah, we downtown, I mean,there's lots of farmers markets around,
(26:18):
because there is a lot offarming in the area around Pittsburgh.
And pretty much every goodsized neighborhood has a farmers
market at least once a week.Even downtown we have one. And a
lot of my neighbors, that'stheir primary shopping spot in the
summer months, actually goesfrom spring to fall.
Got it. So let's talk a littlebit about healthcare access. Healthcare
(26:41):
is so crucial for retirees,and the older you get, the more healthcare
you need.
We're consumers.
We are consumers. Howaccessible are physicians and specialists
in Pittsburgh? And do you havelong wait times for an appointment?
You know, you mentioned that Iam a physician, and my later years
(27:03):
I was in healthcare, healthinsurance, both on the Medicaid side
and for Blue Cross. So I knowa little bit about this stuff. There's
two large health systems thatdominate the market in Pittsburgh,
UPMC and Allegheny HealthNetwork. And they really compete
aggressively. And because ofthat, they work pretty hard to strive
(27:25):
to keep access high, becauseif you want to compete, but you have
no access, what's the point?So I think there really is a motivation
for that. And in my healthinsurance work, we got complaints
from people about thehealthcare system, obviously, from
time to time, and I don'treally recall many serious complaints
(27:45):
or consistent complaints aboutaccess. They complain about a lot
of things, but access wasn'tone of the ones that we heard that
much about.
How about quality?
Well, so these two systems arekind of fully integrated health systems
with their own healthinsurance companies. And I can tell
(28:06):
you that we look aggressivelyat the quality of those providers.
And that actually was, I wasin charge of quality performance
management for the Blue CrossBlue Shield association at one time.
So again, kind of my. In myfield, and quality is good. You know,
these hospital systems doregularly have people that are. Or
(28:26):
hospitals that are ranked onthe us news and World report of best
hospitals for this, that andthe other thing. They like to really
tout those. So we hear aboutit. So, yeah, very solid. I can't
say we've got any. You know,the children's hospital is great.
The UPMC system and theuniversity hospital probably has,
(28:47):
you know, maybe a little morereputation, although Allegheny health
network also has transplantservices, great cardiac services,
all that kind of. So they'reboth, I think, very solid quality.
So what are we talking about?If I make an appointment, you think
I have a, what, a two weekwait on average?
I, you know, with a new provider.
I guess you're saying maybe more.
No, no, I don't think so. Notnecessarily. I mean, for certain
(29:11):
isolated specialties, thatcould be the case, but I would say
not. I think dental is alittle more of an issue than medical,
but for most things, you know,two weeks, I can't imagine much longer
than that, generally.
That's great. That's great.Because there are places that. Oh,
yeah, much, much longer.
Yeah, it's a big issue.
(29:31):
Yeah. All right, then. Soexcellent. Check. Excellent healthcare.
Check that off. Are there.What's your experience with LGBTQ
friendly healthcare providersand facilities in the city? Are there
any good resources for LGBTQplus seniors?
(29:53):
Yeah, well, I was boardpresident of one of them, so I think
there's really four prettylarge centers for lgbt care in the
city. Allies for health andwell being was the one I was affiliated
with. And that started, as, inthe 1980s, particularly focused on
HIV care, but now has evolvedinto really full service care for
(30:14):
the lgbt community similarly.Well, the Pursehead center is actually
the second oldest lgbtcounseling center in the country
and even recently added agymnasium specifically for the trans
community, which I didn'trealize would be a thing. But they
also, every week, sponsor asession for that. They call the older,
(30:37):
wiser leaders owls for short.It's kind of like sage that people
may have heard of in othercommunities, and then transunited
is focused then on the needsof the trans community. Shepherd
Wellness is focused on theneeds of those people living with
HIV. So been around for a longtime with lots of support services
for them. We also have thePiTT men study looking at the impact
(31:01):
of HIV on particularly men'slives, obviously. And it's just celebrated
its 40th anniversary ofworking in this region research field.
Wow.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
Yeah. I was actually aparticipant in that because they
were looking at screening as well.
Check the box on that one. Soit looks like, you know, as far as
(31:23):
everyone and the LGBTQcommunity has a vibrant healthcare
system in, I think.
And there's options, too. Ionly listed one of the four, but
there are three others thatare really solid options for people,
too.
That's great. That iswonderful. So how would you describe
(31:43):
Pittsburgh's LGBTQ scene? Isthere a vibrant community, or Gabriel,
so to speak, or is it more low key?
Yeah, well, part of thequestion also relates to, is there
a center or anything? So thereis the equality center. That's for
LGBTQ resources. They probablymost famously host a very large monthly
(32:09):
gay bingo session to raisemoney for the center and some other
get togethers as well. There'sin development right now a new housing
facility in Oakland, theuniversity area, specifically for
lower income LGBTQ members. 48units for rent, open next year. That's
great. There's five gay barsin various parts of town. There's
(32:33):
not really a specific gaycommunity or gay neighborhood, really?
Kind of used to be, but not somuch anymore in terms of other kind
of gay focused activities toways to meet people. There's a pretty
active gay club sports scene.We got bowling, bocce, kickball,
softball. There's a fairnumber of gay naked activities. For
(32:53):
those that want those.
Tell us. Tell us what? Tell us.
Yeah, well, there's yoga,karaoke, trivia, and bowling, which.
I love the name for that one.It's called balls out bowling.
That cracks me up. Nakedbowling and naked karaoke.
(33:14):
Naked karaoke, yeah. You letit all hang out when you sing. I
guess. I don't know.
Holy shit. Especially seniors.The balls will drop.
And then there's some otherkinds of activities, perhaps a little
more mainstream. But there'sgay line dancing and square dancing.
There's a group called G two.H two specifically for older seniors.
(33:37):
G two. H two means gay guyhappy hour. That's been around for
years and years. Once a month,moves around to different bars around
town. Not all necessarily gayfocused bars. And there's a large
pride celebration heldsimultaneously downtown with the
annual big art Outdoor artsfestival. Ten day festival of the
(33:58):
Arts, downtown Pittsburgh. Andthen again, for those that may have
some other interests, there'sthree gay campgrounds within a two
hour drive. One of them iscalled Roseland down in West Virginia,
and it's always in the top tenof best gay campgrounds in the country.
And it's in a beautiful, veryrural setting up and up in the mountains
in West Virginia. Easy trip toget down there.
(34:19):
Interesting. So no shortage ofgay community.
There really isn't I think youcan find your tribe.
I think so, too. So there's.So there's no specific, like Philadelphia
has. Like they have the Gaborhood. Right. Which is basically where
(34:40):
a lot of businesses, bars, andrestaurants are. So I think Pittsburgh,
I read two areas. There's onesquirrel something and another area
right outside the city. Ithink that's the gay area. Or.
Well, you know, I guess youcould say that, but I don't really
(35:03):
think we have a gay birth. Theone that. That I think used to be
the gay neighborhood wasshadyside. Yeah. But I think people
have more distributed all overnow. You know, shady site is like
just east of Oakland, wherethe universities are. So it's kind
of a livelier, youngerneighborhood that way. Squirrel Hill,
you mentioned, is residentialand multicultural community. It actually
(35:27):
historically was known as thejewish neighborhood, particularly
orthodox Jews. More recently,an awful lot of the asian students
and faculty from Pitt andCarnegie Mellon in particular have
lived there. So you see a veryactive asian presence there. Then
I think people who really wantfantastic views would live up on
Mount Washington. Cause theyreally just have a spectacular view
(35:50):
of downtown and the rivers ordowntown in a high rise like we do.
And then there's a coupleothers that are kind of fun. The
strip district. And it's notnaked. It's because it's a narrow
strip of land between theriver and where the hills go up.
It used to be warehouses,mostly, a lot of ethnic grocery stores
and fish markets and thingslike that there, but now has developed
(36:13):
into residential and kind ofwhere some of the AI stuff is. So
it's a pretty vibrant,actively developing neighborhood.
And Lawrenceville is kind ofcool and trendy. And that's just
east of the strip district.And then the mexican war streets,
for people who like morehistoric architecture. They call
it that because it was builtduring the Mexican War. And all of
the streets are named afterbattles or generals from the Mexican
(36:36):
War. And that's got a lot ofhistoric brick row houses. Kind of
looks like Philly in a way.But then there's some nice suburbs,
too. Mount Lebanon, FoxChapel, Oakmont, where they hold
the gulf US open prettyregularly. And Sewickley are all
some pretty nice, relativelyclose suburban areas, too.
Do the suburban areas have anycommuter rails that go into Pittsburgh
(36:58):
at all?
Mount Lebanon does. Yeah,Mount Lebanon does. The others? No,
they bus service but not rail.But then they commute. That's why
I think what made MountLebanon kind of popular, because
it does have the rail lineright into downtown from there.
Mm hmm. Makes sense. Allright, so good areas. Every. It seems
(37:22):
like Pittsburgh is Philly.There's a neighborhood, different
neighborhood, you know, thatcomprises the whole city.
Yeah, they really are. Andthey're all kind of distinct. And
you can kind of come and go todifferent kind of feel for each of
them. Some of themhistorically were ethnic based. Like,
there's actually an areacalled Polish Hill. And Bloomfield
(37:42):
historically was the italianneighborhood and still has the little
Italy days and that kind ofthing. So there still are some closer
to ethnically focusedneighborhoods, but with some gentrification
and things, I think that's alittle less than it used to be.
It reminds me of New York inthe old days, too. I grew up in Brooklyn,
(38:03):
and different areas ofBrooklyn, you could have, you know,
orthodox Jews and, you know,all different ethnicities.
Right.
Different areas.
Yeah, it really was kind of,in fact, those are kind of in a row.
Polish leads into Bloomfield,which leads into Squirrel hill. So
it was kind of the three kindof ethnicities all in a row.
(38:26):
Yeah. All right, so wementioned already walkability and
transportation. So really goodthing that I like about. I'm all
about walkability. And if youcould walk pretty much everywhere,
you can walk to a doctor. Canyou walk to, like, a pharmacy?
(38:47):
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, and,you know, besides downtown and all
that whole list that Imentioned, you know, I think there's
a couple other really walkableneighborhoods, maybe not quite as,
I mean, they don't have thesports venues and all that kind of
thing. But, like, the mexicanwar streets I mentioned is just across
the river from downtown. Andso it would have a lot of those same
kinds of amenities as well asthe hospital right there, too. We
(39:09):
don't have one right downtown,although it's pretty close. But,
but so I think. I think thatreally, the war streets, shadyside
has lots of walkableamenities. Lawrenceville does, and
Squirrel hill does, too. Sothere are other walkable ones. Not
like I say, they don't havethe Amtrak station or those.
I love that you can walk tothe Amtrak station. That's really.
(39:32):
That's convenient.
Yeah, we did just a coupleweeks ago, actually, and took the
Amtrak.
Where'd you go?
It's a very pleasant way to goto New York. It really is.
I would definitely do thatinstead of flying.
Oh, yeah. Because it's right downtown.
It's so close to you.
Yeah. And we, you know, wewalked right from Penn Station in
New York City to the hotel wewere staying at on 28th street. So
(39:54):
we never used a motorizedvehicle the whole time you were mentioning
climate change that Amtraktouts how climate friendly taking
the train is relative todriving and certainly flying.
How far is it by train?Pittsburgh? New York City? Is it.
You get on at 730 in themorning and you're to downtown to
(40:17):
Manhattan by five.
Okay.
Yeah, it's about it. It'sabout a seven hour drive, but then
you got to figure out where topark and all that too.
It's an old date thing.
It's a little longer thandriving, but no hassle.
Yeah, I would rather sit back,relax, let somebody else do the driving.
(40:37):
And it's generally very quietand relaxing. And the train pretty
much goes along the river soit can have some nice scenery along
the way.
I would definitely do that.And where else besides New York does
the train go to?
So you can get one to Chicagogoing west, or you can get one east
going to DC. And as I said,that one keeps on now will keep on
(40:59):
going all the way to Miami.
Wow.
It's a 40 something hour tripto Miami. But yeah, I'd get a sleeper
car for that one.
It's a little bit. Yeah, it'sa bit much.
But. But to DC is it leaves at530 in the morning and you're there
by one in the afternoon.
How about Philly?
That it's the same one thatgoes on to New York. So it leaves
(41:22):
at 730 in the morning and getsto Philly. I'm gonna say like two,
something like that.
Okay, one or two.
And it's a five hour drivefrom Pittsburgh to Philly. And Pennsylvania
turnpike can be pretty pricey,so it can be a cost effective way
to get to Philly. And theflights are also ridiculously expensive
for such a short trip.
(41:42):
Yeah, I forgot to ask aboutthe people themselves. Do you find
people more laid back andmaybe nicer? The Midwest type?
It definitely feels like aMidwest city. Not the kind of push.
(42:02):
Yeah, that's one of the waysthat we like to look down our noses
at Philly and say that we're alot better than them.
Because to me there is adifference. Whenever I lived in New
York, I was like, oh, theseNew Yorkers, they're so crass. And,
you know, the Midwesternersare so kind and nice people.
(42:23):
So I think it's an east coastcity with a Midwest vibe. I really
do.
Yeah. I mean, for instance, Itook a flop in this, on the stairs
in Grand Central one day,going to work, dressed up in a suit.
Do you think one person said,sir, can I help you? I was laying,
my ankle was like blown up,like this. And you think. And they
(42:45):
stepped over me.
Wow.
Because there was huge amountof people just trying to run to the
subway.
Right.
But they ran over me.
Yeah. I think it probably doeshave to do with some of that crowding
thing. And it's just not that crowded.
Yeah.
That we have to worry aboutthat. No, I think people would definitely
be checking me out.
(43:05):
You know what? Now that I'mretired, I need that less of a crowding.
I feel like even though I'm anurbanite and love the city and the
feel and the culture of thecity, I think I'm ready for a little
less crowded.
Yeah.
You know, even though Phoenix,it's a huge city, but I don't know,
(43:28):
it's really spread out. It'sspread out. It really.
Although the parts we live inare not quite like that. Yeah.
Yeah. All right, let's talk alittle bit about arthem culture and
my favorite, dining. SoPittsburgh is known for its cultural
(43:48):
institutions. What kind of artscene can retirees expect to enjoy?
Are there museums, theaters,live music venues that are worth
checking out?
A lot of people may have heardof the robber barons who were the
industrialists of the late 18hundreds and early 20th century.
(44:09):
And a lot of them assuagetheir guilt for all the bad things
they did to people by settingup some foundations. So Pittsburgh
benefits from its foundation,community, and a rich philanthropic
history. For instance, theCarnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, with
one membership, you get theart museum that has a biannual international
(44:30):
art exposition that drawspeople from all over the world to
display new works of art.There's a natural history section
with giant dinosaurs and allthat kind of stuff. A science center
for the kids. And then theAndy Warhol Museum is part of that,
too. And a lot of people don'tknow Andy was from Pittsburgh, and
his museum in Pittsburgh is inan old factory building. And it's
(44:53):
the largest museum in theworld dedicated to a single artist.
And some people say Andy wouldturn over in his grave if he knew
it was in Pittsburgh.Nonetheless, that was a different
Pittsburgh back then when hewas growing up. There's a great children's
museum and quite a few artgalleries I think I previously mentioned.
We've got an opera. We havetouring Broadway series in the winter
(45:14):
and then the civic lightOpera, that's locally produced productions
in the summer. Downtown there,there's several live theaters, one
of them that's specificallyfocused on new works. We have a world
class symphony and a beautifulredone symphony hall. The Phipps
Conservatory has a beautifulchronic exhibit, but new displays
(45:35):
every quarter. The Historymuseum. The Heinz History Museum
is a branch of theSmithsonian, and so it has both local
exhibits and touring national ones.
What's in the Heinz Museum? Ketchup.
Yeah. No pickles. A lot ofwestern Pennsylvania stuff. They
have a standing exhibit forMister Rogers and the native american
(45:57):
history. The things about thewar of british and indian war. And
because that took place, someof it right in Pittsburgh there.
George Washington came toPittsburgh, by the way, as part of
all that. In fact, Pittsburghwas founded in 1742.
Wow.
Yeah.
And you mentioned Carnegie. Isay Carnegie, but you say Carnegie.
(46:18):
Is it the same? Is it the samelike Carnegie hall? Yeah, like from
New York.
I'm talking like a Yenzertz.
That's Pittsburgh language,but they talk like that.
Yeah.
In Pittsburgh.
Yeah.
Carnegie.
Carnegie, yeah. Yeah.
Okay.
And it. It's the same one asCarnegie hall, but.
Yeah, yeah. Okay.
Yeah, yeah. But in Carnegiehall, the Carnegie museums.
Carnegie.
(46:38):
Yeah.
That's kind of cool.
And then what else? Got agreat zoo. We have a net. The national
aviary is there, which mygrandkids call the bird zoo. And
then, of course, if you wantto talk about our culture, you can't
not talk about the Steelerspens and pirates with all having
the same colors, black andgold, which I don't know if any other
city does that, that all theirteams are the same colors.
(47:00):
Interesting.
It's a pretty sports crazycity. And the Steelers travel better
than just about any other NFLteam for a lot of the other teams
complain it's a home game forus when we play at their stadium.
That's what I hear. You seepeople all over the streets, right,
with their jerseys on and, youknow, sports fans all over the place.
(47:22):
For your listeners who aregrandparents like me, there's a lot
of great grandparent optionsfor outings with the grandkids, with
the science center, thechildren's museum. There's an optical
illusion museum, the zoo, theaviary, water parks. Kennywood's
one of the great old amusementparks in the country. City pools
(47:42):
and splash pads. So a lot ofgreat outing opportunities for grandparents.
I could be your grandkid.
There you go. I'll be your daddy.
Okay, daddy. Who's your daddy?Okay, so there's a lot of cultural
things. You have live theater.I've seen pictures of the theaters.
(48:03):
They're just beautiful.
Oh, they. The downtown area,the part that they now call the cultural
district, used to be the redlight district. And all of these
film. I know all thesephilanthropic people got together
and bought up a lot of theland down through there and spent
a bazillion dollars redoingwhat were either empty spaces, factories,
(48:26):
or just some world classtheaters. Yeah.
Cool. Very cool. How about thedining scene? Restaurant scene. I
know. Pierogies, right?
Oh yeah. Pierogies are a thingas our primani sandwich. Sandwich
which is inserted forsandwiches. I'm not proud of that
one.
What's on that?
(48:46):
A whole bunch of meat with thecoleslaw and the french fries all
between the buns.
Wow.
French fries in the sandwich?Yeah. Yeah. You pretty much have
to deconstruct it to eat it.It's just too tall. Yeah, but yeah,
that's a popular item. And youknow, with all the focus on our politics
right now, they've all comethrough and tried to eat a pierogi
(49:08):
and a permanent sandwich. Pierogis.
I was surprised.
Oh yeah. Well, because of thepolish influence, I guess. Yeah.
In fact, the pirates, one oftheir shows during the in between
innings is a pierogi race thatpeople dressed up as perogies and
they run around the bases.
(49:30):
Oh my God.
Are a thing. But for moreupscale restaurants. So we do have
two beer nominated chefs inPittsburgh. And people would probably
be surprised to know that oneof them is a vegan restaurant called
Apteca and the other one is aThai restaurant called Pusadis Garden.
(49:50):
So you don't necessarily thinkabout Thai and vegan associated with
Pittsburgh? I don't think.
Right. No.
We just got a restaurant onthe New York Times top 50 list of
restaurants called fetfisk,which I don't think has anything
to do with fetish. But itsounds like it might.
That's what it sounds like.
But it's supposed to be verygood. I hadn't heard about it till
(50:12):
this and so I can't wait toget there. Con Alma is a bar restaurant
downtown that Esquire put onits best bars in the US list. And
then the Pittsburgh magazinehas an annual listing of the top
25 restaurants. So if youdon't know where to go, you can find
one there. Or the city paperhas a public poll of people voting
(50:33):
on their favorites. Lots ofbreweries. There's some restaurant
areas that they just clumped awhole bunch in kind of the same neighborhood
so you can kind of wanderaround. And then one plus post Covid
is that we've got a provisionfor sidewalk dining in a lot of potential,
particularly downtown, butother areas, some nearby wineries,
as I mentioned, is anotheroption too.
(50:54):
So being downtown, are thereany restaurants that you could walk
to?
Oh, absolutely. I got marriedin one. I didn't tell you that? Yeah,
no, we got married across thestreet from where we live. This was
not a local one necessarily,but Eddie Merlot's steakhouse and.
Yeah. So it was a locallysourced wedding.
So cool.
Yeah, very local. So, yeah,there's a lot to walk to downtown
(51:19):
and not just change. I mean,there's a lot of local ones there.
A great sushi one that we wentto the other night, meat and potatoes.
There's Mexican. There'sbourbon and bridges, which is a bar
restaurant. So, yeah, a lot ofgood options right by us.
Or, you know, if it's not, I'msure it's a short uber away.
Oh, yeah. But we really prettymuch eat downtown, to be honest with
(51:41):
you.
A great argument, too, if youhave it available.
Yeah, really nice.Argentinian. Just two blocks away
from us, too. Yeah.
That's so great, thatwalkability thing, you know, restaurants,
too.
It's very nice. I mean, Ithought we were convenient in Phoenix,
but we do have it beat in Pittsburgh.
That's great. Good. It'ssomething to think about for those.
(52:03):
There are many people in ourcommunity that want to settle down
into a city where that's welcome.
Right, right. I think it's abig plus, personally.
Yeah, I definitely agree. So,okay. Great restaurants. That checks
the box, too, Mike.
(52:26):
I'm not being paid by thechamber of commerce.
Right. In the city ofPittsburgh, talk a little bit about
crime and safety. Do you feelsafe where you are?
I do. You know, I mean, maybea little less so than pre Covid,
just because there aren'tquite as many people on the streets.
And so the relative percentageof, you know, workers to homeless
(52:47):
people has shifted a bit sincethen. But so there is some panhandling
on the streets in downtown,for sure, I think not so much in
the other neighborhoods I'vementioned, but more so downtown.
I don't see it anywhere nearas much in the shady side or, you
know, squirrel hill or theseother places.
(53:07):
Is the city doing anything?
Yeah, well, we just built. Andall these philanthropy people got
together and built a newhomeless shelter on the edge of downtown,
actually right next door tothe city jail or county jail, which
is a little weird. But theplus is that it's not necessarily
affecting other people who owntheir place. So that's nice. They
(53:31):
put in some new rules aboutencampments, and so they can be closed
if there's any crimeassociated with them. There's really
only one downtown anymore, andit's really tucked away right in
the same area. With the jailand the shelter. But they do close
them down, and it'scompassionate closing. They will
(53:53):
not close it till they go inand try to find someplace for everybody
to go confused. That'ssomething different. And they don't
bulldoze it. They, you know,tell them they collect their stuff
and they store it for them andthings like that if they.
Need to, that's good, because,you know, cities, if they just like,
say, okay, go, where do they go?
Right, right.
They're just pushing them fromone place to another.
(54:15):
It's a big political issueright now for both city, county,
and state government to comeup with more housing options, particularly
for homeless people, butothers too. So anyway, but then other
things that are happening isthat they did open a new kind of
precinct office downtown. Theysubstantially increased the number
of patrols on the street. Andthey've done some of the things you've
(54:38):
seen some progressive placesof matching a social worker with
the police patrols. So they'redoing a lot of that. And they've
got this Pittsburgh welcometeam, I think it's what it's called,
that does a number of things,both helping people who can't find
their way, but also helpinghomeless people. And they even do.
They do CPR and have naloxonefor overdoses and things. So a lot
(55:02):
of different activities like that.
That's good. So do you feelsafe? Like if you had to walk the
dog, like at two in themorning, just like we had to the
other day. Yeah. Would likegoing out outside of your condo,
do you feel safe?
Yeah. Now, I got to tell youthat we're on. We're right next to
the state park, and we have avery nice park like area behind us.
(55:26):
So it's not like we'resurrounded by high rises right there.
But I feel very safe rightthere. I go out and sit on our plaza
all the time, probably not too.
Much at 02:00 a.m. not two in.
The morning, but yeah, butother times. But yeah, I think I
would. I think I would. Yeah.And I, you know, I've been involved
with the management of ourcondo association, and I only recall
(55:46):
in 22 years, two or threepeople that had any direct crime
related issues that filteredup, at least to the board level that
we heard about.
So no violent crime going onin your particular area?
Not that I can think of. Imean, there was a robbery kind of
(56:07):
thing, but not anything toomuch. But the statistics, I will
tell you that this Us newsthing I was looking at did say Pittsburgh
was slightly higher than thenational average for violent crime
and other kinds of crime. Ifollow them in the paper, and I don't
think very many of them are inneighborhoods that most of the gays
(56:28):
would probably move to. Theneighborhoods that I read about are
not.
We're particular when it comesto that. So, like, I'm trying to
compare to, like, Phoenix.Phoenix. You hear of a lot of stuff
going on all the time. Like, Iget news break. I should really unsubscribe
to that because every 2seconds, there's something going
(56:49):
on somewhere.
Right.
So there is. Phoenix has, youknow, it depends upon what area you're
in as well.
Right.
Or kind of where we are. We'rekind of in that bubble.
Right, right. And I think mostof the neighborhoods that gayshood
live in Pittsburgh are thatway, and those neighborhoods are
(57:10):
all reasonably contiguous. Soit's not like you have to go through
a place that might be riskierto get to Lawrenceville or to Oakland
or something like that.
That's good. Yeah, that'sdefinitely good. All right, so final
insights. If someone from theLGBTQ community is considering retiring
(57:35):
in Pittsburgh, what advicewould you give them?
Well, I think it's a mediumsized big city with almost every
big city amenity you wouldwant, but easily accessible and relatively
hassle free with a relativelylow cost of living due to the housing
costs and this state tax issuewith no taxes on pensions and Social
(57:56):
Security. So I think it's agood choice for people as long as
they understand the winterwill be gray. And there's probably
nothing more fun than a wintervacation to a warm location if you're
living in a northern city.
Phoenix.
Yeah. Makes you prove. That'sreally why we bought the house there.
(58:18):
Exactly. Yeah. I couldunderstand you need, you know, if
you get those gray days, Ithink, if I'm not mistaken, you get.
I don't know if it's 174 graydays or 174 sunny days.
Well, they're pretty much thesame thing.
Same thing, right? Prettymuch. So, yeah.
(58:41):
Yeah. I would say that it'sprobably more sunny than grassy days,
but you can see it's not realfar apartheid. But the other thing
I would say is most of thoseare in the winter, not so much in
the spring and summer and fall.
Okay, that's good. That'sgood. What's something about living
in Pittsburgh that mightsurprise someone who's thinking of
relocating there?
(59:02):
Yeah, I guess this is bothsurprise and summary, but you know
how much there is to do, howcosmopolitan it is and how accessible
that is. And I guess the onething that might be a little bit
of a surprise is that on aspring afternoon in 2026, you'd be
able to attend the outdoor NFLdraft and walk four blocks to the
(59:24):
Andy Warhol Museum in the same afternoon.
Wow. Well, that's great. Yeah.I've discovered, you know, in research,
doing a little bit of researchon Pittsburgh. It really has a lot
to offer as far as amenities.It's like a big city amenity, but
kind of a smaller city.
(59:45):
Yep. Yep.
That's how I feel.
I think that's true. You know,and I'm not sure that every one of
our amenities are world class,but I think they're all very good
and so, yeah, I think that'svery true. And the accessibility,
you know, to get to, if youdon't like where you are and you
want to try somethingdifferent, you can get to a lot of
places pretty easily.
Accessibility, walkability,things to do, culture, arts. I, you
(01:00:11):
know, I started. I checkedboxes on everything. So, yeah, what's
so bad? So, yeah, I'm going tocome. I'm going to come visit one
day.
You're welcome anytime.
Thank you. Any other finalthoughts that you might have, Mike?
No, I don't. Listener.
I think we covered the bases.I appreciate the opportunity to pushed
(01:00:33):
me to do a little researchthat I didn't know of some of this
stuff before I started gettingready for this, but, you know, a
fair amount of it.
But there you go. That's why Ienjoy doing these, too. I get to
meet people all over the worldand yeah, I get to learn about different
places. It's really a greateducation as well for me, so totally
enjoy doing it.
(01:00:53):
Great.
All right, Mike, well, thankyou so much for coming and happy
to do it. Very fun being apart of this podcast. We do appreciate
it and thank you, and we'llsee you on the next one.
Okay, bye bye bye.
Thank you for listening to thewhere do gays retire? Podcast. If
(01:01:13):
you enjoyed today's episode,please subscribe to our podcast and
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Welcome to the where do gaysretire? Podcast, where we help you
in the LGBTQ community find asafe and affordable retirement place.
Join Mark Goldstein as heinterviews others.
Who live in gay friendlyplaces around the globe. Learn about
the climate, cost of living,healthcare, crime and safety, and
more. Now, here's your hostMark Goldstein. Have you ever wondered
(00:32):
what it's like to live andretire in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania?
It's become very popularlately, so stay tuned and stay to
the end of the podcast episodeand find out. Today we have our special
guest, Mike Madden. Mike wasborn in 1952, raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
(00:55):
He moved to South Bend,Indiana for college and then to Washington,
DC for medical school andresidency. He married and then raised
three sons in northeastPennsylvania, a small town outside
of Erie. Due to a job change,he moved to Pittsburgh in 2002. After
25 years of marriage, hedecided it was time to live authentically
(01:19):
as a gay man. In 2005, he metRon Cenarius, a polyglot and Latin
teacher, and they married in2015. When it was finally legal,
I had to look up polyglot glutbefore together after enjoying traveling
and their travel claim to fameis dancing to dancing Queen on all
(01:44):
seven continents. You have toexplain that to me too.
Sure.
They particularly enjoy gaycruises, ten so far, and land excursions
with gay groups. Mike has alsotraveled to all 50 states. That's
pretty impressive. Covidclipped their travel wings and in
2020 they decided to buy awinter home in Phoenix. Hi neighbor.
(02:09):
And during a bike ride. Familyis important to them, especially
spending time with their fivechildren. Three followed them to
Pittsburgh, one to Phoenix,and their five grandsons. Other interests
include the PittsburghSteelers and the Fighting irish,
hitting the gym, riding bikes,participating in cultural events,
(02:29):
having dinners with friends,supporting gay focused organizations,
and hosting other snowbirds inPhoenix. And Mike, who is Michael
Madden, MD, is a self employedconsultant to health plans and corporations
currently focused on tobaccoharm reduction and efforts to get
(02:50):
to zero new cases of HIV AIDS.Regarding THR, he has published opinion
pieces in Newsweek and severalregional newspapers, testified before
legislative bodies in tenstates, and educated healthcare providers
on this critical public healthstrategy in various settings. Well,
(03:13):
Mike, that's, you did quite alot and you have a good bio. Thank
you so much for joining us.Appreciate it.
Great to be here.
Thank you. And we've actuallymet in person, so it's a little bit
different than your normalpodcast when I don't know what's
(03:34):
going to be or who's going tobe on the other side of the screen.
So welcome, Michael.
Thank you.
So let's open up. What makesPittsburgh such an attractive city
for the LGBTQ community andretirees? There's something unique
about the atmosphere orcommunity that stands out. I know
Pittsburgh lately has beengetting a lot of positive press as
(03:56):
far as retirement city.
Right? Right. It really has.Well, I think that's because it's
an east coast city, sort ofwith a Midwest vibe and friendliness.
It's big enough to have reallygood amenities, about 300,000 people
in the city, 1.2 million inthe county, but limited hassle. And
I think it's got a couple ofgood gay bona fides most people don't
(04:20):
know. Queer as folk was setthere, at least the us version, although
admittedly most of it wasfilmed in Toronto, but it was set
there on Liberty Avenue, nearwhere I live. Mister Rogers is from
Pittsburgh, and I think he'sprobably our first lgbt ally, or
at least a good neighbor. Andone more is that our police chief
(04:42):
happens to be gay. Not toomany cities can say that.
Pretty cool. So. AndPittsburgh has reinvented itself
for years from its industrialpast to a modern, tech driven city.
How do you feel thistransformation has impacted retirees
in the LGBTQ community? Has itimpacted at all?
(05:02):
Sure. Oh, yeah. Well, firstand foremost, the smoke is mostly
gone, so it's no longer thesmoky city. We don't have the world's
best air quality, but it's anothing like it was. There's no gray
buildings anymore, you know, alot of people, with the steel mills
closing, moved out in theeighties and nineties, but since
then, the population hasstabilized to growing slowly. Prior
(05:22):
to Covid, the downtown, Ithought, really felt like a mini
Manhattan. A lot of high risesand lots of activity on the streets.
Covid clipped that a bit. Theoffices obviously are less occupied.
The crowding's down a bit, butit's coming back. I think downtown
Pittsburgh is kind ofreinventing itself the way the whole
city did back with the steelmill change. And it'll take some
(05:44):
time to fully reinvent. Notthat it's gone, but it's going to
take some work to get to whereit was. Fortunately, there's some
assets. You know, withCarnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh,
and Duquesne University, thiswould probably surprise a lot of
people that it's estimated wehave 145,000 college students in
Pittsburgh and Alleghenycounty, and there's a really strong
(06:06):
tech sector, partly because ofthose universities. Lots of AI, lots
of autonomous vehicledevelopment. See these driverless
things going around a goodbit, so.
Oh, you have them, too. InPittsburgh, like we have in Phoenix?
Yep. Definitely do not. Wedon't have. We don't have taxis yet,
but mostly trial at this point.
Yep. Yeah. We have thosedriverless vehicles running all around
(06:31):
Phoenix, as you know. Okay,interesting. So let's talk a little
bit about Pittsburgh'sclimate. How would you describe Pittsburgh's
climate throughout the year,and how have you seen a change in
the past decade due to climate change?
I call it. We have three greatseasons, and 1 think that we're maybe
(06:54):
the second cloudiest big cityin the country after Seattle. But
that's mostly in winter.There's a really nice change of seasons.
I think the fall is lastinglonger with climate change going
later into the year. Spring'scoming earlier. I don't think the
summers have really gottenthat much hotter, though. And, you
know, I think days over 90 arelike, oh, my God, it's terrible.
(07:17):
And that's certainly not muchto Phoenix people. And a lot less
snow than there used to be. Ithink is the other thing I've noticed.
Is it humid in the summer?
You know, it can be sometimes,but it's not really like the east
coast humid or the south, butit can be kind of humid sometimes.
It's certainly relative toPhoenix. Yes.
Right. And not relative toPhoenix. But it's not Florida, right?
(07:41):
No, not Florida, definitely.
Okay. Any flooding concerns?
Well, you know, Pittsburgh isthere because it's the confluence
of three rivers. Two riverscome together and form the Ohio right
there. And so it had a longhistory of flooding, maybe before
flooding became fashionable.Fortunately, in the years gone by,
(08:02):
a lot of work's been done tomitigate that, to prevent flooding,
and with upstream rivers ordams and lakes and things. So I think
Pittsburgh's relativelydisaster free. We have very rare
tornadoes. We've had some rainfrom hurricanes, but unlike poor
southeast right now, you know,the worst rain we ever had from a
(08:23):
hurricane was six inches fromIvan in 2004, and no real earthquake
risk. So I think we're, youknow, relatively disaster free. I
grew up in Oklahoma wherethere were tornadoes all the time.
We don't see that. And interms of what's being done to mitigate
it, you know, I talked aboutthe flooding part. One thing that,
from electrical standpoint,they're doing is that people in Pittsburgh
(08:45):
can opt to get theirelectricity from purely clean sources,
you know, windmills and solar,and that's a checkbox you make in.
Making your electricitycompany decisions, and it doesn't
cost anymore. Right. Okay,that's pretty good. Now, Pittsburgh,
I know in winter they get coldwinters. So how much snow do you
(09:07):
get?
Not that much anymore. Gottathink it. Last year it was no more
than ten or 15 inches for thewhole winter, if that, you know,
I mean, the big snowstorm nowis like three inches.
That's not bad at all. No, I'mused to the New York.
People kind of thinking of thesnow belt, but that's northwest Pennsylvania.
(09:30):
That's about 2 hours north ofPittsburgh. That's where you get
the lake effect snow. And theydo get heavy snows up there, but
that mostly goes away by thetime it gets down because we're about
2 hours south of lake.
Is that like lake Erie up there?
Yes, lake Erie's up there. Yeah.
Okay. So, okay. You're prettysafe from this lake effect. I know
that. The lake effect can be pretty.
(09:53):
Oh, yeah. Well, I lived up there.
Pretty mean.
Yeah. There were times whenyou'd pull up to the intersection
and have to kind of lookaround because the snow was so high.
Right. Okay. With risingconcerns about climate change, has
Pittsburgh started preparingfor. Well, you said they are preparing
(10:13):
for potential impacts withflooding. How about heat waves or
severe storms? Do you knowanything about.
Yeah, we really like to say wedon't have the tornado things that
I grew up with. I mean, I evenhad a tornado shelter in my backyard
growing up. We don't see anyof that in Pittsburgh. And there
was one sort of very brieftornado warning this summer, and
(10:34):
everybody was all excited. Oh,my God, what do you do with that?
There's no tornado sirens orany of.
That kind of stuff, so youdon't feel like Dorothy.
There's none of that going on.And I say the flooding thing really,
I think, has been pretty wellmanaged. I mean, I live on the river,
but we are officially out ofthe floodplain. And I live right
by where the three rivers cometogether. But from a flood standpoint,
(10:57):
they don't consider us in a floodplain.
Okay, let's talk a little bitabout geography. So, for someone
new to Pittsburgh, how doesthe city's geography shape daily
life? Are there certain areasthat are more retiree friendly at
all? Sure. Can you alsoexplain, like, where is Pittsburgh
(11:20):
located in all of Pennsylvania?
Yeah. Well, it's in the.Called southwestern Pennsylvania.
It's kind of the. AndPittsburgh has sometimes been called
the Paris of Appalachia. Andit's in the. Pretty much the southwest
corner. We're about 40 miles,I think, from Ohio and from West
Virginia and a little bit ofWest Virginia that sneaks up there
(11:42):
and so very southwest youknow, about halfway between New York
and Chicago way. Sometimes wedescribe it to people in other countries.
So it's very hilly. We are inthe Appalachians and you know, downtown
is kind of low, but rightacross the river goes up about 400ft,
I think, to an area calledMount Washington, which is great
(12:04):
for views of downtown. Andthey have funiculars going up the
sides of the cliff there.
I saw that. Yeah, I saw thaton a video.
They're fun to take out oftowners on a beautiful walk along
the, the edge of the ridge upthere. And beautiful to look from
our windows across there inthe fall to see the trees there changing.
(12:25):
But. So it's very hilly.Downtown is really in the middle
of the metropolitan area. It'snot like it's lopsided like some
cities. So that kind ofmitigates traffic issues pretty much
because everybody's goingopposite directions. There's one
north south interstate andpretty much two east west ones. And
I. So that makes it veryaccessible that way and mitigates
(12:47):
any real traffic issues otherthan there's a couple of tunnels
and a couple of bridges thathave some backup during rush hour,
but not too much in the way oftraffic. But it's a city of bridges
because of the hills andbecause of the rivers and streams.
In fact, I'm not sure I couldfact check this, but it's said that
we are either the first orsecond bridgiest city in the world.
(13:11):
Right up there with Venice,depending on how you count them and
that sort of thing. And thengeographically, we're close to things.
For instance, the Erie area isabout an hour and a half to 2 hours
north of us where presque IsleState park is. And that's if you
want beach type summervacation. They've got about 7 miles
of a peninsula out into LakeErie. And if it's windy coming from
(13:32):
the west, they get some goodwaves. There's mountains with skiing
just an hour and a half away.To the east, there's raft trips on
the rivers. It's a prettyquick trip up to Niagara Falls or
over to falling water. FrankLloyd Wright's UNESCO heritage architectural
site and even wineries. Kindof the along Lake Erie, you know,
kind of like the finger Lakeregion of New York. So yeah, geographically
(13:58):
a nice bunch of variety.
Now talking about the bridges,the most bridgiest place. I don't
know if I read wrong, but Ithought I read something like Pittsburgh
had like 400 bridges.
Oh, at least.
Yeah, they do.
Oh yeah.
Wow.
Yeah.
400 is a lot.
(14:19):
It's a lot of bridges.
It's a lot.
All those hills and then therivers and streams leading to them.
But yeah, there's a lot of hundred.
Where do they have 400bridges? It's pretty funny.
Well, I can see six or sevenright from my condo crossing the
rivers.
Okay. And. Okay. And explainyou. So you live in the downtown
(14:42):
in a condo. Right.
Right.
And let's talk a little bitabout walkability, too.
Sure.
So you said previously that itis pretty walkable where you are.
Can you elaborate on that andtell us?
Well, downtown, I think is, Icall it maybe the most walkable neighborhood
(15:03):
in the United States,depending on what you want to do
and like. Because, andsomebody needs to correct me if I'm
wrong. Fact check this if youwould. But right from my condo within
a mile, I can walk to threemajor league sports venues, you know,
football, baseball and hockey.We've got Point State park across
the street, a casino, lots ofmuseums, world class symphony opera,
(15:28):
Broadway shows, live theater,restaurants, gyms that take silver
sneakers. The benefit for someMedicare advantage people to have
a free gym. My PCP is acrossthe street. I used to work across
the street. There's an Amtrakstation, a long distance bus station,
a bike way right from us allthe way to DC. You know, my husband
(15:50):
and I don't have a car. And soif anybody, any of the listeners
want to tell me of a placethat's got all that within a mile
walking, I'd love to hear itbecause I don't. I say that and every
now and then I wonder, shouldI fact check that? But we, you know,
we don't have a car inPittsburgh. We use transit. We bike,
we use ubers. We can even walkwithout crossing the street to a
(16:11):
rental car facility if we wantto go on a weekend somewhere. And
two of them actually, dollarand Avisde and free grocery delivery.
Not free, but grocery deliveryservices and a downtown target that's
got a grocery.
Pretty amazing.
Yeah. So the public transitfor seniors in Pittsburgh is free.
There's a, like.
That's amazing, too.
That do I.
(16:32):
That amazes me.
Yeah. Free for seniors becausethe ad for the lottery is it supports
older Pennsylvania. So peoplebuy those lottery tickets and I get
a free bus pass.
So is it light rail?
So there are regular buses.They're developing a thing called
bus rapid transit that's kindof a cross between a light rail and
(16:54):
a bus with a dedicated lanebetween downtown and oakland, which
is the college part ofPittsburgh. And then there's dedicated
busways going to the east andto the west. And in fact, we have
a really pretty much nonstopbus from downtown to the airport.
And like I say, you ride itfor free. So it's a really good public
(17:16):
transit with a great app thattells you when the next one's coming.
And so those are great. Sothat's kind of the public transit
side. And we do have a, we dohave a light rail that goes underground
downtown, and over to thenorth shore where the two big stadiums
are. So a lot of people parkdowntown and take the rail under
underground to get over to the stadiums.
(17:36):
And how about I, how far isthe Pittsburgh airport?
Oh, about downtown. You know,there's. There can be traffic at
rush hour. Absent. Absent rushhour traffic. I think I went yes
last time in 18 minutes.
Can't beat it.
Yeah, I got an Uber downthere. It was pretty easy.
(17:57):
Pretty good.
There's lots of Ubers at theairport there. And they even still
have taxis, too.
They still do.
They do. From downtown, actually.
From the airport?
Yeah, yeah. To downtown.
Got it.
Since you mentioned theairport. So we've got a great airport
nonstop service to 52 cities,which a lot of people would be surprised
at, I think. And they'rebuilding a new billion dollar terminal
(18:19):
that's supposed to open nextyear. We got great train service
to Chicago, to Philly and NewYork City on one train line and then
down to DC. And they justannounced that the one to DC is now
going to keep going all theway to Miami with all the kind of
stops along the way. So that'sa great one.
That's awesome.
Really strong bike culture.Again, it's something I think a lot
(18:40):
of people might not thinkabout, particularly in a hilly city
like Pittsburgh.Unfortunately, you can stay along
the rivers and not have toclimb the hills.
Yeah, I don't want to climbthe hills.
Although there's this thingcalled Pogo that you can rent an
electric bike pretty cheaply.One of my jobs gives me access to
that for free. And those arereally fun to take around town. But
(19:02):
the riverfront trails, they'vereally done a good job developing
those and other protected bikelanes. A lot of people would be surprised
to know you can go nonstop ona rail to trails from Pittsburgh
to DC with almost no time oncity streets. It's all rails to trails.
It's called the greatAllegheny Passage, and then other
(19:24):
bike stuff. Once a month inthe summer, there's a thing called
open streets, where they closea whole neighborhood of streets with
no cars and thousands ofpeople bike ride on them. There's
a thing called the dirty dozenhill ride, because we do have the
hills. And if you're reallyinto hill riding, you can challenge
yourself to do that. And thenanother way to challenge yourself
is that every month in thesummer, there's an underwear bike
(19:47):
ride.
That's pretty funny. Soeverybody rides their bike in underwear.
Rides in their bike in theirunderwear and meets up at a bar.
It's an adult activity.
Yes, I'm sure. I'm sure. Thatsounds like fun.
Yeah. And then we got riverboats on the rivers too, for tours.
Or some people park where theyget the riverboat and they take it
(20:08):
over to the stadiums ratherthan parking by the stadiums for
a game.
Awesome, Mike. So let's talk alittle bit about cost of living and
affordability.
Sure.
How accessible is homeownership in Pittsburgh? What is
the. If you know the medianprice for a single family home or
condo right now?
(20:29):
Yeah. Well, I did a littleresearch on that. So in August of
this year, the median listingprice for a home in Pittsburgh was
$259,000, which is up about3.8% from a year ago. And it, despite
that, this listing said thatPittsburgh is only best to buy Detroit
to have the most affordablehousing costs of a major city in
(20:53):
the US. And that was in 2023.Along those lines, the us news and
world report ranking of bestplaces to retire for anybody, not
just gay people. Seven oftheir top ten were in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania.
Yeah. Partly because ofhousing costs, but also because Pennsylvania
doesn't have tax income frompensions, Social Security or 401
(21:17):
ks. So the two of thosetogether, and just so you know, Pittsburgh
was number ten on that list.So there were a few more affordable
places in Pennsylvania thanPittsburgh, but I don't think they've
got our amenities.
Yeah, you have the amenities.Does it change, does you think the
cost of living or price formedian home price changes in the
(21:38):
downtown area? Like, you haveall of that walkable convenience.
It's got a. It's. I can'tpicture 220,000 getting a condo in
downtown.
Well, actually, I mean, if aone bedroom, you might be able to.
In the building I live in, youknow, Pittsburgh unfortunately doesn't
(21:59):
have enough downtown housing,particularly condos. There's only
three or four condo typedevelopments there and so. But I
think you, you could probablysqueeze into a one bedroom from.
For around that currentestimate of ours, which was originally
a three bedroom, but weconverted it into a one bedroom because
(22:19):
we didn't want our kids tolive with us.
Oh, great idea.
It has kind of a guest room,but it's an awful lot.
Just make it all big.
Yeah. Anyway, I think nowzillow kind of estimates 450 for
it.
Okay. Still reasonable. Nowlet's talk a little bit about property
(22:43):
tax. So Pennsylvania'sproperty tax is pretty high in comparison
to other states like Arizona,for example.
Right, right. Well, it's theprimary way to fund the schools for
one. And then countygovernment too is how that's funded.
There's no, you know, kind ofcounty tax. There's a little bit
(23:04):
of a earned income tax in thecity of Pittsburgh, but not a general
income tax if you're notearning money. So that is one way
to do it. There's a weird partof the assessment law in Pennsylvania
though that like our placehasn't had. Most houses have not
been reassessed unless they'vesold since 2013. So they can have
(23:24):
a pretty low assessment onthem. I think Gars is assessed for
230 or something like that.And they don't increase it so far
until it sells. Sounfortunately, somebody who might
buy it may have. But at 238, Ithink is our assessment. We pay about
4000 to the county and about1000 to the city.
(23:46):
So a little bit over 5000 total.
Right.
Okay. It's still as compared.I'm comparing it to Arizona, of course,
and Arizona. And what's yoursquare footage?
1700.
Okay, so I have a 1700 inPhoenix and we pay 26 and change.
(24:07):
So.
Okay.
Yeah, but most, I don't thinkmost of that goes to education. That's
the difference.
Yeah. And the state. But thestate income tax is only 3%. I'm
not sure what Arizona's is.And that's for the income that we
would have to pay for, whichmost of our income isn't taxed at
the state level.
Right. Okay. Okay. How aboutrenting? If you were to rent one
(24:32):
to two bedroom apartment inthe city, what would it cost?
Well, I looked that up and theaverage rent in Pittsburgh is 1300
a month, which is 16% lowerthan the national average. And Zillow
said it's about 1100 for a onebedroom and 1400 for a two bedroom.
Now I got to tell you thataverage may come down because of
(24:54):
some neighborhoods that Ithink gay people may not choose to
live in. So I suspect that therents would be higher in many of
the places gays would want tomove and retire to. But that is the
average. And so if you got tocompare averages, that's the average.
Right. Okay, that's fair. Andhow about cost of groceries and utilities
(25:15):
to the national average? Is it cheaper?
Well, I couldn't find a costcomparison for electricity, except
that our rate is about. In thestate is about 14.5 cents per kilowatt
hour, which to me seemed likekind of in the middle. And the rates
in Pittsburgh, for somereason, are slightly higher than
(25:36):
the state average. Food andtransportation, by the one listing
I saw, said that on average,the state, the rest of the state
goods and services are 6%lower than the national average.
And healthcare is like 8%lower than national average.
Wow. So we're getting bargains there.
(25:57):
Yeah, well, that's. I guessthat's why so many are in that us
news and world report list.
Yes. At least seven inPennsylvania. Yeah. That's incredible.
Okay, so less than thenational average is always good.
You like that?
Yeah, I like that.
Yeah, we downtown, I mean,there's lots of farmers markets around,
(26:18):
because there is a lot offarming in the area around Pittsburgh.
And pretty much every goodsized neighborhood has a farmers
market at least once a week.Even downtown we have one. And a
lot of my neighbors, that'stheir primary shopping spot in the
summer months, actually goesfrom spring to fall.
Got it. So let's talk a littlebit about healthcare access. Healthcare
(26:41):
is so crucial for retirees,and the older you get, the more healthcare
you need.
We're consumers.
We are consumers. Howaccessible are physicians and specialists
in Pittsburgh? And do you havelong wait times for an appointment?
You know, you mentioned that Iam a physician, and my later years
(27:03):
I was in healthcare, healthinsurance, both on the Medicaid side
and for Blue Cross. So I knowa little bit about this stuff. There's
two large health systems thatdominate the market in Pittsburgh,
UPMC and Allegheny HealthNetwork. And they really compete
aggressively. And because ofthat, they work pretty hard to strive
(27:25):
to keep access high, becauseif you want to compete, but you have
no access, what's the point?So I think there really is a motivation
for that. And in my healthinsurance work, we got complaints
from people about thehealthcare system, obviously, from
time to time, and I don'treally recall many serious complaints
(27:45):
or consistent complaints aboutaccess. They complain about a lot
of things, but access wasn'tone of the ones that we heard that
much about.
How about quality?
Well, so these two systems arekind of fully integrated health systems
with their own healthinsurance companies. And I can tell
(28:06):
you that we look aggressivelyat the quality of those providers.
And that actually was, I wasin charge of quality performance
management for the Blue CrossBlue Shield association at one time.
So again, kind of my. In myfield, and quality is good. You know,
these hospital systems doregularly have people that are. Or
(28:26):
hospitals that are ranked onthe us news and World report of best
hospitals for this, that andthe other thing. They like to really
tout those. So we hear aboutit. So, yeah, very solid. I can't
say we've got any. You know,the children's hospital is great.
The UPMC system and theuniversity hospital probably has,
(28:47):
you know, maybe a little morereputation, although Allegheny health
network also has transplantservices, great cardiac services,
all that kind of. So they'reboth, I think, very solid quality.
So what are we talking about?If I make an appointment, you think
I have a, what, a two weekwait on average?
I, you know, with a new provider.
I guess you're saying maybe more.
No, no, I don't think so. Notnecessarily. I mean, for certain
(29:11):
isolated specialties, thatcould be the case, but I would say
not. I think dental is alittle more of an issue than medical,
but for most things, you know,two weeks, I can't imagine much longer
than that, generally.
That's great. That's great.Because there are places that. Oh,
yeah, much, much longer.
Yeah, it's a big issue.
(29:31):
Yeah. All right, then. Soexcellent. Check. Excellent healthcare.
Check that off. Are there.What's your experience with LGBTQ
friendly healthcare providersand facilities in the city? Are there
any good resources for LGBTQplus seniors?
(29:53):
Yeah, well, I was boardpresident of one of them, so I think
there's really four prettylarge centers for lgbt care in the
city. Allies for health andwell being was the one I was affiliated
with. And that started, as, inthe 1980s, particularly focused on
HIV care, but now has evolvedinto really full service care for
(30:14):
the lgbt community similarly.Well, the Pursehead center is actually
the second oldest lgbtcounseling center in the country
and even recently added agymnasium specifically for the trans
community, which I didn'trealize would be a thing. But they
also, every week, sponsor asession for that. They call the older,
(30:37):
wiser leaders owls for short.It's kind of like sage that people
may have heard of in othercommunities, and then transunited
is focused then on the needsof the trans community. Shepherd
Wellness is focused on theneeds of those people living with
HIV. So been around for a longtime with lots of support services
for them. We also have thePiTT men study looking at the impact
(31:01):
of HIV on particularly men'slives, obviously. And it's just celebrated
its 40th anniversary ofworking in this region research field.
Wow.
Yeah.
That's amazing.
Yeah. I was actually aparticipant in that because they
were looking at screening as well.
Check the box on that one. Soit looks like, you know, as far as
(31:23):
everyone and the LGBTQcommunity has a vibrant healthcare
system in, I think.
And there's options, too. Ionly listed one of the four, but
there are three others thatare really solid options for people,
too.
That's great. That iswonderful. So how would you describe
(31:43):
Pittsburgh's LGBTQ scene? Isthere a vibrant community, or Gabriel,
so to speak, or is it more low key?
Yeah, well, part of thequestion also relates to, is there
a center or anything? So thereis the equality center. That's for
LGBTQ resources. They probablymost famously host a very large monthly
(32:09):
gay bingo session to raisemoney for the center and some other
get togethers as well. There'sin development right now a new housing
facility in Oakland, theuniversity area, specifically for
lower income LGBTQ members. 48units for rent, open next year. That's
great. There's five gay barsin various parts of town. There's
(32:33):
not really a specific gaycommunity or gay neighborhood, really?
Kind of used to be, but not somuch anymore in terms of other kind
of gay focused activities toways to meet people. There's a pretty
active gay club sports scene.We got bowling, bocce, kickball,
softball. There's a fairnumber of gay naked activities. For
(32:53):
those that want those.
Tell us. Tell us what? Tell us.
Yeah, well, there's yoga,karaoke, trivia, and bowling, which.
I love the name for that one.It's called balls out bowling.
That cracks me up. Nakedbowling and naked karaoke.
(33:14):
Naked karaoke, yeah. You letit all hang out when you sing. I
guess. I don't know.
Holy shit. Especially seniors.The balls will drop.
And then there's some otherkinds of activities, perhaps a little
more mainstream. But there'sgay line dancing and square dancing.
There's a group called G two.H two specifically for older seniors.
(33:37):
G two. H two means gay guyhappy hour. That's been around for
years and years. Once a month,moves around to different bars around
town. Not all necessarily gayfocused bars. And there's a large
pride celebration heldsimultaneously downtown with the
annual big art Outdoor artsfestival. Ten day festival of the
(33:58):
Arts, downtown Pittsburgh. Andthen again, for those that may have
some other interests, there'sthree gay campgrounds within a two
hour drive. One of them iscalled Roseland down in West Virginia,
and it's always in the top tenof best gay campgrounds in the country.
And it's in a beautiful, veryrural setting up and up in the mountains
in West Virginia. Easy trip toget down there.
(34:19):
Interesting. So no shortage ofgay community.
There really isn't I think youcan find your tribe.
I think so, too. So there's.So there's no specific, like Philadelphia
has. Like they have the Gaborhood. Right. Which is basically where
(34:40):
a lot of businesses, bars, andrestaurants are. So I think Pittsburgh,
I read two areas. There's onesquirrel something and another area
right outside the city. Ithink that's the gay area. Or.
Well, you know, I guess youcould say that, but I don't really
(35:03):
think we have a gay birth. Theone that. That I think used to be
the gay neighborhood wasshadyside. Yeah. But I think people
have more distributed all overnow. You know, shady site is like
just east of Oakland, wherethe universities are. So it's kind
of a livelier, youngerneighborhood that way. Squirrel Hill,
you mentioned, is residentialand multicultural community. It actually
(35:27):
historically was known as thejewish neighborhood, particularly
orthodox Jews. More recently,an awful lot of the asian students
and faculty from Pitt andCarnegie Mellon in particular have
lived there. So you see a veryactive asian presence there. Then
I think people who really wantfantastic views would live up on
Mount Washington. Cause theyreally just have a spectacular view
(35:50):
of downtown and the rivers ordowntown in a high rise like we do.
And then there's a coupleothers that are kind of fun. The
strip district. And it's notnaked. It's because it's a narrow
strip of land between theriver and where the hills go up.
It used to be warehouses,mostly, a lot of ethnic grocery stores
and fish markets and thingslike that there, but now has developed
(36:13):
into residential and kind ofwhere some of the AI stuff is. So
it's a pretty vibrant,actively developing neighborhood.
And Lawrenceville is kind ofcool and trendy. And that's just
east of the strip district.And then the mexican war streets,
for people who like morehistoric architecture. They call
it that because it was builtduring the Mexican War. And all of
the streets are named afterbattles or generals from the Mexican
(36:36):
War. And that's got a lot ofhistoric brick row houses. Kind of
looks like Philly in a way.But then there's some nice suburbs,
too. Mount Lebanon, FoxChapel, Oakmont, where they hold
the gulf US open prettyregularly. And Sewickley are all
some pretty nice, relativelyclose suburban areas, too.
Do the suburban areas have anycommuter rails that go into Pittsburgh
(36:58):
at all?
Mount Lebanon does. Yeah,Mount Lebanon does. The others? No,
they bus service but not rail.But then they commute. That's why
I think what made MountLebanon kind of popular, because
it does have the rail lineright into downtown from there.
Mm hmm. Makes sense. Allright, so good areas. Every. It seems
(37:22):
like Pittsburgh is Philly.There's a neighborhood, different
neighborhood, you know, thatcomprises the whole city.
Yeah, they really are. Andthey're all kind of distinct. And
you can kind of come and go todifferent kind of feel for each of
them. Some of themhistorically were ethnic based. Like,
there's actually an areacalled Polish Hill. And Bloomfield
(37:42):
historically was the italianneighborhood and still has the little
Italy days and that kind ofthing. So there still are some closer
to ethnically focusedneighborhoods, but with some gentrification
and things, I think that's alittle less than it used to be.
It reminds me of New York inthe old days, too. I grew up in Brooklyn,
(38:03):
and different areas ofBrooklyn, you could have, you know,
orthodox Jews and, you know,all different ethnicities.
Right.
Different areas.
Yeah, it really was kind of,in fact, those are kind of in a row.
Polish leads into Bloomfield,which leads into Squirrel hill. So
it was kind of the three kindof ethnicities all in a row.
(38:26):
Yeah. All right, so wementioned already walkability and
transportation. So really goodthing that I like about. I'm all
about walkability. And if youcould walk pretty much everywhere,
you can walk to a doctor. Canyou walk to, like, a pharmacy?
(38:47):
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, and,you know, besides downtown and all
that whole list that Imentioned, you know, I think there's
a couple other really walkableneighborhoods, maybe not quite as,
I mean, they don't have thesports venues and all that kind of
thing. But, like, the mexicanwar streets I mentioned is just across
the river from downtown. Andso it would have a lot of those same
kinds of amenities as well asthe hospital right there, too. We
(39:09):
don't have one right downtown,although it's pretty close. But,
but so I think. I think thatreally, the war streets, shadyside
has lots of walkableamenities. Lawrenceville does, and
Squirrel hill does, too. Sothere are other walkable ones. Not
like I say, they don't havethe Amtrak station or those.
I love that you can walk tothe Amtrak station. That's really.
(39:32):
That's convenient.
Yeah, we did just a coupleweeks ago, actually, and took the
Amtrak.
Where'd you go?
It's a very pleasant way to goto New York. It really is.
I would definitely do thatinstead of flying.
Oh, yeah. Because it's right downtown.
It's so close to you.
Yeah. And we, you know, wewalked right from Penn Station in
New York City to the hotel wewere staying at on 28th street. So
(39:54):
we never used a motorizedvehicle the whole time you were mentioning
climate change that Amtraktouts how climate friendly taking
the train is relative todriving and certainly flying.
How far is it by train?Pittsburgh? New York City? Is it.
You get on at 730 in themorning and you're to downtown to
(40:17):
Manhattan by five.
Okay.
Yeah, it's about it. It'sabout a seven hour drive, but then
you got to figure out where topark and all that too.
It's an old date thing.
It's a little longer thandriving, but no hassle.
Yeah, I would rather sit back,relax, let somebody else do the driving.
(40:37):
And it's generally very quietand relaxing. And the train pretty
much goes along the river soit can have some nice scenery along
the way.
I would definitely do that.And where else besides New York does
the train go to?
So you can get one to Chicagogoing west, or you can get one east
going to DC. And as I said,that one keeps on now will keep on
(40:59):
going all the way to Miami.
Wow.
It's a 40 something hour tripto Miami. But yeah, I'd get a sleeper
car for that one.
It's a little bit. Yeah, it'sa bit much.
But. But to DC is it leaves at530 in the morning and you're there
by one in the afternoon.
How about Philly?
That it's the same one thatgoes on to New York. So it leaves
(41:22):
at 730 in the morning and getsto Philly. I'm gonna say like two,
something like that.
Okay, one or two.
And it's a five hour drivefrom Pittsburgh to Philly. And Pennsylvania
turnpike can be pretty pricey,so it can be a cost effective way
to get to Philly. And theflights are also ridiculously expensive
for such a short trip.
(41:42):
Yeah, I forgot to ask aboutthe people themselves. Do you find
people more laid back andmaybe nicer? The Midwest type?
It definitely feels like aMidwest city. Not the kind of push.
(42:02):
Yeah, that's one of the waysthat we like to look down our noses
at Philly and say that we're alot better than them.
Because to me there is adifference. Whenever I lived in New
York, I was like, oh, theseNew Yorkers, they're so crass. And,
you know, the Midwesternersare so kind and nice people.
(42:23):
So I think it's an east coastcity with a Midwest vibe. I really
do.
Yeah. I mean, for instance, Itook a flop in this, on the stairs
in Grand Central one day,going to work, dressed up in a suit.
Do you think one person said,sir, can I help you? I was laying,
my ankle was like blown up,like this. And you think. And they
(42:45):
stepped over me.
Wow.
Because there was huge amountof people just trying to run to the
subway.
Right.
But they ran over me.
Yeah. I think it probably doeshave to do with some of that crowding
thing. And it's just not that crowded.
Yeah.
That we have to worry aboutthat. No, I think people would definitely
be checking me out.
(43:05):
You know what? Now that I'mretired, I need that less of a crowding.
I feel like even though I'm anurbanite and love the city and the
feel and the culture of thecity, I think I'm ready for a little
less crowded.
Yeah.
You know, even though Phoenix,it's a huge city, but I don't know,
(43:28):
it's really spread out. It'sspread out. It really.
Although the parts we live inare not quite like that. Yeah.
Yeah. All right, let's talk alittle bit about arthem culture and
my favorite, dining. SoPittsburgh is known for its cultural
(43:48):
institutions. What kind of artscene can retirees expect to enjoy?
Are there museums, theaters,live music venues that are worth
checking out?
A lot of people may have heardof the robber barons who were the
industrialists of the late 18hundreds and early 20th century.
(44:09):
And a lot of them assuagetheir guilt for all the bad things
they did to people by settingup some foundations. So Pittsburgh
benefits from its foundation,community, and a rich philanthropic
history. For instance, theCarnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, with
one membership, you get theart museum that has a biannual international
(44:30):
art exposition that drawspeople from all over the world to
display new works of art.There's a natural history section
with giant dinosaurs and allthat kind of stuff. A science center
for the kids. And then theAndy Warhol Museum is part of that,
too. And a lot of people don'tknow Andy was from Pittsburgh, and
his museum in Pittsburgh is inan old factory building. And it's
(44:53):
the largest museum in theworld dedicated to a single artist.
And some people say Andy wouldturn over in his grave if he knew
it was in Pittsburgh.Nonetheless, that was a different
Pittsburgh back then when hewas growing up. There's a great children's
museum and quite a few artgalleries I think I previously mentioned.
We've got an opera. We havetouring Broadway series in the winter
(45:14):
and then the civic lightOpera, that's locally produced productions
in the summer. Downtown there,there's several live theaters, one
of them that's specificallyfocused on new works. We have a world
class symphony and a beautifulredone symphony hall. The Phipps
Conservatory has a beautifulchronic exhibit, but new displays
(45:35):
every quarter. The Historymuseum. The Heinz History Museum
is a branch of theSmithsonian, and so it has both local
exhibits and touring national ones.
What's in the Heinz Museum? Ketchup.
Yeah. No pickles. A lot ofwestern Pennsylvania stuff. They
have a standing exhibit forMister Rogers and the native american
(45:57):
history. The things about thewar of british and indian war. And
because that took place, someof it right in Pittsburgh there.
George Washington came toPittsburgh, by the way, as part of
all that. In fact, Pittsburghwas founded in 1742.
Wow.
Yeah.
And you mentioned Carnegie. Isay Carnegie, but you say Carnegie.
(46:18):
Is it the same? Is it the samelike Carnegie hall? Yeah, like from
New York.
I'm talking like a Yenzertz.
That's Pittsburgh language,but they talk like that.
Yeah.
In Pittsburgh.
Yeah.
Carnegie.
Carnegie, yeah. Yeah.
Okay.
And it. It's the same one asCarnegie hall, but.
Yeah, yeah. Okay.
Yeah, yeah. But in Carnegiehall, the Carnegie museums.
Carnegie.
(46:38):
Yeah.
That's kind of cool.
And then what else? Got agreat zoo. We have a net. The national
aviary is there, which mygrandkids call the bird zoo. And
then, of course, if you wantto talk about our culture, you can't
not talk about the Steelerspens and pirates with all having
the same colors, black andgold, which I don't know if any other
city does that, that all theirteams are the same colors.
(47:00):
Interesting.
It's a pretty sports crazycity. And the Steelers travel better
than just about any other NFLteam for a lot of the other teams
complain it's a home game forus when we play at their stadium.
That's what I hear. You seepeople all over the streets, right,
with their jerseys on and, youknow, sports fans all over the place.
(47:22):
For your listeners who aregrandparents like me, there's a lot
of great grandparent optionsfor outings with the grandkids, with
the science center, thechildren's museum. There's an optical
illusion museum, the zoo, theaviary, water parks. Kennywood's
one of the great old amusementparks in the country. City pools
(47:42):
and splash pads. So a lot ofgreat outing opportunities for grandparents.
I could be your grandkid.
There you go. I'll be your daddy.
Okay, daddy. Who's your daddy?Okay, so there's a lot of cultural
things. You have live theater.I've seen pictures of the theaters.
(48:03):
They're just beautiful.
Oh, they. The downtown area,the part that they now call the cultural
district, used to be the redlight district. And all of these
film. I know all thesephilanthropic people got together
and bought up a lot of theland down through there and spent
a bazillion dollars redoingwhat were either empty spaces, factories,
(48:26):
or just some world classtheaters. Yeah.
Cool. Very cool. How about thedining scene? Restaurant scene. I
know. Pierogies, right?
Oh yeah. Pierogies are a thingas our primani sandwich. Sandwich
which is inserted forsandwiches. I'm not proud of that
one.
What's on that?
(48:46):
A whole bunch of meat with thecoleslaw and the french fries all
between the buns.
Wow.
French fries in the sandwich?Yeah. Yeah. You pretty much have
to deconstruct it to eat it.It's just too tall. Yeah, but yeah,
that's a popular item. And youknow, with all the focus on our politics
right now, they've all comethrough and tried to eat a pierogi
(49:08):
and a permanent sandwich. Pierogis.
I was surprised.
Oh yeah. Well, because of thepolish influence, I guess. Yeah.
In fact, the pirates, one oftheir shows during the in between
innings is a pierogi race thatpeople dressed up as perogies and
they run around the bases.
(49:30):
Oh my God.
Are a thing. But for moreupscale restaurants. So we do have
two beer nominated chefs inPittsburgh. And people would probably
be surprised to know that oneof them is a vegan restaurant called
Apteca and the other one is aThai restaurant called Pusadis Garden.
(49:50):
So you don't necessarily thinkabout Thai and vegan associated with
Pittsburgh? I don't think.
Right. No.
We just got a restaurant onthe New York Times top 50 list of
restaurants called fetfisk,which I don't think has anything
to do with fetish. But itsounds like it might.
That's what it sounds like.
But it's supposed to be verygood. I hadn't heard about it till
(50:12):
this and so I can't wait toget there. Con Alma is a bar restaurant
downtown that Esquire put onits best bars in the US list. And
then the Pittsburgh magazinehas an annual listing of the top
25 restaurants. So if youdon't know where to go, you can find
one there. Or the city paperhas a public poll of people voting
(50:33):
on their favorites. Lots ofbreweries. There's some restaurant
areas that they just clumped awhole bunch in kind of the same neighborhood
so you can kind of wanderaround. And then one plus post Covid
is that we've got a provisionfor sidewalk dining in a lot of potential,
particularly downtown, butother areas, some nearby wineries,
as I mentioned, is anotheroption too.
(50:54):
So being downtown, are thereany restaurants that you could walk
to?
Oh, absolutely. I got marriedin one. I didn't tell you that? Yeah,
no, we got married across thestreet from where we live. This was
not a local one necessarily,but Eddie Merlot's steakhouse and.
Yeah. So it was a locallysourced wedding.
So cool.
Yeah, very local. So, yeah,there's a lot to walk to downtown
(51:19):
and not just change. I mean,there's a lot of local ones there.
A great sushi one that we wentto the other night, meat and potatoes.
There's Mexican. There'sbourbon and bridges, which is a bar
restaurant. So, yeah, a lot ofgood options right by us.
Or, you know, if it's not, I'msure it's a short uber away.
Oh, yeah. But we really prettymuch eat downtown, to be honest with
(51:41):
you.
A great argument, too, if youhave it available.
Yeah, really nice.Argentinian. Just two blocks away
from us, too. Yeah.
That's so great, thatwalkability thing, you know, restaurants,
too.
It's very nice. I mean, Ithought we were convenient in Phoenix,
but we do have it beat in Pittsburgh.
That's great. Good. It'ssomething to think about for those.
(52:03):
There are many people in ourcommunity that want to settle down
into a city where that's welcome.
Right, right. I think it's abig plus, personally.
Yeah, I definitely agree. So,okay. Great restaurants. That checks
the box, too, Mike.
(52:26):
I'm not being paid by thechamber of commerce.
Right. In the city ofPittsburgh, talk a little bit about
crime and safety. Do you feelsafe where you are?
I do. You know, I mean, maybea little less so than pre Covid,
just because there aren'tquite as many people on the streets.
And so the relative percentageof, you know, workers to homeless
(52:47):
people has shifted a bit sincethen. But so there is some panhandling
on the streets in downtown,for sure, I think not so much in
the other neighborhoods I'vementioned, but more so downtown.
I don't see it anywhere nearas much in the shady side or, you
know, squirrel hill or theseother places.
(53:07):
Is the city doing anything?
Yeah, well, we just built. Andall these philanthropy people got
together and built a newhomeless shelter on the edge of downtown,
actually right next door tothe city jail or county jail, which
is a little weird. But theplus is that it's not necessarily
affecting other people who owntheir place. So that's nice. They
(53:31):
put in some new rules aboutencampments, and so they can be closed
if there's any crimeassociated with them. There's really
only one downtown anymore, andit's really tucked away right in
the same area. With the jailand the shelter. But they do close
them down, and it'scompassionate closing. They will
(53:53):
not close it till they go inand try to find someplace for everybody
to go confused. That'ssomething different. And they don't
bulldoze it. They, you know,tell them they collect their stuff
and they store it for them andthings like that if they.
Need to, that's good, because,you know, cities, if they just like,
say, okay, go, where do they go?
Right, right.
They're just pushing them fromone place to another.
(54:15):
It's a big political issueright now for both city, county,
and state government to comeup with more housing options, particularly
for homeless people, butothers too. So anyway, but then other
things that are happening isthat they did open a new kind of
precinct office downtown. Theysubstantially increased the number
of patrols on the street. Andthey've done some of the things you've
(54:38):
seen some progressive placesof matching a social worker with
the police patrols. So they'redoing a lot of that. And they've
got this Pittsburgh welcometeam, I think it's what it's called,
that does a number of things,both helping people who can't find
their way, but also helpinghomeless people. And they even do.
They do CPR and have naloxonefor overdoses and things. So a lot
(55:02):
of different activities like that.
That's good. So do you feelsafe? Like if you had to walk the
dog, like at two in themorning, just like we had to the
other day. Yeah. Would likegoing out outside of your condo,
do you feel safe?
Yeah. Now, I got to tell youthat we're on. We're right next to
the state park, and we have avery nice park like area behind us.
(55:26):
So it's not like we'resurrounded by high rises right there.
But I feel very safe rightthere. I go out and sit on our plaza
all the time, probably not too.
Much at 02:00 a.m. not two in.
The morning, but yeah, butother times. But yeah, I think I
would. I think I would. Yeah.And I, you know, I've been involved
with the management of ourcondo association, and I only recall
(55:46):
in 22 years, two or threepeople that had any direct crime
related issues that filteredup, at least to the board level that
we heard about.
So no violent crime going onin your particular area?
Not that I can think of. Imean, there was a robbery kind of
(56:07):
thing, but not anything toomuch. But the statistics, I will
tell you that this Us newsthing I was looking at did say Pittsburgh
was slightly higher than thenational average for violent crime
and other kinds of crime. Ifollow them in the paper, and I don't
think very many of them are inneighborhoods that most of the gays
(56:28):
would probably move to. Theneighborhoods that I read about are
not.
We're particular when it comesto that. So, like, I'm trying to
compare to, like, Phoenix.Phoenix. You hear of a lot of stuff
going on all the time. Like, Iget news break. I should really unsubscribe
to that because every 2seconds, there's something going
(56:49):
on somewhere.
Right.
So there is. Phoenix has, youknow, it depends upon what area you're
in as well.
Right.
Or kind of where we are. We'rekind of in that bubble.
Right, right. And I think mostof the neighborhoods that gayshood
live in Pittsburgh are thatway, and those neighborhoods are
(57:10):
all reasonably contiguous. Soit's not like you have to go through
a place that might be riskierto get to Lawrenceville or to Oakland
or something like that.
That's good. Yeah, that'sdefinitely good. All right, so final
insights. If someone from theLGBTQ community is considering retiring
(57:35):
in Pittsburgh, what advicewould you give them?
Well, I think it's a mediumsized big city with almost every
big city amenity you wouldwant, but easily accessible and relatively
hassle free with a relativelylow cost of living due to the housing
costs and this state tax issuewith no taxes on pensions and Social
(57:56):
Security. So I think it's agood choice for people as long as
they understand the winterwill be gray. And there's probably
nothing more fun than a wintervacation to a warm location if you're
living in a northern city.
Phoenix.
Yeah. Makes you prove. That'sreally why we bought the house there.
(58:18):
Exactly. Yeah. I couldunderstand you need, you know, if
you get those gray days, Ithink, if I'm not mistaken, you get.
I don't know if it's 174 graydays or 174 sunny days.
Well, they're pretty much thesame thing.
Same thing, right? Prettymuch. So, yeah.
(58:41):
Yeah. I would say that it'sprobably more sunny than grassy days,
but you can see it's not realfar apartheid. But the other thing
I would say is most of thoseare in the winter, not so much in
the spring and summer and fall.
Okay, that's good. That'sgood. What's something about living
in Pittsburgh that mightsurprise someone who's thinking of
relocating there?
(59:02):
Yeah, I guess this is bothsurprise and summary, but you know
how much there is to do, howcosmopolitan it is and how accessible
that is. And I guess the onething that might be a little bit
of a surprise is that on aspring afternoon in 2026, you'd be
able to attend the outdoor NFLdraft and walk four blocks to the
(59:24):
Andy Warhol Museum in the same afternoon.
Wow. Well, that's great. Yeah.I've discovered, you know, in research,
doing a little bit of researchon Pittsburgh. It really has a lot
to offer as far as amenities.It's like a big city amenity, but
kind of a smaller city.
(59:45):
Yep. Yep.
That's how I feel.
I think that's true. You know,and I'm not sure that every one of
our amenities are world class,but I think they're all very good
and so, yeah, I think that'svery true. And the accessibility,
you know, to get to, if youdon't like where you are and you
want to try somethingdifferent, you can get to a lot of
places pretty easily.
Accessibility, walkability,things to do, culture, arts. I, you
(01:00:11):
know, I started. I checkedboxes on everything. So, yeah, what's
so bad? So, yeah, I'm going tocome. I'm going to come visit one
day.
You're welcome anytime.
Thank you. Any other finalthoughts that you might have, Mike?
No, I don't. Listener.
I think we covered the bases.I appreciate the opportunity to pushed
(01:00:33):
me to do a little researchthat I didn't know of some of this
stuff before I started gettingready for this, but, you know, a
fair amount of it.
But there you go. That's why Ienjoy doing these, too. I get to
meet people all over the worldand yeah, I get to learn about different
places. It's really a greateducation as well for me, so totally
enjoy doing it.
(01:00:53):
Great.
All right, Mike, well, thankyou so much for coming and happy
to do it. Very fun being apart of this podcast. We do appreciate
it and thank you, and we'llsee you on the next one.
Okay, bye bye bye.
Thank you for listening to thewhere do gays retire? Podcast. If
(01:01:13):
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