What Do These P-Cities Have In Common?
01/05/2012
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From the Washington Post:

Portlandia, your 15 minutes are up. Long live Pittsburgh

By Maura Judkis 

Out: Portland
In: Pittsburgh. 

This year’s List has spoken, and writers Dan Zak and Monica Hesse have laid their anointed hands upon my hometown for 2012. Pittsburgh, Pa., is cool now. Sorry, Portland hipsters!
Portland, Ore., is the land of microbreweries, indie bands, bicyclists and rose gardens. 

Pittsburgh is often reviled by outsiders for its abrasive-sounding accent and rabid football fans. Portland has Portlandia, the hit comedy sketch show, while Pittsburgh just subs in as other cities in movies. Why did Listmakers Hesse and Zak bestow their blessings upon the latter? 

“Portland has overextended its welcome as the destination for hipsters who want to find themselves, while frolicking in beautiful scenery and reasonable rents,” says Hesse. “Pittsburgh is reasonable-rents, nice scenery, nice downtown, and the people are, in general, just far less insufferable.”

Coincidentally, among the "core cities" with the whitest populations, Portland is first at 74% and Pittsburgh is second at 67%. In contrast, Pittsburgh's Robber Baron-era rival Cleveland is only 37% white. But that doesn't have anything to do with why Pittsburgh is slowly becoming hip while Cleveland is stagnating. Don't even think that.

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