Submitted by Sayakakunze t3_zzag1q in pittsburgh
BmoresFnst t1_j2airn5 wrote
The industrial history, architecture and being surrounded by water without the life threatening occurrence of hurricanes and nor’easters (for the most part). The public spaces and parks here are gorgeous compared to other places. I love almost everything about Pittsburgh except for the air quality issues.
Sayakakunze OP t1_j2aj3fp wrote
What’s wrong with the air quality? Lots of allergies or something?
BmoresFnst t1_j2akeb0 wrote
We have a Shell cracker plant to the west and Clairton coke plant to the south. They emit a lot of air pollutants and aren’t tightly regulated. Makes the air smell like industrial sulfur. You can find a lot about it on this sub by searching if you’re interested. There has been tons on it the last few months.
But it is the only thing I really have bad to say about Pittsburgh. Our roads are shite and full of potholes (and sometimes sinkholes) but I don’t mind rally karting around. They are working on this since Fern Hollow bridge collapsed.
Sayakakunze OP t1_j2akleu wrote
Agh. I see.
Would you say traffic is pretty bad? How about a grocery store super packed?
BmoresFnst t1_j2albb9 wrote
Traffic here is gloriously wonderful compared to other cities. It gets congested around rush hour but it’s tolerable. Most traffic is caused by construction more than volume or lack of thruways.
Tons of grocery stores. If you go during a Steelers game, you’ll be one of a few souls shopping. We have Aldi, TJ, WF, Giant has Giant Eagle and Market District and Shop N Save. No Wegmans, Safeway, Kroger, Harris Teeter. Giant Eagle has a monopoly here.
Piplup_parade t1_j2c588t wrote
Note: Giant and Giant Eagle are completely different companies
Sayakakunze OP t1_j2an3ow wrote
Nice! Sounds lovely :)
Cryptic_Skies t1_j2dycv2 wrote
Aldi, tj, wf, giant eagle, community, and shop & save are basically the east end & bloomfield/lawrenceville. one's grocery store choices drop as soon as one is no longer between the rivers.
and to confirm giant does not own giant eagle.
ktxhopem3276 t1_j2as5g4 wrote
Slightly less grocery stores because we don’t have the major national stores like Kroger and Safeway. Pittsburgh is in a weird middle ground between the east coast and the Midwest so sometimes we can be late for national chains to locate here. Traffic is better than larger cities like Houston and Seattle but worse than smaller cities like Buffalo.
BurghPuppies t1_j2bfvck wrote
Tbf, the Steelers mill is 9 miles downwind of downtown, and the cracker plant is 33 miles west.
ktxhopem3276 t1_j2c94uc wrote
9 miles downwind sounds like a lot but when there is an atmospheric inversion the sulfur smell makes its way into the east parts of the city
ktxhopem3276 t1_j2aslqw wrote
The steel mill emits sulfur witch stinks really bad but if you don’t live near it you won’t smell it. So many coal power plants have closed in the last ten years our rankings have improved greatly in the air quality categories such as soot and ozone. Many large cities have worse rankings. If you are interested in reading about it here is a ranking https://www.lung.org/research/sota/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities
testtech2522 t1_j2bdl8s wrote
Steel mills & cracker plants provide steel, NG, plastics & support to the economy. Where should we put these if not Pittsburgh. I worked in Pittsburgh area steel plant. Windmills & solar don't provide base load energy.
ktxhopem3276 t1_j2bgax8 wrote
It would be preferable to build them far from dense areas. I don’t know how far is good enough. It would also be preferable to update some of the more ancient parts of the mon valley works but that project was canceled a couple years ago. Nuclear can be used as base load source along with pumped storage hydro like the Niagara falls power plant. Windmills and solar can provide base load via batteries and hydrogen generation. Technology will continue to advance. Pittsburgh had sixty days out of epa compliance in 2000 and only about ten in 2020.
testtech2522 t1_j2closj wrote
"It would be preferred to be put away from dense areas"? Okay who should work there then? I am familiar with the nuclear industry we can't build enough. Batteries currently cost too much.
ktxhopem3276 t1_j2d33iv wrote
The entire mon valley operation is 3000 people. It could be out in Washington or Westmoreland county. Whether Beaver county is far enough is more an issue of being upwind from the city instead of downwind. Just because I think heavy industry should be scrutinized and held to a high environmental standard doesn’t mean I think we can live without steel and plastic. Battery cost is rapidly decreasing and if you factor in healthcare costs of poor air quality from pollution from fossil fuels, it actually can save money in the long run. Obviously industry isn’t going to change overnight and it will take another 20 years to replace fossil fuels but it does seem a lot more possible than it did 20 years ago when when nickel cadmium and lead acid batteries were the best available.
Ham_Ahoy t1_j2bua8t wrote
Google is actually responsible for most of the smells. They have been planting what are known as "stupid tech nerd stink stations" all over town, spouting bad ideas, smells, and general uselessness all over the city. It's a real problem. They don't contribute to society in ay meaningful way, and now they're using the equivalent of the 1980s toy "stink'ums." Rumor has it they were upset that there wasn't literal human shit all over the streets like in San Francisco, so they're trying to recreate a comfortable environment for themselves. It's also why there is a rise in homelessness. Without people suffering all around them, Google just can't operate with efficiency. Human suffering is joy to the average tech worker.
ktxhopem3276 t1_j2c8l8x wrote
Google offices are in Mountain View which is a wealthy and clean suburb of San Fransisco. California has a lot of homeless people because they don’t have cold winters or hot summers.
Ham_Ahoy t1_j2d279q wrote
Google has been (purportedly) smearing human feces onthe sidewalks of cities and towns all across the USA daily since they removed "don't be evil" from the mission statement.
ktxhopem3276 t1_j2d3sjp wrote
You need medical help or a job writing for South Park but I’m not sure which
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments