Yeah, TBH with IDEA and ACA I'm wondering exactly when that minor/adult line lies. Mine's 19 and has the comprehensive autism waiver so it's basically filling out forms and returns and hoping that the people on his case aren't quitting/retiring anytime soon.

In all honesty, I don't come in contact with a lot of other autism parents and my son has been in inpatient/group home/residential care for the past few years. There are LONG wait lists with lots of staff turnover and some of the options we were presented with were either around Philly or out of state. We're in Allegheny county though so there are also a lot of options here as well.

FWIW I did go to CBT therapy before and during COVID (remotely) and it helped - but not as much as keeping myself busy.

I'm a stressed out parent of a now grown child with level 3 nonverbal autism, intellectual disability, bipolar disorder, etc. We've been consumers of the mental health system since 2006. Where should I start without it devolving into a rant?

Because the hospital is a shithole. I have nothing against McKeesport other than I otherwise have no business being there. If I were stuck in the Mon valley in that area I'd be praying to be take to AHN in Jefferson Hills.

Yes, judging by the mug shot she definitely appears to be the "wench, fetcheth me thy mead" type.

Yes. The extreme southern, southeast and western municipalities (South Fayette, Upper St. Clair, Bethel Park, South Park, Pleasant Hills, Elizabeth) in Allegheny county are pretty red. In Allegheny county it's best to be close to the city, like Oakland, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and Lawrenceville. The furthest south I'd recommend is Mt. Lebanon. Dormont (directly north of Mt. Lebo) is pretty nice.

Having had to deal with the county regarding behavioral health and various different school districts I agree. There are lots of municipalities that would benefit from this, but I simply don't think that the "merger" would go smoothly. I think a lot of the bigger, more affluent municipalities would fight it tooth and nail because they'd lose their affluence.

It all comes down to money and manpower then. Allegheny county would basically have to absorb the city of Pittsburgh, not the other way around - along with all the outlying townships.

For example, the city has been losing police personnel to the outlying townships. They left for a reason. Even social services are all all county-based. OTOH all the major highways are maintained by the state. The city OTOH struggles to maintain the city streets.

Yes, but typically in larger cities that is usually well outside the county line. The city of Philadelphia literally occupies all of its county.

As an Allegheny county resident for over 25 years I disagree. The outlying suburban communities have sparser population, more undeveloped areas and a large amount of wildlife. I'm not just talking about the deer problem in Mount Lebanon or reports of coyotes in the county parks but the fact that the further west (Oakdale, Burgetstown) or south (Elizabeth, South Park, Pleasant Hills) you get from the city the sparser the population and generally sparse roadways that are in ill repair Also, consider that more affluent areas like Sewickley or Upper Saint Clair are not going to be willing to defer to an already overburdened city police force.

As a city, Pittsburgh is just too small. A lot of Allegheny county is actually rural. Philadelphia county OTOH is completely urban.

Unfortunately, ignorance of one's own actions is a major component of shamelessness. What needs to happen is that Norfolk Southern needs to be split up like Ma Bell was back in the day. As for Mastriano, losing the election so badly should have reduced some of his cred.

I tend to think that Pittsburgh is more of a chain city than locals can appreciate. We're just getting the higher end franchises now.

I did not know that Kevin Bacon was from Philly.

PS: I actually thought Stallone was from Philly too. Color me surprised that he's actually from Hell's Kitchen in New York; he moved to Philly later when he was in high school.

No, that just means you have to abide by others' bad choices from the primary because you had to stay home in May. I hate to say it, but in the primaries it's best to vote for the weakest candidate so that you can vote for the lesser of two evils in the general election.

Yeah, my wife and I went to the Galleria the other night and were surprised to see it was shut down. Last time we went there it wasn't very good though, which is why we thought it shut down.

FWIW we still enjoy Burgatory in Homestead.

Seconded. They're NFC and the Steelers are AFC so there's no conflict. My go to these playoffs was to cheer against every other AFC North team when the Steelers were eliminated. Mahomes did not disappoint. The exception was the Bills because of Damar Hamline (who is from McKee's Rocks.)

My wife and I are not struggling but I remember working for tips and minimum wage so we tend to tip a little higher.

1: on carryout I tip 20% which is the same as if I'm dining there, though this is a holdover from the pandemic. I figure that since the cost of wholesale food items is going up I do it so that my favorite family-run restaurants don't go under.

2: pizza delivery: the next dollar up from what the cost of a gallon of gas costs: $4-$5. For things like haircuts I typically tip $7 (which is about 25% and along with no putting on a ball is a thank you for not messing things up.)

3: It's gone up from 15% to 18% to 20% - sometimes even 25%. After working as a busboy I was shocked to learn that wait staff actually made LESS than minimum wage and expected to claim their tips come tax time.

Archie Bunker's Place?

Oh jeez. Put the deer poop down and go wash your hands.

I'm sorry you feel that way. Peace be with you. Bye now.

I used to love driving that in the 90s when I would drive from State College to King of Prussia.

Of your responses I'd do homework into the cost of living. If you want to be close to NY state or NYC then Scranton makes the most sense. Lackawanna county tends to be more liberal than rural areas. I-81 will take you up to Binghamton. NY; Rt 6 will take you up toward the Finger Lakes, I-84 will take you into Port Jervis, NY and I-80 will pretty much take you into Harlem, NYC.

The Lehigh valley also seems to be turning around economically but I don't believe that professional degrees are in high demand. Instead, I'd recommend looking at the Philly metro and living someplace close to a SEPTA train stop. I lived in King of Prussia and the Main Line (rt. 30 with towns like Devon and St. David's) was a nice area with regards to amenities. Rt. 202 into Chester county also seems to be getting built up but I wouldn't recommend community via car into the city.

Finally, there's also Pittsburgh. It's a little bit of a mix of Appalachia/Great Lakes/Midwest with lots of rust belt relics but business prospects are probably better than in the Lehigh valley. The downside is that the closest part of NY is Lake Chataqua with the closest major city in NY being Buffalo which is about 4 hours away.

Classy.

Sorry, I thought "dragon" was a KKK reference.

If anything, the mountains in NEPA aren't all that misty. Centralia is still burning.