Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

RebeccaSoup

RebeccaSoup

New member
My squat was cleared out in inner Charlotte NC, after only a month. I need someplace a little more low key. So we're ready to get out of town.

Word has it that there's a rapidly declining housing market, Rapidly declining job market, huge foreclosure rate and an impaired police force. Add to this a moderately healthy activist community, and a promising summer vacation spot... All of which would make Pittsburgh(from afar) seem a squatters paradise.

My family and I are ready to skedaddle up there and see whats good.

In the meantime, I thought I'd ask the folks who know a little about that town to make sure all I'm hearing is correct. Just looking for local housing laws, anyone who's been hassled while passing through, hop outs, experiences with local police, etc.

Anyone with friends up that way would be helpful as well.

:crew: My family and I would greatly appreciate it. -Miss Soup
 
i am sure pittsburgh had tons of places to squat before the most recent decline in the job market. pittsburgh is a rust belt city and was a former steel manufacturing base. parts of the city have been revitalized but i am sure enough decay and urban waste still exists that you will have no problem.

catching out of pittsburgh is easy. i don't know about the cops. i almost set up a squat in pittsburgh a few years ago, but its to fucking cold in the winter for my bones.
 
I've never been there, but here's what I hear: Its pretty ridiculous to pay rent up there, there are so many squattable buildings. I think I've heard that for the somewhere-around 300,000 people, there are like 700 or 800 cops. Maybe it was more ridiculous than that, I don't recall entirely. I know that if you decide to move there, whats-her-name that writes that zine kerblam says that the community will hook you up with your own place to stay, a free tattoo, and a blind date. They're trying to encourage people to move there.

Theres also the Landslide Community Farm, which I've heard great things about. All in all it seems like a pretty cool town.
 
Pittsburghs great. Very easy to get in and out of, at least it use to be. I can't speak from very recent experience but I doubt it's changed too awful much although some trains that use to run don't run anymore. If the winters weren't so chilly up there in Pennsylvania I'd thought about staying up there years ago, but I like it just a little bit warmer.
 
I don't live in Pittsburgh, but I'm close.
If your going to be there past October 31, expect to get cold.At least one (appaerently lone ) squatter froze there last winter.

The activist community is still doing ok, better than most places.There's the Pittsburgh Organizing Group,( local anarchist collective) Thomas Merton Center ( provides space to a lot of organizations)Landslide Farm and Big Idea Infoshop.The neighborhood around Big Idea (on Milvale and Liberty) looks pretty friendly.

Downtown some civic improvement group tried to run off Food Not Bombs last summer,
but that only lasted a week.On the West side though, gentrification seems to be going strong.
 
I'll just say if you want a low-key place to live with decent culture Pittsburgh is an awesome place to go.
 
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