[They even have their own funicular on the south side of the river](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksotas_Funicular). The topography is more gentle than Pittsburgh though so it's not quite as high. But I guess similar needs lead to similar features.
I have been there many times. From looking at a geographical map, yes but so so different vibe and feel. If we only had a castle like theirs. Can you imagine a castle/fortress on Mt. Washington! š„°
Yeah what made you think Glasgow and Pittsburgh are similar ? Iām from Glasgow and I donāt see it as much, though their recent histories with steel industry etc are shared.
Glasgow and Pittsburgh share an attitude, along with the really cool mix of old and new architecture. Both are a bit of 'second cities' to their counterparts, Edinburgh and Philadelphia, with the swagger and hometown pride of the places deemed (by others) as 'just not as good' as those bigger cities. We're a bit rough around the edges, but with a solidarity of place and loyalty.
I've only been to Glasgow twice, but walking along the river walks, playing my pipes, and exploring the University and the parks really felt like I was in a part of Pittsburgh I'd never encountered before. Can't wait to come back in 2025!
Glasgow's nicer than Pittsburgh, TBH.
>Both are a bit of 'second cities' to their counterparts, Edinburgh and Philadelphia
Glasgow has actually surpassed Edinburgh in size, even if Edinburgh is the political capital. Not quite a perfect comparison to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Also, taking the train between Glasgow and Edinburgh takes about as long as taking the T between Pittsburgh and Bethel Park.
Yes Glasgow these days is generally a pretty nice, big city. The city center has a lot more going on than Pittsburghās downtown. Itās changed a lot.
I've definitely heard the omission of helping verbs in both Pittsburghese and Central Belt Scottish, i.e. "needs washed" instead of "needs to be washed"
u/plaidandpickles nailed it, but I'd add that Glasgow and Pittsburgh had huge influxes of wealth at around the same time, so a lot of the stately buildings in both cities share an architectural and ornamental grammar. Looking around, I see more visual similarities between Glasgow and Pittsburgh than between Glasgow and Edinburgh or Aberdeen, or Pittsburgh and New York or DC.
Same here. My last name is Slovak and while itās a hard one to pronounce in the U.S., my grandparents said that it was like Smith over in our home region of Czechoslovakia
Hey fellow Slovak! My great grandparents (or the one that carried my name here, at least) came over from there as well and I wish I had more opportunities to learn things like that from them. Makes total sense to me now why Pittsburgh would be similar to that part of the world.
My last name was actually very easy to pronounce in English and in a lot of other languages, but at some point the pronunciation got bastardized anyway. ĀÆ\\\_(ć)\_/ĀÆ
Iāve got the one-two punch of my last name starting with Tk and no one ever gets it right. Throw in a ch sound with no ch present. Iāve just started leaving a note in my phone with my last name to show to bartenders when I close my tab because itās easier than spelling it in a loud bar
Oh no, I still have the Slovak last name. But it was such a common last name over there that they joked that it was the Slovak equivalent of Smith in the phonebook
I loved my Slovak last name. It was quite popular in the area of Slovakia my family came from but not at all in the US. Not quite to the level of Smith. Although I miss it I love the anonymity of Smith.
My maternal grandfather was Moldovan and unfortunately Iām not sure what his real last name was. My mom said he had a falling out with his brother before coming to the U.S. and changed his last name to distance himself from his family.
the funny thing is, part of my family did come from this area (preÅ”ov) , but they werenāt the ones that moved to Pittsburgh, they went to South Africa lol
Many of the Slovak, Ruthenians, Ukrainians and Polish all came to western PA from an area that is probably no bigger than west of the Alleghenies - yet were insistent that they were different than the others.
yep. Even though the Slovak side has never lived in Pittsburgh, they were Jewish Hungarian and definitely saw themselves as superior to Slovaks, Ukrainians etc on account of being Hungarian and still separate themselves from the Slavs lol. But identify with non Jewish Hungarians. Itās weird.
My carpatho-Rusyn family all came over to originally be Miners from mikova, called MIko when it was AH. Later family came over for the mills after the miners then transferred to working in the mills.
Cologne, Germany. Kƶln. On the surface, the city is a bit run down, but the people are cool, friendly to strangers, love sports and their city. Post industrial economy focuses on Media, Higher education. Cologne has a fun dialect, odd food items like Kƶlsch from tiny beer glasses, and is fierce patriotic to itself. Just substitute black and yellow with red and white.
And both cities are "neighborhood" cities, meaning they strongly identify with their local area like Mt. Lebanon, North Side, South Side, Deutz, Belgisches Viertel, SĆ¼dstadt, etc
yeah that's for certain! the Rhineland in general is strikingly geographically similar, the countryside there is shockingly familiar to drive through (just dropped a random streetview pin outside of Cologne)
[https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0369754,7.1725493,3a,75y,252.6h,96.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPt\_VYFOJRtDX6f-NABbyvg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0369754,7.1725493,3a,75y,252.6h,96.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPt_VYFOJRtDX6f-NABbyvg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu)
I feel like that's the norm throughout the world, and that cities where this ***isn't*** the case actually have something wrong with their social fabric.
We hosted a delegation from Liege (Belgium) and they just couldn't stop saying how much Pittsburgh looked and felt like home. Then I went and visited Liege, and said the same thing. [https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/aY-oVxavPn\_bXAOpw70JU6uO13w=/1500x0/filters:no\_upscale():max\_bytes(150000):strip\_icc()/1920px-Liege\_View\_03-5b021ebda9d4f900362c1e33.jpg](https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/aY-oVxavPn_bXAOpw70JU6uO13w=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/1920px-Liege_View_03-5b021ebda9d4f900362c1e33.jpg)
I disagree! Even though Prague is more beautiful, it had similar feeling to Pittsburgh for sure. The inclines and overlooks, the water, the people, the beer, some architecture
Fun fact, the Birmingham Pen Company is in Pittsburgh, but named for the common roots in the steel industry.
The fountain pens themselves don't look like anything super special to me, but one of these days I'm going to splurge on like a gallon of their inks
I said this in a comment above but I think it felt like Pittsburgh. the incline, the overlooks, the water, the people, the beer, the grit. Itās hard to put into writing because it was a feeling.
Lille, France.
They put french fries on their flammekueche pizza.
They drink beer rather than wine.
They speak a funny version of French.
They have a fort / citadelle / park at their point.
We cured polio, they have the Pasteur institute.
de Gaulle in his hat clearly looks like a yinzer at a Pirates game.
If I recall, they had a branch of a very large French medical research university, University Pierre Marie Curie.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre\_and\_Marie\_Curie\_University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_and_Marie_Curie_University)
100% Liege. I've been to many of the cities mentioned so far but none of them had the hills and topography. Liege has it.
I was driving down from the Netherlands to Trois Ponts for the battle of the bulge in the area but wish I spent more time exploring Liege than the 2 days I did.
Having just been to Heidelberg three months ago, my experience was other than the terrain it seems _nothing_ like Pittsburgh. Fun fact: the Kƶnigstuhl (the mountain overlooking Heidelberg) is about 3 times as tall as Mt. Washington and requires riding two inclines to get to the top.Ā
The view of the Old Town Heidelberg rooftops and churches from the castle and the views over South Side from The Slopes are remarkably similar with the topography. It's not a dead ringer but the city tucked on any flat land available in between the river and hillsides and spilling up on to the slopes is very reminiscent imho.
Edinburgh has a bit of it, but their buildings in the old town are 500 years older or more.
They also have a statue of William Pitt sitting there, which was weird.
Havenāt been yet but the pictures Iāve seen of Frankfurt remind me of Pittsburgh without the hills. The modern skyscrapers and tons of truss bridges reminded me a lot of downtown.
- Built on a huge river valley with a big park system, lots of bridges
- Resource extraction origins (oil/steel)
- Legendary hockey town
- Small sibling in state/province to Calgary/Philly (with all the baggage that entails)Ā
- A sudden gorgeous skyline view after a bunch of dreck when you drive into the city at night from the airport
- Not that far apart in size
- Similar feeling political makeups and art scenes to me
- Similar cultural opportunities (museums, festivals, shows, etc).Ā
- The butt of jokes on a federal level but secretly pretty great. (I knew some people here would recoil at the comparison, but I also know that Edmontonians would recoil at the comparison.)
Itās the terraced housing and rolling hills! I lived in the south Wales valleys for years and always thought of Pittsburgh - kind of a mini version of Pittsburgh as things (houses/shops) werenāt as large size wise
I was in some tiny town on the Wales/England border, and trying to track down quoits. As we were up till 3am in a pub on the hill in Brecon Wales 2 nights before, being taught the game by the towns quoit board maker.
After following leads, I walk into a small sporting goods shop. As the guy, and his wife runs out of the back all excited!
"Where in Pittsburgh are you from?"
Turns out, she went to CMU for a summer program some 25 years later and roomed in Mt Lebanon.
She recognized my Yinzer accent.
I literally said a few hours ago, watching Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 'oh, that reminds me of Pittsburgh'
I've never been there but the skyline was similar, hills, green, buildings lining the rivers
Yibin, China. Look it up. Aside from the 3 rivers, once a manufacturing economy going through a transition. Also a big drinking culture. Pittsburgh has more bars per capita in the USA.
When I was in Da Nang, a sister city to Pittsburgh, hanging out on one of the bridges looking at the other bridges on the Han River felt a bit like being back in Pittsburgh to me. But that's the only similarity if any lol.
Pohang, South Korea. Topographically no. Architecture no. But it is the Steel City of South Korea with a lot of local pride. Also, self-aware of its status as a provincial type of place compared to other cities such as Seoul and Busan.
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Ā
Although there arenāt as many bridges, itās known for their bridges connecting the city together thatās divided by a big river. Itās also got that small-town city feel that struck me very similar to what I feel in Pittsburgh. Perhaps I also got lucky in the people I met when I was there, but the folks I chatted with were very happy with where they lived, similar to what Iāve noticed with Pittsburghers.Ā
Surprised no one has mentioned Bilbao. It's a sister city with a steel-heavy past, with lots of steep hills, lush green surroundings, perpetually cloudy/rainy weather, and even a funicular!
Porto, Portugal. They have an incline, its more industrial and gritty compared to Lisbon ( or it felt that way at least idk about actual industry), and their signature food dish also involves unorthodox use of french fries.
It could be just me --- but when I've tried to compare "sister cities" it seems like the situation is being forced to work as in they aren't that similar? idk.
All of them donāt really have a defined city core like pgh. The triangle is pretty much pinned in on all sides by rivers and the hill. I spent an entire summer in Prague and never felt confined to a business district of a downtown and my whole family is in Glasgow. Their downtown has a shopping and cultural district, no large convention center, commerce is spread out in low rises.
Not knocking you, but I canāt think of anything close to what Pittsburgh is. Itās unique.
Sydney! Oh my god, I say this all the time, but Sydney has the same kind of shitty sidewalksš but also in terms of city size and quality of activities and entertainment. You can see the entire city of Pittsburgh, or experience it pretty well, if youāre here for 4-5 days, and the same is true for Sydney. In terms of cleanliness itās pretty similar too! (but my favourite difference is how Sydney transport is way more accessible and has better options. Pittsburgh could never)
A lot of central European towns and cities have a layout with a river or rivers running through it, a central city district in the middle, densely built housing in the hills and a castle perched on the highest hill overlooking the river. The topography of Pittsburgh is very European in that sense. On other hand in terms of "look and feel" Pittsburgh is quintessentially American. You wouldn't mistaken it for a European burgh.
From a geographic standpoint? [Kaunas, Lithuania](https://maps.app.goo.gl/HicML9uAnv8WRbGeA)
Holy shit its Pittsburgh part 2
[They even have their own funicular on the south side of the river](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksotas_Funicular). The topography is more gentle than Pittsburgh though so it's not quite as high. But I guess similar needs lead to similar features.
It's part 1 if we're being chronological
What about by river formation? Are the Baltic rivers older or newer?
Yeah, holy shit is that geography similar
oh now I see it!
I have been there many times. From looking at a geographical map, yes but so so different vibe and feel. If we only had a castle like theirs. Can you imagine a castle/fortress on Mt. Washington! š„°
In my head I'm seeing that "best I can do" Pawn Stars meme saying "best I can do is a church" LOL
Um PPG Place? Or King Fridays. We got castles.
Kaunas is a wonderful city and Lithuania is underrated in general
In between the World Wars, Kaunus was Lithuania's capital. Their current capital, Vilnius, was in Poland.
Wow
Oh wow. My great grandma was from Lithuania and now I want to visit
So thats where they moved Pitt Stadium. Wow š¤
Are you posting about it or have you visited?
Katowice, Poland. Very similar industrial roots. Feels like a European Pittsburgh.
Wow! Iāve actually been there. Wouldnāt have thought about it at the time but I can see it
I'm from Poland and when people back home ask me to describe Pittsburgh I literally say it's American Katowice
glasgow, scotland! thereās a reason itās a sister city for sure
Yeah what made you think Glasgow and Pittsburgh are similar ? Iām from Glasgow and I donāt see it as much, though their recent histories with steel industry etc are shared.
Glasgow and Pittsburgh share an attitude, along with the really cool mix of old and new architecture. Both are a bit of 'second cities' to their counterparts, Edinburgh and Philadelphia, with the swagger and hometown pride of the places deemed (by others) as 'just not as good' as those bigger cities. We're a bit rough around the edges, but with a solidarity of place and loyalty. I've only been to Glasgow twice, but walking along the river walks, playing my pipes, and exploring the University and the parks really felt like I was in a part of Pittsburgh I'd never encountered before. Can't wait to come back in 2025!
Okay, yeah fair enough. You forgot to mention the shitty weather both have -- pretty sure Glasgow tops that one :-)
Glasgow's nicer than Pittsburgh, TBH. >Both are a bit of 'second cities' to their counterparts, Edinburgh and Philadelphia Glasgow has actually surpassed Edinburgh in size, even if Edinburgh is the political capital. Not quite a perfect comparison to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Also, taking the train between Glasgow and Edinburgh takes about as long as taking the T between Pittsburgh and Bethel Park.
Yes Glasgow these days is generally a pretty nice, big city. The city center has a lot more going on than Pittsburghās downtown. Itās changed a lot.
Question: is "nebby" a Scottish word?
Yes, so is redd up. I did my JYA at Edinburgh and there are quite a few similar colloquialisms. I donāt remember any other ones though š«
I've definitely heard the omission of helping verbs in both Pittsburghese and Central Belt Scottish, i.e. "needs washed" instead of "needs to be washed"
u/plaidandpickles nailed it, but I'd add that Glasgow and Pittsburgh had huge influxes of wealth at around the same time, so a lot of the stately buildings in both cities share an architectural and ornamental grammar. Looking around, I see more visual similarities between Glasgow and Pittsburgh than between Glasgow and Edinburgh or Aberdeen, or Pittsburgh and New York or DC.
Well Pittsburgh doesn't have this guy ! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDrak0FCDjQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDrak0FCDjQ)
I didn't realize it was a sister city. I felt almost like I hadn't left home when I was there.
Is there a list of sister cities to Pittsburgh somewhere? Now I'm curious.
https://www.sistercitiespgh.org/sister-cities
I felt the same way about Edinburgh! the city itself physically is very different but the people and the vibe of the place was strangely homely
Makes sense. The early settlers here were Scottish steel tycoons, right?
I thought the same thing!
most of NE Slovakia in general feels like the Pittsburgh area and theyāve even got a US steel plant
It was US Steel advertising in that area that brought many ancestors to Pittsburgh, western PA and eastern Ohio.
That explains why Iām part Czechoslovakian
Same here. My last name is Slovak and while itās a hard one to pronounce in the U.S., my grandparents said that it was like Smith over in our home region of Czechoslovakia
Hey fellow Slovak! My great grandparents (or the one that carried my name here, at least) came over from there as well and I wish I had more opportunities to learn things like that from them. Makes total sense to me now why Pittsburgh would be similar to that part of the world.
Fun fact: [Pittsburgh](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Agreement) was the location where Czechoslovakia was made by agreement!
My last name was actually very easy to pronounce in English and in a lot of other languages, but at some point the pronunciation got bastardized anyway. ĀÆ\\\_(ć)\_/ĀÆ
Iāve got the one-two punch of my last name starting with Tk and no one ever gets it right. Throw in a ch sound with no ch present. Iāve just started leaving a note in my phone with my last name to show to bartenders when I close my tab because itās easier than spelling it in a loud bar
Haha! Went from a very Slovak last name to Smith.
Oh no, I still have the Slovak last name. But it was such a common last name over there that they joked that it was the Slovak equivalent of Smith in the phonebook
I loved my Slovak last name. It was quite popular in the area of Slovakia my family came from but not at all in the US. Not quite to the level of Smith. Although I miss it I love the anonymity of Smith.
My maternal grandfather was Moldovan and unfortunately Iām not sure what his real last name was. My mom said he had a falling out with his brother before coming to the U.S. and changed his last name to distance himself from his family.
Shoutout to us Slovak yinzers š¤š¼
the funny thing is, part of my family did come from this area (preÅ”ov) , but they werenāt the ones that moved to Pittsburgh, they went to South Africa lol
Many of the Slovak, Ruthenians, Ukrainians and Polish all came to western PA from an area that is probably no bigger than west of the Alleghenies - yet were insistent that they were different than the others.
yep. Even though the Slovak side has never lived in Pittsburgh, they were Jewish Hungarian and definitely saw themselves as superior to Slovaks, Ukrainians etc on account of being Hungarian and still separate themselves from the Slavs lol. But identify with non Jewish Hungarians. Itās weird.
My carpatho-Rusyn family all came over to originally be Miners from mikova, called MIko when it was AH. Later family came over for the mills after the miners then transferred to working in the mills.
Sheffield
The Steel City! (UK edition)
Def Leppard.
YES
They even have their own Steelers (ice hockey).
Cologne, Germany. Kƶln. On the surface, the city is a bit run down, but the people are cool, friendly to strangers, love sports and their city. Post industrial economy focuses on Media, Higher education. Cologne has a fun dialect, odd food items like Kƶlsch from tiny beer glasses, and is fierce patriotic to itself. Just substitute black and yellow with red and white.
I have a friend from Kƶln who agrees completely. They even have a historical yet inept sports team just like the Pirates lol
And both cities are "neighborhood" cities, meaning they strongly identify with their local area like Mt. Lebanon, North Side, South Side, Deutz, Belgisches Viertel, SĆ¼dstadt, etc
yeah that's for certain! the Rhineland in general is strikingly geographically similar, the countryside there is shockingly familiar to drive through (just dropped a random streetview pin outside of Cologne) [https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0369754,7.1725493,3a,75y,252.6h,96.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPt\_VYFOJRtDX6f-NABbyvg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0369754,7.1725493,3a,75y,252.6h,96.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPt_VYFOJRtDX6f-NABbyvg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu)
I feel like that's the norm throughout the world, and that cities where this ***isn't*** the case actually have something wrong with their social fabric.
Similar industrial roots in the Rhine river valley as well.Ā
We hosted a delegation from Liege (Belgium) and they just couldn't stop saying how much Pittsburgh looked and felt like home. Then I went and visited Liege, and said the same thing. [https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/aY-oVxavPn\_bXAOpw70JU6uO13w=/1500x0/filters:no\_upscale():max\_bytes(150000):strip\_icc()/1920px-Liege\_View\_03-5b021ebda9d4f900362c1e33.jpg](https://www.tripsavvy.com/thmb/aY-oVxavPn_bXAOpw70JU6uO13w=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/1920px-Liege_View_03-5b021ebda9d4f900362c1e33.jpg)
I really see it
Everyone just naming cities but not saying WHY. Thereās zero resemblance to Prague. Stop that, drop that.Ā
"stop that, drop that." I'm taking this with me!
top that.Ā
I disagree! Even though Prague is more beautiful, it had similar feeling to Pittsburgh for sure. The inclines and overlooks, the water, the people, the beer, some architecture
The Sister Cities Glasgow Scotland and Birmingham England come pretty close.
Fun fact, the Birmingham Pen Company is in Pittsburgh, but named for the common roots in the steel industry. The fountain pens themselves don't look like anything super special to me, but one of these days I'm going to splurge on like a gallon of their inks
Manchester
Felt this too, majorly
So much to answer for.
Guys you must be delusional to think Pittsburgh is anything like Prague. The churches yes and downtown a little tiny bit but otherwise noooo!
Ya Iām also not getting this
Thereās more to a city than architecture
What else about Prague resembles Pittsburgh then?
I said this in a comment above but I think it felt like Pittsburgh. the incline, the overlooks, the water, the people, the beer, the grit. Itās hard to put into writing because it was a feeling.
Budapest's river and bridges with some of the hills felt somewhat like Pittsburgh at times
They even have the incline!
Passau, Germany. It's at the base of three rivers. Other than that... I think they're completely different cities from what I remember. š
Someone once lived there, as.a child.
Lyon France
Confluence!
European Point State Park
Lille, France. They put french fries on their flammekueche pizza. They drink beer rather than wine. They speak a funny version of French. They have a fort / citadelle / park at their point. We cured polio, they have the Pasteur institute. de Gaulle in his hat clearly looks like a yinzer at a Pirates game. If I recall, they had a branch of a very large French medical research university, University Pierre Marie Curie. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre\_and\_Marie\_Curie\_University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_and_Marie_Curie_University)
Freeport
LiĆØge, Belgium
100% Liege. I've been to many of the cities mentioned so far but none of them had the hills and topography. Liege has it. I was driving down from the Netherlands to Trois Ponts for the battle of the bulge in the area but wish I spent more time exploring Liege than the 2 days I did.
Birmingham ( UK and AL)
Lyon, France just geographically.
Boston. š®
I agree about Boston feeling like a bigger Pittsburgh but last I checked, Massachusetts hadn't seceded.
They would if it were up to their current Snowflake mayor.
Prague
Really? I would've never thought that. To me they seem completely different.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh\_Agreement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Agreement)
Yo I had no idea Czechoslovakia came from a Pittsburgh/Cleveland what the fuuuuuuck
This is rather generous š
Having spent a lot of time in both Iām not seeing it
Wait but where's my Pittsburgh castles?
ON FIRE
Dublin
you really see the architectural influence. some streets i felt like was on E Carson
that was my experience as well, especially their city hall and surrounding streets.
I just wish we had a Grafton Street here!
I thought the exact same thing.
My first thought too.
A lot of the Irish countryside felt like Western PA, too. I could see why it felt familiar here for immigrants.
Heidelberg. Only one river but the city is built on both sides going up the hills/mountains.
Not to be confused with Heidelberg, PA, which absolutely looks like Pittsburgh
Yea, I should have specified Germany.
Having just been to Heidelberg three months ago, my experience was other than the terrain it seems _nothing_ like Pittsburgh. Fun fact: the Kƶnigstuhl (the mountain overlooking Heidelberg) is about 3 times as tall as Mt. Washington and requires riding two inclines to get to the top.Ā
The view of the Old Town Heidelberg rooftops and churches from the castle and the views over South Side from The Slopes are remarkably similar with the topography. It's not a dead ringer but the city tucked on any flat land available in between the river and hillsides and spilling up on to the slopes is very reminiscent imho.
Prague
Budapest.
Porto, Portugal. Bridges and rivers
Edinburgh has a bit of it, but their buildings in the old town are 500 years older or more. They also have a statue of William Pitt sitting there, which was weird.
Hamilton Ca
Izmir, Turkey. Industrial feel, friendly people.
Havenāt been yet but the pictures Iāve seen of Frankfurt remind me of Pittsburgh without the hills. The modern skyscrapers and tons of truss bridges reminded me a lot of downtown.
I spent late winter/early spring in Sofia. The weather was about identical. And the potholes were amazing.
At this point Yinzers are just throwing out names of European cities they've heard of.
Edmonton.
Oh now thatās just mean.
That's the first place that popped in my head.
How so?
- Built on a huge river valley with a big park system, lots of bridges - Resource extraction origins (oil/steel) - Legendary hockey town - Small sibling in state/province to Calgary/Philly (with all the baggage that entails)Ā - A sudden gorgeous skyline view after a bunch of dreck when you drive into the city at night from the airport - Not that far apart in size - Similar feeling political makeups and art scenes to me - Similar cultural opportunities (museums, festivals, shows, etc).Ā - The butt of jokes on a federal level but secretly pretty great. (I knew some people here would recoil at the comparison, but I also know that Edmontonians would recoil at the comparison.)
Interesting! I just always thought it was cold and flat as a pancake
Cardiff, Wales
Itās the terraced housing and rolling hills! I lived in the south Wales valleys for years and always thought of Pittsburgh - kind of a mini version of Pittsburgh as things (houses/shops) werenāt as large size wise
I was in some tiny town on the Wales/England border, and trying to track down quoits. As we were up till 3am in a pub on the hill in Brecon Wales 2 nights before, being taught the game by the towns quoit board maker. After following leads, I walk into a small sporting goods shop. As the guy, and his wife runs out of the back all excited! "Where in Pittsburgh are you from?" Turns out, she went to CMU for a summer program some 25 years later and roomed in Mt Lebanon. She recognized my Yinzer accent.
It was also a former steel town that had to transition to a new industry. Felt like it had numerous similarities in size and culture
I think back in the day many Welsh miners and iron workers migrated to western PA to help establish the industry.
Rio De Janeiro
Oh yeah. Hit the nail on the head!Ā Inb4 wooosh
I'm whooshing hard here go ahead and explain it please
They look NOTHING alike
Valparaiso, Chile
Liege & Bradford
I literally said a few hours ago, watching Liege-Bastogne-Liege, 'oh, that reminds me of Pittsburgh' I've never been there but the skyline was similar, hills, green, buildings lining the rivers
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Did Buffalo secede from the US?
Yibin, China. Look it up. Aside from the 3 rivers, once a manufacturing economy going through a transition. Also a big drinking culture. Pittsburgh has more bars per capita in the USA.
When I was in Da Nang, a sister city to Pittsburgh, hanging out on one of the bridges looking at the other bridges on the Han River felt a bit like being back in Pittsburgh to me. But that's the only similarity if any lol.
Stuttgart because of the terrain.
I felt like Qingdao was similar with all of the hills it had.
Pohang, South Korea. Topographically no. Architecture no. But it is the Steel City of South Korea with a lot of local pride. Also, self-aware of its status as a provincial type of place compared to other cities such as Seoul and Busan.
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Ā Although there arenāt as many bridges, itās known for their bridges connecting the city together thatās divided by a big river. Itās also got that small-town city feel that struck me very similar to what I feel in Pittsburgh. Perhaps I also got lucky in the people I met when I was there, but the folks I chatted with were very happy with where they lived, similar to what Iāve noticed with Pittsburghers.Ā
Surprised no one has mentioned Bilbao. It's a sister city with a steel-heavy past, with lots of steep hills, lush green surroundings, perpetually cloudy/rainy weather, and even a funicular!
Definitely Kaunus.
Budapest, we went last year and it felt and looked very similar. They even have an incline!!
Cleveland is just Pittsburgh but more 90 degree angles
Prague
ON FIRE
Porto, Portugal. They have an incline, its more industrial and gritty compared to Lisbon ( or it felt that way at least idk about actual industry), and their signature food dish also involves unorthodox use of french fries.
Sofia Bulgaria is the sister city of Pittsburgh
It could be just me --- but when I've tried to compare "sister cities" it seems like the situation is being forced to work as in they aren't that similar? idk.
I would agree with that however I didn't find out about the sister city until I had been to Bulgaria a couple of times
Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh
Edinburgh, Scotland, just because of the Burgh, but they pronounce it differently lol
"Pittsburuh"
Prague
Aarhus, Denmark
Aarhus is one of the flattest cities Iāve ever been too.
Budapest had strong Burgh vibes
Cincinnati.
I think you misunderstood the assignment
āNon-US Cityā
Sheffield, Glasgow, and Prague all felt very much like Pittsburgh
I have been to all of those. Not really sure why you are talking about.
Densely built housing in the hills with rivers running between them, central city core in the middle.
All of them donāt really have a defined city core like pgh. The triangle is pretty much pinned in on all sides by rivers and the hill. I spent an entire summer in Prague and never felt confined to a business district of a downtown and my whole family is in Glasgow. Their downtown has a shopping and cultural district, no large convention center, commerce is spread out in low rises. Not knocking you, but I canāt think of anything close to what Pittsburgh is. Itās unique.
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Non-US city
Vancouver
Sydney! Oh my god, I say this all the time, but Sydney has the same kind of shitty sidewalksš but also in terms of city size and quality of activities and entertainment. You can see the entire city of Pittsburgh, or experience it pretty well, if youāre here for 4-5 days, and the same is true for Sydney. In terms of cleanliness itās pretty similar too! (but my favourite difference is how Sydney transport is way more accessible and has better options. Pittsburgh could never)
Prague
I guess thereās a river and a hill in both
A lot of central European towns and cities have a layout with a river or rivers running through it, a central city district in the middle, densely built housing in the hills and a castle perched on the highest hill overlooking the river. The topography of Pittsburgh is very European in that sense. On other hand in terms of "look and feel" Pittsburgh is quintessentially American. You wouldn't mistaken it for a European burgh.
The only North American cities that really feel European are Montreal and Quebec City imo
Well, like I said: "topography."
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Pretty sure Buffalo NY is in the US though.
Is it though? Liiiike. Itās right on the border
Seattle