Famous Movies Made in Pittsburgh and Other Retirement Musings

The Manor Theater in Squirrel Hill

Pittsburgh is currently carrying out celebrations of the 50^thAnniversary of the release of one of the most famous movies made here, George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.  It’s an example of what we are finding out about Pittsburgh.  It has a strong feeling of community and honors the people who lived and worked here and who have made substantial contributions in their fields.  Downtown bridges are named for Roberto Clemente, the outstanding Pirates outfielder, painter Andy Warhol, and Rachel Carson, author of the book, Silent Spring, that made people aware of the harm that pesticides were doing and led to the environmental movement. 

A movie currently filming here is about another Pittsburgher, Fred Rogers.  An excellent documentary about him was released earlier in the year, Won’t You Be My Neighbor.  In the forthcoming movie, Mr. Rogers is played by Tom Hanks, who dressed up in a Rogerian red cardigan sweater and a wry smile, looks very much like Mr. Rogers.

We actually live in Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood, an area called Squirrel Hill.  Mr. Rogers owned a home about a mile away from us, and would often walk to the local shops and restaurants.  There is a feel to the neighborhood, too, that is very much like Mr. Rogers.  Although it is in the middle of the city, the area feels like a small town, with lots of restaurants and local stores, many of which have been here for years.  There is also a great deal of diversity in age and ethnicity.  When we walk down the shopping streets we see infants and young children, teenagers going to and from school, college students who make a short commute to University of Pittsburgh or Carnegie Mellon, working age persons, and older people, some who appear to be doing quite well and others who need help to get to get around.  It is really a refreshing change from State College.  

In terms of ethnic diversity, the Jewish population is probably the largest in the area.  We live within a mile of 8 synagogues.  Many of the college students in the neighborhood are Asians.  As a result, there are numerous Asian restaurants in the area.  We are still working our way through all the restaurants. There are smaller numbers of Hispanics and African Americans, but there are some.  We pick up our grandson from school a couple of days a week, and see the diversity in his classmates.  It is perhaps not surprising, but kids don’t make distinctions about race or ethnicity unless they are taught to do so.  We are enjoying being part of a much more heterogeneous neighborhood than we have been in since we left Los Angeles.

Of course, there are a lot of things to see and do in Pittsburgh beyond our neighborhood.  Like everywhere else, however, Pittsburgh is not perfect.  There are still neighborhoods that remind you that there was a terrible economic disaster here several decades ago, when one third of the population left.  While the influx of tech workers (brought here by companies like Google, Uber and DuoLingo) has spawned a building boom in the Bakery Square area, there still needs to be more affordable housing and better paying jobs at the lower end of the wage spectrum.  

And grocery shopping here has been a challenge for us.  We bounce between Giant Eagle Market District, Whole Foods, and Target, with occasional trips to the Strip to find Asian ingredients.  When all else fails, we order from Amazon.  So we really, really miss Wegmans. 

On balance, the move here has been everything we’d hoped it would be.  We are becoming a part of the fabric of the everyday life of our grandchildren, we’re experiencing a kind of diversity that we’d missed, and we’re being forced to move out of our comfort zone at times to try new things or be more creative in solving problems.  So, six months in, we’re finding Pittsburgh to be a great place to live in retirement.