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From the NY Times Online: 36-hours in Pittsburgh...(link)

Also in the Washington Post and on Eater.com. Pittsburgh is starting to get a rep as the East Coast Portland.
 
You're the second person in the past two weeks who I heard make the Pittsburgh/Portland comparison. That's interesting....

Here;s the great article on Eater Online:

http://www.eater.com/2015/7/17/8963467/pittsburgh-restaurant-destination-food-town

Beyond national talk, proud Pittsburgh doesn’t strike me as a city of people clamoring for validation. Its character will keep developing on its own time, in its own way. In any case, it won’t take me another quarter-century to return with my appetite and curiosity.
 
What I have always loved about Pittsburgh, and what I didn't really learn or fully appreciate about if until I left, is that it is one of the few cities that is very much it's own place.

What I mean by that is that has an unusual amount of traditions and customs and cultural attributes that are unique to the region and its people. Some of them are campy, some of them are annoying, and some of them are wonderful, but Pittsburghers simply do not care.

We have a lot of highly unusual sayings and slang terms. We have a bizarre accent. We do things without thinking about them that the rest of the country would crinkle their noses over.

I remember bringing a college girlfriend from Indiana to a wedding here and her being completely disgusted by a fire hall wedding and a cookie table. She thought they were both tacky and ridiculous. She's probably right. I didn't care though, because I'm from Pittsburgh and that's what you do here.

There are not many cities like that and it really is a major part of our culture and appeal.

Other cities that I found to be like that, very much their own places, include New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Milwaukee. Like Pittsburgh, the people in those cities don't really care about the outside world's view of them and that mentality serves them very well. There are others too but those are the ones that immediately spring to mind during my travels over the years.
 
What I have always loved about Pittsburgh, and what I didn't really learn or fully appreciate about if until I left, is that it is one of the few cities that is very much it's own place.

What I mean by that is that has an unusual amount of traditions and customs and cultural attributes that are unique to the region and its people. Some of them are campy, some of them are annoying, and some of them are wonderful, but Pittsburghers simply do not care.

We have a lot of highly unusual sayings and slang terms. We have a bizarre accent. We do things without thinking about them that the rest of the country would crinkle their noses over.

I remember bringing a college girlfriend from Indiana to a wedding here and her being completely disgusted by a fire hall wedding and a cookie table. She thought they were both tacky and ridiculous. She's probably right. I didn't care though, because I'm from Pittsburgh and that's what you do here.

There are not many cities like that and it really is a major part of our culture and appeal.

Other cities that I found to be like that, very much their own places, include New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Milwaukee. Like Pittsburgh, the people in those cities don't really care about the outside world's view of them and that mentality serves them very well. There are others too but those are the ones that immediately spring to mind during my travels over the years.
It's funny that you should mention the cookie table. One of my sons was married in Cary, NC (a beautiful area outside of Raleigh for those unfamiliar with it). The place where he held his reception had never heard of a cookie table either, so we had to explain it in the days prior to the wedding. We thought that we'd done a thorough job explaining it - this is, until we showed-up with a vanload of cookies and they had only two small card-tables waiting for us. The expressions on their faces as we carried-in boxes and boxes of cookies was priceless - and it sent them scurrying away in search of longer tables.
 
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Milwaukee ?

What I have always loved about Pittsburgh, and what I didn't really learn or fully appreciate about if until I left, is that it is one of the few cities that is very much it's own place.

What I mean by that is that has an unusual amount of traditions and customs and cultural attributes that are unique to the region and its people. Some of them are campy, some of them are annoying, and some of them are wonderful, but Pittsburghers simply do not care.

We have a lot of highly unusual sayings and slang terms. We have a bizarre accent. We do things without thinking about them that the rest of the country would crinkle their noses over.

I remember bringing a college girlfriend from Indiana to a wedding here and her being completely disgusted by a fire hall wedding and a cookie table. She thought they were both tacky and ridiculous. She's probably right. I didn't care though, because I'm from Pittsburgh and that's what you do here.

There are not many cities like that and it really is a major part of our culture and appeal.

Other cities that I found to be like that, very much their own places, include New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Milwaukee. Like Pittsburgh, the people in those cities don't really care about the outside world's view of them and that mentality serves them very well. There are others too but those are the ones that immediately spring to mind during my travels over the years.
 
Not only the cookie table but i know in the old patch towns in the Mon Valley we would have the Money Dance. A Polka that would play non stop while everybody waited in line to give money to the Maid of honer then do a quick dance with the bride, then grab a shot and a slice of cake. Then each person after doing that would grab a "hankey" , wave it and yell like crazy. Then after the last person dances with the bride (Dad) everybody surrounds the bride and the Groom push's his way through and picks up his bride and runs out the door.

That's a wedding.
 
Not only the cookie table but i know in the old patch towns in the Mon Valley we would have the Money Dance. A Polka that would play non stop while everybody waited in line to give money to the Maid of honer then do a quick dance with the bride, then grab a shot and a slice of cake. Then each person after doing that would grab a "hankey" , wave it and yell like crazy. Then after the last person dances with the bride (Dad) everybody surrounds the bride and the Groom push's his way through and picks up his bride and runs out the door.

That's a wedding.
Yep. And I've seen instances when the circle around the bride actually made more of an effort to keep the groom away from the bride, so he actually had to exert some energy to bust thru the circle. Then, as you said, he scooped her up and carried his bride away as the party continued.

It's been a few years since I attended one of those....but great fun. And DJ's were generally unheard of: it was a polka band or nothing!
 
I'm from the Pittsburgh area and I married a girl from the Milwaukee area. The people and traditions from both areas are so similar it's scary. Every time we go back to Wisconsin it's like I'm home. Great place to live and the people are great.
 
I'm from the Pittsburgh area and I married a girl from the Milwaukee area. The people and traditions from both areas are so similar it's scary. Every time we go back to Wisconsin it's like I'm home. Great place to live and the people are great.
My next favorite place to visit is Star City! So much to do there and such pleasant surroundings. I especially like the trailer park and that fast food joint.
 
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When I moved to Buffalo from Texas and could actually start attending Pitt and Pirate games on a regular business (as well as explore the city) I couldn't believe how much it had changed since the mid 90s. I absolutely love it and try to come down anytime I have a chance anymore, just can't get enough of it!
 
If that broad was snarky about the cookie table, i hope you dumped her on the spot.

Not on the spot but not too long thereafter. It was a shame because she was gorgeous and loaded. However, she was miserable and not fun to be around in most situations.
 
Not only the cookie table but i know in the old patch towns in the Mon Valley we would have the Money Dance. A Polka that would play non stop while everybody waited in line to give money to the Maid of honer then do a quick dance with the bride, then grab a shot and a slice of cake. Then each person after doing that would grab a "hankey" , wave it and yell like crazy. Then after the last person dances with the bride (Dad) everybody surrounds the bride and the Groom push's his way through and picks up his bride and runs out the door.

That's a wedding.
Oh my. Exactly. What I loved about all those weddings growing up was that it was perfectly acceptable to have 2 women polka dance together, which is how I learned to polka (and unforgivingly have forgotten). I cherish those memories and regret my own children know nothing of them.

And for the record, when either one of my kids marry (God willing), there WILL be a cookie table.
 
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