Before I beat down the Burgh Part 1

I'm sure many of my posts will be critical of Pittsburgh. There is alot not to like about the way things are being run right now in our city and our region, but there is plenty of time to discuss that later. The point of this post is to discuss what I love about Pittsburgh, why I chose to create this blog, and why I make my home here.



I'm not originally from Pittsburgh, I grew up in Eastern Pennsylvania; Allentown, PA to be exact. The closest I ever came to the city was changing U.S. Air flights at Pittsburgh International in the days when it was an incredibly busy hub.



My first visit to the city didn't happen until I was a freshman in college at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, VA. I was on the debate team (ha ha, laugh it up) and we traveled to Duquesne University for a debate. I gotta admit, I wasn't terribly impressed but then again all I saw was the inside of Duquesne classrooms with nothing else to look at aside from crucifixes and other dorky, pock marked debate kids. Even at that point, I had no idea that a year later I would be a sophmore at Pitt.



At the time, I was looking to join ROTC (not for an overwhelming need to harm my fellow man, but for the purpose of serving my country. Unfortunately, this concept is lost on most of American society. Everyone would like to take advantage of the convieniences and opportunities of this country, but few have done anything to earn it.) and Mary Washington College did not offer it. I applied to several other schools, of which Pitt was one of them. I had no allegience to Pittsburgh, and Pitt was not my first choice, but they were the only school that acecpted me.



At the time, for me going to Pitt and coming to the city of Pittsburgh was a matter of necesity; they had a program that I wanted and they were the only ones to accept me. Now, however, as I look back on it, it was one of those events in my life that was "meant to be". My life has become undeniably intertwined with Pittsburgh. The best years of my life have been spent here. If it was not for coming here I would have missed so much. I would have missed the opportunity to serve my country, the opportunity to learn what a real sports fan is, and most importantly, the opportunity to meet my fiance'.



I spent 3 years at Pitt, and absoultely fell in love with Pittsburgh. It didn't happen overnight. At first, I wasn't too fond of Pittsburgh. It didn't impress me very much. As I look back, that is because I had no idea everything that the city had to offer. My world consisted of Pitt's campus and the college ghettos of South Oakland. Once I branched out and learned the cultural, sports, and entertainment options Pittsburgh has, I was hooked. Anyone who says there is nothing to do in Pittsburgh just isn't looking.

Foreward

I'm certainly suprised. I generally don't have too high an opinion of blogging. In my mind, any idiot can type the ideas that fall out of their head and post those ideas on the internet. So here I am, typing ideas that fall out of my head and posting them on the internet. Well, I guess I figure what's one more idiot????? If nothing else, I think this will give me an opportunity to express my thoughts and ideas, and people can take them for what they are worth. That's the advantage to blogging that I think I was overlooking before. It gives people a voice, and a forum that was not available before. I've got plenty of ideas (some good, and some bad); why not share them???

The over-all focus of this blog is definitely issues facing Pittsburgh. If I had to refine that further, I would say the main topic will be transit (hence the name of the blog), but I don't intend for that to be the only thing I discuss. For that matter, I can't tell you what the focus is going to be. I figure I will post things as they come to me, and I guess we'll see on the other side what my focus really was!