This is home for me in that everything started here. My present perspective is more like that of a tourist, since by the time I finished college, the economy was in such a shambles that I and those like myself (best and brightest, if I may say so) were forced to leave the area in order to find gainful employment. This was something we all did extremely sadly for it’s tough to leave home, even under the worst of conditions. But if you were from Pittsburgh, the problem was more acute. Unlike the rest of the world, I soon discovered, in this place what you see is what you get. God is a man, white, most often Protestant, though sometimes Catholic. Never Polish or black, although quite a few in the congregations were. Every other buddy was Joe or Mike or Joe JR , Mike JR or even Paul JR . Most cars were Fords.

Blue Collar nowadays does not resemble the manly work my grandfathers and uncles did at considerable risk and poor reward in those days. To visit the old blast furnace, much less work in one for 45 years as my Pop-Pop (my maternal grandfather) did requires a special sort of man. One like him, Robert Wellington Moody, was a front line WWII Vet who believed in getting things done and viewed the world as black and white. The only shades of gray to him were his remaining hair and the sunrise right after he finished third shift. When he died in 1996, at the age of 88, so also died a living treasure and a unique way of life.

Ironically, Pittsburgh has one of the largest concentrations of people of Central and Eastern European lineage in the country, whose influence can be witnessed by some of the churches on the South Side of town with their distinctive Orthodox and Byzantine flair. One street has so many churches of this style that it looks as though one is in Czarist Russia and not Western Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh was founded and build by people like my Pop-Pop who, like most of his peers, had notions of what other folks were like but didn’t care unless they refused to share their food at lunch with everyone else, as was the custom in the mills.

Do not be misled, these folks were sophisticated in their own way. Not that one has to be sophisticated to develop controversial notions, but folks here always worked together, prayed together and literally died together in the mills. Therefore the only hardcore racism I’ve ever experienced in the city does not come from the actual inhabitants.

Football, like Soccer to Europhiles, is the property of the working classes. And, given its history, football is very big here. This is the home of one the oldest and most successful teams in professional football history: The Steelers. This city, although very small, has produced more college and professional football stars than any other of any size. To tell you the truth, my undergraduate degree was financed by a football scholarship.

A boy growing up here must be able to relate to the youths of Sparta when it comes to preparing for war or football. And, as your talent emerges, so also does your prestige among your fellow citizens. And I’m talking of the high school level.

Ever heard of Carnegie Mellon? How about the University of Pittsburgh? Chances are that if you haven’t heard of the former, you are not into artificial intelligence and cutting edge technology. Carnegie Mellon University, located in Pittsburgh, is the Harvard of Engineering (where Harvard grads wait in line for acceptance) and if any American readers ever need an organ transplant, the chances are that you’ll be flown to The University of Pittsburgh for the procedure. As a side note, Jonas Salk "Mr Polio Vaccine" was from Pittsburgh.

Pittsburghers, when not watching football or hunting deer, can take in a world class symphony orchestra, attend the Three Rivers Art Festival or enjoy live Jazz. Billy Strayhord (his real name) was to Duke Ellington what Haydn was to Mozart, and he was from Pittsburgh. Staryhorn wrote or co-wrote some of Duke’s best known works.

My place has an eclectic taste like me. It’s Hill Billy, I suppose. I watch football with volume turned down so I can listen to Mozart or Coltrane at the same time. It find it calming.

Downtown, at lunch time during the week, you’ll notice how well dressed everyone is – except me. My taste is "LA chic" which qualifies as casual. And it doesn’t matter if the person is a receptionist or CEO, people here like to dress well and have ready access to designer labels. What strikes me is, it’s not unusual to see a nice suit and when the suit smiles he’ll have a tooth or two missing but none the less will smile full face and go about his business. This is Pittsburgh!

So what have I said of Pittsburgh? It’s on three rivers: the Monogahelia and Allegheny confluence to form the Ohio. Was formerly heavily industrialized, but now is more service oriented. It has good schools at all levels, and most of the home-grown younger talent has moved on to greener pastures.

What have I not said about this place? Many things will remain unsaid, given the constraint this forum poses. But I will say this, we all come back. Why? Everything changes, and this place is not immune, but for some reason it changes on its own terms. And, as far as the people go, I challenge anyone to find a more real group of people. They smoke in public, whereas in LA you can be arrested for such an infraction, are fat and don’t lie about dieting, they drive American cars, they do not pretend to have heard of, say, Deepak Chopra if they have not, are not obsessed with wealth, beauty or Y2K. In a word, you are liked, loved or hated, based on you as you, and not in terms of you as your fancy car, big house, big job, or in many cases race. So unlike the rest of America.

And when you make a friend here, and you most certainly will, the bond is more akin to adding to your family. Therefore, if you seek thrills, romance, adventure, go elsewhere. If you seek decency, spontaneous friendships, simplicity, call Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania home.