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133 Duffland St. Credit: Photo: Courtesy of Zillow

Once you quote a survey, you get sent all the surveys. The big one is Livability.com’s “Best places to live in the U.S. in 2025,” which didn’t rank them in descending order this year — recognizing, perhaps, that not everybody wants or needs the same thing from a city. Pittsburgh made this list, as usual. Most of the other “cities” are college towns or glorified suburbs like Flower Mound and Sugar Land (Texas), so, uh go us.

If you’re curious, Pittsburgh does well because it scores well across almost all of the criteria. Our top categories are Amenities (we are one of the bigger cities ranked), Economy, Health, and Housing & Cost of Living.

Wallethub, in particular, seems to get a lot of traffic by creating new lists every few days. Here are a few recent ones:

States who spend the most and least on housing: PA is 24^th.
States with the biggest drug problems: PA is 25^th. Yay?
Cities with the most affordable rent: Pittsburgh is 89^th of 180.
Greenest States: PA is 24^th.
Best states for children’s health care: PA is 4^th.
Most financially literate states: PA is 14^th.
States with the highest tax burdens: PA is 30^th (lower than Ohio!).
Best states for college basketball fans: Pittsburgh is 95^th.

Should these lists be taken seriously? Absolutely not. Are they sort of fun (and a good excuse for a column)? Absolutely.

For sale: 133 Duffland St., Carrick, $135,900.
There are still plenty of affordable places to live in Pittsburgh. They just happen to be in places with little to no demand (until now, maybe), like Carrick. This uses up all the triangles and brings an odd-color brick to the table that’s a little paler than the usual Pittsburgh buff-brick hue. It has very nice hardwood floors, which are superior to the crappy wood-laminate that everybody is laying down nowadays.

1255 Superior Ave. Credit: Photo: Courtesy of Zillow

For sale: 1255 Superior Ave., Marshall-Shadeland, $130,000.
If you are only looking in the city’s “favored quarter” — the East End — and the flat parts of the North Side then, yeah, you can claim Pittsburgh has become unaffordable. I get it. And yet, a few blocks away, there are still sub-$200k houses in abundance. Nothing fancy, but built (in 1924) to last, with a porch and a separate garage around the back, which is really the best place for it.

Park View Apartments, 10 Allegheny Center Credit: Photo: Courtesy of Zillow

For rent: Park View Apartments, 10 Allegheny Center, Allegheny Center, $950/month.
I get why everything gets painted white in so many rentals — it makes it look clean, which is 75% of what you want from a new apartment. And yet, this is such bright white that I’d feel like I’m waking up in either the hospital or heaven, which is disconcerting. 414 square feet is pretty small, but there’s a lot to see and do in the neighborhood, so it likely won’t seem like the bright white walls are closing in.

506 E. North Ave. Credit: Photo: Courtesy of Zillow

For sale: 506 E. North Ave., Deutschtown, $248,000.
The flat parts of the North Side (Mexican War Streets, Allegheny West, Deutschtown) have been pretty expensive for at least a decade, so this 1900-era rowhouse is pretty unusual. Nearby, the painstakingly slow Garden Theater development has finally turned the corner, and neighborhood staple the Mayfly Market & Deli is expanding, so things are looking up around here.

The Preserve at Heinz, 950 Progress St. Credit: Photo: Courtesy of Zillow

For rent: The Preserve at Heinz, 950 Progress St., North Side, $1,300/month.
This is the most Pittsburgh address possible — literally in the old Heinz factory. It says a lot that factories were built to be this sturdy (assuming, you don’t open the wrong door and fall into a giant vat of ketchup, of course) and attractive back in the 1800s, while nowadays, they’re all one-story metal sheds and loading docks. This is an excellent location — just a bridge away from the Strip and Downtown.

Frick Park Village, 265 Kelly Ave. Credit: Photo: Courtesy of Brandywine Communities

For rent: Frick Park Village, 265 Kelly Ave., Wilkinsburg, $1,001/month.
If you haven’t been to Frick Park in a while, I recommend it. It’s about as nice a city park as it gets. It’s so large that even the sirens don’t penetrate its verdant depths. Blue Slide Park might be my single favorite place in Pittsburgh. At least once a year, I’m asked for directions there by out-of-town Mac Miller fans (he named an album “Blue Slide Park”). This place recognizes the subtle strength of Frick Park’s brand; otherwise, it’s just a pretty dated rental property.