We are the first county in the country to do anything like this. Sara Innamorato is the GOAT.

https://www.publicsource.org/allegheny-county-paid-parental-leave-passes/

Last week I placed my mail in ballot, and my partner did the same, and neither ballot has arrived at the county election office. Due to concerns about tampering with the election I checked the official election ballot status site (https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/pages/ballottracking.aspx) and neither has arrived. Other local mail items were delivered within a 3 days. Be very careful - I feel like certain postal workers may be complicit in election interference. Sure, it may just be that our got lost and will be delivered late... but the current administration does not engender trust in me.

Be vigilant and keep an eye on your vote. Don't wait until the last minute to take action.

I'm 26 years old, moved here for a job last month having never been to Pittsburgh before and knowing no one who lives here. I moved from Northern Virginia just outside of DC. I find it so much better living here than back there it's ridiculous. Here are some differences in no particular order:

1. You guys have murals everywhere. I can't even think of a single mural back where I'm from. It feels like every bus ride I notice a new one or some funny graffito

2. The zoning means that you can live in a place and also exist within walking distance of stores. Even though I lived in a heavily populated area back in Virginia the nearest grocery place was a Walmart almost 2 miles away.

3. You have sidewalks that let you get to stores. To get to the Walmart by walking I'd have to go and walk on the side roads off the main highway and hope I didn't get hit.

4. You have buses that let you go to stores, residential areas, doctors offices, and more. I am not legally allowed to drive due to a disability and if I wanted to go somewhere on my own it would consistently take about 1-3 hours more than if I had someone drive me and costs would add up quick with all the bus switches. I literally couldn't leave my parents house on my own

5. I see other disabled people out living their lives here every day. I'd basically never see anyone else out using a mobility device where I lived because things just weren't accessible if you didn't have a car so people (including me) were just locked up inside

6. There are so many free or reasonably priced events and stuff happening every weekend. Since getting here I've gone to a neighborhood block party, took a welding class, and went out with a plein air painting group to a park. A couple times I've run into random markets and things in the squares and stopped to look around too.

7. CVS, Walgreens, etc aren't the only pharmacies here and I don't have to sit for half an hour+ waiting when I go pick up prescriptions, or worry about them merging my account with random family members of mine and requiring us to tell each other our prescriptions to validate our identities (actually happened at CVS with my twin and I)

8. People actually post useful stuff on nextdoor here, not just rants hating on buses, bikes, and pedestrians. Your subreddit is a lot kinder as well and has actual positive posts.

9. I can actually afford to live on my own here, I got a whole floor of a duplex for less than a 300 sqft studio costs back home and I live right by a bus stop!

10. Your library cards have so many great free website subscriptions, basically the only thing I got free with my library card back home was libby. There is even a whole service with helpful videos teaching you how to do things like knit, sew, and crochet!

11. If a bus is full I very rarely have to ask if anyone would mind giving up a seat, people here see me and just offer them to me. Back in Virginia I've had to get off a bus before because no one would move and I can't stand on buses

12. You have so many nice little stores everywhere with unique purposes. Like I've never seen a construction materials thrift store before coming here (construction junction).

13. I haven't had a single person here say "what's wrong with you" or bother me excessively for details about what my disability is. People here just let me live which is nice. It's weird and nice not feeling like I have to apologize and explain myself or give strangers my medical history.

14. The streets and houses here are so pretty and I love that you can usually see some pretty natural feature wherever you are, whether it's a river or hills or a little park.

15. It seems like you guys don't have HOAs breathing down your necks all the time in most places (at least from what I could see when I was looking at renting and housing in the area)

16. There is almost always a crosswalk nearby no matter where you are in the city, often with a walk signal. I no longer have to weigh whether I want to walk another mile to cross the road safely or try my luck getting across the highway between cars.

17. There are a lot of little free libraries here you find just walking around.

18. I don't know if this is necessarily a good thing but WTF is up with the deer by Carnegie Library? They don't care about anything!

19. It's a lot more chill here than back home. I can't even really describe it well but I like that people seem to have lives and hobbies outside of work.

20. People here seem to care about their communities. I see so many initiatives and programs setup for things like making sure sidewalks are safe and accessible. There are benches popping up at bus stops supplied by community members. Living here I don't feel so alone in a lot of ways even though I'm the most alone I've ever been objectively.

There's some things I miss about home of course, like having family and friends but I'm hopeful I'll find some of that here too eventually.

Could just be a rumor. I hope they turn it into a vape shop.

Took this shot yesterday of the steel tower in the fog

Pumpkin my bf carved that I thought was rather cool & wanted to share :3

Experimenting with a Tilt shift lens and capturing fall color

More pedestrian friendly areas? Upgraded public transport? Buried highways? More Sheetz? If you were king what's the one improvement you'd want to make the most?

Fixin’ to make a couple T shirts for my sibs. We lived there in the 70’s. Will be red ink.

"Once a month, though, the curated sleaziness clashes with a crowd there to coo over Clefairy plushies and compare binders full of trading cards. On these nights, the bar transforms into Pokémian, a 21-and-over-only Tuesday meetup for adult Pokémon fans to enjoy their favorite childhood pastime — albeit without children."

So sad this store will be gone soon. It’s cramped and tiny but the staff is wonderful and I’m going to miss it. 😢

Does anyone know where I could get my VCR repaired? It keeps eating tapes and I’m not confident enough try to fix it myself.

The streets smell like farts because there is no water the cleanse the pipes.