turdacres

I really like living in Pittsburgh. It’s got a lot going for it, including having a great set of outdoor resources–parks and trails, as well as a great overall standard of living. But before you pull up stakes and come and take advantage of great housing prices, perhaps a caveat for you.

In other posts I’ve talked about the poor air quality in Pittsburgh, and the scary Marcellus drilling that’s starting. I haven’t spent too much time talking about the insane *sports love* in the town, but that’s there too. But of all of the potential downsides of living here, it turns out that the biggest unknown risk of living in Pittsburgh is not one of those things.

It’s having someone drive their car into your house. Yes I’m serious!Growing up near Buffalo it was all about the house fires. It seemed that every night on the news you’d hear about another house fire in a Buffalo neighborhood frame house. Fire in Lackawanna, Fire in Cheektowaga! aBut, in Pittsburgh I’ve noticed another trend. As it seems rather a stretch, last summer I decided to start documenting it. Read it and weep people!

tally of near 6 months of house crashes in the burgh

Let’s take a closer look shall we?
3-Jul crash into high rise in car chase
9-Jul crash into restaurant
28-Jul crash into house
1-Aug crash into house
16-Aug crashes into health club
28-Aug newlyweds crash
1-Sep crashes into house serious damage
16-Sep crashes into house
20-Sep crashes into house again old lady
1-Oct into garage
2-Oct drunk guy into house
8-Oct crashes into house gas line broken
16-Oct crashes into pizza shop
17-Oct crashes in to house our neigbhorhood
21-Oct crashes into house
23-Oct crashes into gas pumps
23-Oct crashes into porch
23-Oct crahses into courthouse
24-Oct carjacking crashes into house in garfield.
25-Oct truck into mausoleum

6-Dec jeep into house leaves its bumper
7-Dec pickup into bank
9-Dec stolen van into gas stationin oakland
12-Dec truck into TWO houses!

I’ve been sitting on this blog post for a long time now–as it’s kind of a pain to find all the news links–and I need to be watching the news to hear these stories. Not sure I ever got to November!

But alas two big stories in the last two days–and it’s time to finish the post!!

So,yesterday–a pepsi truck driver was distracted for a moment and missed a curve in the road. Looked up to find himself careening through a guardrail and down into and through the corner of a house. Man took the whole master bedroom out!!! Tire tracks in the field showed that he continued on for quite a ways into the woods. Luckily no one was hurt.

And then today, I heard the news chopper nearby. Uh-oh. I wondered what it was, and here’s the story. Lady drove off the edge of the road and crashed into a landscape and nursery building!! Poor lady wound up in a creek. Hope she’s ok.

At any rate, it sure is a hazard here! Could be our crazy curvy roads. Some drunks, some older adults miscalculations. Or houses too close to the road? Or something!! Drivers took the side of my car off when I lived in Lawrenceville more than once, but so far, knock on wood, no car into my house.