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6 days ago | 
pghcitypaper.com | Michael Machosky
Contrary to national trends, Pittsburgh apartments are shrinking. According to rental site RentCafe.com, “While apartment sizes are growing in many cities, Pittsburgh is moving in the other direction. The average size of newly built apartments has dropped by 116 square feet — which is roughly the space you'd need for a home office.” “That’s not a minor shift — it marks the 10th largest decrease in the country.
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1 week ago | 
pghcitypaper.com | Michael Machosky
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.
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2 weeks ago | 
pghcitypaper.com | Michael Machosky
It was just Easter, and I just drank a can of Penn Brewery & Oakmont Bakery’s Packzi-flavored Pittsburgh Cream Ale, which might surpass all flavors of Turner’s Iced Tea to become the Most Pittsburgh Drink Ever Invented. That doesn’t mean it’s good. But, like Striking Distanceor Sudden Death, sometimes the pure Pittsburgh content (like fighting a terrorist dressed as Iceburgh) is reward enough. I’d drink it again. What does that have to do with housing in Pittsburgh?
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3 weeks ago | 
pghcitypaper.com | Michael Machosky
So, what’s the hot new partisan divide to fight about? It’s NIMBY vs. YIMBY! That’s “Not In My Back Yard” versus “Yes, In My Back Yard,” for those of you with actual lives/hobbies/interests. Do I have to take a stance on this? Yes (because I can’t think of anything better to write about at this second).
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1 month ago | 
pghcitypaper.com | Michael Machosky
The other day, a pop song from my childhood leapt into my brain as it spilled out of a passing car, and suddenly time reversed for a few seconds. It wasn’t even a song I really liked as a kid; it was simply part of the soundscape of daily life, like the symphony of crickets serenading a suburban dusk.
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1 month ago | 
pghcitypaper.com | Michael Machosky
Here’s a weird thought — what if the Golden Age of living in Pittsburgh is right now? And what if it’s almost over? Long-time Pittsburghers are almost universally married to the idea that things were better in the past. But when, exactly? In the ‘40s, this was one of the most important cities in the world, crushing fascism beneath an avalanche of Pittsburgh steel. But the sky was so black with soot that streetlights Downtown stayed on all day, and the rivers were open sewers for industrial waste.
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1 month ago | 
pghcitypaper.com | Michael Machosky
Pittsburgh added about 450 new residents between 2023 and 2024. While I’ve been in lines longer than that for hot dogs at PNC Park, those are pretty good numbers for Pittsburgh. With very few anomalous exceptions, Pittsburgh has been losing population for my entire lifetime, and quite a bit before that, as the dying steel industry bled out last century. Why do I think this is good news? Well, you’re either growing or you’re shrinking; there’s no secret third thing.
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1 month ago | 
pghcitypaper.com | Michael Machosky
Signs of spring in Pittsburgh: Page’s Dairy Mart opening. The world learning the weird names of small Pittsburgh colleges, like Duquesne and Robert Morris, which somehow battled their way into March Madness. Callery/Bradford pear trees begin to bloom beautifully (and smell like wet dog). Weird, unfamiliar feelings of hope/optimism before a single game of Buccos baseball has been played. I like the winter, and the concept of four seasons, but wow, does it last about a month too long.
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2 months ago | 
pghcitypaper.com | Michael Machosky
I’m often asked (usually by myself) what the point of this column is. For a long time, I didn’t really have an answer. Many publications do regular features on houses to buy because they are popular.I was asked to do one, except instead of focusing on big, beautiful, expensive houses, I was to focus on the “affordable” ones. Though, what that meant was left up to interpretation.
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2 months ago | 
pghcitypaper.com | Michael Machosky
Oh, hey, look, someone solved the housing crisis: “Austin Rents Tumble 220% from Peak on Massive Home Building Spree.”Sure, there might be other things that help at the margins, and other things worth doing. But if you want a metro-sized solution to a very big problem, this is all there is: you’ve got to build housing.
