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Comment by munk-a | Hacker News Reader

1. Software developer moves to Pittsburgh to save money on cost of living.

2. Software developer realizes there is an air problem.

3. Software developer advises other software developers to avoid the city.

Why, in this process of events isn't he appealing to the local government more - as a member of a workforce that is able to afford moving pretty trivially and can actually reside in crazy locales like SF it's rather depressing to see lines like:

> I credit myself with discouraging at least a dozen contacts in the tech industry from considering Pittsburgh until the situation improves.

Without even a spare moment's thought to the residents in Pittsburgh that are stuck there.

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"As a result, I am also leaving and transferring to a different office within Google. However, I am not going quietly. I am active on our internal lists, encouraging people to use the ‘SmellPGH’ app and to submit county and state environmental complaint forms, for all the lack of good it seems to do."

It seems like he's at least tried.

*barely tried

So, what exactly are you doing to help the people of Pittsburgh if you're complaining that OP didn't do enough despite TFA?

How is this not the emptiest and most self-righteous form of virtue-signaling we get on HN?

How could you write this comment instead of volunteering at your local soup kitchen and petitioning the government to end homelessness? You'll have to try harder to appease my arbitrary internet expectations of you, or I'll call you out.

>Without even a spare moment's thought to the residents in Pittsburgh that are stuck there.

I wouldn't expect anyone to subject their children and family and themselves to something they believe is unhealthy if they can afford not to. And I don't see what else this person could do other than support politicians who will empower the EPA.

Are you suggesting people who currently have lives built up in Pittsburgh also leave instead of improving the situation?

I'm not suggesting anyone do anything, but expecting someone to not move their family out of harm's way is unrealistic. This is not a situation that can be solved in the short term, nor with any decent chance of success. Therefore if you believe you are subjecting your family to a hazard by living there, the only option is to leave.

> expecting someone to not move their family out of harm’s way is unrealistic

> only option is to leave

Classic black and white thinking HN-style weakness.

I’m open to hearing what one should do if they believe the air around them is harmful to their family’s health.

Should? Previously you were expecting people to move.

It’s complicated and involves someone’s entire life circumstances. There’s no catch-all function which only takes the parameter `airQuality` that people adhere to like machines.

Families get entrenched. People have real estate. Culture melds with you. You get connected to the local politics. There are so many reasons that one would attempt to improve or accept their local situation instead of leaving.

Yes, my expectations are based on my experiences of people prioritizing their family's health above all else, assuming they have income security. If I was in a situation where my children are breathing in air I thought was harmful to them in the long term, and I had the ability to move somewhere where they weren't being harmed, I would prioritize that above all else.

I would be shocked if I met someone who would sacrifice their family's health if they had a decent option where they wouldn't have to. This probably doesn't apply to most people, as they might have to weigh trade offs such as moving away from family and whatnot, but the person who wrote the article is obviously earning far above most, and can afford to easily move.

The air pollution in Pittsburgh isn’t caused by things under the control of the local government or even the state government. It accumulates and blows in from west of there. Only the US federal government can fix it.

Where is it coming from, specifically?

In the NYC area we get a lot of pollution from coal burning power plans in the Midwest. Air currents take all that pollution and dump it here. Probably similar for Pittsburgh.

Mostly from Clairton, PA.

Is this a subtle dig at Ohio?

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