All Neighbors in Pittsburgh, PA
Top Neighbors: The magic behind the mirrors
You will never have to pay to be listed as a top neighbor. Period. That important detail clarified, let's discuss how we arrive at two "top neighbors" for a given region:
Localism is a bustling collection of hyper-local communities, and the top neighbors should reflect those members who are most active. When ranking users in a given region, several factors are considered. To get your foot in the proverbial door, you need to have posted at least one "Localism" article or photo for the region.
The very best way to quickly rise to #1 is to post high-quality local content. Keeping a steady strem of incoming posts and photos will massively tilt the scales in your favor.
What doesn't count toward the top neighbor ranking? ActiveRain points and community sponsorships. The top neighbor spots will always go to the most active members in a region. We want to create a level playing field that encourages the growth of communities — talent and dedication are required to win the day.
There's an old joke here in Pittsburgh that when the world ends we'll still have 7 years left. I've even heard people talk about how the recession really hasn't hit Pittsburgh yet. I don't agree.
In my opinion, Pittsburgh has been able to weather the downturn because it is a stable, down-to-earth city that already went through the bad times. It was able to diversify it's economy and attract new investment. Like the rest of the country we saw a decline in home prices but nothing like the huge drops that were happening in other areas, just a few percentage points. Even better, last week's report showed gains over a year ago.
Then we get some really good news, According to Forbes Magazine, Pittsburgh is one of the cities leading the country out of the recession. As the 4th Fastest-Recovering City in the U.S., Pittsburgh is showing how a mid-sized, northeastern city can chart a course to recovery.
Investing 101 will tell you to “buy low and sell high” but reality tells us that most people do the exact opposite. When the market (real estate or stock) is booming, everyone wants to get in, so they buy, which drives the market higher, which makes more people want to get in, and drives the market higher and so on. But what those people really did was to buy at the top of the market, when prices are high. Then when the bust came, everyone wanted out so they sold, low. And the worse it gets, the more they want to sell and the lower the prices go.
