I've lived in the south and spent some decent amount of time on the west coast. In the south, people will happily tear you to shreds with a knife-sharp tongue coated in the sweetness of cake frosting. "Bless your heart", "I feel you," etc. - terms that don't really mean what you think they mean. Both my co-worker and I who've lived in the south use these sometimes and when people think we're being nice it's like "oh, honey..."

In the west coast culture (and this seems to be a habit picked up by Pittsburghers who've made a shot at living there) there is a lot of roundabout fake-niceness to avoid hurting your feelings and keep things chill. Someone has a problem with you in west coast culture? Or doesn't want to hang out with you or wants to politely reject you? They'll be very west-coast about it and redirect the conversation, without outright saying what they're thinking.

Pittsburgh, now. Being here is like Goldilocks entering the house of the three bears and finding Mama Bear's porridge and Mama Bear's chair. Fits just right. People (assuming they haven't made an attempt to transplant to the south or west coast and picked up those other communication styles) will tell you what they're thinking. They won't hide their grumpy days, and maybe to some folks this can be alienating if the fellow serving your dinner at the diner isn't putting on a Pagliacci act. And if someone has a problem, well, they'll let you know they think you're a jagoff.

And that's also what makes the culture of this city and its surrounding townships wonderful, and I wouldn't miss it for the world.