No wonder I've never noticed it. Every city I've lived in has had worst air quality. 😂 Thank you for the info! OP should be fine considering the worst air quality is mainly CA.

As for what suburbs to focus on, I'm sure the locals will know better than I, but I've heard great things about Upper Saint Claire, Fox Chapel, Mt Lebanon, and North Allegheny school district being the best (McCandless.)

As for the air quality, look online to see if you can find statistics over the past couple of years and compare it to places your children have been. Everyone seems to be all over the place with their opinions of it.

I've been here for a year now and still don't understand the issue with air quality. The AQI is always so much better than any other place I've lived. I never "feel it or smell it." I'm definitely not a fan of the cracker plant though. At least it's far north.

I came here from Colorado after similar issues you described. Honestly, it's been great. There's always going to be issues, as you said, but they seem to be relatively confined to those areas. Pittsburgh has been described as a checkerboard in this regard. Its not as simple as north or south. The people here are very friendly and upfront. The west is famous for the fake nice front they put on. As for the political side of things, it's the same as every other city; the further away you are, the more conservative it gets.

The schools out here are wonderful from what I understand. I always grew up hearing that east coast schools are two years ahead of the west coast and it seems to be true. My girlfriend moved between both and confirmed it. If you purchase a home, be prepared to pay the taxes for those schools. They can be pretty high.

One thing that I experienced was the shock of infrastructure. Your kids will especially notice it. Quite a few things here are old. It doesn't have that amazing look of a state on the west coast. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's not going to be cali/tokyo. However, I often see posts about people loving the look/wanting to conserve it. You may not like it immediately, my family didn't, but it grew on us.

As for your husband, someone else made a great recommendation. UPMC.

One of the biggest things we've come to love here is the sense of community. There's always something going on in our town. Always something to get the kids out. PPG basically has its own Rockefeller that we're very excited about going to. You're also a weekend trip away from NYC, Chicago, and Niagara falls.