I’m living with someone who is going to Chatham. There is a heavy amount of “woke” ideology in the program. If post modern theory or intersectionality is your thing, then you will be comfortable there. If you’re more conservative minded or not very ideological, just be prepared to encounter a heavy amount of far left ideology. One required book for a required class is called “Counseling The Culturally Diverse”. It sounds good on it’s face, because obviously it is important to understand other cultures so that you can be a competent therapist. However, the book and course hardly covers other cultures, but focuses on intersectionality in a vague as gaslighting way. Again, it may be your cup of tea. Personally I’m finding it to be toxic and unnecessarily cynical as I’m back in school to become a therapist.

I lived in So Cal most of my life and love living in Pittsburgh. There’s already paragraphs others have posted, so I’ll say this:

The cloudiness we have is NOT like in the west coast. I lived in Portland for a few years. The cloudiness there is relentless and the sun hardly ever pokes through. Here, you’ll have a stint of that from time to time, but it’s broken up by being mostly cloudy with plenty of sun bleeding through. Also, it typically rains heavy and stops. So no constant drizzling - I don’t miss that AT ALL.

P.S. Upper Saint Claire, Mt. Lebanon, Sewickly, Squirrel Hill are excellent choices for suburbs not too far from downtown. The people here are awesome as well.