Why I Moved (Back) to Pittsburgh: Squirrel Hill

"Growing up, I always thought 'oh, it's Pittsburgh,'" says Jodi Weisfield with a laugh.  "I didn't realize how good we had it until we had kids of our own. I love it here. I'm a huge fan of Pittsburgh!  We're never leaving."

Big words from a musician whose path has been more circuitous than a French Horn.  The Squirrel Hill native and Allderdice grad (note: she swears by Mineo's over Aiello's) studied piano with Natalie Phillips locally before decamping to Bloomington, Indiana and its Hoosier-filled U.  "It was an amazing place to study music," says Weisfield and yet, she was sanguine about how difficult it would be to have a successful career as a musician.  An internship in arts management at the Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C. during her junior year "made me realize I could have a career in music and afford an apartment."

Wanderlust hit quickly upon graduation and Weisfield and her boyfriend moved to Los Angeles, where she landed a job with the L.A. Philharmonic working on the capital campaign for the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall.  "That was such a sexy project," Weisfield recalls.  "But I didn't like L.A.  It was too big." 

Even so, the pianist had fallen in love with her work and felt an MBA would clear a path for advancement.  Applying to graduate schools on the east coast, she settled on Pitt's Katz School of Business and the young couple returned to Pittsburgh, taking an apartment in Shadyside.  

"Walnut Street was great in that phase of our lives.  We could walk to restaurants, shops, school and spend time with our peers."  A night at the Symphony in the summer of 2001 was the clarion call for a return to the arts and Weisfield soon found herself as Manager of Corporate Support for the Pittsburgh Symphony.

The happily-ever-after tale hit a snag when Weisfield's husband, Andrew, a Mt. Lebanon native, was transferred to Cincinnati in 2004.  A transfer to Columbia, Maryland two years later was another unwelcome hiccup and by the time her husband was handed his third relocation in four years,  the now mother-of-two concluded it was time to come home.  As luck would have it, PSO President Larry Tamburri was ramping up a capital campaign and eager to have his superstar back.

As the guiding force behind the Symphony's $80 million campaign, Weisfield is passionate about the effort – and the stakes.  "We really need to surpass this goal," she states emphatically.  "Our endowment is too small to grow the orchestra.  When you look at the top ten orchestras in the U.S., our endowment is very small by comparison.  We're so lucky to have this world-class orchestra in Pittsburgh and we have to keep it just that."  Among those equally motivated is PSO Board Chairman Dick Simmons, who has offered up a matching grant that will total $29.5 million once fulfilled.

A Pittsburgh Moment
Finding a home was easier by comparison, though it didn't always feel that way.  "Our house in Maryland wouldn't sell so we moved in with my parents in Squirrel Hill," says Weisfield.  "Once the house did sell, we looked in Fox Chapel and North Allegheny but they weren't the right fit.  I kept telling my husband, 'let's stay in the city, look how easy it is to get to places,' and in a very Pittsburgh moment, we wound up with a house owned by the parents of a high school friend."  

The family's Squirrel Hill home is within walking distance of Frick Park and nearby shops and the kids will be going to Minadeo, an up-and-coming Pittsburgh public school.

"I appreciate Squirrel Hill a lot more now," says the twice-boomeranger with a smile.  "Growing up, I didn't understand why my parents wanted to be there and yet the beauty of the neighborhood is that everything is close by.  As an adult, these are the things I love.  Pittsburgh is such a family-friendly city and having both sets of parents here is great for both us and the kids, to say nothing of the babysitting!"

Also high on Weisfield's list is the city's "accessible, vibrant arts community" and the burgeoning restaurant scene.  "We love Eleven, Tamari and Plum and the cupcakes at Vanilla are amazing. And now we have a Nordstrom."  That said, Weisfield wishes more Pittsburghers shared her pride in their city.  "We can be really hard on ourselves," she says, "and as someone who has lived in other places, I see it."

Arguably the best reason for being back in Pittsburgh is Weisfield's affection for the team of her youth.  "I'm a die-hard Steelers fan," she proclaims.  "We've had season tickets in the family for two generations.  Now I get to go to the games again.  We're Pittsburghers."

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Elaine Labalme is a New Girl In Town who's happy to root for the Pirates 'cause, hey, someone's gotta do it.

Photographs copyright Brian Cohen