Affordable-ish Housing in Pittsburgh: Most stressed cities edition

Here’s an interesting ranking of the 2026 Most & Least Stressed Cities in America , giving each city a score for work stress, financial stress, family stress, and health & safety stress. Cumulatively, Detroit is the Most Stressed , followed by Baltimore and Cleveland. Fremont, Calif. is ranked the least stressed. Pittsburgh comes in at #116 Most Stressed, which is closer to Fremont than Cleveland. Well, we can’t have that. And suddenly… I detect Pittsburgh suddenly streaking up the city rankings as if the Sidney Crosby of Stress senses a breakaway in overtime. Actually that was just me, sorry about that. This week, I was unexpectedly and without explanation let go from my main job, the one that pays for food and health insurance. I don’t know if that’s enough stress to move the whole city up, but it feels like it to me.  So, yeah, my original idea for this week — a Houses That Resemble Pittsburgh Sandwiches column — is going to have to wait. I need to be in a certain kind of mood for that. As you may remember, Pittsburgh City Paper as a whole just went through this, where everyone was let go as the paper was shuttered without warning. Then, months later, it miraculously rose from the dead. In between was a lot of needless angst and struggle. City Paper Managing Editor Colin Williams recently discussed this in his Affordable-ish Housing column about Pittsburgh as a good place for freelancers — noting that some of us aren’t exactly freelancers by choice. I’ve never even attached a personal email to this column, so here it is: mmachosky@gmail.com. Feel free offer constructive criticism, job-search tips, Pittsburgh neighborhood lore, or urban cryptids you have spotted around town. I dole out sincerity in very small doses here, but I do mean this: thanks for reading. I appreciate it. For sale: 235 Oakview Ave., Edgewood. $255,500.  This beautiful, built-in-1900 Dutch colonial in Edgewood ju