One of the hardest decisions a student will ever make is deciding where to live. Choosing what city and state to reside in for a significant amount of time can be harder than registering for classes (maybe not). In college, when senior year rolls around we think about the not too distant future. Questions emerge such as: Is a graduate degree important, do job applications take top priority and where will I live? In the midst of all those challenging decisions, picking a place to live can be the most pressing. After all, everyone needs a place to lay their head and put their stuff. If you’re not from the Pittsburgh area originally but instead ended up here for school the question becomes: Do I stay after graduation? Why would you? You have one degree down and other places to go. But actually, living in Pittsburgh might not be a bad idea.According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) 2012 Global Livability Survey, Pittsburgh is one of the most livable cities. The EIU ranks cities based on categories, which include health care and education as indicated by marketplace.org. Pittsburgh is 30 in the top 50 most livable cites, according to a CNN travel article written August 2012. In addition, Forbes.com ranked Pittsburgh the 35 best city for careers and businesses with a metro population of 2,359,700. The potential career detail is important for graduating or soon graduating college students, since apartments don’t pay for themselves. According to Forbes.com, the major industries are health care, technology and bioscience. Science seems to be the field to be in. Sorry artsy dreamers and other academia.   The survey includes cites from all over the globe. Those who desire an entire change of continent may want to consider European living. Who doesn’t like foreign furniture and traveling any way? Dominating the top spots on the list are Melbourne, Vienna and Vancouver. It looks like Canada and Australia are the places you most want to live, that is if you are looking for a big change.On the other hand if you’re not a fan of drastic change sticking to what you know or feel comfortable with might be best. I don’t do well in big change scenarios. As a Philadelphia native moving a couple miles away for school was a big deal. But jumping from one busy city to a somewhat less busy city made things painless. We have to leave home sometime, and the perfect way out is college.Now a junior and having been here for about three years, I’m considering staying here because of what the city has to offer me. As a journalism major, living in a city that has a variety of media outlets to choose from is important. No job, even with a degree, equals no place to live or means to live. In the case of media related fields Pittsburgh has a wide selection of television, radio and newspaper businesses. From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette to KDKA, journalism and mass communication jobs are all around and well respected.Another important part in choosing where to live is food. Like most of us, I love to eat out at restaurants with friends and alone. In my few years, here I’ve visited Pittsburgh hot spots like Taste of Dahntahn, Primanti Bros and Pamela’s Diner. Close to Point Park is the well-known Market Square, a prime springtime lunch location. The diversity in places to eat in this city is amazing, although I prefer much more Chinese food and less potatoes.Last, an important detail is the cost of living. From what I’ve researched via Craig list and other apartment sites living in downtown Pittsburgh is cheaper than living in downtown Philadelphia. This could have something to do with the historical value of Philadelphia or just the Philly cheese steak, who knows. But from what I’ve learned renting a studio apartment (the dream) in Pittsburgh costs less then renting a studio in Philadelphia.To sum this all up Pittsburgh has: a.) Growing media businesses b.) Good food and c.) Affordable living. And did I mention in 2009 Pittsburgh was ranked 24 best city for singles? Why wouldn’t I stay…Grandma’s cooking perhaps?