"You're moving where?"

Even the question mark came out in disbelief.

I was sitting at an outdoor Palm Springs, Calif., coffee shop, chatting with one of those deeply suntanned, intensely blond surgically streamlined numbers found in such resort areas. I repeated myself for the third time; that after spending two years in Southern California, I was moving back East, this time to Pittsburgh.

She aimlessly whirled the two shards of lettuce and wafer-thin tomato slices around her plate until they resembled an edible Matisse.

"But Pittsburgh! Pittsburgh?" Now she was hissing; the result, undoubtedly, of too many nips and tucks. "The name says it all! It's ... well, a pit!"

And she was right. Pittsburgh is a pit -- a concrete-and-steel and brick-and-mortar hole built on land surrounding the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, where they merge to form the Ohio River; the second largest city in Pennsylvania and the 22nd-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Named for British statesman William Pitt and standing 374 feet above sea level, Pittsburgh has been built up and torn down and resurfaced and reinvented and resurrected so many times, they finally got it right.

The town that was the brunt of so many off-color jokes (the same color, no doubt, as the smelly smoke that poured out of the steel mills) is no longer the ugly stepsister, no longer "hell with the lid off" as it was once dubbed. It has evolved as the Place to Be.

It took a while, lots of patience and progressive-thinking minds, but Pittsburgh is finally back on the map. The city recently ranked as America's Most Livable City in the Places Rated Almanac; Frommer's placed the city on its 13 top travel destinations for 2008. Said Frommer's editor David Lytle: "Pittsburgh has been overlooked in the past ... but you guys have taken that opportunity to look at yourselves and remake the city." And I remember back in 2003 that USA Weekend ranked the nighttime view from Mount Washington as second on its "10 most beautiful places in America" list.

Funny, but I don't see Palm Springs on any lists.

And so, after spending 728 days (221 of them in 120+ degree "dry" heat) living and roasting in the Coachella Valley, I moved here. There's work. There are affordable homes. There are friendly people and famous sights. I knew my instinct was right when I connected with a pal who had (ironically) left Palm Springs to return to Pittsburgh. Then I learned that two magazine editors/writers with whom I worked in Manhattan had relocated here. Something was happening ... and it wasn't on the "left" coast.

There is much to do here, so many people to meet, places to visit. Even I, a jaded ex-New Yorker, was impressed. Who knew the area was home to the first Big Mac and the first aluminum can pop-top?

The New Year ushers in Pittsburgh's 250th birthday, a celebration that will last 12 months and spotlight the city's rich cultures and diversities and ethnicities and lifestyles. Join me every Monday for the next 52 weeks as I delve into the Steel City as a newcomer, sharing my insights and knowledge and giving you the opportunity to (re)visit the city and (re)make memories.

Winter, spring, summer and fall, we're on this journey together (note to self: buy an all-weather coat), from Heinz Hall to Hindu temples, from The Warhol to the Inclines, from Kennywood to a Steelers game ... the list is almost as long as your choice of The Three Sisters.

In the few short weeks I have been here, I feel like a member of the family.

Hello Pittsburgh. Goodbye Palm Springs.

And thank you William Pitt.