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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Pittsburgh is the second largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with a population of 334,563 and the 22nd largest metropolitan area in the United States with a population of 2,658,695. It is the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Built on land surrounding the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, where they merge to form the Ohio river, Pittsburgh features a skyline of 151 high-rise buildings, 446 bridges, two inclined railways and a pre-revolutionary fortification. Residents of the city are called Pittsburghers. The downtown area is located on the triangular parcel at the confluence of the rivers. Pittsburgh is noted for bridges of all types throughout the city and is commonly known as the "The City of Bridges" or "The Bridge Capital" of the U.S.

Though Pittsburgh's economy was traditionally fueled by heavy manufacturing to the detriment of local air and water quality, today it is largely based on healthcare, education, technology and financial services, while Forbes magazine called it one of the cleanest cities in the world. Robotics, for example, is such an emergent sector of the local economy that the Wall Street Journal dubbed the city "Roboburgh."

Pittsburgh is the principal cultural and economic influence in the eastern Ohio River Valley. Also, though the city proper is diminishing in population, some areas of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area continue to grow. Because of its low cost of living, economic opportunities, education, transportation and medical infrastructure, Pittsburgh is consistently ranked high in livability surveys. In 2007, Pittsburgh was named "America's Most Livable City" by Places Rated Almanac.

Etymology

Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes in honor of the British statesman, Sir William Pitt. Given that Forbes was a Scotsman, some speculate the intended pronunciation of the settlement was "Pittsburra". It was incorporated as a borough in 1794 and chartered as a city in 1816.

Pittsburgh was officially named with its present spelling on April 22, 1794, by an act of the Pennsylvania Department, stating, "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, that the said town of Pittsburgh shall be, and the same is hereby, erected into a borough, which shall be called the borough of Pittsburgh for ever."

Pittsburgh is one of the few American cities to be spelled with an h at the end of a burg suffix. This style is commonly used for many other cities and towns of Western Pennsylvania. While briefly referred to as "Pittsburg" during the late 19th century, the Pittsburgh spelling was officially restored in 1911 after a public campaign by the citizens of the city.

History

The forks of the Ohio, as the area was known at the time was inhabited by the tribes of Allegawis, Adena, Hopewell, Delaware, Jacobi, Seneca, Shawnee, and several settled groups of Iroquois. The first European was the French discoverer/trader Max School in his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River from Lake Ontario and Quebec. This discovery was followed by European pioneers, primarily French, in the early 1700's and 1710's. Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a manuscript in 1717, and later that year European traders established posts and settlements in the area. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched a serious expedition to the forks in hopes of uniting French Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia sent Major George Washington to warn the French to withdraw. During 1753–1754, the English hastily built Fort Prince George, but a larger French expedition forced them to evacuate and constructed Fort Duquesne on the site. With the French citing the 1669 discovery by LaSalle, these events led to the French and Indian War. British General Edward Braddock's campaign (with Washington as his aide) to take Fort Duquesne failed, but General John Forbes's subsequent campaign succeeded. After the French abandoned and destroyed Fort Duquesne in 1758, Forbes ordered the construction of Fort Pitt, named after British Secretary of State William Pitt the Elder. He also named the settlement between the rivers "Pittsborough."

During Pontiac's Rebellion, Ohio Valley and Great Lakes tribes besieged Fort Pitt for two months. The siege was ended after Colonel Bouquet defeated the native forces in the Battle of Bushy Run just to the east of the forks.

In the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the descendants of William Penn purchased from the Six Nations western lands that included most of the present site of Pittsburgh. In 1769, a survey was made of the land situated between the two rivers, called the "Manor of Pittsburgh." Both Virginia and Pennsylvania claimed the Pittsburgh area during colonial times and would continue to do so until 1780 when both states agreed to extend the Mason-Dixon Line westward, placing Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

Following the American Revolution, the village of Pittsburgh continued to grow. One of its earliest industries was building boats for settlers to enter the Ohio Country. In 1784, the laying out of the "Town of Pittsburgh" was completed by Thos. Viceroy of Bedford County and approved by the attorney of the Penns in Philadelphia. The year 1794 saw the short-lived Whiskey Rebellion. The Act of March 5, 1804, which modified the provision of the old charter of the Borough of Pittsburgh in 1794 (the original of which is not known to exist), refers throughout to the "Borough of Pittsburgh."

The War of 1812 cut off the supply of British goods, stimulating American manufacture. By 1815, Pittsburgh was producing significant quantities of iron, brass, tin and glass products. The Act of March 18, 1816 incorporated the City of Pittsburgh. The original charter was burned when the old Court House was destroyed by fire. In the 1830s, many Welsh people from the steelworks of Merthyr migrated to the city following the civil strife and aftermath of the Merthyr Riots of 1831. By the 1840s, Pittsburgh was one of the largest cities west of the Allegheny Mountains. A great fire burned over a thousand buildings in 1845, but the city rebuilt. By 1857, Pittsburgh's 1,000 factories were consuming 22,000,000 bushels of coal yearly.

The American Civil War boosted the city's economy with increased production of iron and armaments. Steel production began by 1875, when Andrew Carnegie founded the J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, which eventually evolved into the Carnegie Steel Company. The success and growth of Carnegie Steel was attributed to Henry Bessemer, inventor of the Bessemer Process.

In 1901, the U.S. Steel Corporation was formed, and by 1911 Pittsburgh was producing between a third and a half of the nation's steel. The city's population swelled to half a million, many of whom were immigrants from Europe who arrived via the great migration through Ellis Island. During World War II, Pittsburgh produced 95 million tons of steel. By this time, the pollution from burning coal and steel production created a black fog (or smog), which even a century earlier had induced author writer James Parton to dub the city "hell with the lid off".

Following the war, the city launched a clean air and civic revitalization project known as the "Renaissance." This much-acclaimed effort was followed by the "Renaissance II" project, begun in 1977 and focusing more on cultural and neighborhood development than its predecessor. The industrial base continued to expand through the 1960s, but beginning in the 1970s and 1980s, the steel industry in the region imploded, with massive layoffs and mill closures.

Beginning in the 1980s, the city shifted its economic base to education, tourism, and services, largely based on healthcare, medicine, and high technology such as robotics. During this transition, however, the city's population shrank from 680,000 in 1950 to 330,000 in 2000.

Geography

Pittsburgh is located at (40.441419, -79.977292). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 58.3 square miles (151.1 km²), of which, 55.6 square miles (144.0 km²) of it is land and 2.8 square miles (7.2 km²) of it is water. The total area is 4.75% water.

The city is on the Allegheny Plateau, where the confluence of the Allegheny River from the northeast and Monongahela River from the southeast form the Ohio River. The Downtown area between the rivers is known as the Golden Triangle, and the site at the actual convergence, which is occupied by Point State Park, is referred to simply as "the Point." In addition to the downtown Golden Triangle, the city extends northeast to include the Oakland and Shadyside sections, which are home to the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Museum and Library, and many other educational, medical, and cultural institutions.

Pittsburgh occupies the slopes of the river valley on the opposite side of the Monongahela and the ridges beyond. Many of the city's neighborhoods, particularly the city's North Side and those areas south of the Monongahela, are steeply sloped. In fact, of all U.S. cities, only San Francisco and Seattle have more extreme terrain.

This topography is often utilized for physical activity. The city has some 712 sets of stairs, comprising 44,645 treads and 24,090 vertical feet (more than San Francisco, Cincinnati, and Portland, Oregon combined) for pedestrians to traverse its many hills. With the drop of pedestrian traffic across much of the city, and the fact that many of these stairs are outside nuclear neighborhoods, many have fallen into disrepair, covered with vines and weeds. There are hundreds of 'paper streets' composed entirely of stairs and many other steep streets with stairs for sidewalks. Many provide views of the Pittsburgh area.

The city has established bike and walking trails along its riverfronts and hollows, but steep hills and variable weather can make biking challenging. However, the city will be connected to downtown Washington, D.C. (some away) by a continuous bike/running trail through the Alleghenies and along the Potomac Valley. Known as the Great Allegheny Passage and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath, about 95% of this trail has been completed.

Climate

Pittsburgh's climate contains both mediterranean and continental influences, due to its topography and distance from the Atlantic Ocean. For example, the climate contains the wide variations in temperature common to continental climates, yet has winters more mild and summers less hot than other cities further inland at the same latitude. Overall, the city's climate features cool, sometimes cold winters with snow, and warm, humid summers with frequent clouds and precipitation. Pittsburgh's climate is officially classified as a humid continental climate (Dfa) on the Koppen climate classification.

The warmest month of the year in Pittsburgh, as in most of the northern hemisphere, is July. The average high temperature is 83°F (29°C), with overnight low temperatures averaging 62°F (16°C). July is often humid, resulting in a considerable heat index. The coldest month of the year is January, when the average high temperature is 37°F (3°C). Overnight low temperatures average 20°F (-7°C). The moderating influence of Pittsburgh's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean is evident in the fact that Chicago, which is less than 110 miles (180 km) north of Pittsburgh (and about west), experiences average January temperatures 7°F (3°C) colder on average. The highest temperature ever recorded in Pittsburgh was 103°F (39°C), on July 16, 1988. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city was -22°F (-30°C), on January 19, 1994.

Due to its position on the windward side of the Allegheny Mountains, Pittsburgh receives heavy precipitation, and many days are subject to overcast skies. Precipitation is greatest in May, due to frequent thunderstorms and more organized low pressure systems which track up the eastern coast of the United States. On average, 4.04 inches (102.6 mm) of precipitation falls during this month. The driest month of the year is February, when most precipitation falls in the form of low moisture content snow. However, Pittsburgh's February precipitation, 2.47 inches (62.7 mm), is relatively heavy compared to other cities located further inland, mainly because the city is east enough that it can be impacted by Nor'easters in some way, but usually lighter than in the central and eastern parts of the state.

Cityscape

The city can be broken down into the Downtown area, called the Golden Triangle, and four main areas surrounding it. These four surrounding areas are further subdivided into distinct neighborhoods (in total, Pittsburgh contains 90 neighborhoods.) These areas, relative to downtown, are known as the North Side, South Side/South Hills, East End, and West End.

Downtown Pittsburgh is tight and compact, featuring many skyscrapers, 9 of which top . U.S. Steel Tower is the tallest at . The Cultural District comprises a 14 block area of downtown along the Allegheny River. It is packed with theaters and arts venues, and is seeing a growing residential segment. Most significantly, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is embarking on Riverparc, a 4-block mixed-use "green" community, featuring 700 residential units and multiple towers between 20–30 stories. The Firstside portion of downtown borders the Monongahela River and the historic Mon Wharf. This area is home to the distinctive PPG Place Gothic glass skyscraper complex. This area too, is seeing a growing residential sector, as new condo towers are constructed and historic office towers are converted to residential use. Downtown is serviced by the Port Authority's light rail and multiple bridges leading north and south. It is also home to Point Park University, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Culinary Institute, a Robert Morris University branch campus and Duquesne University which is located on the border of Downtown and Uptown.

The North Side is home to various neighborhoods in transition. The North Side is primarily composed of residential neighborhoods and is noteworthy for well-constructed and architecturally interesting homes. Many buildings date from the 19th century and are constructed of brick or stone and adorned with decorative woodwork, ceramic tile, slate roofs and stained glass. The North Side is also home to many popular attractions such as Heinz Field, PNC Park, Carnegie Science Center, National Aviary, Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory installation art museum, Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Penn Brewery and Allegheny Observatory.

The South Side was once an area composed primarily of dense inexpensive housing for mill workers, but has in recent years become a local Pittsburgher destination. In fact, South Side is one of the most popular neighborhoods to own a home in Pittsburgh. The value of homes in the South Side have increased in value by about 10 percent annually for the past 10 years. The South Side's East Carson Street is one of the most vibrant areas of the city, packed with diverse shopping, ethnic eateries, pulsing nightlife and live music venues. In 1993 the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh purchased the South Side Works steel mill property, and worked together with the community and various developers to create a master plan for a mixed-use development including a riverfront park, office space, housing, health-care facilities, and the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt Panthers indoor practice fields. Construction began in 1998, and the Southside Works is now open for business with many store, restaurants, offices, and the world headquarters for American Eagle Outfitters.

The East End is home to the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Carlow University, Chatham University, The Carnegie Institute's Museums of Art and Natural History, Frick Art & Historical Center (Clayton and the Frick art museum), Phipps Conservatory, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, and the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. The neighborhoods of Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are large, wealthy neighborhoods featuring large shopping/business districts. Oakland, heavily populated by undergraduate and graduate students, is home to most of the universities, Schenley Park and the Petersen Events Center. Bloomfield is Pittsburgh's Little Italy and is known for its Italian restaurants and grocers. Lawrenceville is a revitalizing rowhouse neighborhood popular with artists and designers. The Strip District is a popular open-air marketplace by day and one of Pittsburgh's hottest clubbing destinations by night.

The West End includes Mt. Washington, with its famous view of the Downtown skyline and numerous other residential neighborhoods like Sheraden and Elliott.

Pittsburgh's patchwork of neighborhoods still retain an ethnic character reflecting the city's immigrant history. This includes:

Several neighborhoods on the edges of the city are less urban, featuring tree-lined streets, yards and garages giving a more characteristic suburban feel, while other aforementioned neighborhoods, such as Oakland, the South Side, the North Side, and the Golden Triangle are characterized by a more diverse, urban feel.

Demographics

According to the 2000 census there were 334,563 individuals, 163,739 households, and 74,169 families within the city limits. The population of the surrounding metropolitan area was 2,658,695. The largest groups in terms of race were 67.63% White, 27.12% African American, 2.75% Asian, and 1.32% Hispanic (of any race). The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,588, with 20.4% of the population living below the poverty line.

Despite the high poverty rate, Pittsburgh once had one of the lowest property crime rates and a lower-than-average violent crime rate among cities of similar size. But recent crime statistics show violent crime has risen.

Pittsburgh is, according to the number of Croats living in it, the third largest Croat town, after Zagreb and Split. Until the mid 1980s, Pittsburgh held second place. The 5 largest ethnic groups in Pittsburgh are German (19.7%), Irish (15.8%), Italian (11.8%), Polish (8.4%), and English (4.6%). Pittsburgh also has the nation's fifth largest Ukrainian community, as well as some of the largest Slovak, Slovenian, and Serbian communities.

Crime

Pittsburgh has long been one of the safest "big cities" in the U.S. This though has come with an ebb and flow of crime over the past few decades, marked by a recent spike in the murder rate due to drug related gang violence. However, local and federal authorities used the RICO statute to combat this problem and many of the gangs were broken up by the mid to late-1990s by convictions under this law. Recent crime statistics indicate that the Pittsburgh murder rate is 2.61 times the national average, which is considered high for a city of its size. Overall, the ‘violent crime’ rate for the city is about twice the national average, while the ‘property’ or non-violent crime rate is about 1.11 times the national average. However, metropolitan Pittsburgh has the lowest crime rate among the 25 largest metros.

Economy

The growth of Pittsburgh and its economy was caused by the extensive trade of steel. Since, Pittsburgh has adapted to the collapse of the region's steel industry. The primary industries have shifted more to high technology, such as robotics, health care, nuclear engineering, tourism, biomedical technology, finance, and services. Education is also a major employer, from primary through magnet schools, specialized professional institutes and highly-ranked universities. In fact, Pittsburgh still maintains its status as a corporate headquarters city, with seven Fortune 500 companies calling the city home. This ranks Pittsburgh in a tie for the sixth-most Fortune 500 headquarters in the nation. In 2006, Expansion Magazine ranked Pittsburgh among the top 10 metropolitan areas in the nation for climates favorable to business expansion.

Major employers

Pittsburgh has grown its industry base in recent years to include technology, retail, finance and medicine. The largest employer in the city is the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, followed closely by the University of Pittsburgh.

Fortune 500 Corporations:

Fortune 1000 Corporations:

Other major employers in the Pittsburgh area include the operations center for Alcoa, the North American headquarters for Bayer, GlaxoSmithKline and Lanxess. Pittsburgh is the Northeast U.S. regional headquarters for Nova Chemicals, FedEx Ground, Ariba, Rand, and National City. Guru.com, 84 Lumber, Giant Eagle, Highmark, Rue 21, and GENCO are major non-public companies with headquarters in the region. Other major companies headquartered in Pittsburgh include Mylan Laboratories, General Nutrition Center (GNC), and CNX Gas (CXG), a subsidiary of Consol Energy.

Culture

In the 19th and 20th centuries, wealthy businessmen and nonprofit organizations donated millions of dollars to create educational and cultural institutions. As a result, Pittsburgh is rich in art and culture.

Among the professional music venues, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performs in Heinz Hall, and the Pittsburgh Opera performs in the Benedum Center. Both The Benedum Center and Heinz Hall provide venues for other groups, such as the River City Brass Band and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. Pittsburgh has a long tradition of jazz, blues and bluegrass music. Pittsburgh also has a large indie and punk rock scene. Additionally the National Negro Opera Company was founded in Pittsburgh, and was the first all African-American opera company in the United States. This led to the prominence of African-American singers like Leontyne Price in the world of opera.

Pittsburgh Dance Council and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater host a variety of dance events. Polka, folk, square and round dancing have a long history in the city and are celebrated by the internationally famous Duquesne University Tamburitzans, a multicultural academy dedicated to the preservation and presentation of folk songs and dance.

Museums include the Andy Warhol Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Frick Art & Historical Center and the Mattress Factory. Installation art is featured outdoors at ArtGardens of Pittsburgh. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History has extensive dinosaur collections and an Ancient Egypt wing. The Carnegie Science Center is technology oriented. The Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum are located in the Strip District. The unusual and eclectic Bayernhof Music Museum is six miles (9 km) from downtown. There is a quarterly Gallery Crawl in the downtown area's cultural district that is free and open to the public to enjoy the local art scene as well as the Three Rivers Arts Festival, which takes place in the same downtown area annually during the summer.

In theater, the Pittsburgh Playhouse of Point Park University has four resident companies of professional actors. Other companies include Attack Theatre, Bricolage Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater, City Theatre, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Pittsburgh Musical Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater, and Quantum Theater. The city's longest-running theatre show, Friday Nite Improvs, is an improv jam that has been performed in the Cathedral of Learning and other locations for 17 years.

Writing

Pittsburgh's most famous native writer was Rachel Carson, a Chatham College graduate from Pittsburgh Suburb, Springdale, Pennsylvania. Modern writers include Pulitzer Prize winning playwright August Wilson as well as Michael Chabon with his Pittsburgh-focused commentary on student and college life.

There is a Pittsburgh fantasy, macabre and science fiction genre popularized by film director George Romero, television personality Bill Cardille's Chiller Theatre and film director and writer Rusty Cundieff. Today, the genre continues through several local Writer's Workshops including Write or Die, The Pittsburgh SouthWrites and the Pittsburgh Worldwrights founded by Mary Soon Lee and continued by protegees Barton Paul Levenson, Flonet Biltgen, Ken Chiacchia, Chris Ferrier, Robert L. Nansel and Elizabeth Penrose.

Local dialect

The Pittsburgh English dialect, which may be popularly referred to as, "Pittsburghese", derives from influences from the Scottish-Irish, Welsh, German, Central European and Eastern European immigrants. Locals who speak in this dialect are sometimes referred to as "Yinzers" (from the local word for "you ones", yinz). The dialect has some tonal similarities to other nearby regional dialects (ie, Erie, Baltimore), but is noted for its somewhat staccato rhythms. The staccato qualities of the Pittsburgh dialect have been suggested to originate either from Welsh or from Eastern European immigrants. It also has so many local peculiarities that the New York Times described Pittsburgh as, "the Galapagos Islands of American dialect. The lexicon itself contains notable cognates borrowing from Serbian and other Slavic and European languages. Examples include babushka, pierogi, and halušky.

Sites of interest

Pittsburgh houses the country's National Aviary. The Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens features a Victorian-style greenhouse. The Botanic Garden of Western Pennsylvania and Rodef Shalom Biblical Botanical Garden are also located in the area.

Other sites of interest include:

Livability

Pittsburgh often places high in lists of the nation's most livable cities. After placing fourth and first in the first two editions of "Places Rated Almanac", Pittsburgh went on to finish third in 1989, fifth in 1993, 14th in 1997 and 12th in 2000, before reclaiming the number one spot in 2007. The survey's primary author, David Savageau, has noted that Pittsburgh is the only city to finish in the top 20 of every edition.

In 2005, The Economist ranked Pittsburgh and Cleveland the top most livable cities in the United States, and tied the cities for 26th world-wide. In the 2004, 820-page book by Bert Sperling and Peter Sander, "Cities Ranked and Rated", Pittsburgh came in at #28.

Livability rankings typically consider factors such as cost of living, crime, and cultural opportunities. Pittsburgh has a low cost of living compared to other cities in the northeastern U.S. The average price for a 3- to 4-bedroom, 2-bath family home in Pittsburgh is $162,000, which is well below the national average of $264,540, as of October 2004, according to the Federal Housing Finance Board. However, in 2007, the American Lung Association ranked the Pittsburgh area as the nation's second most polluted metropolitan area, behind Los Angeles.

Media and popular culture

There are two major daily newspapers in Pittsburgh; the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Alternative weekly papers in the region include the Pittsburgh City Paper, Pittsburgh Catholic, The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh, The New People, and the Pittsburgh Courier. The Pitt News is a financially independent student-written and managed newspaper of the University of Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh metro area is served by many local television and radio stations. The Pittsburgh designated market area (DMA) is the 22nd largest in the U.S. with 1,163,150 homes (1.045% of the total U.S.). The major network television affiliates are KDKA-TV 2 (CBS), WTAE 4 (ABC), WPXI 11 (NBC), WPGH-TV 53 (FOX), WPCW 19 (CW), WQEX 16 (ShopNBC), WPMY (MyNetworkTV), and WPCB 40 (Cornerstone). WBGN 59 is an independent station owned and operated by the Bruno-Goodworth Network.

WQED 13 is the local PBS station in Pittsburgh. It was established on April 1, 1954, and was the first community-sponsored television station and the fifth public station in the United States. The station has produced much original content for PBS, including Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, several National Geographic specials, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

There are a wide variety of radio stations serving the Pittsburgh market. The first was KDKA 1020 AM, which is also the first commercially-licensed radio station in the United States, receiving its license on October 27, 1920. Other popular stations include KQV 1410 AM (news), WEAE 1250 AM (sports), WKST-FM 96.1 FM (pop and hip-hop), WZPT 100.7 FM (adult contemporary), WDVE 102.5 FM (album rock), WPGB 104.7 FM (talk), WXDX 105.9 FM (modern rock), and WAMO 106.7 (hip-hop, rap). There are also three public radio stations in the area; including WDUQ 90.5 FM (National Public Radio affiliate operated by Duquesne University), WQED 89.3 FM (classical), and WYEP 91.3 FM (adult alternative). Two non-commercial stations are run by Carnegie Mellon University (WRCT 88.3 FM) and the University of Pittsburgh (WPTS 92.1 FM).

According to the Pittsburgh Film Office, over 123 major motion pictures have been filmed, in whole or in part, in Pittsburgh, including the Striking Distance, The Mothman Prophecies, Wonder Boys, Dogma, Hoffa,Flashdance, and The Silence of the Lambs.

Government and politics

From the American Civil War to the 1930s, Pittsburgh was a Republican stronghold. Democratic candidates have been elected consecutively to either the mayor's office or city council since 1933, when David L. Lawrence was able to lead the party to power due to the alleged corruption and fraction of the Pittsburgh Republican Party and the election of President Roosevelt whose New Deal began the recovery from the Great Depression, by which the workers of Pittsburgh were especially hard hit. Today, the ratio of Democratic to Republican registrations within the city limits is 5 to 1.

The mayor, like the nine-member council, serves a four-year term. The seat of government is the Pittsburgh City-County Building. After the death of Mayor Bob O'Connor in September 2006, City Council President Luke Ravenstahl was sworn as the new mayor of Pittsburgh. Sworn in at age 26, he is the youngest mayor in the history of any major American city. He served in this position until a special mayoral election was held in November 2007, when he was reelected. City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts. The Pittsburgh Police Bureau is the law enforcement arm of the city while the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau is a major emergency response unit in Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh EMS provides heavy rescue and river rescue services to the city.

Like many American cities, Pittsburgh has recently faced financial challenges and budget shortfalls. Although the cause of the city's budget shortfall is debated, many cite the success of the medical and academic sectors, since the nonprofits are tax-exempt. Despite the budget crisis, the city has continued to grow, as evidenced by the recent addition of the American Eagle Outfitters corporate headquarters, renovation of the former Lazarus-Macy's department store into high-end retail, office, and condo space, and multiple mixed-use towers under construction downtown. As further evidence of recovery from these fiscal problems, Pittsburgh had a $15 million surplus in 2005.

Representation

Pennsylvania State Senate

Pittsburgh is represented in three Districts in the State Senate, all Democrats.

District Senator Party
38 Jim Ferlo Democratic
42 Wayne D. Fontana Democratic
43 Jay Costa Democratic

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Pittsburgh is represented in nine Districts in the State House, all Democrats.

District Representative Party
19 Jake Wheatley Democratic
20 Don Walko Democratic
21 Lisa Bennington Democratic
22 Chelsa Wagner Democratic
23 Dan Frankel Democratic
24 Joseph Preston Jr. Democratic
27 Thomas C. Petrone Democratic
34 Paul Costa Democratic
36 Harry Readshaw Democratic

United States House of Representatives

All of Pittsburgh is included in one Congressional District, the 14th District of Pennsylvania and is represented by Democrat Mike Doyle who was elected in 1994 to replace Rick Santorum who was elected to the U.S Senate. Before the 2002 redistricting plan went into place, Pittsburgh was divided up into two Congressional Districts.

District Representative Party
14 Mike Doyle Democratic

Education

Pittsburgh is home to the following institutions of higher learning:

The most visible institutions of higher education in Pittsburgh are Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Carnegie Mellon University is a world-renowned institution, with the university's strengths including computer science, engineering, drama, business, public policy, design, art, and architecture. The University of Pittsburgh, ranked in the top 25 public universities in US News & World Report, has its strengths in philosophy of science, Asian studies, business, philosophy, law, engineering, and medical care.

Robert Morris University, based in the suburb of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, maintains a satellite center in downtown Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Public School teachers are paid well relative to their peers, ranking 17th in 2000–2001 among the 100 largest cities by population for the highest minimum salary offered to teachers with a BA ($34,300). Pittsburgh ranked fifth in the highest maximum salary offered to teachers with an MA ($66,380). Local public schools include many charter and magnet schools, including City Charter High School (computer and technology focused), Pittsburgh Montessori School (formerly Homewood Montessori), Pittsburgh Gifted Center, Frick International Studies Academy, Rogers Middle School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and several schools for blind, deaf, or otherwise challenged children. Private schools in Pittsburgh include Seton-La Salle Catholic High School, a merger of the former South Catholic and Elizabeth Ann Seton High Schools. Located in the South Hills, Seton-La Salle is the highest enrolled co-educational high school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Central Catholic High School is run by the Christian Brothers of St. John Baptiste de La Salle. Oakland Catholic High School, an all-girls high school, is located less than two blocks away from Central Catholic High School. Both high schools are located in Oakland. The Shadyside neighborhood includes Winchester Thurston School and The Ellis School. Shady Side Academy, whose main campuses are located in Fox Chapel, has a junior high school in the neighborhood of Point Breeze.

The city has an extensive library system, both public and university. Most notable are the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh's University Library System, which rank 9th largest (public) and 18th largest (academic) in the nation, respectively.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Pittsburgh is a city of bridges—446 in total. Pittsburgh has more bridges than Venice, Italy, which has historically held the title of "City of Bridges". Around 40 bridges cross the three rivers near the city. The southern "entrance" to Downtown is through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and over the Fort Pitt Bridge. The Panhandle Bridge carries the Port Authority's 42-S/47-L/52 subway lines across the Monongahela River. All told, over 2,000 bridges dot the landscape of Allegheny County.

The main highway connecting Pittsburgh to the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) on the east is I-376, locally known as the "Parkway East", while I-279 (called either the "Parkway North" or the "Parkway West", depending on its location relative to Downtown) connects the city with points north and west. I-76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike), I-79, and I-70, roughly form a triangular-shaped "beltway". Navigation around Pittsburgh can also be accomplished via the Pittsburgh/Allegheny County Belt System.

Airports

The city is served by the highly-ranked Pittsburgh International Airport about to the west in Findlay Township. The airport also promotes the region as a focus city for US Airways and has been a major operation for the airline since the company's inception in the 1940s with the city being recently chosen by the airline to house its entire dispatch center, relocating it from its headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. Artdeco style Allegheny County Airport (AGC) handles 139,000 general aviation flights a year, and is located south-southeast of the city in West Mifflin. There are a few smaller airports located near the city as well. Rock Airport is a small airport located northeast of Pittsburgh in Tarentum, and is used primarily for corporate jets and private aircraft. Pittsburgh-Monroeville Airport is another airfield located east of the city in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.

Port Authority

Port Authority of Allegheny County, commonly known as the Port Authority, but sometimes referred to by its former nickname "PAT" or "PAT Transit", is the region's mass transit system. While serving only a portion of the Pittsburgh area's 20th largest metro area it is the 11th largest transit agency in the nation. Port Authority runs a network of inter- and intracity bus routes, one funicular (more commonly known as "inclines") on Mount Washington, a light rail system that runs mostly above-ground in the suburbs and underground as a subway in the city, and one of the nation's largest busway systems.

The city has Amtrak intercity rail service at Pennsylvania Station, as well as various freight railroads. Current railroads include Norfolk Southern, CSX and Amtrak.

An additional funicular ("incline") owned by PAAC is run by a non-profit preservation trust.

Sports

Pittsburgh's dedication to sports has a long history. Both its professional and collegiate teams have championship records. Three separate colleges have sent their football teams to major bowl games. The Pitt Panthers have won multiple national titles in both football and men's basketball. As home to two of the most successful teams in the former Negro League, the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays (credited with as many as 14 titles between them and with 11 hall of famers), as well as the first Major League Baseball team to field an all-black lineup, the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, "no city is more synonymous with black baseball than Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh region also has developed several NFL quarterbacks, giving Western Pennsylvania the nickname, "Cradle of Quarterbacks. Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, Jim Kelly, Marc Bulger, George Blanda, Jeff Hostetler, Johnny Unitas, Bruce Gradkowski, Gus Frerotte, and current Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback Charlie Batch are from the area. Several famous running backs, including Tony Dorsett, Curtis Martin, Kevan Barlow, Mercury Morris, Larry Brown, Ernie Davis, Cookie Gilchrist and Joe Marconi are also from Pittsburgh. Several former offensive line greats, including Jim Covert, Russ Grimm, Reggie Wells, and Bill Fralic also hail from the area. Several notable defensive players are from the Pittsburgh area, including Pro Hall of Famers Joe Schmidt and Randy White, defensive end Jason Taylor, cornerback Ty Law and linebacker LaVar Arrington (former Steelers standout Jack Ham was from Johnstown, from Pittsburgh). Two notable NHL players from the Pittsburgh area include Ryan Malone of the Penguins and R.J. Umberger of the Flyers. There is also a long list of baseball stars such as Ken Griffey, Jr., Ken Griffey, Sr., Stan Musial, Honus Wagner, and the claimed hometown of Curt Schilling, as well as numerous Olympic gold medal winners such as wrestler Kurt Angle, Roger Kingdom and John Woodruff and was where Jim Furyk and Arnold Palmer learned to play golf. Pittsburgh also claims many professional sports coaching legends as its own including George Karl, Marvin Lewis, Mike Ditka, Marty Schottenheimer, Mike McCarthy, Bill Cowher, Joe Walton, Barry Alvarez, Chuck Knox, Terry Francona, Chuck Daly, Ken Macha, Dick Nolan, Chuck Tanner and Art Howe. Jim Leyland has made his home in Pittsburgh for the last 25 years. For these reasons, Pittsburgh has been called the "City of Champions."

Pittsburgh is the only city that all major sports teams (Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates) share the same two colors, black and gold. The Passion and the Xplosion use these colors as well. Although unofficial, the color scheme is used by the city's police department, fire department and are the dominant colors on the flag and seal. Many downtown fire hydrants even show the "Pittsburgh colors".

Pittsburgh has some of the best sports complexes in the country. Heinz Field and PNC Park, both completed in 2001, are ranked state of the art. Mellon Arena, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins, will be replaced in the 2010 season because of the age of the arena.

Pittsburgh was also home to the Pittsburgh Marathon and still hosts the Great Race 5 & 10K mile run and walk.

Pittsburgh has multiple mountain biking areas close to the city in area parks and in the surrounding suburbs. Frick Park has biking trails and Hartwood Acres Park has many miles of single track trails. A recent project, "Rails to Trails", has converted miles of former railroads to recreational trails.

Club Sport League, Conference Venue Major Championships
Pittsburgh Steelers American Football National Football League; AFC North Heinz Field Super Bowl Champions: 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2005
Pittsburgh Penguins Ice Hockey National Hockey League; Eastern Atlantic Mellon Arena Stanley Cup Champions: 1990–91, 1991–92
Pittsburgh Pirates Baseball Major League Baseball; NL Central PNC Park National League Champions (pre-World Series): 1901, 1902; World Series Champions: 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971, 1979
Pittsburgh Pipers Basketball American Basketball Association; Eastern Division Civic Arena ABA Champions: 1967-68
Pittsburgh Xplosion Basketball Continental Basketball Association; American Division Mellon Arena
Petersen Events Center
Pittsburgh Riverhounds Soccer USL Second Division Chartiers Valley High School Stadium
Pittsburgh Passion American Football National Women's Football Association; Northern Conference George K. Cupples Stadium NWFA World Champions: 2007
Pittsburgh Harlequins Rugby Union Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union Division I; Potomac Rugby Union Founders Field

Sister cities

Pittsburgh has sixteen sister cities:

See also

References

External links

Official sites

Organizations

Travel

Maps & photos

Special interest

Other general articles




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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 00:51:03 PDT (GMT -0700)
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