Pittsburgh,

 

(pĭts'bərg) , city (1990 pop. 369,879), seat of Allegheny co., SW Pa., at the confluence of the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers, which there form the Ohio River; inc. 1816. A major inland port of entry, it is located at the junction of east-west transportation arteries.

Economy

Pittsburgh's access to large reserves of raw materials, especially coal, was instrumental to the emergence of the “Steel City” as a leading industrial center in the late 19th cent. Industries include transportation equipment; metal, wood, plastic, paper, and glass products; printing and publishing; oil refining; textiles; chemicals; and computers. After the mid-1970s, as the number of those employed in the steel industry declined, the city's economic base underwent a dramatic shift from manufacturing to service industries and commercial enterprises. Once a major center for corporate headquarters, many departed in the 1990s, a period, however, that saw the growth of high-technology companies.

History

The city was founded on the site of the Native American town of Shannopin, a late-17th-century fur-trading post at the junction of many canoe routes and trails. Fort Duquesne, built by the French in the middle of the 18th cent., later fell to the English and was renamed Fort Pitt. The village surrounding the fort was settled in 1760, and it prospered with the opening of the Northwest Territory. At the height of industrial development in the late 19th cent., Pittsburgh was a hotbed of labor unrest and union movements. The “Steel City” was once also called the “Smoky City” because of severe pollution; the problem, however, gradually abated by the late 1970s as industrial production fell. Sprawled over a hilly area, Pittsburgh has become an attractive city, but the loss of steel industry jobs has also led to a population decline as well. The business district was refurbished and marked by a construction boom in the 1980s.

Points of Interest

The downtown area, known as the Golden Triangle, includes Gateway Center, a landscaped hub of office and hotel space. Pittsburgh is the seat of the Carnegie-Mellon Univ., the Univ. of Pittsburgh, Chatham College, Duquesne Univ., Carlow College, and an experiment station of the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts and neighboring theaters, the Carnegie Institute's art and natural history museums, the Carnegie Library, and the Andy Warhol Museum are noteworthy. On the Univ. of Pittsburgh campus is a memorial hall dedicated to Stephen Foster, who was born (1826) in Lawrenceville, now part of the city.

Pittsburgh has a fine park system, of which Schenley Park is the principal unit. The blockhouse of old Fort Pitt is preserved in Point State Park. Two botanical conservatories, the Buhl Science Center, a planetarium, a civic arena (with a retractable dome), an aviary, the Flag Plaza, and the Pittsburgh Zoo are among the city's other features. Pittsburgh is home to the Pirates (National League baseball), Steelers (National Football League), and Penguins (National Hockey League).

Bibliography

See R. Lubove, Twentieth Century Pittsburgh (1969); J. D. Van Trump, Life and Architecture in Pittsburgh (1985).

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Flag Seal
Nickname: City of Bridges, Steel City, City of Champions, The 'Burgh, Iron City, Steel Town, The College City, Roboburgh
Motto: Benigno Numine ("With the Benevolent Deity")
Location in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates: 40°26′30″N 80°00′00″W / 40.44167, -80
Country	United States
Commonwealth	Image:Flag of Pennsylvania.svg‎ Pennsylvania
County	Allegheny
Founded	November 25, 1758
Incorporated	April 22, 1794 (borough)
	March 18, 1816 (city)
Government
- Mayor	Luke Ravenstahl (D)
Area
- City	km²  ( sq mi)
- Land	km² ( sq mi)
- Water	km² ( sq mi)
- Metro	km² ( sq mi)
Elevation	m ( ft)
Population (U.S. Census Estimate, 2006)
- City
- Density	/km² (/sq mi)
- Metro
	[1][2]
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	412, 724, 878
Website: www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us

Pittsburgh (pronounced IPA: /ˈpɪtsbɚg/) is the second largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 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 skyscrapers,^[3] 446 bridges,^[4] two inclines 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 cleanest cities in the world^[5][6] Robotics, for example, is such an emergent sector of the local economy that the Wall Street Journal dubbed the city "Roboburgh."^[7]

Despite its declining population, Pittsburgh remains the principal cultural and economic influence in the eastern Ohio River Valley. Also, though the city proper is diminishing in population, the Pittsburgh metropolitan area continues to grow. ^[8] 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.^[9]

History

Main article: History of Pittsburgh

The first Europeans arrived in the 1710s as traders. 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.^[10] 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.^[10] 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. These events led to the French and Indian War. British General Braddock's campaign (with Washington as second-in-command) to take Fort Duquesne failed, but a year later General John Forbes's subsequent campaign succeeded. After forcing the French to surrender Fort Duquesne in 1758, he 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."^[11]

During Pontiac's Rebellion, Ohio Valley and Great Lakes tribes besieged Fort Pitt for two months. Fort Pitt, unlike Detroit, Mackinac, and other major forts on the frontier, was the only one to withstand the Indian uprising and not surrender. In many ways, it was Fort Pitt that ensured westward expansion by defeating the last great Indian rebellion.^[12] Colonel Bouquet defeated Pontiac's forces in the Battle of Bushy Run just to the east of the forks.^[13]

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."^[14] 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."^{[14][citations needed]}

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.^[11] By this time, the pollution from burning coal and steel production created a black fog (or smog).

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.^[16]

Name and spelling

Main article: Name of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by Gen. John Forbes in honor of a British statesman Sir William Pitt. It was incorporated as a borough in 1794 and chartered as a city in 1816.^[17]

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."^[18]

Pittsburgh is one of the few American cities to be spelled with an h at the end of a burg suffix. For this reason, it is also the most commonly misspelled city in America.^[19] While briefly referred to as "Pittsburg" during the late 19th century, in 1911 the Pittsburgh spelling was officially restored.^[18]

Geography and climate

Main article: Climate of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is located at 40°26′29″N, 79°58′38″W (40.441419, -79.977292).¹ According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 151.1 km² (58.3 mi²). 144.0 km² (55.6 mi²) of it is land and 7.2 km² (2.8 mi²) 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 south of the Monongahela, are steeply sloped. In fact, of all U.S. cities, only San Francisco has a 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.^[20] Many provide views of the Pittsburgh area.^[21]

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 245 miles 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.

Due to its position on the windward side of the Allegheny mountains, Pittsburgh receives heavy precipitation, and many days are subject to overcast skies.

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Rec High °F	72	76	82	89	91	98	103	100	97	87	82	74
Norm High °F	35.1	38.8	49.5	60.7	70.8	79.1	82.7	81.1	74.2	62.5	50.5	39.8
Norm Low °F	19.9	22.3	30.1	39.1	49.2	57.7	62.4	61	53.9	42.5	34.2	25.3
Rec Low °F	-22	-12	-1	14	26	34	42	39	31	16	-1	-12
Precip (in)	2.7	2.37	3.17	3.01	3.8	4.12	3.96	3.38	3.21	2.25	3.02	2.86
Source: USTravelWeather.com [1]

Cityscape and neighborhoods

See also: List of Pittsburgh neighborhoods

The city can be broken down into the Downtown area, called the Golden Triangle,^[22] and four main areas surrounding it. These four surrounding areas are further subdivided into distinct neighborhoods (in total, Pittsburgh contains 89 neighborhoods.^[23]) These areas, relative to downtown, are known as the North Side, South Side/South Hills, East End, and West End.

See also: Downtown Pittsburgh

Downtown Pittsburgh is tight and compact, featuring many skyscrapers, 9 of which top 500 feet. U.S. Steel Tower is the tallest at 841 feet.^[24] 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.^[25] 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. 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.^[26]

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:

• African American: Hill District and Homewood
• Jewish: Squirrel Hill
• Italian: Bloomfield
• German: Troy Hill and East Allegheny
• Polish and other Eastern European: South Side, Lawrenceville, and Polish Hill

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, Mt. Washington, and Downtown are characterized by a more diverse, urban feel.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1810			—
1820			52.0%
1830			73.4%
1840			68.0%
1850			120.7%
1860			5.6%
1870			74.9%
1880			81.7%
1890			52.6%
1900			34.8%
1910			66.0%
1920			10.2%
1930			13.8%
1940			0.3%
1950			0.8%
1960			-10.7%
1970			-13.9%
1980			-18.5%
1990			-3.3%
2000			-3.7%

According to the 2000 census there were 394,721 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% Caucasian, 27.12% African American, 2.75% Asian, and 1.32% Hispanic. 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.^[27] But recent crime statistics show violent crime has risen.^[28]

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.^{[citation needed]} 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,^[29] as well as some of the largest Slovak, Slovenian, and Serbian communities.

Local dialect

See also: Pittsburgh English

The Pittsburgh English dialect, also known 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 "y'all," 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."^[30] The lexicon itself contains notable cognates borrowing from Croatian and other Slavic and European languages. Examples include babushka, pierogi, and halušky.^[31]

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.^[32] In 2006, Expansion Magazine ranked Pittsburgh among the top 10 metropolitan areas in the nation for climates favorable to business expansion.^[33]

Major employers

See also: List of major corporations in Pittsburgh

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^{[citation needed]}.

Fortune 500 Corporations: Allegheny Technologies H. J. Heinz Company Mellon Financial Corporation PNC Financial PPG Industries WESCO International U.S. Steel

Fortune 1000 Corporations: Allegheny Energy American Eagle Outfitters Consol Energy Dick's Sporting Goods Kennametal Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel

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.

See also: List of foreign consulates in Pittsburgh

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 o