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Wikipedia

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh (/ˈpɪtsbɜːrɡ/ PITS-burg) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylvania behind Philadelphia, and the 68th-largest city in the U.S. with a population of 302,971 as of the 2020 census. The city anchors the Pittsburgh metropolitan area of Western Pennsylvania; its population of 2.37 million is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 27th-largest in the U.S. It is the principal city of the greater Pittsburgh–New Castle–Weirton combined statistical area that extends into Ohio and West Virginia.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nicknames: 
Motto: 
Benigno Numine ("With the benevolent deity")
Interactive map of Pittsburgh
Coordinates: 40°26′23″N 79°58′35″W / 40.43972°N 79.97639°W / 40.43972; -79.97639Coordinates: 40°26′23″N 79°58′35″W / 40.43972°N 79.97639°W / 40.43972; -79.97639
Country United States
State Pennsylvania
CountyAllegheny
Historic empires
Historic colonies
FoundedNovember 27, 1758 (fort)
Municipal incorporation
  • April 22, 1794 (borough)
  • March 18, 1816 (city)
Founded by
Named for"The Great Commoner": Prime Minister William Pitt
Government
 • TypeMayor-council
 • MayorEd Gainey (D)
 • City Council
List
  • Bobby Wilson
  • Theresa Kail-Smith (president)
  • Bruce Kraus
  • Anthony Coghill
  • Barbara Greenwood Warwick
  • Daniel Lavelle
  • Deborah Gross
  • Erika Strassburger
  • Ricky Burgess
Area
 • City58.35 sq mi (151.12 km2)
 • Land55.38 sq mi (143.42 km2)
 • Water2.97 sq mi (7.70 km2)
Highest elevation
1,370 ft (420 m)
Lowest elevation
710 ft (220 m)
Population
 • City302,971
 • Rank68th in the United States
2nd in Pennsylvania
 • Density5,471.26/sq mi (2,112.47/km2)
 • Urban
1,745,039 (US: 30th)
 • Urban density1,924.7/sq mi (743.1/km2)
 • Metro2,370,930 (US: 27th)
Demonym(s)Pittsburgher, Yinzer
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern Standard Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (Eastern Daylight Time)
ZIP Code
35 total ZIP codes:
  • 15106, 15120–15121, 15201, 15203–15208, 15210–15222, 15224, 15226–15228, 15230, 15232–15235, 15237, 15239, 15289, 15229
Area codes412, 724, 878
FIPS code42-61000
GNIS feature ID1213644
Major airportsPittsburgh International Airport, Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, Allegheny County Airport
Interstates
Urban rail transit
Websitepittsburghpa.gov
Designated1946[4]

Pittsburgh is located in southwest Pennsylvania at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, which combine to form the Ohio River.[5] Pittsburgh is known both as "the Steel City" for its dominant role in the history of the U.S. steel industry, and as the "City of Bridges" for its 446 bridges.[6] The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclined railways, a pre-revolutionary fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. The city developed as a vital link of the Atlantic coast and Midwest, as the mineral-rich Allegheny Mountains led to the region being contested by the French and British empires, Virginians, Whiskey Rebels, and Civil War raiders.[7]

Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in the manufacturing of other important materials—aluminum and glass—and in the petroleum industry. Additionally, it is a leader in computing, electronics, and the automotive industry.[8] For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York City and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment; it had the most U.S. stockholders per capita.[9] Deindustrialization in the 1970s and 1980s laid off area blue-collar workers as steel and other heavy industries declined, and thousands of downtown white-collar workers also lost jobs when several Pittsburgh-based companies moved out.[10] The population dropped from a peak of 675,000 in 1950 to 370,000 in 1990. However, this rich industrial history left the area with renowned museums, medical centers,[11] parks, research centers, and a diverse cultural district.[12]

After 1990, Pittsburgh transformed into a hub for the health care, education, and technology industries.[13] Pittsburgh is home to large medical providers, including the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.[14] Numerous technology firms including Google, Apple, Bosch, Meta, Nokia, Autodesk, Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM are among 1,600 technology firms generating $20.7 billion in annual Pittsburgh payrolls.

Federal money has supported the research agenda. The area has served as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research and the nuclear navy.[15] The nation's fifth-largest bank, eight Fortune 500 companies, and six of the top 300 U.S. law firms make their global headquarters in the area, while RAND Corporation (RAND), BNY Mellon, Nova, FedEx, Bayer, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have regional bases that helped Pittsburgh become the sixth-best area for U.S. job growth.[16]

In 2015, Pittsburgh was listed among the "eleven most livable cities in the world".[17][18] The Economist's Global Liveability Ranking placed Pittsburgh as the most or second-most livable city in the United States in 2005, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2018.[19][20] The region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and energy extraction.[21]

History

Historical claims

French Empire 1669–1758
British Empire 1681–1781
United States 1776–present

 
Fort Pitt Block House, built by the British in 1764, is the oldest extant structure in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh was named in 1758, by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. As Forbes was a Scotsman, he probably pronounced the name /ˈpɪtsbərə/ PITS-bər-ə (similar to Edinburgh).[22][23] Pittsburgh was incorporated as a borough on April 22, 1794, with the following Act:[24] "Be it enacted by the Pennsylvania State Senate and Pennsylvania House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ... by the authority of the same, that the said town of Pittsburgh shall be ... erected into a borough, which shall be called the borough of Pittsburgh for ever."[25] From 1891 to 1911, the city's name was federally recognized as "Pittsburg", though use of the final h was retained during this period by the city government and other local organizations.[26][22] After a public campaign, the federal decision to drop the h was reversed.[22] The Pittsburgh Press continued without the h in its nameplate until August 1, 1921.[27]

The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee and several other settled groups of Native Americans.[28] Shannopin's Town was an 18th-century Lenape (Delaware) town located roughly from where Penn Avenue is today, below the mouth of Two Mile Run, from 30th Street to 39th Street. According to George Croghan, the town was situated on the south bank of the Allegheny, nearly opposite what is now known as Herr's Island, in what is now the Lawrenceville neighborhood.[29]: 289 

The first known Europeans to enter the region were the French explorers/traders Robert de La Salle and Martin Chartier from Quebec during their 1669 expedition down the Ohio River.[30] European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century. Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements.[31]

In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers.[31] During 1753–1754, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalle's 1669 claims. The French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years' War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne.[32] The British and colonial force were defeated at Braddock's Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758. He began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named "Pittsborough".[33]

During Pontiac's War, a loose confederation of Native American tribes laid siege to Fort Pitt in 1763; the siege was eventually lifted after Colonel Henry Bouquet defeated a portion of the besieging force at the Battle of Bushy Run. Bouquet strengthened the defenses of Fort Pitt the next year.[34][35][36][37]

During this period, the powerful nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, based in New York, had maintained control of much of the Ohio Valley as hunting grounds by right of conquest after defeating other tribes. By the terms of the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, the Penns were allowed to purchase the modern region from the Iroquois. A 1769 survey referenced the future city as the "Manor of Pittsburgh".[38] Both the Colony of Virginia and the Province of Pennsylvania claimed the region under their colonial charters until 1780, when they agreed under a federal initiative to extend the Mason–Dixon line westward, placing Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. On March 8, 1771, Bedford County, Pennsylvania was created to govern the frontier. On April 16, 1771, the city's first civilian local government was created as Pitt Township.[39][40] William Teagarden was the first constable, and William Troop was the first clerk.[41]

Following the American Revolution, the village of Pittsburgh continued to grow. One of its earliest industries was boat building for settlers of the Ohio Country. In 1784, Thomas Viceroy completed a town plan which was approved by the Penn family attorney. Pittsburgh became a possession of Pennsylvania in 1785. The following year, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was started, and in 1787, the Pittsburgh Academy was chartered. Unrest during the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 resulted in federal troops being sent to the area. By 1797, glass manufacture began, while the population grew to around 1,400. Settlers came via routes over the Appalachian Mountains or through the Great Lakes. Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh) at the source of the Ohio River became the main base for settlers moving into the Northwest Territory.

1800 to 1900

 
Monongahela River and its surroundings, 1857
 
Downtown facade memorializing Pittsburgh's industrial heritage with an image of legendary steelworker Joe Magarac
 
Pittsburgh in 1874 by Otto Krebs
 
Burning of Union Depot during the Pittsburgh railroad strike of 1877

The federal government recognizes Pittsburgh as the starting point for the Lewis and Clark Expedition.[42] Preparations began in Pittsburgh in 1803 when Meriwether Lewis purchased a keelboat that would later be used to ascend the Missouri River.[43]

The War of 1812 cut off the supply of British goods, stimulating American industry. By 1815, Pittsburgh was producing significant quantities of iron, brass, tin, and glass. On March 18, 1816, the 46-year-old local government became a city. It was served by numerous river steamboats, that increased trading traffic on the rivers.

In the 1830s, many Welsh people from the Merthyr steelworks immigrated to the city following the aftermath of the Merthyr Rising. By the 1840s, Pittsburgh was one of the largest cities west of the Allegheny Mountains. The Great Fire of Pittsburgh destroyed over a thousand buildings in 1845. The city rebuilt with the aid of Irish immigrants who came to escape the Great Famine. By 1857, Pittsburgh's 1,000 factories were consuming 22 million coal bushels yearly. Coal mining and iron manufacturing attracted waves of European immigrants to the area, the most came from Germany.

Because Pennsylvania had been established as a free state after the Revolution, enslaved African Americans sought freedom here through escape as refugees from the South, or occasionally fleeing from travelers they were serving who stayed in the city. There were active stations of the Underground Railroad in the city, and numerous refugees were documented as getting help from station agents and African-American workers in city hotels. The Drennen Slave Girl walked out of the Monongahela House in 1850, apparently to freedom.[44] The Merchant's Hotel was also a place where African-American workers would advise slaves the state was free and aid them in getting to nearby stations of the Underground Railroad.[45] Sometimes refugee slaves from the South stayed in Pittsburgh, but other times they continued North, including into Canada. Many slaves left the city and county for Canada after Congress passed the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, as it required cooperation from law enforcement even in free states and increased penalties. From 1850 to 1860, the black population in Allegheny County dropped from 3,431 to 2,725 as people headed to more safety in Canada.[44]

The American Civil War boosted the city's economy with increased iron and armament demand by the Union. Andrew Carnegie began steel production in 1875 at the Edgar Thomson Steel Works in North Braddock, Pennsylvania, which evolved into the Carnegie Steel Company. He adopted the Bessemer process to increase production. Manufacturing was key to growth of Pittsburgh and the surrounding region. Railroad lines were built into the city along both rivers, increasing transportation access to important markets.

1900 to present

 
Pittsburgh in 1903

In 1901, J. P. Morgan and attorney Elbert H. Gary merged Carnegie Steel Company and several other companies into U.S. Steel. By 1910, Pittsburgh was the nation's 8th-largest city, accounting for between one-third and one-half of national steel output.

The Pittsburgh Agreement was subscribed in May 1918 between the Czech and Slovak nationalities, as envisioned by T. G. Masaryk, concerning the future foundation of Czechoslovakia.[46]

The city suffered severe flooding in March 1936.

The city's population swelled to more than a half million, attracting numerous European immigrants to its industrial jobs. By 1940, non-Hispanic whites were 90.6% of the city's population.[47] Pittsburgh also became a main destination of the African-American Great Migration from the rural South during the first half of the 20th century.[48] Limited initially by discrimination, some 95% percent of the men became unskilled steel workers.[49]

During World War II, demand for steel increased and area mills operated 24 hours a day to produce 95 million tons of steel for the war effort.[33] This resulted in the highest levels of air pollution in the city's almost century of industry. The city's reputation as the "arsenal of democracy"[50][51] was being overshadowed by James Parton's 1868 observation of Pittsburgh being "hell with the lid off."[52]

Following the war, the city launched a clean air and civic revitalization project known as the "Renaissance," cleaning up the air and the rivers. The "Renaissance II" project followed in 1977, focused on cultural and neighborhood development. The industrial base continued to expand through the 1970s, but beginning in the early 1980s both the area's steel and electronics industries imploded during national industrial restructuring. There were massive layoffs from mill and plant closures.[10]

In the later 20th century, the area shifted its economic base to education, tourism, and services, largely based on healthcare/medicine, finance, and high technology such as robotics. Although Pittsburgh successfully shifted its economy and remained viable, the city's population has never rebounded to its industrial-era highs. While 680,000 people lived in the city proper in 1950, a combination of suburbanization and economic turbulence resulted in a decrease in city population, even as the metropolitan area population increased again.

During the late 2000s recession, Pittsburgh was economically strong, adding jobs when most cities were losing them. It was one of the few cities in the United States to see housing property values rise. Between 2006 and 2011, the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area (MSA) experienced over 10% appreciation in housing prices—the highest appreciation of the largest 25 MSAs in the United States, as 22 of the top 25 MSAs saw a depreciation of housing values.[53] Pittsburgh's story of economic regeneration was the inspiration of President Barack Obama to host the 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh summit.[54]

Geography

Pittsburgh has an area of 58.3 square miles (151 km2), of which 55.6 square miles (144 km2) is land and 2.8 square miles (7.3 km2), or 4.75%, is water. The 80th meridian west passes directly through the city's downtown.

The city is on the Allegheny Plateau, within the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau.[55] The Downtown area (also known as the Golden Triangle) sits where the Allegheny River flows from the northeast and the Monongahela River from the southeast to form the Ohio River. The convergence is at Point State Park and is referred to as "the Point." The city extends east to include the Oakland and Shadyside sections, which are home to the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham University, Carnegie Museum and Library, and many other educational, medical, and cultural institutions. The southern, western, and northern areas of the city are primarily residential.

Many Pittsburgh neighborhoods are steeply sloped with two-lane roads. More than a quarter of neighborhood names make reference to "hills," "heights," or similar features.[a]

The steps of Pittsburgh consist of 800 sets of outdoor public stairways with 44,645 treads and 24,090 vertical feet. They include hundreds of streets composed entirely of stairs, and many other steep streets with stairs for sidewalks.[56] Many provide vistas of the Pittsburgh area while attracting hikers and fitness walkers.[57]

Bike and walking trails have been built to border many of the city's rivers and hollows. The Great Allegheny Passage and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath connect the city directly to downtown Washington, D.C. (some 335 miles [539 km] away) with a continuous bike/running trail.

Cityscape

Areas

The city consists of the Downtown area, called the Golden Triangle,[58] and four main areas surrounding it. These surrounding areas are subdivided into distinct neighborhoods (Pittsburgh has 90 neighborhoods).[59] Relative to downtown, these areas are known as the Central, North Side/North Hills, South Side/South Hills, East End, and West End.

Golden Triangle
 
The Carnegie Library, Museums of Art and Natural History (foreground), Carnegie Mellon University (background)

Downtown Pittsburgh has 30 skyscrapers, nine of which top 500 feet (150 m). The U.S. Steel Tower is the tallest, at 841 ft (256 m).[60] The Cultural District consists of a 14-block area of downtown along the Allegheny River. This district contains many theaters and arts venues and is home to a growing residential segment. Most significantly, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is embarking on RiverParc, a four-block mixed-use "green" community, featuring 700 residential units and multiple towers of between 20 and 30 stories. The Firstside portion of Downtown borders the Monongahela River, the historic Mon Wharf and hosts the distinctive PPG Place Gothic-style glass skyscraper complex. New condo towers have been constructed and historic office towers are converted to residential use, increasing 24-hour residents. Downtown is served by the Port Authority's light rail system and multiple bridges leading north and south.[61]

It is also home to Point Park University and Duquesne University which borders Uptown.

North Side
 
The North Side

The North Side is home to various neighborhoods in transition. What is known today as Pittsburgh's North Side was once known as Allegheny City, and operated as a city independently of Pittsburgh until it was merged with Pittsburgh in 1907 under great protest from its citizens. The North Side is primarily composed of residential neighborhoods and is noteworthy for its 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 attractions such as Acrisure Stadium, PNC Park, Carnegie Science Center, National Aviary, Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory art museum, Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Randyland, Penn Brewery, Allegheny Observatory, and Allegheny General Hospital.[62]

South Side
 
Bird's-eye view of Pittsburgh, 1902[63]

The South Side was once the site of railyards and associated dense, inexpensive housing for mill and railroad workers. Since the late 20th century, the city undertook a Main Street program in cooperation with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, encouraging design and landscape improvements on East Carson Street, and supporting new retail. The area has become a local Pittsburgher destination, and the value of homes in the South Side had increased in value by about 10% annually for the 10 years up to 2014.[64] East Carson Street has developed as one of the most vibrant areas of the city, packed with diverse shopping, ethnic eateries, vibrant nightlife, and live music venues.

In 1993 the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh purchased the South Side Works steel mill property. It collaborated with the community and various developers to create a master plan for a mixed-use development, to include a riverfront park, office space, housing, health-care facilities, and indoor practice fields for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt Panthers. Construction began in 1998. The SouthSide Works has been open since 2005, featuring many stores, restaurants, offices, and the world headquarters for American Eagle Outfitters.[65]

East End

The East End of Pittsburgh is home to the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Carlow University, Chatham University, The Carnegie Institute's Museums of Art and Natural History, Phipps Conservatory, and Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall. It is also home to many parks and public spaces including Mellon Park, Westinghouse Park, Schenley Park, Frick Park, The Frick Pittsburgh, Bakery Square, and the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. The neighborhoods of Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are large, wealthy neighborhoods with some apartments and condos, and pedestrian-oriented shopping/business districts. Squirrel Hill is also known as the hub of Jewish life in Pittsburgh, home to approximately 20 synagogues.[66] Oakland, heavily populated by undergraduate and graduate students, is home to most of the universities, and the Petersen Events Center. The Strip District to the west along the Allegheny River is an open-air marketplace by day and a clubbing destination by night. 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 Hill District was home to photographer Charles Harris as well as various African-American jazz clubs.[67] Other East End neighborhoods include Point Breeze, Regent Square, Highland Park, Homewood, Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, Larimer, East Hills, East Liberty, Polish Hill, Hazelwood, Garfield, Morningside, and Stanton Heights.

West End

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

Ethnicities

Many of Pittsburgh's patchwork of neighborhoods still retain ethnic characters reflecting the city's settlement history. These include:

Population densities

Several neighborhoods on the edges of the city are less urban, featuring tree-lined streets, yards and garages, with a more suburban character. Oakland, the South Side, the North Side, and the Golden Triangle are characterized by more density of housing, walking neighborhoods, and a more diverse, urban feel.

Images

 
Panorama of Pittsburgh from the Duquesne Incline, which shows the confluence of the Allegheny (left) and the Monongahela (right) Rivers, which merge to form the Ohio River (lower left)
 
Pittsburgh seen from Mt. Washington at night in 2015 with the Monongahela River in the foreground
 
Skyline from Mt. Washington in 2014

Regional identity

Pittsburgh falls within the borders of the Northeastern United States as defined by multiple US Government agencies. Pittsburgh is the principal city of the Pittsburgh Combined Statistical Area, a Combined statistical area defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Pittsburgh falls within the borders of Appalachia as defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission, and has long been characterized as the "northern urban industrial anchor of Appalachia."[68] In its post-industrial state, Pittsburgh has been characterized as the "Paris of Appalachia",[69][70][71][72] recognizing the city's cultural, educational, healthcare, and technological resources, as well as its status as Appalachia's largest city.

Climate

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
2.6
 
 
36
21
 
 
2.4
 
 
39
23
 
 
3
 
 
49
30
 
 
3.1
 
 
62
40
 
 
4
 
 
71
49
 
 
4.3
 
 
79
58
 
 
3.8
 
 
83
63
 
 
3.5
 
 
81
62
 
 
3.1
 
 
74
54
 
 
2.3
 
 
63
43
 
 
3.2
 
 
51
35
 
 
2.9
 
 
39
25
Average max. and min. temperatures in °F
Precipitation totals in inches
Metric conversion
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
66
 
 
2
−6
 
 
61
 
 
4
−5
 
 
75
 
 
10
−1
 
 
79
 
 
17
5
 
 
100
 
 
22
10
 
 
109
 
 
26
15
 
 
97
 
 
28
17
 
 
88
 
 
27
16
 
 
79
 
 
24
12
 
 
58
 
 
17
6
 
 
82
 
 
11
2
 
 
72
 
 
4
−4
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm

Under the Köppen climate classification, Pittsburgh falls within either a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) if the 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm is used or a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) if the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm is used. Summers are hot and winters are moderately cold with wide variations in temperature. Despite this, it has one of the most pleasant summer climates between medium and large cities in the U.S.[73][74][75] The city and river valleys lie in the USDA plant hardiness zone 6b while higher elevated areas and some suburbs lie in zone 6a.[76] The area has four distinct seasons: winters are cold and snowy, springs and falls are mild with moderate levels of sunshine, and summers are warm. As measured by percent possible sunshine, summer is by far the sunniest season.[77]

The warmest month of the year in Pittsburgh is July, with a 24-hour average of 73.2 °F (22.9 °C). Conditions are often humid, and combined with highs reaching 90 °F (32 °C) on an average 9.5 days a year,[78] a considerable heat index arises. The coolest month is January, when the 24-hour average is 28.8 °F (−1.8 °C), and lows of 0 °F (−18 °C) or below can be expected on an average 2.6 nights per year.[78] Officially, record temperatures range from −22 °F (−30 °C), on January 19, 1994 to 103 °F (39 °C), which occurred three times, most recently on July 16, 1988; the record cold daily maximum is −3 °F (−19 °C), which occurred three times, most recently the day of the all-time record low, while, conversely, the record warm daily minimum is 82 °F (28 °C) on July 1, 1901.[78][b] Due to elevation and location on the windward side of the Appalachian Mountains, 100 °F (38 °C)+ readings are very rare, and were last seen on July 15, 1995.[78]

Average annual precipitation is 39.61 inches (1,006 mm) and precipitation is greatest in May while least in October; annual precipitation has historically ranged from 22.65 in (575 mm) in 1930 to 57.83 in (1,469 mm) in 2018.[79] On average, December and January have the greatest number of precipitation days. Snowfall averages 44.1 inches (112 cm) per season, but has historically ranged from 8.8 in (22 cm) in 1918–19 to 80 in (200 cm) in 1950–51.[80] There is an average of 59 clear days and 103 partly cloudy days per year, while 203 days are cloudy.[81] In terms of annual percent-average possible sunshine received, Pittsburgh (45%) is similar to Seattle (49%).

Climate data for Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh International Airport), 1991–2020 normals,[c] extremes 1871–present[d]
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 75
(24)
78
(26)
84
(29)
90
(32)
95
(35)
98
(37)
103
(39)
103
(39)
102
(39)
91
(33)
82
(28)
74
(23)
103
(39)
Mean maximum °F (°C) 61.5
(16.4)
63.2
(17.3)
73.5
(23.1)
81.5
(27.5)
86.8
(30.4)
90.4
(32.4)
91.3
(32.9)
90.3
(32.4)
88.2
(31.2)
79.9
(26.6)
70.8
(21.6)
62.6
(17.0)
92.6
(33.7)
Average high °F (°C) 36.3
(2.4)
39.6
(4.2)
49.1
(9.5)
62.4
(16.9)
71.9
(22.2)
79.4
(26.3)
82.9
(28.3)
81.7
(27.6)
75.1
(23.9)
63.1
(17.3)
50.9
(10.5)
40.6
(4.8)
61.1
(16.2)
Daily mean °F (°C) 28.8
(−1.8)
31.4
(−0.3)
39.7
(4.3)
51.5
(10.8)
61.2
(16.2)
69.4
(20.8)
73.2
(22.9)
71.8
(22.1)
64.9
(18.3)
53.4
(11.9)
42.6
(5.9)
33.7
(0.9)
51.8
(11.0)
Average low °F (°C) 21.4
(−5.9)
23.2
(−4.9)
30.3
(−0.9)
40.7
(4.8)
50.6
(10.3)
59.3
(15.2)
63.4
(17.4)
62.0
(16.7)
54.8
(12.7)
43.7
(6.5)
34.3
(1.3)
26.7
(−2.9)
42.5
(5.8)
Mean minimum °F (°C) 1.0
(−17.2)
5.0
(−15.0)
11.7
(−11.3)
25.4
(−3.7)
35.6
(2.0)
45.2
(7.3)
52.5
(11.4)
51.1
(10.6)
41.2
(5.1)
29.5
(−1.4)
19.3
(−7.1)
9.7
(−12.4)
−1.5
(−18.6)
Record low °F (°C) −22
(−30)
−20
(−29)
−5
(−21)
11
(−12)
26
(−3)
34
(1)
42
(6)
39
(4)
31
(−1)
16
(−9)
−1
(−18)
−12
(−24)
−22
(−30)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 2.96
(75)
2.62
(67)
3.15
(80)
3.32
(84)
3.83
(97)
4.12
(105)
4.26
(108)
3.52
(89)
3.30
(84)
2.83
(72)
2.86
(73)
2.84
(72)
39.61
(1,006)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 13.3
(34)
11.7
(30)
7.6
(19)
1.0
(2.5)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.4
(1.0)
2.4
(6.1)
7.7
(20)
44.1
(112)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 16.8 13.9 14.0 13.9 13.5 12.4 11.2 10.5 9.8 11.1 12.0 14.6 153.7
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 12.2 9.3 5.9 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 3.3 7.6 40.2
Average relative humidity (%) 69.9 67.3 64.1 59.8 63.4 66.2 68.8 71.2 72.0 68.3 70.2 71.9 67.8
Average dew point °F (°C) 17.2
(−8.2)
18.9
(−7.3)
26.8
(−2.9)
34.5
(1.4)
45.9
(7.7)
55.2
(12.9)
60.1
(15.6)
59.5
(15.3)
53.4
(11.9)
40.8
(4.9)
32.4
(0.2)
23.2
(−4.9)
39.0
(3.9)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 93.9 108.5 155.4 182.8 217.4 242.2 254.9 228.4 196.7 167.3 99.4 74.4 2,021.3
Percent possible sunshine 31 36 42 46 49 54 56 54 53 48 33 26 45
Average ultraviolet index 2 3 4 6 8 9 9 8 6 4 2 2 5
Source 1: NOAA (relative humidity, dew point and sun 1961–1990)[78][82][77][83]
Source 2: Weather Atlas (UV)[84]

Air quality

In 2019, the "State of the Air" report from the American Lung Association (ALA) found that air quality in the Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV metro area worsened, not only for ozone (smog), but also for the second year in a row for both the daily and long-term measures of fine particle pollution. Outside of California, Allegheny County is the only county in the United States that recorded failing grades for all three.[85] In a 2013 ranking of 277 metropolitan areas in the United States, the American Lung Association ranked only six U.S. metro areas as having higher amounts of short-term particle pollution, and only seven U.S. metro areas having higher amounts of year-round particle pollution than Pittsburgh. For ozone (smog) pollution, Pittsburgh was ranked 24th among U.S. metro areas.[86][87] The area has improved its air quality with every annual survey. The ALA's rankings have been disputed by the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD), since data from only the worst of the region's 20 air quality monitors is considered by the ALA, without any context or averaging. The lone monitor used is immediately downwind and adjacent to U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works, the nation's largest coke mill, and several municipalities outside the city's jurisdiction of pollution controls, leading to possible confusion that Pittsburgh is the source or center of the emissions cited in the survey.[88] The region's readings also reflect pollution swept in from Ohio and West Virginia.[89]

Although the county was still below the "pass" threshold, the report showed substantial improvement over previous decades on every air quality measure. Fewer than 15 high ozone days were reported between 2007 and 2009, and just 10 between 2008 and 2010, compared to more than 40 between 1997 and 1999.[90] ACHD spokesman Guillermo Cole stated "It's the best it's been in the lifetime for virtually every resident in this county ... We've seen a steady decrease in pollution levels over the past decade and certainly over the past 20, 30, 40, 50 years, or more."[91]

In the summer of 2017, a crowd sourced air quality monitoring application, Smell PGH, was launched. As air quality is still a concern of many in the area, the app allows for users to report odd smells and informs local authorities.[92]

The city contains 31,000 trees on 900 miles of streets, by the last count conducted in 2005. A 2011 analysis of Pittsburgh's tree cover, which involved sampling more than 200 small plots throughout the city, showed a value of between $10 and $13 million in annual benefits based on the urban forest contributions to aesthetics, energy use and air quality. Energy savings from shade, impact on city air and water quality, and the boost in property values were taken into account in the analysis. The city spends $850,000 annually on street tree planting and maintenance.[93]

Water quality

The local rivers continue to have pollution levels exceeding EPA limits.[94] This is caused by frequently overflowing untreated sewage into local waterways, due to flood conditions and antiquated infrastructure. Pittsburgh has a combined sewer system, where its sewage pipes contain both stormwater and wastewater. The pipes were constructed in the early 1900s, and the sewage treatment plant was built in 1959.[95] Due to insufficient improvements over time, the city is faced with public health concerns regarding its water.[96] As little as a tenth of an inch of rain causes runoffs from the sewage system to drain into local rivers.[97] Nine billion gallons of untreated waste and stormwater flow into rivers, leading to health hazards and Clean Water Act violations.[98] The local sewage authority, Allegheny County Sanitary Authority, or ALCOSAN, is operating under Consent Decree from the EPA to come up with solutions.[99] In 2017, ALCOSAN proposed a $2 billion upgrade to the system which is moving closer to EPA approval.[100]

Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) is the city's agency required to replace pipes and charge water rates. They have come under fire from both city and state authorities due to alleged mismanagement.[101] In 2017, Mayor William Peduto advocated for a restructuring of the PWSA and a partially privatized water authority.[102] Governor Wolf subsequently assigned the PWSA to be under the oversight of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).[101]

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
18001,565
18104,768204.7%
18207,24852.0%
183012,56873.4%
184021,11568.0%
185046,601120.7%
186049,2215.6%
187086,07674.9%
1880156,38981.7%
1890238,61752.6%
1900321,61634.8%
1910533,90566.0%
1920588,34310.2%
1930669,81713.8%
1940671,6590.3%
1950676,8060.8%
1960604,332−10.7%
1970520,117−13.9%
1980423,938−18.5%
1990369,879−12.8%
2000334,563−9.5%
2010305,704−8.6%
2020302,971−0.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[103][104][2]

At the 2010 census, there were 305,704 people residing in Pittsburgh, a decrease of 8.6% since 2000; 66.0% of the population was White, 25.8% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.4% Asian, 0.3% Other, and 2.3% mixed; in 2020, 2.3% of Pittsburgh's population was of Hispanic or Latino American origin of any race. Non-Hispanic whites were 64.8% of the population in 2010,[105] compared to 78.7% in 1970.[106] By the 2020 census, the population slightly declined further to 302,971.[107] Its racial and ethnic makeup in 2020 was 64.7% non-Hispanic white, 23.0% Black or African American, 5.8% Asian, and 3.2% Hispanic or Latino American of any race.

Racial composition 2020[107] 2010[105] 1990[106] 1970[106] 1950[106]
White 66.8% 66.0% 72.1% 79.3% 87.7%
– Non-Hispanic White 64.7% 64.8% 71.6% 78.7%[108] n/a
Black or African American 23.0% 26.1% 25.8% 20.2% 12.2%
Asian 5.8% 4.4% 1.6% 0.3% 0.1%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 3.2% 2.3% 0.9% 0.5%[108] (X)
 
Map of racial distribution in Pittsburgh, 2010 U.S. census. Each dot is 25 people:  White  Black  Asian  Hispanic  Other

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the five largest European ethnic groups in the city were German (19.7%), Irish (15.8%), Italian (11.8%), Polish (8.4%), and English (4.6%), while the metropolitan area is approximately 22% German-American, 15.4% Italian American and 11.6% Irish American. Pittsburgh has one of the largest Italian-American communities in the nation,[109] and the fifth-largest Ukrainian community per the 1990 census.[110] Pittsburgh has one of the most extensive Croatian communities in the United States.[111] Overall, the Pittsburgh metro area has one of the largest populations of Slavic Americans in the country.

Pittsburgh has a sizable Black and African American population, concentrated in various neighborhoods especially in the East End. There is also a small Asian community consisting of Indian immigrants, and a small Hispanic community consisting of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans.[112]

According to a 2010 Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) study, residents include 773,341 "Catholics"; 326,125 "Mainline Protestants"; 174,119 "Evangelical Protestants;" 20,976 "Black Protestants;" and 16,405 "Orthodox Christians," with 996,826 listed as "unclaimed" and 16,405 as "other" in the metro area.[112] A 2017 study by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University estimated the Jewish population of Greater Pittsburgh was 49,200.[113]

According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, 78% of the population of the city identified themselves as Christians, with 42% professing attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant, and 32% professing Catholic beliefs. while 18% claim no religious affiliation. The same study says that other religions (including Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism) collectively make up about 4% of the population.[114]

Religion in Pittsburgh (2014)[114]
Religion Percent
Protestantism
42%
Catholicism
32%
Other Christian
3%
No religion
18%
Others
4%
Don't know
1%

In 2010, there were 143,739 households, out of which 21.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.2% were married couples living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.4% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 19.9% under the age of 18, 14.8% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.7 males. 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, and the median income for a family was $38,795. Males had a median income of $32,128 versus $25,500 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,816. About 15.0% of families and 20.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.5% of those under the age of 18 and 13.5% ages 65 or older. By the 2019 American Community Survey, the median income for a household increased to $53,799.[115] Families had a median income of $68,922; married-couple families had a median income of $93,500; and non-family households had a median income of $34,448. Pittsburgh's wealthiest suburbs within city limits are Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze, the only two areas of the city which have average household incomes over $100,000 a year. Outside of city limits, Sewickley Heights is by a wide margin the wealthiest suburb of Pittsburgh within Allegheny County, with an average yearly household income of just over $218,000. Sewickely Heights is seen as one of Pittsburgh's wealthiest suburbs culturally as well, titles which the suburbs of Upper St. Clair, Fox Chapel, Wexford, and Warrendale also have been bestowed.[116][117]

In a 2002 study, Pittsburgh ranked 22nd of 69 urban places in the U.S. in the number of residents 25 years or older who had completed a bachelor's degree, at 31%.[118] Pittsburgh ranked 15th of the 69 places in the number of residents 25 years or older who completed a high school degree, at 84.7%.[119]

The metro area has shown greater residential racial integration during the last 30 years. The 2010 census ranked 18 other U.S. metros as having greater black-white segregation, while 32 other U.S. metros rank higher for black-white isolation.[120]

As of 2018, much of Pittsburgh's population density was concentrated in the central, southern, and eastern areas. The city limits itself have a population density of 5,513 people per square mile; its most densely populated parts are North Oakland (at 21,200 per square mile) and Uptown Pittsburgh (at 19,869 per square mile). Outside of the city limits, Dormont and Mount Oliver are Pittsburgh's most densely-populated neighborhoods, with 11,167 and 9,902 people per square mile respectively.[121]

Economy

Pittsburgh has adapted since the collapse of its century-long steel and electronics industries. The region has shifted to high technology, robotics, health care, nuclear engineering, tourism, biomedical technology, finance, education, and services. Annual payroll of the region's technology industries, when taken in aggregate, exceeded $10.8 billion in 2007,[122] and in 2010 there were 1,600 technology companies.[123] A National Bureau of Economic Research 2014 report named Pittsburgh the second-best U.S. city for intergenerational economic mobility[124] or the American Dream.[125] Reflecting the citywide shift from industry to technology, former factories have been renovated as modern office space. Google has research and technology offices in a refurbished 1918–1998 Nabisco factory, a complex known as Bakery Square.[126] Some of the factory's original equipment, such as a large dough mixer, were left standing in homage to the site's industrial roots.[127] Pittsburgh's transition from its industrial heritage has earned it praise as "the poster child for managing industrial transition".[128] Other major cities in the northeast and mid-west have increasingly borrowed from Pittsburgh's model in order to renew their industries and economic base.[129]

The largest employer in the city is the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, with 48,000 employees. All hospitals, outpatient clinics, and doctor's office positions combine for 116,000 jobs, approximately 10% of the jobs in the region. An analyst recently observed of the city's medical sector: "That's both more jobs and a higher share of the region's total employment than the steel industry represented in the 1970s."[130]

Top publicly traded companies
in the Pittsburgh region for 2022

(ranked by revenues)
with metropolitan and U.S. ranks
Metro corporation US
1 The Kraft Heinz Company 139
2 U.S. Steel 172
3 PNC Financial Services 178
4 Viatris 204
5 PPG Industries 218
6 Dick's Sporting Goods 307
7 Alcoa 312
8 WESCO International 357
9 Wabtec 439
10 Arconic 452

Education is a major economic driver in the region. The largest single employer in education is the University of Pittsburgh, with 10,700 employees.[131]

Ten Fortune 500 companies call the Pittsburgh area home.[132] They are (in alphabetical order): Alcoa Corporation (NYSE: AA), Arconic Corporation (NYSE: ARNC), Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC), PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC), PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG), U.S. Steel Corporation (NYSE: X), Viatris (NASDAQ: VRTS), Wabtec Corporation (NYSE: WAB), and WESCO International (WYSE: WCC).[133]

The region is home to Aurora, Allegheny Technologies, American Eagle Outfitters, Duolingo, EQT Corporation, CONSOL Energy, Howmet Aerospace, Kennametal and II-VI headquarters. Other major employers include BNY Mellon, GlaxoSmithKline, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Lanxess. The Northeast U.S. regional headquarters for Chevron Corporation, Nova Chemicals, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, FedEx Ground, Ariba, and the RAND Corporation call the area home. 84 Lumber, Giant Eagle, Highmark, Rue 21, General Nutrition Center (GNC), CNX Gas (CXG), and Genco Supply Chain Solutions are major non-public companies headquartered in the region. The global impact of Pittsburgh technology and business was recently demonstrated in several key components of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner being manufactured and supplied by area companies.[134] Area retail is anchored by over 35 shopping malls and a healthy downtown retail sector, as well as boutique shops along Walnut Street, in Squirrel Hill, Lawrenceville and Station Square.

The nonprofit arts and cultural industry in Allegheny County generates $341 million in economic activity that supports over 10,000 full-time equivalent jobs with nearly $34 million in local and state taxes raised.[135]

A leader in environmental design, the city is home to 60 total and 10 of the world's first green buildings while billions have been invested in the area's Marcellus natural gas fields.[21] A renaissance of Pittsburgh's 116-year-old film industry—that boasts the world's first movie theater—has grown from the long-running Three Rivers Film Festival to an influx of major television and movie productions. including Disney and Paramount offices with the largest sound stage outside Los Angeles and New York City.[136]

Pittsburgh has hosted many conventions, including INPEX, the world's largest invention trade show, since 1984;[137] Tekko, a four-day anime convention, since 2003; Anthrocon, a furry convention, since 2006; and the DUG East energy trade show since 2009.

Arts and culture

Entertainment

Pittsburgh has a rich history in arts and culture dating from 19th century industrialists commissioning and donating public works, such as Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts and the Benedum Center, home to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Pittsburgh Opera, respectively as well as such groups as the River City Brass Band and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Pittsburgh has a number of small and mid-size arts organizations including the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Quantum Theatre, the Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh, and the early music ensemble Chatham Baroque. Several choirs and singing groups are also present at the cities' universities; some of the most notable include the Pitt Men's Glee Club and the Heinz Chapel Choir.

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 Duquesne University Tamburitzans, a multicultural academy dedicated to the preservation and presentation of folk songs and dance.

Hundreds of major films have been shot partially or wholly in Pittsburgh. The Dark Knight Rises was largely filmed in Downtown, Oakland, and the North Shore. Pittsburgh has also teamed up with a Los Angeles-based production company, and has built the largest and most advanced movie studio in the eastern United States.[136]

Pittsburgh's major art museums include the Andy Warhol Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, The Frick Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the Mattress Factory, and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, which has extensive dinosaur, mineral, animal, and Egyptian collections. The Carnegie Science Center and associated SportsWorks has interactive technology and science exhibits. The Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum is a Smithsonian affiliated regional history museum in the Strip District and its associated Fort Pitt Museum is in Point State Park. Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Oakland houses Western Pennsylvania military exhibits from the Civil War to present. The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh on the North Side features interactive exhibits for children. The eclectic Bayernhof Music Museum is six miles (9 km) from downtown while The Clemente Museum is in the city's Lawrenceville section. The Cathedral of Learning's Nationality Rooms showcase pre-19th century learning environments from around the world. There are regular guided and self-guided architectural tours in numerous neighborhoods. Downtown's cultural district hosts quarterly Gallery Crawls and the annual Three Rivers Arts Festival. Pittsburgh is home to a number of art galleries and centers including the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, University Art Gallery of the University of Pittsburgh, the American Jewish Museum, and the Wood Street Galleries.

The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and the National Aviary have served the city for over a century. Pittsburgh is home to the amusement park Kennywood. Pittsburgh is home to one of the several state licensed casinos. The Rivers Casino is on the North Shore along the Ohio River, just west of Carnegie Science Center and Acrisure Stadium.

Pittsburgh is home to the world's second largest furry convention known as Anthrocon, which has been held annually at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center since 2006. In 2017, Anthrocon drew over 7,000 visitors and has had a cumulative economic impact of $53 million over the course of its 11 years of being hosted in Pittsburgh.[138]

Lifetime's reality show, Dance Moms, is filmed at Pittsburgh's Abby Lee Dance Company.

Music

Pittsburgh has a long tradition of jazz, blues, and bluegrass music. The National Negro Opera Company was founded in the city as 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. One of the greatest American musicians and composers of the 20th century, Billy Strayhorn, grew up and was educated in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh's Wiz Khalifa is a recent artist to have a number one record. His anthem "Black and Yellow" (a tribute to Pittsburgh's official colors) reached number one on Billboard's "Hot 100"[139] for the Week of February 19, 2011.[140] Perry Como and Christina Aguilera are from Pittsburgh suburbs. The city is also where the band Rusted Root was formed. Liz Berlin of Rusted Root owns Mr. Smalls, a popular music venue for touring national acts in Pittsburgh.[141] Hip hop artist Mac Miller was also a Pittsburgh native, with his debut album Blue Slide Park named after the local Frick Park.

Many punk rock and Hardcore punk acts, such as Aus Rotten and Anti-Flag, originated in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has also seen many metal bands gain prominence in recent years,[when?] most notably Code Orange, who were nominated for a Grammy.

Pittsburgh has emerged as a leading city in the United States' heavy metal music scene. Ranking as the third 'most metal city' in a study conducted by MetalSucks,[142] Pittsburgh has earned a reputation for its heavy metal community. Pittsburgh is home to over six-hundred heavy metal bands,[142] as well as heavy metal coffee shops[143] and bars. The city is noted for its doom metal, metalcore, and death metal scenes.

Throughout the 1990s there was an electronic music subculture in Pittsburgh which likely traced its origins to similar Internet chatroom-based movements in Detroit, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and across the United States.[144][145][146] Pittsburgh promoters and DJs organized raves in warehouses, ice rinks, barns, and fields which eventually attracted thousands of attendees, some of whom were high school students or even younger.[145][147][148] As the events grew more popular, they drew internationally known DJs such as Adam Beyer and Richie Hawtin.[145] Pittsburgh rave culture itself spawned at least one well-known artist, the drum and bass DJ Dieselboy, who attended the University of Pittsburgh between 1990 and 1995.[144][149]

Since 2012, Pittsburgh has been the home of Hot Mass, an afterhours electronic music dance party which critics have compared favorably to European nightclubs and parties.[150][151] Electronic music artist and DJ Yaeji credits Hot Mass with her "indoctrination into nightlife"; she regularly attended the party while studying at Carnegie Mellon University.[152][153]

Theatre

The city's first play was produced at the old courthouse in 1803[31] and the first theater built in 1812.[31] Collegiate companies include the University of Pittsburgh's Repertory Theatre and Kuntu Repertory Theatre, Point Park University's resident companies at its Pittsburgh Playhouse, and Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama productions and Scotch'n'Soda organization. The Duquesne University Red Masquers, founded in 1912, are the oldest, continuously producing theater company in Pennsylvania.[citation needed] The city's longest-running theater show, Friday Nite Improvs, is an improv jam that has been performed in the Cathedral of Learning and other locations for 20 years. The Pittsburgh New Works Festival utilizes local theater companies to stage productions of original one-act plays by playwrights from all parts of the country. Similarly, Future Ten showcases new ten-minute plays. Saint Vincent Summer Theatre, Off the Wall Productions, Mountain Playhouse, The Theatre Factory, and Stage Right! in nearby Latrobe, Carnegie, Jennerstown, Trafford, and Greensburg, respectively, employ Pittsburgh actors and contribute to the culture of the region.

Literature

Pittsburgh is the birthplace of Gertrude Stein and Rachel Carson, a Chatham University graduate from the suburb of Springdale, Pennsylvania.[154] Modern writers include Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson and Michael Chabon with his Pittsburgh-focused commentary on student and college life. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, David McCullough was born and raised in Pittsburgh.[155] Annie Dillard, a Pulitzer Prize–winning writer, was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Much of her memoir An American Childhood takes place in post-World War II Pittsburgh. Award-winning author John Edgar Wideman grew up in Pittsburgh and has based several of his books, including the memoir Brothers and Keepers, in his hometown. Poet Terrance Hayes, winner of the 2010 National Book Award and a 2014 MacArthur Foundation Fellow, received his MFA from the University of Pittsburgh, where he is a faculty member. Poet Michael Simms, founder of Autumn House Press, resides in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Poet Samuel John Hazo, the first poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, also resides in the city. New writers include Chris Kuzneski who attended the University of Pittsburgh and mentions Pittsburgh in his works and Pittsburgher Brian Celio, author of Catapult Soul who captured the Pittsburgh 'Yinzer' dialect in his writing. Pittsburgh's unique literary style extends to playwrights,[156] as well as local graffiti and hip hop artists.

Pittsburgh's position as the birthplace for community owned television and networked commercial television helped spawn the modern children's show genres exemplified by Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Happy's Party, Cappelli & Company, and The Children's Corner, all nationally broadcast.

The Pittsburgh Dad series has showcased the Pittsburghese genre to a global YouTube audience since 2011.

The modern fantasy, macabre and science fiction genre was popularized by director George A. Romero, television's Bill Cardille and his Chiller Theatre,[157] director and writer Rusty Cundieff and makeup effects guru Tom Savini.[158] The genre continues today with the PARSEC science fiction organization,[159] The It's Alive Show, the annual "Zombie Fest",[160] and several writer's workshops including Write or Die,[161] Pittsburgh SouthWrites,[162] and Pittsburgh Worldwrights[163][164] with Barton Paul Levenson, Kenneth Chiacchia and Elizabeth Humphreys Penrose.

Food

Pittsburgh is known for several specialties including pierogies, kielbasa, chipped chopped ham sandwiches, and Klondike bars.[165][166] In 2019, Pittsburgh was deemed "Food City of the Year" by the San Francisco-based restaurant and hospitality consulting firm af&co.[167] Many restaurants were favorably mentioned, among them were Superior Motors in Braddock, Driftwood Oven in Lawrenceville, Spork in Bloomfield, Fish nor Fowl in Garfield, Bitter Ends Garden & Luncheonette in Bloomfield, and Rolling Pepperoni in Lawrenceville.[168]

Local dialect

The Pittsburgh English dialect, commonly called Pittsburghese, was influenced by Scots-Irish, German, and Eastern European immigrants and African Americans.[169] Locals who speak the dialect are sometimes referred to as "Yinzers" (from the local word "yinz" [var. yunz], a blended form of "you ones," similar to "y'all" and "you all" in the South). Common Pittsburghese terms are: "slippy" (slippery), "redd up" (clean up), "jagger bush" (thorn bush), and "gum bands" (rubber bands). The dialect is also notable for dropping the verb "to be". In Pittsburghese one would say "the car needs washed" instead of "needs to be washed," "needs washing," or "needs a wash." The dialect has some tonal similarities to other nearby regional dialects of Erie and Baltimore, but is noted for its somewhat staccato rhythms. The staccato qualities of the dialect are thought to originate either from Welsh or other European languages. The many local peculiarities have prompted The New York Times to describe Pittsburgh as "the Galapagos Islands of American dialect".[170] The lexicon itself contains notable loans from Polish and other European languages; examples include babushka, pierogi, and halušky.[171]

Livability

 
Pittsburgh from the West End Overlook

Pittsburgh has five city parks and several parks managed by the Nature Conservancy. The largest, Frick Park, provides 664 acres (269 ha) of woodland park with extensive hiking and biking trails throughout steep valleys and wooded slopes. Birding enthusiasts visit the Clayton Hill area of Frick Park, where over 100 species of birds have been recorded.[172]

Residents living in extremely low-lying areas near the rivers or one of the 1,400 creeks and streams may have occasional floods,[173] such as those caused when the remnants of Hurricane Ivan hit rainfall records in 2004.[174] River flooding is relatively rare due to federal flood control efforts extensively managing locks, dams, and reservoirs.[173][175][176] Residents living near smaller tributary streams are less protected from occasional flooding. The cost of a comprehensive flood control program for the region has been estimated at a prohibitive $50 billion.[173]

Pittsburgh has the greatest number of bars per capita in the nation.[12]

Sports

Pittsburgh hosted the first professional football game and the first World Series. In 2009, Pittsburgh won the Sporting News title of "Best Sports City" in the United States[177] and, in 2013, Sperling's Best Places "top 15 cities for baseball".[178] College sports also have large followings with the University of Pittsburgh in football and sharing Division I basketball fans with Robert Morris and Duquesne.

Pittsburgh has a long history with its major professional sports teams—the Steelers of the National Football League, the Penguins of the National Hockey League, and the Pirates of Major League Baseball—which all share the same team colors, the official city colors of black and gold.[e] Pittsburgh is the only city in the United States where this practice of sharing team colors in solidarity takes place.[179] The black-and-gold color scheme has since become widely associated with the city and personified in its famous Terrible Towel.[180]

"Rails to Trails", has converted miles of former rail tracks to recreational trails, including a Pittsburgh-Washington D.C. bike/walking trail.[181] Several mountain biking trails are within the city and suburbs, Frick Park has biking trails and Hartwood Acres Park has many miles of single track trails.[182][183]

Professional

Major league

Minor league/other

Team Founded League Sport Venue Championships
Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1999 USL Championship (USLC) Soccer Highmark Stadium
Steel City Yellow Jackets 2014 ABA Basketball CCAC Allegheny Arena 1
  1. ^ The Pirates won championships in 1901, 1902, 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971, and 1979. 1901 and 1902 were Pre World-Series Era Champions.
  2. ^ The Steelers won championships in 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2005, and 2008.
  3. ^ The Penguins won championships in 1991, 1992, 2009, 2016, and 2017.

**Pittsburgh's ABA franchise won the 1968 title, but the Steel City Yellow Jackets franchise is heir to it only in location.

College

Power 5

Other

  1. ^ The Panthers won championships in 1915, 1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1976.

Baseball

[t]his is the perfect blend of location, history, design, comfort and baseball ... The best stadium in baseball is in Pittsburgh.

ESPN

The Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team, often referred to as the Bucs or the Buccos (derived from buccaneer), is the city's oldest professional sports franchise, having been founded in 1881, and plays in the Central Division of the National League. The Pirates are nine-time Pennant winners and five-time World Series Champions, were in the first World Series (1903) and claim two pre-World Series titles in 1901 and 1902. The Pirates play in PNC Park.

Pittsburgh also has a rich Negro league history, with the former Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays credited with as many as 14 league titles and 11 Hall of Famers between them in the 1930s and 1940s, while the Keystones fielded teams in the 1920s. In addition, in 1971 the Pirates were the first Major League team to field an all-minority lineup. One sportswriter claimed, "No city is more synonymous with black baseball than Pittsburgh."[184]

Since the late 20th century, the Pirates had three consecutive National League Championship Series appearances (1990–92) (going 6, 7 and 7 games each), followed by setting the MLB record for most consecutive losing seasons, with 20 from 1993 until 2012. This era was followed by three consecutive postseason appearances: the 2013 National League Division Series and the 2014–2015 Wild Card games. Their September pennant race in 1997 featured the franchises' last no-hitter and last award for Sporting News' Executive of the Year.[185]

Football

 
Acrisure Stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Pitt Panthers

The city's professional team, NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, is named after the distribution company the Pittsburgh Steeling company established in 1927. News of the team has preempted news of elections and other events, and are important to the region and its diaspora. The Steelers have been owned by the Rooney family since the team's founding in 1933, show consistency in coaching (only three coaches since the 1960s all with the same basic philosophy) and are noted as one of sports' most respectable franchises.[186] The Steelers have a long waiting list for season tickets, and have sold out every home game since 1972.[187] The team won four Super Bowls in a six-year span in the 1970s, a fifth Super Bowl in 2006, and a league record sixth Super Bowl in 2009. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 they have qualified for the most NFL playoff berths (28) and have played in (15) and hosted (11) the most NFL conference championship games.[citation needed]

High school football routinely attract 10,000 fans per game and extensive press coverage.[citation needed] The Tom Cruise film All the Right Moves and ESPN's Bound for Glory with Dick Butkus both filmed in the area to capture the tradition and passion of local high school football.

College football in the city dates to 1889 with the Division I (FBS) Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh posting nine national championships and qualifying 34 total bowl games and appearing in the 2018 ACC Championship Game. Local universities Duquesne and Robert Morris have loyal fan bases that follow their lower (FCS) teams. Duquesne, Carnegie Mellon University, and Washington & Jefferson College all posted major bowl games and AP Poll rankings from the 1920s to the 1940s as that era's equivalent of Top 25 FBS programs.[citation needed]

Acrisure Stadium serves as home for the Steelers, Panthers, and both the suburban and city high school championships. Playoff franchises Pittsburgh Power and Pittsburgh Gladiators competed in the Arena Football League in the 1980s and 2010s respectively. The Gladiators hosted ArenaBowl I in the city, competing in two, but losing both before moving to Tampa, Florida and becoming the Storm.[188] The Pittsburgh Passion has been the city's professional women's football team since 2002 and plays its home games at Highmark Stadium. The Ed Debartolo owned Pittsburgh Maulers featured a Heisman Trophy winner in the mid-1980s, former superstar University of Nebraska running back Mike Rozier.

Hockey

The NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins have played in Pittsburgh since the team's founding in 1967. The team has won 6 Eastern Conference titles (1991, 1992, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017) and 5 Stanley Cup championships (1991, 1992, 2009, 2016 and 2017). Since 1999, Hall of Famer and back-to-back playoff MVP Mario Lemieux has served as Penguins owner. Until moving into the PPG Paints Arena in 2010 (when it was known as Consol Energy Center), the team played their home games at the world's first retractable domed stadium, the Civic Arena, or in local parlance "The Igloo".[189]

Ice hockey has had a regional fan base since the 1890s semi-pro Keystones. The city's first ice rink dates back to 1889, when there was an ice rink at the Casino in Schenley Park. From 1896 to 1956, the Exposition Building on the Allegheny River near The Point and Duquesne Gardens in Oakland offered indoor skating.[190]

The NHL awarded one of its first franchises to the city in 1924 on the strength of the back-to-back USAHA championship winning Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets featuring future Hall of Famers and a Stanley Cup winning coach. The NHL's Pittsburgh Pirates made several Stanley Cup playoff runs with a future Hall of Famer before folding from Great Depression financial pressures. Hockey survived with the Pittsburgh Hornets farm team (1936–1967) and their seven finals appearances and three championships in 18 playoff seasons.

Robert Morris University fields a Division I college hockey team at the Island Sports Center. Pittsburgh has semi-pro and amateur teams such as the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite.[191] Pro-grade ice rinks such as the Rostraver Ice Garden, Mt. Lebanon Recreation Center and Iceoplex at Southpointe have trained several native Pittsburgh players for NHL play. RMU hosted the city's first Frozen Four college championship in 2013 with the four PPG Paints Arena games televised by ESPN.

Basketball

Professional basketball in Pittsburgh dates to the 1910s with teams "Monticello" and "Loendi" winning five national titles, the Pirates (1937–45 in the NBL), the Pittsburgh Ironmen (1947–48 NBA inaugural season), the Pittsburgh Rens (1961–63), the Pittsburgh Pipers (first American Basketball Association championship in 1968) led by Connie Hawkins (team then moved); the Pittsburgh Condors (ABA returned in 1970–72), the Pittsburgh Piranhas (CBA Finals in 1995), the Pittsburgh Xplosion (2004–08) and Phantoms (2009–10) both of the ABA. The city has hosted dozens of pre-season and 15 regular season "neutral site" NBA games, including Wilt Chamberlain's record setting performance in both consecutive field goals and field goal percentage on February 24, 1967, NBA records that still stand.[192]

The Duquesne University Dukes and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers have played college basketball in the city since 1914 and 1905 respectively. Pitt and Duquesne have played the annual City Game since 1932. Duquesne was the city's first team to appear in a Final Four (1940), obtain a number one AP Poll ranking (1954),[193] and to win a post-season national title, the 1955 National Invitation Tournament on its second straight trip to the NIT title game. Duquesne is the only college program to produce back-to-back NBA No. 1 overall draft picks with 1955's Dick Ricketts and 1956's Sihugo Green.[194] Duquesne's Chuck Cooper was the first African American drafted by an NBA team.[195]

The Panthers won two pre-tournament era Helms Athletic Foundation National Championships in 1928 and 1930, competed in a "national title game" against LSU in 1935, and made a Final Four appearance in 1941. Pitt has won 13 conference titles, qualified for the NCAA tournament 26 times including a post season tournament every season between 1999 and 2000 and 2015-2016 during which time it regularly sold out the Petersen Events Center. The program has produced 27 NBA draft picks and 15 All Americans while ranking No. 1 in the nation as recently as 2009.

The suburban Robert Morris University's Colonials have competed in NCAA Division I basketball since the 1970s, qualifying for the NCAA tournament in each of the last four decades (8). In the 2013 National Invitation Tournament the Colonials notched an upset win over the defending national champions Kentucky Wildcats.

Pittsburgh Panthers women's basketball has qualified for 14 post season tournaments (including 4 NCAA tournaments) and boasts of 5 All-Americans selected 6 times with 3 WNBA players. Pitt women began play in 1914 before being reintroduced in 1970. Both Duquesne and Robert Morris also have competitive Division I women's basketball programs.

Pittsburgh launched the nation's first high school all-star game in 1965.[196] The Roundball Classic annually featured future NBA hall of famers at the Civic Arena with ESPN televising. The Civic Arena also hosted the championship tournament for the Eastern Eight Conference from 1978 until 1982.

Soccer

The Riverhounds, an American professional soccer team, were founded in 1998. Like the major league teams in the city, the Riverhounds wear black and gold kits. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The Riverhounds play their home games at Highmark Stadium, a soccer-specific stadium located in Station Square.

Golf

Golf has deep roots in the area. The oldest U.S. course in continuous use, Foxburg Country Club dating from 1887 calls the region home.[citation needed] Suburban Oakmont Country Club holds the record for most times as host for the U.S. Open (8).[citation needed] U.S. Women's Open (2), PGA Championships (3), and U.S. Amateurs (8) have also called Oakmont home.

Golf legends Arnold Palmer, Jim Furyk, and Rocco Mediate learned the game and began their careers on Pittsburgh area courses.[197] Suburban courses such as Laurel Valley Golf Club and the Fox Chapel Golf Club have hosted PGA Championships (1937, 1965), the Ryder Cup (1975), LPGA Championships (1957–58), Senior Players Championships (2012–14), and the Senior PGA Championship (2005).

Local courses have sponsored annual major tournaments for 40 years:

Professional wrestling

Many notable professional wrestlers and promoters have hailed from the city or started their careers in Pittsburgh, including Bruno Sammartino, Kurt Angle, Shane Douglas, Corey Graves, Dominic DeNucci, Elias, Britt Baker and many more.

The Fineview section of Pittsburgh served as the base of the televised show Studio Wrestling during the 1960s.[citation needed] The Keystone State Wrestling Alliance (KSWA) is a professional wrestling promotion which was founded in Pittsburgh in 2000. It is the only promotion based in Pittsburgh. It operates in the city's Lawrenceville neighborhood. The KSWA performs Monthly on Saturdays at its main venue on 51st Street.

Annual sporting events

Pittsburgh hosts several annual major sporting events initiated in the late 20th century, including the:

The city's vibrant rivers have attracted annual world-title fishing competitions of the Forrest Wood Cup in 2009 and the Bassmaster Classic in 2005.

Annual events continue during the winter months at area ski resorts such as Boyce Park, Seven Springs, Hidden Valley Resort, Laurel Mountain, and Wisp. Ice skating rinks are enjoyed at PPG Place and North Park.

Government and politics

Government

 
The Pittsburgh City-County Building, the seat of government of the City of Pittsburgh

The Government of Pittsburgh is composed of the Mayor of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh City Council, and various boards and commissions. The mayor and the nine-member council each serve four-year terms. Since the 1950s the Mayor's Chief of Staff has assumed a large role in advising, long term planning, and as a "gatekeeper" to the mayor. City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts. The government's official offices are in the Pittsburgh City-County Building.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court holds sessions in Pittsburgh, as well as Harrisburg and Philadelphia. Pittsburgh is represented in the Pennsylvania General Assembly by three Senate Districts and nine House Districts. Federally, Pittsburgh is part of Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district.

Politics

 
2020 Presidential Election by Precinct
Biden:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      90–100%
Trump:      50–60%      60–70%

In 2006, Council President Luke Ravenstahl was sworn in as mayor at age 26, becoming the youngest mayor in the history of any major American city. His successor, Bill Peduto, was sworn in on January 6, 2014. In November 2021, Pittsburgh elected its first African-American mayor, Ed Gainey.

Prior to the American Civil War, Pittsburgh was strongly abolitionist. It is considered the birthplace of the national Republican Party,[198] as the party held its first convention here in February 1856. From the Civil War to the 1930s, Pittsburgh was a Republican stronghold. The effects of the Great Depression, combined with entrenched local GOP scandals, resulted in a shift among voters to the Democratic Party. With the exceptions of the 1973 and 1977 elections (where lifelong Democrats ran off the party ticket), Democrats have been elected consecutively to the mayor's office since the 1933 election. The city's ratio of party registration is 5 to 1 Democrat.[199]

Pittsburgh is represented in the Pennsylvania General Assembly by three Senate Districts (Lindsey Williams (D)-38, Wayne D. Fontana (D)-42, and Jay Costa (D)-43) and nine House Districts (Aerion Abney-19, Adam Ravenstahl-20, Sara Innamorato-21, Dan Frankel-23, Martell Covington-24, Dan Deasy-27, Summer Lee-34, and Harry Readshaw-36, Dan Miller-42).

Federally, Pittsburgh is part of Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district, represented by Democrat Summer Lee since 2023.

Law enforcement

 
A Ford Taurus and a Chevrolet Impala belonging to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police

The area's largest law enforcement agency is the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, with close to 850 sworn officers. The city also has separate housing and school police departments. Other agencies also provide police protection within the city because of overlapping jurisdictional boundaries. The Allegheny County Sheriff focuses on jail and courthouse security. The Allegheny County Police primarily patrols county-owned parks and airports, while providing detective/investigatory functions for smaller suburbs and the Port Authority police patrols rapid transit. Pennsylvania State Police Troop B provides patrols for the city and immediate suburbs.

The county's lead law enforcement officer is Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala while the Allegheny County Medical Examiner heads forensics. Crimes of a federal nature are covered by the U.S. Attorney for Western Pennsylvania.

Crime

Pittsburgh annually ranks as one of America's safest big cities, in 2013 being named the 3rd "most secure" big city by Farmers Insurance.[200] Among crime rates of the 60 largest U.S. cities, 43 had more instances of property crime while 16 had less when compared to Pittsburgh. More instances of violent crime were reported in 21 of the largest cities while 37 had less. The FBI recommends against using data for ranking.[201][202] Per 100,000 persons stats (2012):

Murder Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft Motor Vehicle Total Violent Total Property
City 13.1 15.1 363.3 360.4 812.8 2,438.2 174.3 752.0 3,425.4

At the end of 2019, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police reported 37 murders in the city that year.[203]

Education

Pittsburgh is home to many colleges, universities and research facilities, the most well-known of which are Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University. Also in the city are Carlow University, Chatham University, Point Park University, the Community College of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science.

The campuses of Carlow, Carnegie Mellon, and the University of Pittsburgh are near each other in the Oakland neighborhood that is the city's traditional cultural center. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university founded by Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon.[204] CMU contains the School of Computer Science, College of Engineering, School of Business, Heinz College, College of Fine Arts, writing, Social and Decision Sciences, information systems, statistics, and psychology programs.

The University of Pittsburgh, established in 1787 and popularly referred to as "Pitt", is a state-related school with one of the nation's largest research programs.[14] Pitt is known for the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, and other biomedical and health-related sciences.[204][205][206][207][208]

Carlow University is a small private Catholic university that while coeducational, has traditionally educated women. Chatham University, a liberal arts college that was founded as a woman's college but became fully coeducational in 2015,[209] is in the Shadyside neighborhood, but also maintains a 388-acre (157 ha) Eden Hall Farm campus in the North Hills. Duquesne University, a private Catholic university in the Bluff neighborhood and is noted for its song and dance troupe, the Duquesne University Tamburitzans, as well as programs in law, business, and pharmacy. Point Park University was founded in 1961 and is well known for its Conservatory of Performing Arts and its Pittsburgh Playhouse.

Pittsburgh Public Schools teachers are paid well relative to their peers, ranking 17th in 2000 among the 100 largest cities by population for the highest minimum salary. In 2018 the starting teacher salary offered to teachers with a BA was $46,920. The maximum annual salary for a teacher with a master's degree was $95,254.[210]

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, Barack Obama Academy of International Studies 6-12, Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts 6–12, Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy, the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, and the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.

Private schools in Pittsburgh include Bishop Canevin High School, Central Catholic High School, Oakland Catholic High School, Winchester Thurston School, St. Edmund's Academy, Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, Yeshiva Schools and The Ellis School. Shady Side Academy maintains a PK–5 primary school campus in the Point Breeze neighborhood, in addition to its 6–12 middle and upper school campuses in nearby suburban Fox Chapel. Other private institutions outside of Pittsburgh's limits include North Catholic High School and Seton-La Salle Catholic High School.

The city also 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.[211]

Media

Newspapers

 
KDKA-AM studios at Gateway Center

There are two major daily newspapers in Pittsburgh: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review online only (no longer in print for Pittsburgh Area). Weekly papers in the region include the Pittsburgh Business Times, Pittsburgh City Paper, Pittsburgh Catholic, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, The New People, and the New Pittsburgh Courier. Independent student-written university-based newspapers include The Pitt News of the University of Pittsburgh, The Tartan of Carnegie Mellon University, The Duquesne Duke of Duquesne University, and The Globe of Point Park University. The University of Pittsburgh School of Law is also home to JURIST, the world's only university-based legal news service.[212]

Television

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.).[213] The major network television affiliates are KDKA-TV 2 (CBS), WTAE 4 (ABC), WPXI 11 (NBC), WPGH-TV 53 (Fox), WPCW 19 (The CW), WINP-TV 16 (Ion), WPNT 22 (MyNetworkTV), and WPCB 40 (Cornerstone). KDKA-TV, WINP-TV, and WPCB are network owned-and-operated stations.

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?[214]

Radio

There is a wide variety of radio stations serving the Pittsburgh market. The first was KDKA 1020 AM, also the world's first commercially licensed radio station, airing on November 2, 1920.[215] Other stations include KQV 1410 AM (news), WBGG 970 AM (sports), KDKA-FM 93.7 FM (sports), WKST-FM 96.1 FM (Top 40), WAMO-AM 660 AM and 107.3 FM (urban contemporary) WBZZ 100.7 FM (adult contemporary), WDVE 102.5 FM (album rock), WPGB 104.7 FM (Country), and WXDX 105.9 FM (modern rock). There are also three public radio stations in the area; including WESA 90.5 FM (National Public Radio affiliate), WQED 89.3 FM (classical), and WYEP 91.3 FM (adult alternative). Three non-commercial stations are run by Carnegie Mellon University (WRCT 88.3 FM), the University of Pittsburgh (WPTS 92.1 FM), and Point Park University (WPPJ 670 AM).

Film

Pittsburgh's 116-year-old film industry accelerated after the 2006 passage of the Pennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit.[216] According to the Pittsburgh Film Office, over 124 major motion pictures have been filmed, in whole or in part, in Pittsburgh, including The Mothman Prophecies, Wonder Boys,[217] Dogma,[217] Hoffa, The Silence of the Lambs,[217] Sudden Death, Flashdance,[217] Southpaw, Striking Distance, Mrs. Soffel, Jack Reacher, Inspector Gadget, The Next Three Days, The Perks of Being a Wallflower,[217] Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and Fences.[217][218] Pittsburgh became "Gotham City" in 2011 during filming of The Dark Knight Rises.[136] George A. Romero shot nearly all his films in the area, including his Living Dead series.[citation needed]

Utilities

The city is served by Duquesne Light, one of the original 1912 power companies founded by George Westinghouse.[219] Water service is provided by the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority[220] and Pennsylvania American Water. Natural gas is provided by Equitable Gas, Columbia Gas, Dominion Resources, Direct Energy, and Novec.[221]

Health care

 
UPMC's flagship, UPMC Presbyterian
 
Allegheny General, the flagship of the Allegheny Health Network

The two largest area health care providers are the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) (since 1893) and Allegheny Health Network (since 1882). Both hospitals annually rank as among the best overall in the United States, with UPMC being among[when?] U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" every year since 2000.[citation needed]

The first military hospital in U.S. history and the first west of the Atlantic Plain—General Edward Hand Hospital—served the area from 1777 to 1845.[222] Since 1847, Pittsburgh has hosted the world's first "Mercy Hospital".[223] This was followed by West Penn hospital in 1848, Passavant Hospital in 1849,[31] the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1883, Children's Hospital in 1887, and Magee Womens Hospital in 1911. In 1954, Allegheny General (AGH) was among the first to administer Cobalt therapy.[224]

In 1980, UPMC announced a $250 million ($933 million today) expansion and also hired transplant pioneer Dr. Thomas Starzl.[225] In 1984, Allegheny General surgeons pioneered modern brain surgery. Dr. Starzl arranged the 1985 liver transplant of 5-year-old Amie Garrison as a UPMC surgery team flew to Baylor University, starting its transplant program.[226] Also in 1985, UPMC surgeons Drs. Griffith, Hardesty, and Trento revealed a new device after a heart-lung transplant. In 1986, UPMC announced a $230 million ($569 million today) modernization. In 1996, UPMC's planned Sicily ISMETT branch was approved by the Italian government as transplant surgeons to supervise and deliver the world's third (both earlier ones done at UPMC)--and first public—cross species marrow transplant at University of California, San Francisco.[227] UPMC's Thomas Detre founded the International Society for Bipolar Disorders at a world medical conference in Pittsburgh in 1999.[228]

The $80 million ($126 million today) UPMC Sports Performance Complex for the Pittsburgh Panthers & Pittsburgh Steelers opened in 2000. In 2002, AGH opened its $30 million ($45.9 million today), 5-floor, 100,000 sq. ft., cancer center. The $130 million ($196 million today) 350,000 sq. ft. Hillman Cancer Center opened in 2003 as UPMC entered into an 8-year, $420 million ($603 million today) agreement with IBM to upgrade medical technologies & health information systems.[citation needed]

In 2009, the $600 million ($755 million today) UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh opened. The campus was featured in world news in 2012 for several unique approaches to patient care.[229] UPMC officially adopted in Erie, Pennsylvania's Hamot Medical Center in 2010. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced a state of the art training facility with UPMC in 2012.[230] UPMC announced in 2013 it had partnered with Nazarbayev University to help found its medical school.[231]

Health discoveries

While he was a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, American virologist Jonas Salk developed one of the first successful polio vaccines, which came into use in 1955.

UPMC has pioneered several world firsts including the first known cystic fibrosis heart-lung transplant (1983), the world's first simultaneous liver and heart transplant operation on a child (6-year-old Stormie Jones in 1984), the youngest heart-lung transplant (9 years old in 1985), the world's first heart-liver-kidney transplant (1989), the world's first heart-liver transplant on an infant (1997),[232] the first pediatric heart-double lung-liver transplant (1998), the nation's first double hand transplant (2009), and the first total forearm and hand transplant (2010), as well as the state's first heart transplant (1968).[233][234]

The Lancet published a 2012 UPMC study of two 9-year quadriplegics being able to move a robotic arm by thought, to pick up objects, shake hands, and even eat. Wiring the brain around spine damage to restore arm and leg muscle function was successful using robotic arms controlled via an embedded computer to translate signals near a small group of neurons with 200 needles.[235]

Transportation

 
Pittsburgh's numerous bridges visible from the air

Pittsburgh is a city of bridges. With 446,[236] it has three bridges more than Venice, Italy, which has historically held the title "City of Bridges."[237] Around 40 bridges cross the three rivers near the city. The Smithfield Street Bridge was the world's first lenticular truss bridge. The city's Three Sisters Bridges offer a picturesque view of the city from the North. The south-western "entrance" to Downtown for travelers coming in from Interstate 79 and the Pittsburgh International Airport is through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and over the Fort Pitt Bridge. The Fort Duquesne Bridge carrying Interstate 279 is the main gateway from Downtown to both PNC Park, Acrisure Stadium and the Rivers Casino. The Panhandle Bridge carries the Port Authority's Blue/Red/Silver subway lines across the Monongahela River. The renovated J&L Steel Company bridge has been a key traffic/running-biking trail conduit connecting the Southside Works and Pittsburgh Technology Center. Over 2,000 bridges span the landscape of Allegheny County.[238]

Public transportation statistics

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Pittsburgh, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 73 min. 23% of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 17 minutes, while 33% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 3.9 mi (6.3 km), while 11% travel for over 7.5 mi (12 km) in a single direction.[239]

Expressways and highways

Expressways Other Highways
  Parkway North   US 19   PA 88
 
   
Parkway East & West  
 
Truck
US 19
  PA 121
  Crosstown   PA 8   PA 130
  Allegheny Valley Expressway   PA 50   PA 380
  Ohio River Boulevard   PA 51   PA 837
      PA 60   PA 885
 
I-279

Locals refer to the interstates fanning out from downtown Pittsburgh as the "parkways." Interstate 376 is both the "parkway east" connecting to Interstate 76 (Pennsylvania Turnpike) and the "parkway west" connecting to Interstate 79, the Pittsburgh International Airport, the Ohio end of the Turnpike and Interstate 80. The "parkway north" is Interstate 279 connecting to I-79. The "crosstown" is Interstate 579 allowing access to the heart of downtown, the Liberty Tunnels and the PPG Paints Arena. The 45-mile-long and 70-mile-long expressway sections of Pennsylvania Route 28 and U.S. Route 22 also carry traffic from downtown to the northeast and western suburbs, respectively. Interstate 70, 79 and 76 (the Turnpike) roughly form a triangular-shaped "beltway" with Interstate 68 and 80 within the media market's northern and southern limits. Turnpike spurs such as the Mon–Fayette Expressway, Pennsylvania Route 576 and Route 66 also help traffic flow. The non-expressway Pittsburgh/Allegheny County Belt System serves navigation in the region.

Airports

Pittsburgh International Airport provides commercial passenger service from over 15 airlines to the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Arnold Palmer Regional Airport also provides limited commercial passenger service and is 44 miles (71 km) east of Pittsburgh.

Other airports with scheduled commercial service include Morgantown Municipal Airport (79 miles (127 km) south of Pittsburgh), Youngstown–Warren Regional Airport (81 miles (130 km) northwest of Pittsburgh), Akron–Canton Airport (120 miles (190 km) northwest of Pittsburgh), and Erie International Airport (123 miles (198 km) north of Pittsburgh).

Intercity passenger rail and bus

Amtrak provides intercity rail service to Pittsburgh Union Station, via the Capitol Limited between Chicago and Washington, D.C., and the Pennsylvanian to New York City.

Megabus, Greyhound Lines, and Fullington Trailways connect Pittsburgh with distant cities by bus; Greyhound and Fullington Trailways buses stop at the Grant Street Transportation Center intercity bus terminal. Popular destinations include Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, D.C.[240]

Until declines in passenger travel in the 1950s and 1960s, several stations served Pittsburgh: Baltimore & Ohio Station, Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad Station, Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal and Pittsburgh Union Station.

Regional mass transit

Pittsburgh Regional Transit, formerly known as the Port Authority of Allegheny County, is the region's mass transit system. While serving only a portion of the Pittsburgh area (the nation's 20th largest metro area), it is the 11th largest transit agency in the United States.[241] Pittsburgh Regional Transit runs a network of intracity and intercity bus routes, the Monongahela Incline Funicular railway (more commonly known as an "incline") 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.[242] The Duquesne Incline is operated by a non-profit preservation trust,[243] but accepts Pittsburgh Regional Transit passes and charges PRT fares.

The Bus System lines are labeled by number and letter. These are the largest portion of Pittsburgh Regional Transit and serve on streets and designated busways. Buses serve most of the county, extending as far as Pittsburgh International Airport, Monroeville, McCandless, and the borders of Westmoreland County and Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, the light rail system (commonly known as the "T") runs along both new tracks and those refurbished from the streetcar era. The light rail runs from Acrisure Stadium to South Hills Village and Library, taking commuters through one of two routes: one which serves Castle Shannon, Mt. Lebanon, and Beechview, and the other is an express line using railways through Overbrook.

Freight rail

 
Penn Station was built in 1903.

Pittsburgh's rail industry dates to 1851 when the Pennsylvania Railroad first opened service between the city and Philadelphia, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad entered the city in 1871. In 1865 Andrew Carnegie opened the Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works which manufactured for the industry until 1919. Carnegie also founded the Union Railroad in 1894 for heavy freight services and it still serves the area's steel industry, while George Westinghouse's Wabtec has been a leader in rail engines and switching since 1869.

Pittsburgh is home to one of Norfolk Southern Railway's busiest freight corridors, the Pittsburgh Line, and operates up to 70 trains per day through the city. The suburban Conway Rail Yard—originally built in 1889—was the largest freight rail center in the world from 1956 until 1980 and is today the nation's second-largest. CSX, the other major freight railroad in the eastern U.S. also has major operations around Pittsburgh.

Port

The Port of Pittsburgh ranks as the 20th-largest port in the United States with almost 34 million short tons of river cargo for 2011, the port ranked 9th-largest in the U.S. when measured in domestic trade.[244]

Notable people

Sister cities

Pittsburgh's sister cities are:[245]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ The neighborhoods are Arlington Heights, Bluff, Brighton Heights, Crafton Heights, Duquesne Heights, East Hills, Fineview, Highland Park, Middle Hill, Mount Oliver, Mount Washington, Northview Heights, Perry North (also known as Observatory Hill), Perry South (also known as Perry Hilltop), Polish Hill, Ridgemont, South Side Slopes, Spring Hill-City View, Squirrel Hill, Stanton Heights, Summer Hill, Troy Hill, and Upper Hill.
  2. ^ The warmest daily minimum at the current observation location, Pittsburgh Int'l, is only 77 °F (25 °C) on July 23, 2010, and July 16, 1980.[78]
  3. ^ Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
  4. ^ Records kept January 1871 to June 1935 at the Weather Bureau Office across the Allegheny River from downtown, at Allegheny County Airport from July 1935 to 14 September 1952, and at Pittsburgh Int'l (KPIT) since 15 September 1952. Due to its river valley and urban location as well as elevation, many of the summertime warm minima temperature records set at the WBO have not even come close to being matched at KPIT, which is at-elevation and located in the western suburbs. For more information, see Threadex
  5. ^ The Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football League and the Pittsburgh Passion of the Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) use these colors as well.
  6. ^ Pittsburgh and Sheffield are both known as Steel City for their connections with the steel industry.

References

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pittsburgh, this, article, about, city, broader, area, greater, other, uses, disambiguation, confused, with, pittsburg, ɜːr, pits, burg, city, commonwealth, pennsylvania, united, states, county, seat, allegheny, county, most, populous, city, both, allegheny, c. This article is about the City of Pittsburgh For a broader area see Greater Pittsburgh For other uses see Pittsburgh disambiguation Not to be confused with Pittsburg Pittsburgh ˈ p ɪ t s b ɜːr ɡ PITS burg is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania United States and the county seat of Allegheny County It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania the second most populous city in Pennsylvania behind Philadelphia and the 68th largest city in the U S with a population of 302 971 as of the 2020 census The city anchors the Pittsburgh metropolitan area of Western Pennsylvania its population of 2 37 million is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia the second largest in Pennsylvania and the 27th largest in the U S It is the principal city of the greater Pittsburgh New Castle Weirton combined statistical area that extends into Ohio and West Virginia Pittsburgh PennsylvaniaCityClockwise from top Pittsburgh skyline Duquesne Incline Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh PNC Park and Phipps ConservatoryFlagCoat of armsNicknames City of Bridges Steel City City of Champions The BurghMotto Benigno Numine With the benevolent deity Interactive map of PittsburghCoordinates 40 26 23 N 79 58 35 W 40 43972 N 79 97639 W 40 43972 79 97639 Coordinates 40 26 23 N 79 58 35 W 40 43972 N 79 97639 W 40 43972 79 97639CountryUnited StatesStatePennsylvaniaCountyAlleghenyHistoric empiresFrance Great BritainHistoric coloniesNew France Province of PennsylvaniaFoundedNovember 27 1758 fort Municipal incorporationApril 22 1794 borough March 18 1816 city Founded byGeorge Washington General John ForbesNamed for The Great Commoner Prime Minister William PittGovernment TypeMayor council MayorEd Gainey D City CouncilList Bobby WilsonTheresa Kail Smith president Bruce KrausAnthony CoghillBarbara Greenwood WarwickDaniel LavelleDeborah GrossErika StrassburgerRicky BurgessArea 1 City58 35 sq mi 151 12 km2 Land55 38 sq mi 143 42 km2 Water2 97 sq mi 7 70 km2 Highest elevation1 370 ft 420 m Lowest elevation710 ft 220 m Population 2020 2 City302 971 Rank68th in the United States2nd in Pennsylvania Density5 471 26 sq mi 2 112 47 km2 Urban1 745 039 US 30th Urban density1 924 7 sq mi 743 1 km2 Metro 3 2 370 930 US 27th Demonym s Pittsburgher YinzerTime zoneUTC 5 Eastern Standard Time Summer DST UTC 4 Eastern Daylight Time ZIP Code35 total ZIP codes 15106 15120 15121 15201 15203 15208 15210 15222 15224 15226 15228 15230 15232 15235 15237 15239 15289 15229Area codes412 724 878FIPS code42 61000GNIS feature ID1213644Major airportsPittsburgh International Airport Arnold Palmer Regional Airport Allegheny County AirportInterstatesUrban rail transitWebsitepittsburghpa wbr govPennsylvania Historical MarkerDesignated1946 4 Pittsburgh is located in southwest Pennsylvania at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River which combine to form the Ohio River 5 Pittsburgh is known both as the Steel City for its dominant role in the history of the U S steel industry and as the City of Bridges for its 446 bridges 6 The city features 30 skyscrapers two inclined railways a pre revolutionary fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers The city developed as a vital link of the Atlantic coast and Midwest as the mineral rich Allegheny Mountains led to the region being contested by the French and British empires Virginians Whiskey Rebels and Civil War raiders 7 Aside from steel Pittsburgh has led in the manufacturing of other important materials aluminum and glass and in the petroleum industry Additionally it is a leader in computing electronics and the automotive industry 8 For part of the 20th century Pittsburgh was behind only New York City and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment it had the most U S stockholders per capita 9 Deindustrialization in the 1970s and 1980s laid off area blue collar workers as steel and other heavy industries declined and thousands of downtown white collar workers also lost jobs when several Pittsburgh based companies moved out 10 The population dropped from a peak of 675 000 in 1950 to 370 000 in 1990 However this rich industrial history left the area with renowned museums medical centers 11 parks research centers and a diverse cultural district 12 After 1990 Pittsburgh transformed into a hub for the health care education and technology industries 13 Pittsburgh is home to large medical providers including the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center UPMC and 68 colleges and universities including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh 14 Numerous technology firms including Google Apple Bosch Meta Nokia Autodesk Amazon Microsoft and IBM are among 1 600 technology firms generating 20 7 billion in annual Pittsburgh payrolls Federal money has supported the research agenda The area has served as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense software engineering robotics energy research and the nuclear navy 15 The nation s fifth largest bank eight Fortune 500 companies and six of the top 300 U S law firms make their global headquarters in the area while RAND Corporation RAND BNY Mellon Nova FedEx Bayer and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH have regional bases that helped Pittsburgh become the sixth best area for U S job growth 16 In 2015 Pittsburgh was listed among the eleven most livable cities in the world 17 18 The Economist s Global Liveability Ranking placed Pittsburgh as the most or second most livable city in the United States in 2005 2009 2011 2012 2014 and 2018 19 20 The region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and energy extraction 21 Contents 1 History 1 1 1800 to 1900 1 2 1900 to present 2 Geography 2 1 Cityscape 2 1 1 Areas 2 1 1 1 Golden Triangle 2 1 1 2 North Side 2 1 1 3 South Side 2 1 1 4 East End 2 1 1 5 West End 2 1 2 Ethnicities 2 1 3 Population densities 2 1 4 Images 2 2 Regional identity 2 3 Climate 2 3 1 Air quality 2 3 2 Water quality 3 Demographics 4 Economy 5 Arts and culture 5 1 Entertainment 5 2 Music 5 3 Theatre 5 4 Literature 5 5 Food 5 6 Local dialect 5 7 Livability 6 Sports 6 1 Professional 6 2 College 6 3 Baseball 6 4 Football 6 5 Hockey 6 6 Basketball 6 7 Soccer 6 8 Golf 6 9 Professional wrestling 6 10 Annual sporting events 7 Government and politics 7 1 Government 7 2 Politics 7 3 Law enforcement 7 4 Crime 8 Education 9 Media 9 1 Newspapers 9 2 Television 9 3 Radio 9 4 Film 10 Utilities 11 Health care 11 1 Health discoveries 12 Transportation 12 1 Public transportation statistics 12 2 Expressways and highways 12 3 Airports 12 4 Intercity passenger rail and bus 12 5 Regional mass transit 12 6 Freight rail 12 7 Port 13 Notable people 14 Sister cities 15 See also 16 Explanatory notes 17 References 18 Further reading 19 External linksHistory EditMain articles History of Pittsburgh and Name of Pittsburgh For a chronological guide see Timeline of Pittsburgh Historical claims French Empire 1669 1758British Empire 1681 1781United States 1776 present Fort Pitt Block House built by the British in 1764 is the oldest extant structure in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes in honor of British statesman William Pitt 1st Earl of Chatham As Forbes was a Scotsman he probably pronounced the name ˈ p ɪ t s b er e PITS ber e similar to Edinburgh 22 23 Pittsburgh was incorporated as a borough on April 22 1794 with the following Act 24 Be it enacted by the Pennsylvania State Senate and Pennsylvania House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by the authority of the same that the said town of Pittsburgh shall be erected into a borough which shall be called the borough of Pittsburgh for ever 25 From 1891 to 1911 the city s name was federally recognized as Pittsburg though use of the final h was retained during this period by the city government and other local organizations 26 22 After a public campaign the federal decision to drop the h was reversed 22 The Pittsburgh Press continued without the h in its nameplate until August 1 1921 27 The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee and several other settled groups of Native Americans 28 Shannopin s Town was an 18th century Lenape Delaware town located roughly from where Penn Avenue is today below the mouth of Two Mile Run from 30th Street to 39th Street According to George Croghan the town was situated on the south bank of the Allegheny nearly opposite what is now known as Herr s Island in what is now the Lawrenceville neighborhood 29 289 The first known Europeans to enter the region were the French explorers traders Robert de La Salle and Martin Chartier from Quebec during their 1669 expedition down the Ohio River 30 European pioneers primarily Dutch followed in the early 18th century Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements 31 In 1749 French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers 31 During 1753 1754 the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalle s 1669 claims The French and Indian War the North American front of the Seven Years War began with the future Pittsburgh as its center British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne 32 The British and colonial force were defeated at Braddock s Field General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758 He began construction on Fort Pitt named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough 33 During Pontiac s War a loose confederation of Native American tribes laid siege to Fort Pitt in 1763 the siege was eventually lifted after Colonel Henry Bouquet defeated a portion of the besieging force at the Battle of Bushy Run Bouquet strengthened the defenses of Fort Pitt the next year 34 35 36 37 During this period the powerful nations of the Iroquois Confederacy based in New York had maintained control of much of the Ohio Valley as hunting grounds by right of conquest after defeating other tribes By the terms of the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix the Penns were allowed to purchase the modern region from the Iroquois A 1769 survey referenced the future city as the Manor of Pittsburgh 38 Both the Colony of Virginia and the Province of Pennsylvania claimed the region under their colonial charters until 1780 when they agreed under a federal initiative to extend the Mason Dixon line westward placing Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania On March 8 1771 Bedford County Pennsylvania was created to govern the frontier On April 16 1771 the city s first civilian local government was created as Pitt Township 39 40 William Teagarden was the first constable and William Troop was the first clerk 41 Following the American Revolution the village of Pittsburgh continued to grow One of its earliest industries was boat building for settlers of the Ohio Country In 1784 Thomas Viceroy completed a town plan which was approved by the Penn family attorney Pittsburgh became a possession of Pennsylvania in 1785 The following year the Pittsburgh Post Gazette was started and in 1787 the Pittsburgh Academy was chartered Unrest during the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 resulted in federal troops being sent to the area By 1797 glass manufacture began while the population grew to around 1 400 Settlers came via routes over the Appalachian Mountains or through the Great Lakes Fort Pitt now Pittsburgh at the source of the Ohio River became the main base for settlers moving into the Northwest Territory 1800 to 1900 Edit Monongahela River and its surroundings 1857 Downtown facade memorializing Pittsburgh s industrial heritage with an image of legendary steelworker Joe Magarac Pittsburgh in 1874 by Otto Krebs Burning of Union Depot during the Pittsburgh railroad strike of 1877 The federal government recognizes Pittsburgh as the starting point for the Lewis and Clark Expedition 42 Preparations began in Pittsburgh in 1803 when Meriwether Lewis purchased a keelboat that would later be used to ascend the Missouri River 43 The War of 1812 cut off the supply of British goods stimulating American industry By 1815 Pittsburgh was producing significant quantities of iron brass tin and glass On March 18 1816 the 46 year old local government became a city It was served by numerous river steamboats that increased trading traffic on the rivers In the 1830s many Welsh people from the Merthyr steelworks immigrated to the city following the aftermath of the Merthyr Rising By the 1840s Pittsburgh was one of the largest cities west of the Allegheny Mountains The Great Fire of Pittsburgh destroyed over a thousand buildings in 1845 The city rebuilt with the aid of Irish immigrants who came to escape the Great Famine By 1857 Pittsburgh s 1 000 factories were consuming 22 million coal bushels yearly Coal mining and iron manufacturing attracted waves of European immigrants to the area the most came from Germany Because Pennsylvania had been established as a free state after the Revolution enslaved African Americans sought freedom here through escape as refugees from the South or occasionally fleeing from travelers they were serving who stayed in the city There were active stations of the Underground Railroad in the city and numerous refugees were documented as getting help from station agents and African American workers in city hotels The Drennen Slave Girl walked out of the Monongahela House in 1850 apparently to freedom 44 The Merchant s Hotel was also a place where African American workers would advise slaves the state was free and aid them in getting to nearby stations of the Underground Railroad 45 Sometimes refugee slaves from the South stayed in Pittsburgh but other times they continued North including into Canada Many slaves left the city and county for Canada after Congress passed the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act as it required cooperation from law enforcement even in free states and increased penalties From 1850 to 1860 the black population in Allegheny County dropped from 3 431 to 2 725 as people headed to more safety in Canada 44 The American Civil War boosted the city s economy with increased iron and armament demand by the Union Andrew Carnegie began steel production in 1875 at the Edgar Thomson Steel Works in North Braddock Pennsylvania which evolved into the Carnegie Steel Company He adopted the Bessemer process to increase production Manufacturing was key to growth of Pittsburgh and the surrounding region Railroad lines were built into the city along both rivers increasing transportation access to important markets 1900 to present Edit Pittsburgh in 1903 In 1901 J P Morgan and attorney Elbert H Gary merged Carnegie Steel Company and several other companies into U S Steel By 1910 Pittsburgh was the nation s 8th largest city accounting for between one third and one half of national steel output The Pittsburgh Agreement was subscribed in May 1918 between the Czech and Slovak nationalities as envisioned by T G Masaryk concerning the future foundation of Czechoslovakia 46 The city suffered severe flooding in March 1936 The city s population swelled to more than a half million attracting numerous European immigrants to its industrial jobs By 1940 non Hispanic whites were 90 6 of the city s population 47 Pittsburgh also became a main destination of the African American Great Migration from the rural South during the first half of the 20th century 48 Limited initially by discrimination some 95 percent of the men became unskilled steel workers 49 During World War II demand for steel increased and area mills operated 24 hours a day to produce 95 million tons of steel for the war effort 33 This resulted in the highest levels of air pollution in the city s almost century of industry The city s reputation as the arsenal of democracy 50 51 was being overshadowed by James Parton s 1868 observation of Pittsburgh being hell with the lid off 52 Following the war the city launched a clean air and civic revitalization project known as the Renaissance cleaning up the air and the rivers The Renaissance II project followed in 1977 focused on cultural and neighborhood development The industrial base continued to expand through the 1970s but beginning in the early 1980s both the area s steel and electronics industries imploded during national industrial restructuring There were massive layoffs from mill and plant closures 10 In the later 20th century the area shifted its economic base to education tourism and services largely based on healthcare medicine finance and high technology such as robotics Although Pittsburgh successfully shifted its economy and remained viable the city s population has never rebounded to its industrial era highs While 680 000 people lived in the city proper in 1950 a combination of suburbanization and economic turbulence resulted in a decrease in city population even as the metropolitan area population increased again During the late 2000s recession Pittsburgh was economically strong adding jobs when most cities were losing them It was one of the few cities in the United States to see housing property values rise Between 2006 and 2011 the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area MSA experienced over 10 appreciation in housing prices the highest appreciation of the largest 25 MSAs in the United States as 22 of the top 25 MSAs saw a depreciation of housing values 53 Pittsburgh s story of economic regeneration was the inspiration of President Barack Obama to host the 2009 G 20 Pittsburgh summit 54 Geography EditSee also Pittsburgh metropolitan area Regional identity Downtown Pittsburgh and the Duquesne Incline from Mt Washington Pittsburgh has an area of 58 3 square miles 151 km2 of which 55 6 square miles 144 km2 is land and 2 8 square miles 7 3 km2 or 4 75 is water The 80th meridian west passes directly through the city s downtown The city is on the Allegheny Plateau within the ecoregion of the Western Allegheny Plateau 55 The Downtown area also known as the Golden Triangle sits where the Allegheny River flows from the northeast and the Monongahela River from the southeast to form the Ohio River The convergence is at Point State Park and is referred to as the Point The city extends east to include the Oakland and Shadyside sections which are home to the University of Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon University Chatham University Carnegie Museum and Library and many other educational medical and cultural institutions The southern western and northern areas of the city are primarily residential Many Pittsburgh neighborhoods are steeply sloped with two lane roads More than a quarter of neighborhood names make reference to hills heights or similar features a The steps of Pittsburgh consist of 800 sets of outdoor public stairways with 44 645 treads and 24 090 vertical feet They include hundreds of streets composed entirely of stairs and many other steep streets with stairs for sidewalks 56 Many provide vistas of the Pittsburgh area while attracting hikers and fitness walkers 57 Bike and walking trails have been built to border many of the city s rivers and hollows The Great Allegheny Passage and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath connect the city directly to downtown Washington D C some 335 miles 539 km away with a continuous bike running trail Cityscape Edit Areas Edit See also List of Pittsburgh neighborhoods List of tallest buildings in Pittsburgh List of City of Pittsburgh historic designations and List of Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks Pittsburgh s 90 distinct neighborhoods The city consists of the Downtown area called the Golden Triangle 58 and four main areas surrounding it These surrounding areas are subdivided into distinct neighborhoods Pittsburgh has 90 neighborhoods 59 Relative to downtown these areas are known as the Central North Side North Hills South Side South Hills East End and West End Golden Triangle Edit Downtown Pittsburgh from Station Square The Carnegie Library Museums of Art and Natural History foreground Carnegie Mellon University background Downtown Pittsburgh has 30 skyscrapers nine of which top 500 feet 150 m The U S Steel Tower is the tallest at 841 ft 256 m 60 The Cultural District consists of a 14 block area of downtown along the Allegheny River This district contains many theaters and arts venues and is home to a growing residential segment Most significantly the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is embarking on RiverParc a four block mixed use green community featuring 700 residential units and multiple towers of between 20 and 30 stories The Firstside portion of Downtown borders the Monongahela River the historic Mon Wharf and hosts the distinctive PPG Place Gothic style glass skyscraper complex New condo towers have been constructed and historic office towers are converted to residential use increasing 24 hour residents Downtown is served by the Port Authority s light rail system and multiple bridges leading north and south 61 It is also home to Point Park University and Duquesne University which borders Uptown This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message North Side Edit Further information North Side Pittsburgh The North Side The North Side is home to various neighborhoods in transition What is known today as Pittsburgh s North Side was once known as Allegheny City and operated as a city independently of Pittsburgh until it was merged with Pittsburgh in 1907 under great protest from its citizens The North Side is primarily composed of residential neighborhoods and is noteworthy for its 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 attractions such as Acrisure Stadium PNC Park Carnegie Science Center National Aviary Andy Warhol Museum Mattress Factory art museum Children s Museum of Pittsburgh Randyland Penn Brewery Allegheny Observatory and Allegheny General Hospital 62 South Side Edit Further information South Side Pittsburgh Bird s eye view of Pittsburgh 1902 63 The South Side was once the site of railyards and associated dense inexpensive housing for mill and railroad workers Since the late 20th century the city undertook a Main Street program in cooperation with the National Trust for Historic Preservation encouraging design and landscape improvements on East Carson Street and supporting new retail The area has become a local Pittsburgher destination and the value of homes in the South Side had increased in value by about 10 annually for the 10 years up to 2014 64 East Carson Street has developed as one of the most vibrant areas of the city packed with diverse shopping ethnic eateries vibrant nightlife and live music venues In 1993 the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh purchased the South Side Works steel mill property It collaborated with the community and various developers to create a master plan for a mixed use development to include a riverfront park office space housing health care facilities and indoor practice fields for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt Panthers Construction began in 1998 The SouthSide Works has been open since 2005 featuring many stores restaurants offices and the world headquarters for American Eagle Outfitters 65 East End Edit The Shadyside neighborhood The East End of Pittsburgh is home to the University of Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon University Carlow University Chatham University The Carnegie Institute s Museums of Art and Natural History Phipps Conservatory and Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall It is also home to many parks and public spaces including Mellon Park Westinghouse Park Schenley Park Frick Park The Frick Pittsburgh Bakery Square and the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium The neighborhoods of Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are large wealthy neighborhoods with some apartments and condos and pedestrian oriented shopping business districts Squirrel Hill is also known as the hub of Jewish life in Pittsburgh home to approximately 20 synagogues 66 Oakland heavily populated by undergraduate and graduate students is home to most of the universities and the Petersen Events Center The Strip District to the west along the Allegheny River is an open air marketplace by day and a clubbing destination by night 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 Hill District was home to photographer Charles Harris as well as various African American jazz clubs 67 Other East End neighborhoods include Point Breeze Regent Square Highland Park Homewood Lincoln Lemington Belmar Larimer East Hills East Liberty Polish Hill Hazelwood Garfield Morningside and Stanton Heights West End Edit Further information West End Pittsburgh Region The West End includes Mt Washington with its famous view of the Downtown skyline and numerous other residential neighborhoods such as Sheraden and Elliott Ethnicities Edit Many of Pittsburgh s patchwork of neighborhoods still retain ethnic characters reflecting the city s settlement history These include German Troy Hill Mt Washington and East Allegheny Deutschtown Italian Brookline Bloomfield Morningside Oakland Hispanic Latino Beechview Brookline Polish Austrian Belgian Czech Slovak German Greek Hungarian Luxembourgish Dutch Romanian Swiss Slovenia and the northern marginal regions of Italy Croatian as well as northeastern France Central European South Side Lawrenceville and Polish Hill Lithuanian South Side Uptown African American Multiracial African American Hill District Homewood Lincoln Lemington Belmar Larimer East Hills and Hazelwood Jewish Ashkenazi Squirrel Hill Irish Mt Washington CarrickPopulation densities Edit Several neighborhoods on the edges of the city are less urban featuring tree lined streets yards and garages with a more suburban character Oakland the South Side the North Side and the Golden Triangle are characterized by more density of housing walking neighborhoods and a more diverse urban feel Images Edit Panorama of Pittsburgh from the Duquesne Incline which shows the confluence of the Allegheny left and the Monongahela right Rivers which merge to form the Ohio River lower left Pittsburgh seen from Mt Washington at night in 2015 with the Monongahela River in the foreground Skyline from Mt Washington in 2014 Regional identity Edit Main article Pittsburgh metropolitan area Pittsburgh falls within the borders of the Northeastern United States as defined by multiple US Government agencies Pittsburgh is the principal city of the Pittsburgh Combined Statistical Area a Combined statistical area defined by the U S Census Bureau Pittsburgh falls within the borders of Appalachia as defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission and has long been characterized as the northern urban industrial anchor of Appalachia 68 In its post industrial state Pittsburgh has been characterized as the Paris of Appalachia 69 70 71 72 recognizing the city s cultural educational healthcare and technological resources as well as its status as Appalachia s largest city Climate Edit Pittsburgh PennsylvaniaClimate chart explanation J F M A M J J A S O N D 2 6 36 21 2 4 39 23 3 49 30 3 1 62 40 4 71 49 4 3 79 58 3 8 83 63 3 5 81 62 3 1 74 54 2 3 63 43 3 2 51 35 2 9 39 25Average max and min temperatures in FPrecipitation totals in inchesMetric conversionJ F M A M J J A S O N D 66 2 6 61 4 5 75 10 1 79 17 5 100 22 10 109 26 15 97 28 17 88 27 16 79 24 12 58 17 6 82 11 2 72 4 4Average max and min temperatures in CPrecipitation totals in mmUnder the Koppen climate classification Pittsburgh falls within either a hot summer humid continental climate Dfa if the 0 C 32 F isotherm is used or a humid subtropical climate Cfa if the 3 C 27 F isotherm is used Summers are hot and winters are moderately cold with wide variations in temperature Despite this it has one of the most pleasant summer climates between medium and large cities in the U S 73 74 75 The city and river valleys lie in the USDA plant hardiness zone 6b while higher elevated areas and some suburbs lie in zone 6a 76 The area has four distinct seasons winters are cold and snowy springs and falls are mild with moderate levels of sunshine and summers are warm As measured by percent possible sunshine summer is by far the sunniest season 77 The warmest month of the year in Pittsburgh is July with a 24 hour average of 73 2 F 22 9 C Conditions are often humid and combined with highs reaching 90 F 32 C on an average 9 5 days a year 78 a considerable heat index arises The coolest month is January when the 24 hour average is 28 8 F 1 8 C and lows of 0 F 18 C or below can be expected on an average 2 6 nights per year 78 Officially record temperatures range from 22 F 30 C on January 19 1994 to 103 F 39 C which occurred three times most recently on July 16 1988 the record cold daily maximum is 3 F 19 C which occurred three times most recently the day of the all time record low while conversely the record warm daily minimum is 82 F 28 C on July 1 1901 78 b Due to elevation and location on the windward side of the Appalachian Mountains 100 F 38 C readings are very rare and were last seen on July 15 1995 78 Average annual precipitation is 39 61 inches 1 006 mm and precipitation is greatest in May while least in October annual precipitation has historically ranged from 22 65 in 575 mm in 1930 to 57 83 in 1 469 mm in 2018 79 On average December and January have the greatest number of precipitation days Snowfall averages 44 1 inches 112 cm per season but has historically ranged from 8 8 in 22 cm in 1918 19 to 80 in 200 cm in 1950 51 80 There is an average of 59 clear days and 103 partly cloudy days per year while 203 days are cloudy 81 In terms of annual percent average possible sunshine received Pittsburgh 45 is similar to Seattle 49 Climate data for Pittsburgh Pittsburgh International Airport 1991 2020 normals c extremes 1871 present d Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high F C 75 24 78 26 84 29 90 32 95 35 98 37 103 39 103 39 102 39 91 33 82 28 74 23 103 39 Mean maximum F C 61 5 16 4 63 2 17 3 73 5 23 1 81 5 27 5 86 8 30 4 90 4 32 4 91 3 32 9 90 3 32 4 88 2 31 2 79 9 26 6 70 8 21 6 62 6 17 0 92 6 33 7 Average high F C 36 3 2 4 39 6 4 2 49 1 9 5 62 4 16 9 71 9 22 2 79 4 26 3 82 9 28 3 81 7 27 6 75 1 23 9 63 1 17 3 50 9 10 5 40 6 4 8 61 1 16 2 Daily mean F C 28 8 1 8 31 4 0 3 39 7 4 3 51 5 10 8 61 2 16 2 69 4 20 8 73 2 22 9 71 8 22 1 64 9 18 3 53 4 11 9 42 6 5 9 33 7 0 9 51 8 11 0 Average low F C 21 4 5 9 23 2 4 9 30 3 0 9 40 7 4 8 50 6 10 3 59 3 15 2 63 4 17 4 62 0 16 7 54 8 12 7 43 7 6 5 34 3 1 3 26 7 2 9 42 5 5 8 Mean minimum F C 1 0 17 2 5 0 15 0 11 7 11 3 25 4 3 7 35 6 2 0 45 2 7 3 52 5 11 4 51 1 10 6 41 2 5 1 29 5 1 4 19 3 7 1 9 7 12 4 1 5 18 6 Record low F C 22 30 20 29 5 21 11 12 26 3 34 1 42 6 39 4 31 1 16 9 1 18 12 24 22 30 Average precipitation inches mm 2 96 75 2 62 67 3 15 80 3 32 84 3 83 97 4 12 105 4 26 108 3 52 89 3 30 84 2 83 72 2 86 73 2 84 72 39 61 1 006 Average snowfall inches cm 13 3 34 11 7 30 7 6 19 1 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 2 4 6 1 7 7 20 44 1 112 Average precipitation days 0 01 in 16 8 13 9 14 0 13 9 13 5 12 4 11 2 10 5 9 8 11 1 12 0 14 6 153 7Average snowy days 0 1 in 12 2 9 3 5 9 1 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 3 7 6 40 2Average relative humidity 69 9 67 3 64 1 59 8 63 4 66 2 68 8 71 2 72 0 68 3 70 2 71 9 67 8Average dew point F C 17 2 8 2 18 9 7 3 26 8 2 9 34 5 1 4 45 9 7 7 55 2 12 9 60 1 15 6 59 5 15 3 53 4 11 9 40 8 4 9 32 4 0 2 23 2 4 9 39 0 3 9 Mean monthly sunshine hours 93 9 108 5 155 4 182 8 217 4 242 2 254 9 228 4 196 7 167 3 99 4 74 4 2 021 3Percent possible sunshine 31 36 42 46 49 54 56 54 53 48 33 26 45Average ultraviolet index 2 3 4 6 8 9 9 8 6 4 2 2 5Source 1 NOAA relative humidity dew point and sun 1961 1990 78 82 77 83 Source 2 Weather Atlas UV 84 Air quality Edit In 2019 the State of the Air report from the American Lung Association ALA found that air quality in the Pittsburgh New Castle Weirton PA OH WV metro area worsened not only for ozone smog but also for the second year in a row for both the daily and long term measures of fine particle pollution Outside of California Allegheny County is the only county in the United States that recorded failing grades for all three 85 In a 2013 ranking of 277 metropolitan areas in the United States the American Lung Association ranked only six U S metro areas as having higher amounts of short term particle pollution and only seven U S metro areas having higher amounts of year round particle pollution than Pittsburgh For ozone smog pollution Pittsburgh was ranked 24th among U S metro areas 86 87 The area has improved its air quality with every annual survey The ALA s rankings have been disputed by the Allegheny County Health Department ACHD since data from only the worst of the region s 20 air quality monitors is considered by the ALA without any context or averaging The lone monitor used is immediately downwind and adjacent to U S Steel s Clairton Coke Works the nation s largest coke mill and several municipalities outside the city s jurisdiction of pollution controls leading to possible confusion that Pittsburgh is the source or center of the emissions cited in the survey 88 The region s readings also reflect pollution swept in from Ohio and West Virginia 89 Although the county was still below the pass threshold the report showed substantial improvement over previous decades on every air quality measure Fewer than 15 high ozone days were reported between 2007 and 2009 and just 10 between 2008 and 2010 compared to more than 40 between 1997 and 1999 90 ACHD spokesman Guillermo Cole stated It s the best it s been in the lifetime for virtually every resident in this county We ve seen a steady decrease in pollution levels over the past decade and certainly over the past 20 30 40 50 years or more 91 In the summer of 2017 a crowd sourced air quality monitoring application Smell PGH was launched As air quality is still a concern of many in the area the app allows for users to report odd smells and informs local authorities 92 The city contains 31 000 trees on 900 miles of streets by the last count conducted in 2005 A 2011 analysis of Pittsburgh s tree cover which involved sampling more than 200 small plots throughout the city showed a value of between 10 and 13 million in annual benefits based on the urban forest contributions to aesthetics energy use and air quality Energy savings from shade impact on city air and water quality and the boost in property values were taken into account in the analysis The city spends 850 000 annually on street tree planting and maintenance 93 Water quality Edit Allegheny County Sanitary Authority treatment plant The local rivers continue to have pollution levels exceeding EPA limits 94 This is caused by frequently overflowing untreated sewage into local waterways due to flood conditions and antiquated infrastructure Pittsburgh has a combined sewer system where its sewage pipes contain both stormwater and wastewater The pipes were constructed in the early 1900s and the sewage treatment plant was built in 1959 95 Due to insufficient improvements over time the city is faced with public health concerns regarding its water 96 As little as a tenth of an inch of rain causes runoffs from the sewage system to drain into local rivers 97 Nine billion gallons of untreated waste and stormwater flow into rivers leading to health hazards and Clean Water Act violations 98 The local sewage authority Allegheny County Sanitary Authority or ALCOSAN is operating under Consent Decree from the EPA to come up with solutions 99 In 2017 ALCOSAN proposed a 2 billion upgrade to the system which is moving closer to EPA approval 100 Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority PWSA is the city s agency required to replace pipes and charge water rates They have come under fire from both city and state authorities due to alleged mismanagement 101 In 2017 Mayor William Peduto advocated for a restructuring of the PWSA and a partially privatized water authority 102 Governor Wolf subsequently assigned the PWSA to be under the oversight of the Public Utilities Commission PUC 101 Demographics EditHistorical populationCensus Pop 18001 565 18104 768204 7 18207 24852 0 183012 56873 4 184021 11568 0 185046 601120 7 186049 2215 6 187086 07674 9 1880156 38981 7 1890238 61752 6 1900321 61634 8 1910533 90566 0 1920588 34310 2 1930669 81713 8 1940671 6590 3 1950676 8060 8 1960604 332 10 7 1970520 117 13 9 1980423 938 18 5 1990369 879 12 8 2000334 563 9 5 2010305 704 8 6 2020302 971 0 9 U S Decennial Census 103 104 2 At the 2010 census there were 305 704 people residing in Pittsburgh a decrease of 8 6 since 2000 66 0 of the population was White 25 8 Black or African American 0 2 American Indian and Alaska Native 4 4 Asian 0 3 Other and 2 3 mixed in 2020 2 3 of Pittsburgh s population was of Hispanic or Latino American origin of any race Non Hispanic whites were 64 8 of the population in 2010 105 compared to 78 7 in 1970 106 By the 2020 census the population slightly declined further to 302 971 107 Its racial and ethnic makeup in 2020 was 64 7 non Hispanic white 23 0 Black or African American 5 8 Asian and 3 2 Hispanic or Latino American of any race Racial composition 2020 107 2010 105 1990 106 1970 106 1950 106 White 66 8 66 0 72 1 79 3 87 7 Non Hispanic White 64 7 64 8 71 6 78 7 108 n aBlack or African American 23 0 26 1 25 8 20 2 12 2 Asian 5 8 4 4 1 6 0 3 0 1 Hispanic or Latino of any race 3 2 2 3 0 9 0 5 108 X Map of racial distribution in Pittsburgh 2010 U S census Each dot is 25 people White Black Asian Hispanic Other Since the beginning of the 21st century the five largest European ethnic groups in the city were German 19 7 Irish 15 8 Italian 11 8 Polish 8 4 and English 4 6 while the metropolitan area is approximately 22 German American 15 4 Italian American and 11 6 Irish American Pittsburgh has one of the largest Italian American communities in the nation 109 and the fifth largest Ukrainian community per the 1990 census 110 Pittsburgh has one of the most extensive Croatian communities in the United States 111 Overall the Pittsburgh metro area has one of the largest populations of Slavic Americans in the country Pittsburgh has a sizable Black and African American population concentrated in various neighborhoods especially in the East End There is also a small Asian community consisting of Indian immigrants and a small Hispanic community consisting of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans 112 According to a 2010 Association of Religion Data Archives ARDA study residents include 773 341 Catholics 326 125 Mainline Protestants 174 119 Evangelical Protestants 20 976 Black Protestants and 16 405 Orthodox Christians with 996 826 listed as unclaimed and 16 405 as other in the metro area 112 A 2017 study by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University estimated the Jewish population of Greater Pittsburgh was 49 200 113 According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center 78 of the population of the city identified themselves as Christians with 42 professing attendance at a variety of churches that could be considered Protestant and 32 professing Catholic beliefs while 18 claim no religious affiliation The same study says that other religions including Judaism Buddhism Islam and Hinduism collectively make up about 4 of the population 114 Religion in Pittsburgh 2014 114 Religion PercentProtestantism 42 Catholicism 32 Other Christian 3 No religion 18 Others 4 Don t know 1 In 2010 there were 143 739 households out of which 21 9 had children under the age of 18 living with them 31 2 were married couples living together 16 5 had a female householder with no husband present and 48 4 were non families 39 4 of all households were made up of individuals and 13 7 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older The average household size was 2 17 and the average family size was 2 95 In the city the population was spread out with 19 9 under the age of 18 14 8 from 18 to 24 28 6 from 25 to 44 20 3 from 45 to 64 and 16 4 who were 65 years of age or older The median age was 36 years For every 100 females there were 90 7 males 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 and the median income for a family was 38 795 Males had a median income of 32 128 versus 25 500 for females The per capita income for the city was 18 816 About 15 0 of families and 20 4 of the population were below the poverty line including 27 5 of those under the age of 18 and 13 5 ages 65 or older By the 2019 American Community Survey the median income for a household increased to 53 799 115 Families had a median income of 68 922 married couple families had a median income of 93 500 and non family households had a median income of 34 448 Pittsburgh s wealthiest suburbs within city limits are Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze the only two areas of the city which have average household incomes over 100 000 a year Outside of city limits Sewickley Heights is by a wide margin the wealthiest suburb of Pittsburgh within Allegheny County with an average yearly household income of just over 218 000 Sewickely Heights is seen as one of Pittsburgh s wealthiest suburbs culturally as well titles which the suburbs of Upper St Clair Fox Chapel Wexford and Warrendale also have been bestowed 116 117 In a 2002 study Pittsburgh ranked 22nd of 69 urban places in the U S in the number of residents 25 years or older who had completed a bachelor s degree at 31 118 Pittsburgh ranked 15th of the 69 places in the number of residents 25 years or older who completed a high school degree at 84 7 119 The metro area has shown greater residential racial integration during the last 30 years The 2010 census ranked 18 other U S metros as having greater black white segregation while 32 other U S metros rank higher for black white isolation 120 As of 2018 much of Pittsburgh s population density was concentrated in the central southern and eastern areas The city limits itself have a population density of 5 513 people per square mile its most densely populated parts are North Oakland at 21 200 per square mile and Uptown Pittsburgh at 19 869 per square mile Outside of the city limits Dormont and Mount Oliver are Pittsburgh s most densely populated neighborhoods with 11 167 and 9 902 people per square mile respectively 121 Economy EditMain article Economy of Pittsburgh See also List of corporations in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh has adapted since the collapse of its century long steel and electronics industries The region has shifted to high technology robotics health care nuclear engineering tourism biomedical technology finance education and services Annual payroll of the region s technology industries when taken in aggregate exceeded 10 8 billion in 2007 122 and in 2010 there were 1 600 technology companies 123 A National Bureau of Economic Research 2014 report named Pittsburgh the second best U S city for intergenerational economic mobility 124 or the American Dream 125 Reflecting the citywide shift from industry to technology former factories have been renovated as modern office space Google has research and technology offices in a refurbished 1918 1998 Nabisco factory a complex known as Bakery Square 126 Some of the factory s original equipment such as a large dough mixer were left standing in homage to the site s industrial roots 127 Pittsburgh s transition from its industrial heritage has earned it praise as the poster child for managing industrial transition 128 Other major cities in the northeast and mid west have increasingly borrowed from Pittsburgh s model in order to renew their industries and economic base 129 The largest employer in the city is the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center with 48 000 employees All hospitals outpatient clinics and doctor s office positions combine for 116 000 jobs approximately 10 of the jobs in the region An analyst recently observed of the city s medical sector That s both more jobs and a higher share of the region s total employment than the steel industry represented in the 1970s 130 Top publicly traded companiesin the Pittsburgh region for 2022 ranked by revenues with metropolitan and U S ranksMetro corporation US1 The Kraft Heinz Company 1392 U S Steel 1723 PNC Financial Services 1784 Viatris 2045 PPG Industries 2186 Dick s Sporting Goods 3077 Alcoa 3128 WESCO International 3579 Wabtec 43910 Arconic 452Education is a major economic driver in the region The largest single employer in education is the University of Pittsburgh with 10 700 employees 131 Ten Fortune 500 companies call the Pittsburgh area home 132 They are in alphabetical order Alcoa Corporation NYSE AA Arconic Corporation NYSE ARNC Dick s Sporting Goods NYSE DKS The Kraft Heinz Company NASDAQ KHC PNC Financial Services NYSE PNC PPG Industries NYSE PPG U S Steel Corporation NYSE X Viatris NASDAQ VRTS Wabtec Corporation NYSE WAB and WESCO International WYSE WCC 133 The region is home to Aurora Allegheny Technologies American Eagle Outfitters Duolingo EQT Corporation CONSOL Energy Howmet Aerospace Kennametal and II VI headquarters Other major employers include BNY Mellon GlaxoSmithKline Thermo Fisher Scientific and Lanxess The Northeast U S regional headquarters for Chevron Corporation Nova Chemicals Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu FedEx Ground Ariba and the RAND Corporation call the area home 84 Lumber Giant Eagle Highmark Rue 21 General Nutrition Center GNC CNX Gas CXG and Genco Supply Chain Solutions are major non public companies headquartered in the region The global impact of Pittsburgh technology and business was recently demonstrated in several key components of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner being manufactured and supplied by area companies 134 Area retail is anchored by over 35 shopping malls and a healthy downtown retail sector as well as boutique shops along Walnut Street in Squirrel Hill Lawrenceville and Station Square The nonprofit arts and cultural industry in Allegheny County generates 341 million in economic activity that supports over 10 000 full time equivalent jobs with nearly 34 million in local and state taxes raised 135 A leader in environmental design the city is home to 60 total and 10 of the world s first green buildings while billions have been invested in the area s Marcellus natural gas fields 21 A renaissance of Pittsburgh s 116 year old film industry that boasts the world s first movie theater has grown from the long running Three Rivers Film Festival to an influx of major television and movie productions including Disney and Paramount offices with the largest sound stage outside Los Angeles and New York City 136 Pittsburgh has hosted many conventions including INPEX the world s largest invention trade show since 1984 137 Tekko a four day anime convention since 2003 Anthrocon a furry convention since 2006 and the DUG East energy trade show since 2009 Arts and culture EditMain article Culture of Pittsburgh Entertainment Edit Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Pittsburgh has a rich history in arts and culture dating from 19th century industrialists commissioning and donating public works such as Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts and the Benedum Center home to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Pittsburgh Opera respectively as well as such groups as the River City Brass Band and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra Pittsburgh has a number of small and mid size arts organizations including the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre Quantum Theatre the Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh and the early music ensemble Chatham Baroque Several choirs and singing groups are also present at the cities universities some of the most notable include the Pitt Men s Glee Club and the Heinz Chapel Choir 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 Duquesne University Tamburitzans a multicultural academy dedicated to the preservation and presentation of folk songs and dance Hundreds of major films have been shot partially or wholly in Pittsburgh The Dark Knight Rises was largely filmed in Downtown Oakland and the North Shore Pittsburgh has also teamed up with a Los Angeles based production company and has built the largest and most advanced movie studio in the eastern United States 136 Pittsburgh s major art museums include the Andy Warhol Museum the Carnegie Museum of Art The Frick Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Center for the Arts the Mattress Factory and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History which has extensive dinosaur mineral animal and Egyptian collections The Carnegie Science Center and associated SportsWorks has interactive technology and science exhibits The Senator John Heinz History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum is a Smithsonian affiliated regional history museum in the Strip District and its associated Fort Pitt Museum is in Point State Park Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum in Oakland houses Western Pennsylvania military exhibits from the Civil War to present The Children s Museum of Pittsburgh on the North Side features interactive exhibits for children The eclectic Bayernhof Music Museum is six miles 9 km from downtown while The Clemente Museum is in the city s Lawrenceville section The Cathedral of Learning s Nationality Rooms showcase pre 19th century learning environments from around the world There are regular guided and self guided architectural tours in numerous neighborhoods Downtown s cultural district hosts quarterly Gallery Crawls and the annual Three Rivers Arts Festival Pittsburgh is home to a number of art galleries and centers including the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University University Art Gallery of the University of Pittsburgh the American Jewish Museum and the Wood Street Galleries The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and the National Aviary have served the city for over a century Pittsburgh is home to the amusement park Kennywood Pittsburgh is home to one of the several state licensed casinos The Rivers Casino is on the North Shore along the Ohio River just west of Carnegie Science Center and Acrisure Stadium Pittsburgh is home to the world s second largest furry convention known as Anthrocon which has been held annually at the David L Lawrence Convention Center since 2006 In 2017 Anthrocon drew over 7 000 visitors and has had a cumulative economic impact of 53 million over the course of its 11 years of being hosted in Pittsburgh 138 Lifetime s reality show Dance Moms is filmed at Pittsburgh s Abby Lee Dance Company Music Edit Pittsburgh has a long tradition of jazz blues and bluegrass music The National Negro Opera Company was founded in the city as 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 One of the greatest American musicians and composers of the 20th century Billy Strayhorn grew up and was educated in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh s Wiz Khalifa is a recent artist to have a number one record His anthem Black and Yellow a tribute to Pittsburgh s official colors reached number one on Billboard s Hot 100 139 for the Week of February 19 2011 140 Perry Como and Christina Aguilera are from Pittsburgh suburbs The city is also where the band Rusted Root was formed Liz Berlin of Rusted Root owns Mr Smalls a popular music venue for touring national acts in Pittsburgh 141 Hip hop artist Mac Miller was also a Pittsburgh native with his debut album Blue Slide Park named after the local Frick Park Many punk rock and Hardcore punk acts such as Aus Rotten and Anti Flag originated in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh has also seen many metal bands gain prominence in recent years when most notably Code Orange who were nominated for a Grammy Pittsburgh has emerged as a leading city in the United States heavy metal music scene Ranking as the third most metal city in a study conducted by MetalSucks 142 Pittsburgh has earned a reputation for its heavy metal community Pittsburgh is home to over six hundred heavy metal bands 142 as well as heavy metal coffee shops 143 and bars The city is noted for its doom metal metalcore and death metal scenes Throughout the 1990s there was an electronic music subculture in Pittsburgh which likely traced its origins to similar Internet chatroom based movements in Detroit Cleveland Minneapolis and across the United States 144 145 146 Pittsburgh promoters and DJs organized raves in warehouses ice rinks barns and fields which eventually attracted thousands of attendees some of whom were high school students or even younger 145 147 148 As the events grew more popular they drew internationally known DJs such as Adam Beyer and Richie Hawtin 145 Pittsburgh rave culture itself spawned at least one well known artist the drum and bass DJ Dieselboy who attended the University of Pittsburgh between 1990 and 1995 144 149 Since 2012 Pittsburgh has been the home of Hot Mass an afterhours electronic music dance party which critics have compared favorably to European nightclubs and parties 150 151 Electronic music artist and DJ Yaeji credits Hot Mass with her indoctrination into nightlife she regularly attended the party while studying at Carnegie Mellon University 152 153 Theatre Edit Main article Theatre in Pittsburgh Benedum Center The city s first play was produced at the old courthouse in 1803 31 and the first theater built in 1812 31 Collegiate companies include the University of Pittsburgh s Repertory Theatre and Kuntu Repertory Theatre Point Park University s resident companies at its Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Mellon University s School of Drama productions and Scotch n Soda organization The Duquesne University Red Masquers founded in 1912 are the oldest continuously producing theater company in Pennsylvania citation needed The city s longest running theater show Friday Nite Improvs is an improv jam that has been performed in the Cathedral of Learning and other locations for 20 years The Pittsburgh New Works Festival utilizes local theater companies to stage productions of original one act plays by playwrights from all parts of the country Similarly Future Ten showcases new ten minute plays Saint Vincent Summer Theatre Off the Wall Productions Mountain Playhouse The Theatre Factory and Stage Right in nearby Latrobe Carnegie Jennerstown Trafford and Greensburg respectively employ Pittsburgh actors and contribute to the culture of the region Literature Edit See also List of fiction set in Pittsburgh List of films shot in Pittsburgh and List of television shows shot in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh is the birthplace of Gertrude Stein and Rachel Carson a Chatham University graduate from the suburb of Springdale Pennsylvania 154 Modern writers include Pulitzer Prize winning playwright August Wilson and Michael Chabon with his Pittsburgh focused commentary on student and college life Two time Pulitzer Prize winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom David McCullough was born and raised in Pittsburgh 155 Annie Dillard a Pulitzer Prize winning writer was born and raised in Pittsburgh Much of her memoir An American Childhood takes place in post World War II Pittsburgh Award winning author John Edgar Wideman grew up in Pittsburgh and has based several of his books including the memoir Brothers and Keepers in his hometown Poet Terrance Hayes winner of the 2010 National Book Award and a 2014 MacArthur Foundation Fellow received his MFA from the University of Pittsburgh where he is a faculty member Poet Michael Simms founder of Autumn House Press resides in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh Poet Samuel John Hazo the first poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania also resides in the city New writers include Chris Kuzneski who attended the University of Pittsburgh and mentions Pittsburgh in his works and Pittsburgher Brian Celio author of Catapult Soul who captured the Pittsburgh Yinzer dialect in his writing Pittsburgh s unique literary style extends to playwrights 156 as well as local graffiti and hip hop artists Pittsburgh s position as the birthplace for community owned television and networked commercial television helped spawn the modern children s show genres exemplified by Mister Rogers Neighborhood Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego Happy s Party Cappelli amp Company and The Children s Corner all nationally broadcast The Pittsburgh Dad series has showcased the Pittsburghese genre to a global YouTube audience since 2011 The modern fantasy macabre and science fiction genre was popularized by director George A Romero television s Bill Cardille and his Chiller Theatre 157 director and writer Rusty Cundieff and makeup effects guru Tom Savini 158 The genre continues today with the PARSEC science fiction organization 159 The It s Alive Show the annual Zombie Fest 160 and several writer s workshops including Write or Die 161 Pittsburgh SouthWrites 162 and Pittsburgh Worldwrights 163 164 with Barton Paul Levenson Kenneth Chiacchia and Elizabeth Humphreys Penrose Food Edit Pittsburgh is known for several specialties including pierogies kielbasa chipped chopped ham sandwiches and Klondike bars 165 166 In 2019 Pittsburgh was deemed Food City of the Year by the San Francisco based restaurant and hospitality consulting firm af amp co 167 Many restaurants were favorably mentioned among them were Superior Motors in Braddock Driftwood Oven in Lawrenceville Spork in Bloomfield Fish nor Fowl in Garfield Bitter Ends Garden amp Luncheonette in Bloomfield and Rolling Pepperoni in Lawrenceville 168 Local dialect Edit Main article Western Pennsylvania English The Pittsburgh English dialect commonly called Pittsburghese was influenced by Scots Irish German and Eastern European immigrants and African Americans 169 Locals who speak the dialect are sometimes referred to as Yinzers from the local word yinz var yunz a blended form of you ones similar to y all and you all in the South Common Pittsburghese terms are slippy slippery redd up clean up jagger bush thorn bush and gum bands rubber bands The dialect is also notable for dropping the verb to be In Pittsburghese one would say the car needs washed instead of needs to be washed needs washing or needs a wash The dialect has some tonal similarities to other nearby regional dialects of Erie and Baltimore but is noted for its somewhat staccato rhythms The staccato qualities of the dialect are thought to originate either from Welsh or other European languages The many local peculiarities have prompted The New York Times to describe Pittsburgh as the Galapagos Islands of American dialect 170 The lexicon itself contains notable loans from Polish and other European languages examples include babushka pierogi and halusky 171 Livability Edit Pittsburgh from the West End Overlook Pittsburgh has five city parks and several parks managed by the Nature Conservancy The largest Frick Park provides 664 acres 269 ha of woodland park with extensive hiking and biking trails throughout steep valleys and wooded slopes Birding enthusiasts visit the Clayton Hill area of Frick Park where over 100 species of birds have been recorded 172 Residents living in extremely low lying areas near the rivers or one of the 1 400 creeks and streams may have occasional floods 173 such as those caused when the remnants of Hurricane Ivan hit rainfall records in 2004 174 River flooding is relatively rare due to federal flood control efforts extensively managing locks dams and reservoirs 173 175 176 Residents living near smaller tributary streams are less protected from occasional flooding The cost of a comprehensive flood control program for the region has been estimated at a prohibitive 50 billion 173 Pittsburgh has the greatest number of bars per capita in the nation 12 Sports EditMain article Sports in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh hosted the first professional football game and the first World Series In 2009 Pittsburgh won the Sporting News title of Best Sports City in the United States 177 and in 2013 Sperling s Best Places top 15 cities for baseball 178 College sports also have large followings with the University of Pittsburgh in football and sharing Division I basketball fans with Robert Morris and Duquesne Pittsburgh has a long history with its major professional sports teams the Steelers of the National Football League the Penguins of the National Hockey League and the Pirates of Major League Baseball which all share the same team colors the official city colors of black and gold e Pittsburgh is the only city in the United States where this practice of sharing team colors in solidarity takes place 179 The black and gold color scheme has since become widely associated with the city and personified in its famous Terrible Towel 180 Rails to Trails has converted miles of former rail tracks to recreational trails including a Pittsburgh Washington D C bike walking trail 181 Several mountain biking trails are within the city and suburbs Frick Park has biking trails and Hartwood Acres Park has many miles of single track trails 182 183 Professional Edit Major league Team Founded League Sport Venue ChampionshipsPittsburgh Pirates 1882 Major League Baseball MLB Baseball PNC Park 7 o 1 Pittsburgh Steelers 1933 National Football League NFL Football Acrisure Stadium 6 o 2 Pittsburgh Penguins 1967 National Hockey League NHL Hockey PPG Paints Arena 5 o 3 Minor league other Team Founded League Sport Venue ChampionshipsPittsburgh Riverhounds 1999 USL Championship USLC Soccer Highmark StadiumSteel City Yellow Jackets 2014 ABA Basketball CCAC Allegheny Arena 1 The Pirates won championships in 1901 1902 1909 1925 1960 1971 and 1979 1901 and 1902 were Pre World Series Era Champions The Steelers won championships in 1974 1975 1978 1979 2005 and 2008 The Penguins won championships in 1991 1992 2009 2016 and 2017 Pittsburgh s ABA franchise won the 1968 title but the Steel City Yellow Jackets franchise is heir to it only in location College Edit Power 5 School Prominent sports Venues Conference National ChampionshipsUniversity of Pittsburgh Pitt Football FBS Acrisure Stadium ACC 9 o 1 Pitt Basketball Petersen Events Center 1927 28 1929 30Other School Prominent sports Venues Conference National ChampionshipsDuquesne University Dukes Football FCS Art Rooney Field NEC 1941 1973 2003Dukes Basketball UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse A10 1954 55 NIT Robert Morris University Colonials Basketball UPMC Events Center NECColonials Hockey Island Sports Center AHA The Panthers won championships in 1915 1916 1918 1929 1931 1934 1936 1937 and 1976 Baseball Edit PNC Park home of the Pittsburgh Pirates t his is the perfect blend of location history design comfort and baseball The best stadium in baseball is in Pittsburgh ESPN The Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team often referred to as the Bucs or the Buccos derived from buccaneer is the city s oldest professional sports franchise having been founded in 1881 and plays in the Central Division of the National League The Pirates are nine time Pennant winners and five time World Series Champions were in the first World Series 1903 and claim two pre World Series titles in 1901 and 1902 The Pirates play in PNC Park Pittsburgh also has a rich Negro league history with the former Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays credited with as many as 14 league titles and 11 Hall of Famers between them in the 1930s and 1940s while the Keystones fielded teams in the 1920s In addition in 1971 the Pirates were the first Major League team to field an all minority lineup One sportswriter claimed No city is more synonymous with black baseball than Pittsburgh 184 Since the late 20th century the Pirates had three consecutive National League Championship Series appearances 1990 92 going 6 7 and 7 games each followed by setting the MLB record for most consecutive losing seasons with 20 from 1993 until 2012 This era was followed by three consecutive postseason appearances the 2013 National League Division Series and the 2014 2015 Wild Card games Their September pennant race in 1997 featured the franchises last no hitter and last award for Sporting News Executive of the Year 185 Football Edit Further information American football in Western Pennsylvania This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed January 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Acrisure Stadium home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Pitt Panthers The city s professional team NFL s Pittsburgh Steelers is named after the distribution company the Pittsburgh Steeling company established in 1927 News of the team has preempted news of elections and other events and are important to the region and its diaspora The Steelers have been owned by the Rooney family since the team s founding in 1933 show consistency in coaching only three coaches since the 1960s all with the same basic philosophy and are noted as one of sports most respectable franchises 186 The Steelers have a long waiting list for season tickets and have sold out every home game since 1972 187 The team won four Super Bowls in a six year span in the 1970s a fifth Super Bowl in 2006 and a league record sixth Super Bowl in 2009 Since the AFL NFL merger in 1970 they have qualified for the most NFL playoff berths 28 and have played in 15 and hosted 11 the most NFL conference championship games citation needed High school football routinely attract 10 000 fans per game and extensive press coverage citation needed The Tom Cruise film All the Right Moves and ESPN s Bound for Glory with Dick Butkus both filmed in the area to capture the tradition and passion of local high school football College football in the city dates to 1889 with the Division I FBS Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh posting nine national championships and qualifying 34 total bowl games and appearing in the 2018 ACC Championship Game Local universities Duquesne and Robert Morris have loyal fan bases that follow their lower FCS teams Duquesne Carnegie Mellon University and Washington amp Jefferson College all posted major bowl games and AP Poll rankings from the 1920s to the 1940s as that era s equivalent of Top 25 FBS programs citation needed Acrisure Stadium serves as home for the Steelers Panthers and both the suburban and city high school championships Playoff franchises Pittsburgh Power and Pittsburgh Gladiators competed in the Arena Football League in the 1980s and 2010s respectively The Gladiators hosted ArenaBowl I in the city competing in two but losing both before moving to Tampa Florida and becoming the Storm 188 The Pittsburgh Passion has been the city s professional women s football team since 2002 and plays its home games at Highmark Stadium The Ed Debartolo owned Pittsburgh Maulers featured a Heisman Trophy winner in the mid 1980s former superstar University of Nebraska running back Mike Rozier Hockey Edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed October 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message The NHL s Pittsburgh Penguins have played in Pittsburgh since the team s founding in 1967 The team has won 6 Eastern Conference titles 1991 1992 2008 2009 2016 and 2017 and 5 Stanley Cup championships 1991 1992 2009 2016 and 2017 Since 1999 Hall of Famer and back to back playoff MVP Mario Lemieux has served as Penguins owner Until moving into the PPG Paints Arena in 2010 when it was known as Consol Energy Center the team played their home games at the world s first retractable domed stadium the Civic Arena or in local parlance The Igloo 189 Ice hockey has had a regional fan base since the 1890s semi pro Keystones The city s first ice rink dates back to 1889 when there was an ice rink at the Casino in Schenley Park From 1896 to 1956 the Exposition Building on the Allegheny River near The Point and Duquesne Gardens in Oakland offered indoor skating 190 The NHL awarded one of its first franchises to the city in 1924 on the strength of the back to back USAHA championship winning Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets featuring future Hall of Famers and a Stanley Cup winning coach The NHL s Pittsburgh Pirates made several Stanley Cup playoff runs with a future Hall of Famer before folding from Great Depression financial pressures Hockey survived with the Pittsburgh Hornets farm team 1936 1967 and their seven finals appearances and three championships in 18 playoff seasons Robert Morris University fields a Division I college hockey team at the Island Sports Center Pittsburgh has semi pro and amateur teams such as the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite 191 Pro grade ice rinks such as the Rostraver Ice Garden Mt Lebanon Recreation Center and Iceoplex at Southpointe have trained several native Pittsburgh players for NHL play RMU hosted the city s first Frozen Four college championship in 2013 with the four PPG Paints Arena games televised by ESPN Basketball Edit Petersen Events Center home of Pittsburgh Panthers basketball Palumbo Center home of Duquesne Dukes basketball Professional basketball in Pittsburgh dates to the 1910s with teams Monticello and Loendi winning five national titles the Pirates 1937 45 in the NBL the Pittsburgh Ironmen 1947 48 NBA inaugural season the Pittsburgh Rens 1961 63 the Pittsburgh Pipers first American Basketball Association championship in 1968 led by Connie Hawkins team then moved the Pittsburgh Condors ABA returned in 1970 72 the Pittsburgh Piranhas CBA Finals in 1995 the Pittsburgh Xplosion 2004 08 and Phantoms 2009 10 both of the ABA The city has hosted dozens of pre season and 15 regular season neutral site NBA games including Wilt Chamberlain s record setting performance in both consecutive field goals and field goal percentage on February 24 1967 NBA records that still stand 192 The Duquesne University Dukes and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers have played college basketball in the city since 1914 and 1905 respectively Pitt and Duquesne have played the annual City Game since 1932 Duquesne was the city s first team to appear in a Final Four 1940 obtain a number one AP Poll ranking 1954 193 and to win a post season national title the 1955 National Invitation Tournament on its second straight trip to the NIT title game Duquesne is the only college program to produce back to back NBA No 1 overall draft picks with 1955 s Dick Ricketts and 1956 s Sihugo Green 194 Duquesne s Chuck Cooper was the first African American drafted by an NBA team 195 The Panthers won two pre tournament era Helms Athletic Foundation National Championships in 1928 and 1930 competed in a national title game against LSU in 1935 and made a Final Four appearance in 1941 Pitt has won 13 conference titles qualified for the NCAA tournament 26 times including a post season tournament every season between 1999 and 2000 and 2015 2016 during which time it regularly sold out the Petersen Events Center The program has produced 27 NBA draft picks and 15 All Americans while ranking No 1 in the nation as recently as 2009 The suburban Robert Morris University s Colonials have competed in NCAA Division I basketball since the 1970s qualifying for the NCAA tournament in each of the last four decades 8 In the 2013 National Invitation Tournament the Colonials notched an upset win over the defending national champions Kentucky Wildcats Pittsburgh Panthers women s basketball has qualified for 14 post season tournaments including 4 NCAA tournaments and boasts of 5 All Americans selected 6 times with 3 WNBA players Pitt women began play in 1914 before being reintroduced in 1970 Both Duquesne and Robert Morris also have competitive Division I women s basketball programs Pittsburgh launched the nation s first high school all star game in 1965 196 The Roundball Classic annually featured future NBA hall of famers at the Civic Arena with ESPN televising The Civic Arena also hosted the championship tournament for the Eastern Eight Conference from 1978 until 1982 Soccer Edit The Riverhounds an American professional soccer team were founded in 1998 Like the major league teams in the city the Riverhounds wear black and gold kits The club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship the second tier of the American soccer pyramid The Riverhounds play their home games at Highmark Stadium a soccer specific stadium located in Station Square Golf Edit See also List of people from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area Golf Golf has deep roots in the area The oldest U S course in continuous use Foxburg Country Club dating from 1887 calls the region home citation needed Suburban Oakmont Country Club holds the record for most times as host for the U S Open 8 citation needed U S Women s Open 2 PGA Championships 3 and U S Amateurs 8 have also called Oakmont home Golf legends Arnold Palmer Jim Furyk and Rocco Mediate learned the game and began their careers on Pittsburgh area courses 197 Suburban courses such as Laurel Valley Golf Club and the Fox Chapel Golf Club have hosted PGA Championships 1937 1965 the Ryder Cup 1975 LPGA Championships 1957 58 Senior Players Championships 2012 14 and the Senior PGA Championship 2005 Local courses have sponsored annual major tournaments for 40 years Pennsylvania Open Championship 1920 1940 even years Dapper Dan Open 1939 1949 Pittsburgh Open LPGA Tour 1956 Pittsburgh Senior Classic 1993 1998 84 Lumber Classic 2001 2006 Mylan Classic 2010 2013 Professional wrestling Edit Many notable professional wrestlers and promoters have hailed from the city or started their careers in Pittsburgh including Bruno Sammartino Kurt Angle Shane Douglas Corey Graves Dominic DeNucci Elias Britt Baker and many more The Fineview section of Pittsburgh served as the base of the televised show Studio Wrestling during the 1960s citation needed The Keystone State Wrestling Alliance KSWA is a professional wrestling promotion which was founded in Pittsburgh in 2000 It is the only promotion based in Pittsburgh It operates in the city s Lawrenceville neighborhood The KSWA performs Monthly on Saturdays at its main venue on 51st Street Annual sporting events Edit Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Pittsburgh hosts several annual major sporting events initiated in the late 20th century including the Three Rivers Regatta since 1977 Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix since 1983 Dirty Dozen Cycle Race since 1983 Pittsburgh Marathon since 1985 Great Race 10K since 1985 Head of the Ohio Regatta since 1987 The city s vibrant rivers have attracted annual world title fishing competitions of the Forrest Wood Cup in 2009 and the Bassmaster Classic in 2005 Annual events continue during the winter months at area ski resorts such as Boyce Park Seven Springs Hidden Valley Resort Laurel Mountain and Wisp Ice skating rinks are enjoyed at PPG Place and North Park Government and politics EditGovernment Edit Main article Government of Pittsburgh The Pittsburgh City County Building the seat of government of the City of Pittsburgh The Government of Pittsburgh is composed of the Mayor of Pittsburgh the Pittsburgh City Council and various boards and commissions The mayor and the nine member council each serve four year terms Since the 1950s the Mayor s Chief of Staff has assumed a large role in advising long term planning and as a gatekeeper to the mayor City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts The government s official offices are in the Pittsburgh City County Building The Pennsylvania Supreme Court holds sessions in Pittsburgh as well as Harrisburg and Philadelphia Pittsburgh is represented in the Pennsylvania General Assembly by three Senate Districts and nine House Districts Federally Pittsburgh is part of Pennsylvania s 18th congressional district Politics Edit 2020 Presidential Election by Precinct Biden 40 50 50 60 60 70 70 80 80 90 90 100 Trump 50 60 60 70 See also Allegheny County Pennsylvania Politics In 2006 Council President Luke Ravenstahl was sworn in as mayor at age 26 becoming the youngest mayor in the history of any major American city His successor Bill Peduto was sworn in on January 6 2014 In November 2021 Pittsburgh elected its first African American mayor Ed Gainey Prior to the American Civil War Pittsburgh was strongly abolitionist It is considered the birthplace of the national Republican Party 198 as the party held its first convention here in February 1856 From the Civil War to the 1930s Pittsburgh was a Republican stronghold The effects of the Great Depression combined with entrenched local GOP scandals resulted in a shift among voters to the Democratic Party With the exceptions of the 1973 and 1977 elections where lifelong Democrats ran off the party ticket Democrats have been elected consecutively to the mayor s office since the 1933 election The city s ratio of party registration is 5 to 1 Democrat 199 Pittsburgh is represented in the Pennsylvania General Assembly by three Senate Districts Lindsey Williams D 38 Wayne D Fontana D 42 and Jay Costa D 43 and nine House Districts Aerion Abney 19 Adam Ravenstahl 20 Sara Innamorato 21 Dan Frankel 23 Martell Covington 24 Dan Deasy 27 Summer Lee 34 and Harry Readshaw 36 Dan Miller 42 Federally Pittsburgh is part of Pennsylvania s 12th congressional district represented by Democrat Summer Lee since 2023 Law enforcement Edit A Ford Taurus and a Chevrolet Impala belonging to the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police The area s largest law enforcement agency is the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police with close to 850 sworn officers The city also has separate housing and school police departments Other agencies also provide police protection within the city because of overlapping jurisdictional boundaries The Allegheny County Sheriff focuses on jail and courthouse security The Allegheny County Police primarily patrols county owned parks and airports while providing detective investigatory functions for smaller suburbs and the Port Authority police patrols rapid transit Pennsylvania State Police Troop B provides patrols for the city and immediate suburbs The county s lead law enforcement officer is Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala while the Allegheny County Medical Examiner heads forensics Crimes of a federal nature are covered by the U S Attorney for Western Pennsylvania Crime Edit Pittsburgh annually ranks as one of America s safest big cities in 2013 being named the 3rd most secure big city by Farmers Insurance 200 Among crime rates of the 60 largest U S cities 43 had more instances of property crime while 16 had less when compared to Pittsburgh More instances of violent crime were reported in 21 of the largest cities while 37 had less The FBI recommends against using data for ranking 201 202 Per 100 000 persons stats 2012 Murder Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft Motor Vehicle Total Violent Total PropertyCity 13 1 15 1 363 3 360 4 812 8 2 438 2 174 3 752 0 3 425 4At the end of 2019 the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police reported 37 murders in the city that year 203 Education EditSee also List of colleges and universities in Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh is home to many colleges universities and research facilities the most well known of which are Carnegie Mellon University the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University Also in the city are Carlow University Chatham University Point Park University the Community College of Allegheny County Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science The campuses of Carlow Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh are near each other in the Oakland neighborhood that is the city s traditional cultural center Carnegie Mellon University CMU is a private research university founded by Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon 204 CMU contains the School of Computer Science College of Engineering School of Business Heinz College College of Fine Arts writing Social and Decision Sciences information systems statistics and psychology programs The University of Pittsburgh established in 1787 and popularly referred to as Pitt is a state related school with one of the nation s largest research programs 14 Pitt is known for the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences Swanson School of Engineering University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration University of Pittsburgh School of Law University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work and other biomedical and health related sciences 204 205 206 207 208 Carlow University is a small private Catholic university that while coeducational has traditionally educated women Chatham University a liberal arts college that was founded as a woman s college but became fully coeducational in 2015 209 is in the Shadyside neighborhood but also maintains a 388 acre 157 ha Eden Hall Farm campus in the North Hills Duquesne University a private Catholic university in the Bluff neighborhood and is noted for its song and dance troupe the Duquesne University Tamburitzans as well as programs in law business and pharmacy Point Park University was founded in 1961 and is well known for its Conservatory of Performing Arts and its Pittsburgh Playhouse Pittsburgh Public Schools teachers are paid well relative to their peers ranking 17th in 2000 among the 100 largest cities by population for the highest minimum salary In 2018 the starting teacher salary offered to teachers with a BA was 46 920 The maximum annual salary for a teacher with a master s degree was 95 254 210 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 Barack Obama Academy of International Studies 6 12 Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts 6 12 Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children and the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf Private schools in Pittsburgh include Bishop Canevin High School Central Catholic High School Oakland Catholic High School Winchester Thurston School St Edmund s Academy Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh Yeshiva Schools and The Ellis School Shady Side Academy maintains a PK 5 primary school campus in the Point Breeze neighborhood in addition to its 6 12 middle and upper school campuses in nearby suburban Fox Chapel Other private institutions outside of Pittsburgh s limits include North Catholic High School and Seton La Salle Catholic High School The city also 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 211 Media EditMain articles Media in Pittsburgh List of films shot in Pittsburgh and List of television shows shot in Pittsburgh Newspapers Edit KDKA AM studios at Gateway Center There are two major daily newspapers in Pittsburgh the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review online only no longer in print for Pittsburgh Area Weekly papers in the region include the Pittsburgh Business Times Pittsburgh City Paper Pittsburgh Catholic Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle The New People and the New Pittsburgh Courier Independent student written university based newspapers include The Pitt News of the University of Pittsburgh The Tartan of Carnegie Mellon University The Duquesne Duke of Duquesne University and The Globe of Point Park University The University of Pittsburgh School of Law is also home to JURIST the world s only university based legal news service 212 Television Edit 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 213 The major network television affiliates are KDKA TV 2 CBS WTAE 4 ABC WPXI 11 NBC WPGH TV 53 Fox WPCW 19 The CW WINP TV 16 Ion WPNT 22 MyNetworkTV and WPCB 40 Cornerstone KDKA TV WINP TV and WPCB are network owned and operated stations 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 214 Radio Edit There is a wide variety of radio stations serving the Pittsburgh market The first was KDKA 1020 AM also the world s first commercially licensed radio station airing on November 2 1920 215 Other stations include KQV 1410 AM news WBGG 970 AM sports KDKA FM 93 7 FM sports WKST FM 96 1 FM Top 40 WAMO AM 660 AM and 107 3 FM urban contemporary WBZZ 100 7 FM adult contemporary WDVE 102 5 FM album rock WPGB 104 7 FM Country and WXDX 105 9 FM modern rock There are also three public radio stations in the area including WESA 90 5 FM National Public Radio affiliate WQED 89 3 FM classical and WYEP 91 3 FM adult alternative Three non commercial stations are run by Carnegie Mellon University WRCT 88 3 FM the University of Pittsburgh WPTS 92 1 FM and Point Park University WPPJ 670 AM Film Edit Pittsburgh s 116 year old film industry accelerated after the 2006 passage of the Pennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit 216 According to the Pittsburgh Film Office over 124 major motion pictures have been filmed in whole or in part in Pittsburgh including The Mothman Prophecies Wonder Boys 217 Dogma 217 Hoffa The Silence of the Lambs 217 Sudden Death Flashdance 217 Southpaw Striking Distance Mrs Soffel Jack Reacher Inspector Gadget The Next Three Days The Perks of Being a Wallflower 217 Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Fences 217 218 Pittsburgh became Gotham City in 2011 during filming of The Dark Knight Rises 136 George A Romero shot nearly all his films in the area including his Living Dead series citation needed Utilities EditFurther information Allegheny County Sanitary Authority The city is served by Duquesne Light one of the original 1912 power companies founded by George Westinghouse 219 Water service is provided by the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority 220 and Pennsylvania American Water Natural gas is provided by Equitable Gas Columbia Gas Dominion Resources Direct Energy and Novec 221 Health care EditSee also List of hospitals in Pittsburgh UPMC s flagship UPMC Presbyterian Allegheny General the flagship of the Allegheny Health Network The two largest area health care providers are the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center UPMC since 1893 and Allegheny Health Network since 1882 Both hospitals annually rank as among the best overall in the United States with UPMC being among when U S News amp World Report s Honor Roll every year since 2000 citation needed The first military hospital in U S history and the first west of the Atlantic Plain General Edward Hand Hospital served the area from 1777 to 1845 222 Since 1847 Pittsburgh has hosted the world s first Mercy Hospital 223 This was followed by West Penn hospital in 1848 Passavant Hospital in 1849 31 the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1883 Children s Hospital in 1887 and Magee Womens Hospital in 1911 In 1954 Allegheny General AGH was among the first to administer Cobalt therapy 224 In 1980 UPMC announced a 250 million 933 million today expansion and also hired transplant pioneer Dr Thomas Starzl 225 In 1984 Allegheny General surgeons pioneered modern brain surgery Dr Starzl arranged the 1985 liver transplant of 5 year old Amie Garrison as a UPMC surgery team flew to Baylor University starting its transplant program 226 Also in 1985 UPMC surgeons Drs Griffith Hardesty and Trento revealed a new device after a heart lung transplant In 1986 UPMC announced a 230 million 569 million today modernization In 1996 UPMC s planned Sicily ISMETT branch was approved by the Italian government as transplant surgeons to supervise and deliver the world s third both earlier ones done at UPMC and first public cross species marrow transplant at University of California San Francisco 227 UPMC s Thomas Detre founded the International Society for Bipolar Disorders at a world medical conference in Pittsburgh in 1999 228 The 80 million 126 million today UPMC Sports Performance Complex for the Pittsburgh Panthers amp Pittsburgh Steelers opened in 2000 In 2002 AGH opened its 30 million 45 9 million today 5 floor 100 000 sq ft cancer center The 130 million 196 million today 350 000 sq ft Hillman Cancer Center opened in 2003 as UPMC entered into an 8 year 420 million 603 million today agreement with IBM to upgrade medical technologies amp health information systems citation needed In 2009 the 600 million 755 million today UPMC Children s Hospital of Pittsburgh opened The campus was featured in world news in 2012 for several unique approaches to patient care 229 UPMC officially adopted in Erie Pennsylvania s Hamot Medical Center in 2010 The Pittsburgh Penguins announced a state of the art training facility with UPMC in 2012 230 UPMC announced in 2013 it had partnered with Nazarbayev University to help found its medical school 231 Health discoveries Edit While he was a professor at the University of Pittsburgh American virologist Jonas Salk developed one of the first successful polio vaccines which came into use in 1955 UPMC has pioneered several world firsts including the first known cystic fibrosis heart lung transplant 1983 the world s first simultaneous liver and heart transplant operation on a child 6 year old Stormie Jones in 1984 the youngest heart lung transplant 9 years old in 1985 the world s first heart liver kidney transplant 1989 the world s first heart liver transplant on an infant 1997 232 the first pediatric heart double lung liver transplant 1998 the nation s first double hand transplant 2009 and the first total forearm and hand transplant 2010 as well as the state s first heart transplant 1968 233 234 The Lancet published a 2012 UPMC study of two 9 year quadriplegics being able to move a robotic arm by thought to pick up objects shake hands and even eat Wiring the brain around spine damage to restore arm and leg muscle function was successful using robotic arms controlled via an embedded computer to translate signals near a small group of neurons with 200 needles 235 Transportation EditMain article Transportation in Pittsburgh Pittsburgh s numerous bridges visible from the air Pittsburgh is a city of bridges With 446 236 it has three bridges more than Venice Italy which has historically held the title City of Bridges 237 Around 40 bridges cross the three rivers near the city The Smithfield Street Bridge was the world s first lenticular truss bridge The city s Three Sisters Bridges offer a picturesque view of the city from the North The south western entrance to Downtown for travelers coming in from Interstate 79 and the Pittsburgh International Airport is through the Fort Pitt Tunnel and over the Fort Pitt Bridge The Fort Duquesne Bridge carrying Interstate 279 is the main gateway from Downtown to both PNC Park Acrisure Stadium and the Rivers Casino The Panhandle Bridge carries the Port Authority s Blue Red Silver subway lines across the Monongahela River The renovated J amp L Steel Company bridge has been a key traffic running biking trail conduit connecting the Southside Works and Pittsburgh Technology Center Over 2 000 bridges span the landscape of Allegheny County 238 Public transportation statistics Edit The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Pittsburgh for example to and from work on a weekday is 73 min 23 of public transit riders ride for more than 2 hours every day The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 17 minutes while 33 of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 3 9 mi 6 3 km while 11 travel for over 7 5 mi 12 km in a single direction 239 Expressways and highways Edit Expressways Other Highways Parkway North US 19 PA 88 Parkway East amp West TruckUS 19 PA 121 Crosstown PA 8 PA 130 Allegheny Valley Expressway PA 50 PA 380 Ohio River Boulevard PA 51 PA 837 PA 60 PA 885 I 279 Locals refer to the interstates fanning out from downtown Pittsburgh as the parkways Interstate 376 is both the parkway east connecting to Interstate 76 Pennsylvania Turnpike and the parkway west connecting to Interstate 79 the Pittsburgh International Airport the Ohio end of the Turnpike and Interstate 80 The parkway north is Interstate 279 connecting to I 79 The crosstown is Interstate 579 allowing access to the heart of downtown the Liberty Tunnels and the PPG Paints Arena The 45 mile long and 70 mile long expressway sections of Pennsylvania Route 28 and U S Route 22 also carry traffic from downtown to the northeast and western suburbs respectively Interstate 70 79 and 76 the Turnpike roughly form a triangular shaped beltway with Interstate 68 and 80 within the media market s northern and southern limits Turnpike spurs such as the Mon Fayette Expressway Pennsylvania Route 576 and Route 66 also help traffic flow The non expressway Pittsburgh Allegheny County Belt System serves navigation in the region Airports Edit Main article Pittsburgh metropolitan area Airports Pittsburgh International Airport provides commercial passenger service from over 15 airlines to the Pittsburgh metropolitan area Arnold Palmer Regional Airport also provides limited commercial passenger service and is 44 miles 71 km east of Pittsburgh Other airports with scheduled commercial service include Morgantown Municipal Airport 79 miles 127 km south of Pittsburgh Youngstown Warren Regional Airport 81 miles 130 km northwest of Pittsburgh Akron Canton Airport 120 miles 190 km northwest of Pittsburgh and Erie International Airport 123 miles 198 km north of Pittsburgh Intercity passenger rail and bus Edit Main articles Union Station Pittsburgh and Grant Street Transportation Center Amtrak provides intercity rail service to Pittsburgh Union Station via the Capitol Limited between Chicago and Washington D C and the Pennsylvanian to New York City Megabus Greyhound Lines and Fullington Trailways connect Pittsburgh with distant cities by bus Greyhound and Fullington Trailways buses stop at the Grant Street Transportation Center intercity bus terminal Popular destinations include Philadelphia New York City and Washington D C 240 Until declines in passenger travel in the 1950s and 1960s several stations served Pittsburgh Baltimore amp Ohio Station Pittsburgh amp Lake Erie Railroad Station Wabash Pittsburgh Terminal and Pittsburgh Union Station Regional mass transit Edit Main articles Pittsburgh Light Rail and Port Authority of Allegheny County Bus rapid transit Steel Plaza subway station Pittsburgh Regional Transit formerly known as the Port Authority of Allegheny County is the region s mass transit system While serving only a portion of the Pittsburgh area the nation s 20th largest metro area it is the 11th largest transit agency in the United States 241 Pittsburgh Regional Transit runs a network of intracity and intercity bus routes the Monongahela Incline Funicular railway more commonly known as an incline 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 242 The Duquesne Incline is operated by a non profit preservation trust 243 but accepts Pittsburgh Regional Transit passes and charges PRT fares The Bus System lines are labeled by number and letter These are the largest portion of Pittsburgh Regional Transit and serve on streets and designated busways Buses serve most of the county extending as far as Pittsburgh International Airport Monroeville McCandless and the borders of Westmoreland County and Beaver County Pennsylvania Meanwhile the light rail system commonly known as the T runs along both new tracks and those refurbished from the streetcar era The light rail runs from Acrisure Stadium to South Hills Village and Library taking commuters through one of two routes one which serves Castle Shannon Mt Lebanon and Beechview and the other is an express line using railways through Overbrook Freight rail Edit Penn Station was built in 1903 Pittsburgh s rail industry dates to 1851 when the Pennsylvania Railroad first opened service between the city and Philadelphia the Baltimore amp Ohio Railroad entered the city in 1871 In 1865 Andrew Carnegie opened the Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works which manufactured for the industry until 1919 Carnegie also founded the Union Railroad in 1894 for heavy freight services and it still serves the area s steel industry while George Westinghouse s Wabtec has been a leader in rail engines and switching since 1869 Pittsburgh is home to one of Norfolk Southern Railway s busiest freight corridors the Pittsburgh Line and operates up to 70 trains per day through the city The suburban Conway Rail Yard originally built in 1889 was the largest freight rail center in the world from 1956 until 1980 and is today the nation s second largest CSX the other major freight railroad in the eastern U S also has major operations around Pittsburgh Port Edit The Port of Pittsburgh ranks as the 20th largest port in the United States with almost 34 million short tons of river cargo for 2011 the port ranked 9th largest in the U S when measured in domestic trade 244 Notable people EditMain article List of people from PittsburghSister cities EditPittsburgh s sister cities are 245 Bilbao Spain Da Nang Vietnam Fernando de la Mora Paraguay Gaziantep Turkey Glasgow Scotland Karmiel Israel Matanzas Cuba Misgav Israel Naucalpan Mexico Ostrava Czech Republic Presov Slovakia Saarbrucken Germany Saitama Japan San Isidro Nicaragua Sheffield England f Skopje North Macedonia Sofia Bulgaria Wuhan China Zagreb CroatiaSee also EditGreater Pittsburgh Region List of fiction set in Pittsburgh List of municipalities in Pennsylvania List of people from PittsburghPortals Pennsylvania Geography North America United StatesExplanatory notes Edit The neighborhoods are Arlington Heights Bluff Brighton Heights Crafton Heights Duquesne Heights East Hills Fineview Highland Park Middle Hill Mount Oliver Mount Washington Northview Heights Perry North also known as Observatory Hill Perry South also known as Perry Hilltop Polish Hill Ridgemont South Side Slopes Spring Hill City View Squirrel Hill Stanton Heights Summer Hill Troy Hill and Upper Hill The warmest daily minimum at the current observation location Pittsburgh Int l is only 77 F 25 C on July 23 2010 and July 16 1980 78 Mean monthly maxima and minima i e the highest and lowest temperature readings during an entire month or year calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020 Records kept January 1871 to June 1935 at the Weather Bureau Office across the Allegheny River from downtown at Allegheny County Airport from July 1935 to 14 September 1952 and at Pittsburgh Int l KPIT since 15 September 1952 Due to its river valley and urban location as well as elevation many of the summertime warm minima temperature records set at the WBO have not even come close to being matched at KPIT which is at elevation and located in the western suburbs For more information see Threadex The Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football League and the Pittsburgh Passion of the Independent Women s Football League IWFL use these colors as well Pittsburgh and Sheffield are both known as Steel City for their connections with the steel industry References Edit ArcGIS REST Services Directory United States Census Bureau Retrieved October 16 2022 a b Census Population API United States Census Bureau Retrieved October 12 2022 2020 Population and Housing State Data United States Census Bureau Retrieved November 14 2021 Approved Markers Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Retrieved December 26 2018 Pittsburgh Encyclopaedia Britannica Pittsburgh s heart of steel still beats amid transformed city USA Today David J Lynch September 22 2009 Just How Many Bridges Are There In Pittsburgh September 13 2006 Bridges Of Pittsburgh As Varied As The City Chicago Tribune October 18 1987 Pittsburgh has Plenty of Bridges from KDKA TV June 16 2006 Virginia Pennsylvania Boundary from Virginiaplaces org Fortifying Pittsburgh in 1863 from Bivouacbooks com Eyewitness 1949 TV makes Pittsburgh A New Promise Pittsburgh Post Gazette May 16 2010 City Cable TV Viewers Talk Back With QUBE Pittsburgh Press April 14 1982 Cable TV firms battle to win big city contract Pittsburgh Press August 13 1979 History Beauty combined in Glass Country Janet Whritner Sarasota Herald Tribune 7 25 1976 Glass museum would honor Mt Pleasant s productive past Debra Duncan Post Gazette 1 17 2013 Petroleum Pioneers of Pittsburgh Alfred Mann Heinz Center National Park marker Standard Oil Station Oil150 com Timelines Neil amp Lois McElwee History of Arco Oil boom Pittsburgh was nation s 1st petroleum capital Kim Leonard Tribune Review 10 4 2009 Pittsburgh s brands once were talk of the town Kim Leonard Tribune Review 3 20 2005 1st Professional Football Game PA Historic Marker 1st World Series PA Historic Marker 1st U S Olympic hockey team was formed in Pittsburgh PittsburghHockey net Why Super Bowl L should be Pittsburgh s Dejan Kovacevic Tribune Review 2 6 2013 Electronic Computer Rejects Wrong Data Post Gazette 2 8 1956 Last of the Prototype Jeeps built in Butler goes on display Marylin Pitz Post Gazette 4 21 2003 When rivers ruled the city Donald Miller Post Gazette 2 5 1988 1st VW Rolls Off Assembly Line in US Reginald Stuart The New York Times 4 11 1978 West Mifflin plant closes Jon Schmitz Post Gazette 12 13 2008 Pittsburgh takes 3rd Creative Wealth from Carnegie Mellon University August 2 2008 Pittsburgh still 3rd in Fortune list Michael Schroeder Pittsburgh Post Gazette April 19 1983 Rockwell Shifts Headquarters to Calif Len Barcousky Pittsburgh Post Gazette May 25 1988 Bank building short in statue long on style Pittsburgh Tribune Review April 19 2009 Stock Exchange Here Closes Its Doors Douglas Smock Pittsburgh Post Gazette August 24 1974 a b And the Wolf Finally Came The Decline and Fall of the American Steel Industry John P Hoerr University of Pittsburgh Press 1988 ISBN 978 0 8229 5398 2 Innovate or Die Pittsburgh Chose to Innovate Courtney Sanders U S Chamber of Commerce February 12 2014 Pittsburgh s Shaky Economy In Worst Shape Since 1940s Observer Reporter July 9 1982 In desperate 1983 there was nowhere for Pittsburgh s economy to go but up Pittsburgh Post Gazette December 23 2012 East Pittsburgh crunch Pittsburgh Press May 5 1987 1 Pittsburgh Press April 14 1982 Nullspace Pigskin mythos Nullspace2 blogspot December 23 2011 UPMC Clinches Top Ten Spot on U S News amp World Report Honor Roll of America s Best Hospitals UPMC edu July 17 2012 Awards and Recognitions WestPenn Allegheny HealthSystem April 13 2011 a b Ritenbaugh Stephanie May 14 2014 In The Lead Pittsburgh leads with the most bars per person Pittsburgh Post Gazette Archived from the original on May 15 2014 Retrieved May 14 2014 30 Years Pittsburgh moves from heavy industry to medicine tech energy a b Universities Report Highest Ever R amp D Spending of 6 Billion in FY 2011 Ronda Britt InfoBrief National Science Foundation November 2012 Universities and Incubators Pittsburgh Today July 11 2012 Pittsburgh s smart survey says so Debra Erdley Tribune Review June 25 2013 Google Intel and Apple offices in Pittsburgh from CarnegieMellon edu as well as a Pittsburgh Post Gazette feature Eaton Electronics headquarters McKesson Automation headquarters 1 600 tech firms from NPR s December 2010 From Steel to Tech Pittsburgh transforms itself 20 7 billion in technology payrolls from Pittsburgh Tech Council s About us 18 2 billion to local economy from Pittsburgh Business Journal Silicon Valley is dying PS Magazine Federal Cyber Defense from the National Cyber Forensics amp Training Alliance s Contact Us and CERT org s 2011 s About Us Federal Robotics from the National Robotics Engineering Center s History The University of Pittsburgh is amongst the top 20 universities in the country by the amount of federal research funding granted by the NIH and CMU is amongst the top 50 universities in the country by amount of federal research funding granted by the NSF Pittsburgh employment numbers better than similar cities Dec 10 2014 Pittsburgh Post Gazette Growth of jobs locally bucks nationwide trend Joe Napsha Pittsburgh Tribune Review 8 2 2008 Pittsburgh region sees 11th consecutive month of home sales increases Pittsburgh Post Gazette 9 28 2012 Warning Your Reality is Out of Date Samuel Arbesman The Boston Globe 2 28 2010 Pittsburgh Booming Jim Russell Pacific Standard 7 22 2013 Survival Lesson in Pittsburgh Shedding an Industrial Past David Streitfeld The New York Times 1 8 2009 Pittsburgh s new housing boom stays strong Sam Spatter Pittsburgh Tribune Review 3 9 2013 The NLJ 350 The National Law Journal Top 350 firms Zillow Negative Equity Map Zillow com The Metropolis Guide to the Best Cities to Live Work and Play in 2015 Metropolis July 28 2015 Retrieved May 18 2019 Pittsburgh Named One of the Most Livable Cities in the World KDKA TV July 31 2015 Retrieved May 18 2019 A Summary of the Liveability Ranking and Overview August 2014 The Economist August 25 2014 Retrieved May 18 2019 These are the top 10 most liveable cities in America CNBC August 17 2018 Retrieved May 14 2021 a b Built Green Working Green Everyday David L Lawrence Convention Center 2012 Pittsburgh Is Emerald City with Dozens of Energy Efficient Buildings Phil Cynar ImaginePittsburgh com October 20 2012 Growth with a Vision John Conti Tribune Review October 27 2012 Natural gas locked in the Marcellus Shale has companies rushing to cash in on possibilities Elwin Green Post Gazette December 6 2009 Pitt Land leased for oil gas up 322 percent Associated Press via Google News August 16 2010 Chevron to Buy Atlas Energy for 4 3 Billion Thomas Kaplan The New York Times November 9 2010 CONSOL Energy to Acquire Dominion s Appalachian E amp P Business for 3 475 Billion In Cash PR Newswire March 15 2011 a b c How to Spell Pittsburgh Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Archived from the original on October 1 2008 Retrieved September 22 2006 Conradt Stacy October 1 2013 How Pittsburgh Got Its H Back Mental Floss Retrieved May 18 2019 Pittsburgh Facts Pittsburgh Post Gazette 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