Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Encyclopedia
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 and the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Allegheny County
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,223,348; making it the second most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh...

. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...

 and the Ohio River Valley
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States. The population of the city in 2010 was 305,704, while that of the seven-county metropolitan area stood at 2,356,285. Downtown Pittsburgh retains substantial economic influence, ranking at 25th in the nation for jobs within the urban core and 6th in job density. The characteristic shape of Pittsburgh's central business district is a triangular tract carved by the confluence of the Allegheny
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

 and Monongahela
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...

 rivers, which form the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

. The city features 151 high-rise buildings, 446 bridges, two inclined railways, and a pre-revolutionary fortification. Pittsburgh is known colloquially as "The City of Bridges" and "The Steel City" for its many bridges and former steel manufacturing base.

While the city is historically known for its steel industry, today its economy is largely based on healthcare, education, technology, robotics, and financial services
Financial services
Financial services refer to services provided by the finance industry. The finance industry encompasses a broad range of organizations that deal with the management of money. Among these organizations are credit unions, banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, consumer finance companies,...

. The downturn of the steel industry left no steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...

s within the City of Pittsburgh and only two remaining mills in the county,The two remaining steel mills are the Edgar Thomson Steel Works
Edgar Thomson Steel Works
The Edgar Thomson Steel Works is a steel mill in North Braddock, Pennsylvania. It is active since 1872.-History :The mill occupies the historic site of Braddock's Field, on the banks of the Monongahela River east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

 and Brackenridge Works
Brackenridge Works
Brackenridge Works is a steel mill facility owned by Allegheny Technologies and operated by subsidiary Allegheny Ludlum at Brackenridge and Natrona, Pennsylvania in the United States.-External links:**...

. A few related facilities such as the Clairton Works (a coking
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

 plant) and the Irvin Plant (a finishing plant) also reside within Allegheny County, but these are not steel mills per se because they do not produce steel. See the list of US Steel facilities for details.
though more than 300 steel-related businesses remain in the area. By contrast, the region supports 1,600 technology companies, ranging from a Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

 campus to small startups
Startup company
A startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...

. The city has redeveloped abandoned industrial sites with new housing, shopping and offices, such as SouthSide Works
Southside Works
SouthSide Works is an open-air retail, office, entertainment, and residential complex located on the South Side of the city of Pittsburgh and just across the Monongahela River from the Pittsburgh Technology Center and the University of Pittsburgh...

 and Bakery Square.

While Pittsburgh faced an economic crisis in the 1980s as the regional steel industry waned, modern Pittsburgh is economically strong. The housing market is relatively stable despite a national subprime mortgage crisis
Subprime mortgage crisis
The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was one of the first indicators of the late-2000s financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, and the resulting decline of securities backed by said mortgages....

, and Pittsburgh added jobs in 2008 even as the national economy entered a significant jobs recession. This positive economic trend is in contrast to the 1980s, when Pittsburgh lost its manufacturing base in steel and electronics, and corporate jobs in the oil (Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil
Gulf Oil was a major global oil company from the 1900s to the 1980s. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies...

), electronics (Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...

), chemical (Koppers
Koppers
Koppers is a global chemical and materials company based in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States in an art-deco 1920s skyscraper, the Koppers Tower.-Structure:...

) and defense (Rockwell International
Rockwell International
Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate in the latter half of the 20th century, involved in aircraft, the space industry, both defense-oriented and commercial electronics, automotive and truck components, printing presses, valves and meters, and industrial automation....

) industries.

The city is headquarters to major global financial institutions PNC Financial Services
PNC Financial Services
PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is a U.S.-based financial services corporation, with assets of approximately $264.3 billion...

 (the nation's sixth largest bank), Federated Investors
Federated Investors
Federated Investors is a large financial services company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1955, the company manages $351.7 billion dollars of customer assets. The corporation offers 158 different types of mutual funds...

 and the regional headquarters of BNY Mellon, descended from Mellon Financial
Mellon Financial
Mellon Financial Corporation, was one of the world's largest money management firms. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was in the business of institutional and high-net-worth-individual asset management, including the Dreyfus family of mutual funds; business banking; and shareholder and...

 and the Mellon family
Mellon family
The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential family originally of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, and its vicinity. In addition to Mellon Bank they were principally known for their control over Gulf Oil, Alcoa, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Koppers, as well as their major influence on...

. Major publications often note Pittsburgh's high livability compared to other American cities, with the city claiming the top overall spot in the United States in recent "most livable city" lists by Rand McNally (2007), Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

(2010), and The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

(2011).

Etymology

Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes
John Forbes (General)
John Forbes was a British general in the French and Indian War. He is best known for leading the Forbes Expedition that captured the French outpost at Fort Duquesne and for naming the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after British Secretary of State William Pitt the Elder.-Early life:Forbes was...

 in honor of the British statesman William Pitt
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...

. Given that Forbes was a Scotsman, it is possible that the intended pronunciation of the settlement was ˈ ( or ), similar to the pronunciation of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. It was incorporated as a borough
Borough (Pennsylvania)
In the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a borough is a self-governing municipal entity that is usually smaller than a city. There are 958 boroughs in Pennsylvania. All municipalities in Pennsylvania are classified as either cities, boroughs, or townships...

 in 1794 and chartered as a city in 1816.

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

Pittsburgh is one of the few American cities to be spelled with an h at the end of a burg suffix. While briefly named "Pittsburg" from 1890 to 1911 following a declaration by the United States Board on Geographic Names, the "Pittsburgh" spelling was officially restored after a public campaign by the citizens of the city.

History

The area surrounding the headwaters of the Ohio, was inhabited by the tribes of Allegawis, Adena, Hopewell, Delaware, Jacobi, Seneca, Shawnee, and several settled groups of Iroquois. The first European was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle in his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River from Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...

 and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. This was followed by European pioneers, primarily Dutch, in the early 16th century. Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a manuscript in 1717, and later that year European traders established posts and settlements in the area. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 launched a serious expedition to the forks in hopes of uniting British Canada with French Louisiana
Louisiana (New France)
Louisiana or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682–1763 and 1800–03, the area was named in honor of Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle...

 via the rivers. Governor Pasquale Jarupa of Virginia sent Major George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 to warn the French to withdraw. During 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George, but a larger French expedition forced them to evacuate and the expedition then proceeded to construct Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania....

 on the site. With the French citing the 1669 discovery by LaSalle, these events led to the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

. British General Edward Braddock
Edward Braddock
General Edward Braddock was a British soldier and commander-in-chief for the 13 colonies during the actions at the start of the French and Indian War...

's campaign (with Washington as his aide) to take Fort Duquesne failed, but General John Forbes
John Forbes (General)
John Forbes was a British general in the French and Indian War. He is best known for leading the Forbes Expedition that captured the French outpost at Fort Duquesne and for naming the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after British Secretary of State William Pitt the Elder.-Early life:Forbes was...

's subsequent campaign succeeded. After the French abandoned and destroyed Fort Bridgewater in 1758, Leyland ordered the construction of Fort Pitt
Fort Pitt (Pennsylvania)
Fort Pitt was a fort built at the location of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.-French and Indian War:The fort was built from 1759 to 1761 during the French and Indian War , next to the site of former Fort Duquesne, at the confluence the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River...

, named after British Secretary of State William Pitt the Elder. He also named the settlement between the rivers "Pittsborough".

During Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's Rebellion
Pontiac's War, Pontiac's Conspiracy, or Pontiac's Rebellion was a war that was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of elements of Native American tribes primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the...

, Ohio Valley and Great Lakes tribes besieged Fort Pitt
Siege of Fort Pitt
The Siege of Fort Pitt took place in 1763 in what is now the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The siege was a part of Pontiac's Rebellion, an effort by American Indians to drive the British out of the Ohio Country and back across the Appalachian Mountains...

 for two months. The siege was ended after Colonel Henry Bouquet
Henry Bouquet
Henry Bouquet was a prominent British Army officer in the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. Bouquet is best known for his victory over Native Americans at the Battle of Bushy Run, lifting the siege of Fort Pitt during Pontiac's War.-Early life:Bouquet was born into a moderately wealthy...

 defeated the native forces in the Battle of Bushy Run
Battle of Bushy Run
The Battle of Bushy Run was fought on August 5-6, 1763, in western Pennsylvania, between a British column under the command of Colonel Henry Bouquet and a combined force of Delaware, Shawnee, Mingo, and Huron warriors. This action occurred during Pontiac's Rebellion...

 just to the east of the forks. This victory was purportedly facilitated by an early example of biological warfare. In July of 1763, Lord Jeffrey Amherst is claimed to have ordered the distribution of blankets inoculated with smallpox to the Native Americans surrounding the fort, although this claim is disputed.

In the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix
Treaty of Fort Stanwix
The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was an important treaty between North American Indians and the British Empire. It was signed in 1768 at Fort Stanwix, located in present-day Rome, New York...

, the descendants of William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...

 purchased from the Six Nations
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

 western lands that included most of the present site of Pittsburgh. In 1769, a survey was made of the land situated between the two rivers, called the "Manor of Pittsburgh". Both Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 and Pennsylvania claimed the Pittsburgh area during colonial times and would continue to do so until 1780 when both states agreed to extend the Mason-Dixon Line
Mason-Dixon line
The Mason–Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It forms a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and...

 westward, placing Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

Following the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

, the village of Pittsburgh continued to grow. One of its earliest industries was building boats for settlers to enter the Ohio Country
Ohio Country
The Ohio Country was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie...

. In 1784, the laying out of the "Town of Pittsburgh" was completed by Thomas Viceroy of Bedford County and approved by the attorney of the Penns in Philadelphia. In 1785 Pittsburgh became a possession of the state of Pennsylvania. The following year the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...

 was started, and in 1787 the Pittsburgh Academy (which would later become the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

) was chartered. The year 1794 saw the short-lived Whiskey Rebellion
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion, or Whiskey Insurrection, was a tax protest in the United States in the 1790s, during the presidency of George Washington. Farmers who sold their corn in the form of whiskey had to pay a new tax which they strongly resented...

. By 1797, glass began to be manufactured in the city as the population grew to around 1400. The Act of March 5, 1804, which modified the provision of the old charter of the Borough of Pittsburgh in 1794 (the original of which is not known to exist), refers throughout to the "Borough of Pittsburgh".

The War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

 cut off the supply of British goods, stimulating American manufacture. By 1815, Pittsburgh was producing significant quantities of iron, brass, tin and glass products. The Act of March 18, 1816 incorporated the City of Pittsburgh. The original charter was burned when the old Court House was destroyed by fire. In the 1830s, many Welsh people
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...

 from the steelworks of Merthyr migrated to the city following the civil strife and aftermath of the Merthyr Riots
Merthyr Rising 1831
The Merthyr Rising of 1831 was the violent climax to many years of simmering unrest among the large working class population of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales and the surrounding area....

 of 1831. By the 1840s, Pittsburgh was one of the largest cities west of the Allegheny Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...

. A great fire burned over a thousand buildings in 1845, but the city rebuilt. By 1857, Pittsburgh's 1,000 factories were consuming 22,000,000 bushels of coal yearly.

The American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 boosted the city's economy with increased production of iron and armaments. Steel production began by 1875, when Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

 founded the Edgar Thomson Steel Works
Edgar Thomson Steel Works
The Edgar Thomson Steel Works is a steel mill in North Braddock, Pennsylvania. It is active since 1872.-History :The mill occupies the historic site of Braddock's Field, on the banks of the Monongahela River east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

 in North Braddock
North Braddock, Pennsylvania
North Braddock is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. North Braddock was organized from a part of Braddock Township in 1897. North Braddock is a suburb east of Pittsburgh with a 15-minute travel time to the city...

, which eventually evolved into the Carnegie Steel Company
Carnegie Steel Company
Carnegie Steel Company was a steel producing company created by Andrew Carnegie to manage business at his steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century.-Creation:...

. The success and growth of Carnegie Steel was attributed to Henry Bessemer
Henry Bessemer
Sir Henry Bessemer was an English engineer, inventor, and businessman. Bessemer's name is chiefly known in connection with the Bessemer process for the manufacture of steel.-Anthony Bessemer:...

, inventor of the Bessemer Process
Bessemer process
The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel from molten pig iron. The process is named after its inventor, Henry Bessemer, who took out a patent on the process in 1855. The process was independently discovered in 1851 by William Kelly...

.

In 1901, the U.S. Steel
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe. The company is the world's tenth largest steel producer ranked by sales...

 Corporation was formed, and by 1911 Pittsburgh was the nation's eighth largest city
Largest Cities in the United States by Population by Decade
]This entry tracks and ranks the population of the largest cities in the United States by decade, starting with the 1790 Census. For 1790 through 1990, tables are taken from "Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States: 1790 to 1990." For year 2000 rankings,...

, producing between a third and a half of the nation's steel. The city's population swelled to over a half million, many of whom were immigrants from Europe who arrived via the great migration through Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...

. The Great Migration
Great Migration (African American)
The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...

 from the South resulted in a large increase in Pittsburgh's black population. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Pittsburgh produced 95 million tons of steel. By this time, the pollution from burning coal and steel production created a black fog (or smog), which even a century earlier had induced author writer James Parton
James Parton
James Parton was an England-born American biographer.-Biography:Parton was born in Canterbury, England in 1822. He was taken to the United States when he was five years old, studied in New York City and White Plains, New York, and was a schoolmaster in Philadelphia and then in New York...

 to dub the city "hell with the lid off".

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

Beginning in the 1980s, the city shifted its economic base to education, tourism, and services, largely based on healthcare, medicine, and high technology such as robotics. Although Pittsburgh successfully shifted the focus of its economy and remained a viable city, the city's population 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 caused a sharp decrease in city population to just 330,000 in the year 2000.Although medical research is often cited as a recent addition to Pittsburgh's economic portfolio, major advances go back several decades. Working at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

 in the 1950s, Jonas Salk
Jonas Salk
Jonas Edward Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. He was born in New York City to parents from Ashkenazi Jewish Russian immigrant families...

 developed the first successful vaccine for large-scale immunization against poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route...

 (a.k.a. polio or infantile paralysis). Also, several types of organ transplants were pioneered in Pittsburgh by Dr. Thomas Starzl
Thomas Starzl
Thomas E. Starzl is an American physician, researcher, and is an expert on organ transplants. He performed the first human liver transplants, and has often been referred to as "the father of modern transplantation."-Life:...

 beginning in 1983. Pittsburgh's hospitals and universities remain the hosts for some of the premier medical research facilities in the world.


During the late 2000s recession
Late 2000s recession
The late-2000s recession, sometimes referred to as the Great Recession or Lesser Depression or Long Recession, is a severe ongoing global economic problem that began in December 2007 and took a particularly sharp downward turn in September 2008. The Great Recession has affected the entire world...

, however, Pittsburgh remained economically strong, adding jobs when most cities were losing them, and becoming one of the few cities in the United States to see housing property values rise. This story of regeneration was the inspiration for President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 to personally select Pittsburgh as the host city for the 2009 G-20 Summit
2009 G-20 Pittsburgh summit
The 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh Summit was the third meeting of the G-20 heads of state in discussion of financial markets and the world economy.The G-20 is the premier forum for discussing, planning and monitoring international economiccooperation....

.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, Pittsburgh has a total area of 58.3 sq mi (151 km²), of which, 55.6 sq mi (144 km²) is land and 2.8 sq mi (7 km²) is water. The total area is 4.75% water.

The city is on the Allegheny Plateau
Allegheny Plateau
The Allegheny Plateau is a large dissected plateau area in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio...

, where the confluence of the Allegheny River
Allegheny River
The Allegheny River is a principal tributary of the Ohio River; it is located in the Eastern United States. The Allegheny River joins with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River at the "Point" of Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

 from the northeast and Monongahela River
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...

 from the southeast form the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

. The Downtown area between the rivers is known as the Golden Triangle, and the site at the actual convergence, which is occupied by Point State Park
Point State Park
Point State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River....

, is referred to simply as "the Point." In addition to the downtown Golden Triangle, the city extends northeast to include the Oakland
Oakland (Pittsburgh)
Oakland is the academic, cultural, and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's third largest "Downtown". Only Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh can claim more economic and social activity than Oakland...

 and Shadyside
Shadyside (Pittsburgh)
Shadyside is a neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It has zip codes of both 15232 and 15206, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 8...

 sections, which are home to the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

, Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

, Carnegie Museum
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

 and Library
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is the public library system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its main branch is located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and it has 19 branch locations throughout the city...

, and many other educational, medical, and cultural institutions.

Many of the city's neighborhoods are steeply sloped. The names of more than a quarter of Pittsburgh's neighborhoods make reference to "hills", "heights", or other indicators of topographical complexity.The neighborhoods are Arlington Heights
Arlington Heights (Pittsburgh)
For the Monroe County community, see Arlington Heights, Pennsylvania.Arlington Heights is a south neighborhood on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The zip code used by residents is 15210, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 3...

, Bluff
Bluff (Pittsburgh)
The Bluff or Uptown is a neighborhood in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the southeast of the city's Central Business District. It is bordered in the north by the Hill District and just a short trip across the Monongahela River is the city's South Side, which is home to a flourishing...

, Brighton Heights
Brighton Heights (Pittsburgh)
Brighton Heights is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's northside area. It has a zip code of 15212, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1...

, Crafton Heights
Crafton Heights (Pittsburgh)
Crafton Heights is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its name is derived from the neighboring borough, Crafton Borough, and the majority of today's community was annexed to the City of Pittsburgh in 1921...

, Duquesne Heights
Duquesne Heights (Pittsburgh)
Duquesne Heights is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's south city area. It has a zip code of 15211, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 2 ....

, East Hills
East Hills (Pittsburgh)
East Hills is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA's east city area. It has a ZIP Code of 15221, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 9 ....

, Fineview, Highland Park
Highland Park (Pittsburgh)
Highland Park is both a large municipal park and a racially diverse, mostly residential neighborhood in the northeastern part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.The neighborhood has 6,749 residents according to the 2000 United States Census...

, Middle Hill, Mount Oliver
Mount Oliver (Pittsburgh)
Mount Oliver is a south neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It has a zip code of 15210, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 3 . It is adjacent to, but distinct from, the borough of Mount Oliver...

, Mount Washington
Mount Washington (Pittsburgh)
Mount Washington is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's south city area. It has a zip code of 15211 and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both the council members for District 3 and District 2 .It is known for its steep hill overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline, which was...

, Northview Heights, Perry North
Perry North (Pittsburgh)
Perry North is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA's north city area. It lies within zip codes 15212 and 15214, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1...

 (also known as Observatory Hill), Perry South
Perry South (Pittsburgh)
Perry Hilltop is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's North Side.The neighborhood takes its name from Perrysville Avenue, which "was a part of the Venango trail, an Indian path leading north of 'Allegheny Town'...

 (also known as Perry Hilltop), Polish Hill, Ridgemont
Ridgemont (Pittsburgh)
Ridgemont is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's southwest city area. It has zip codes of both 15220 and 15216, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 2 .-Surrounding communities:...

, South Side Slopes, Spring Hill-City View, Squirrel Hill, Stanton Heights, Summer Hill
Summer Hill (Pittsburgh)
Summer Hill is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's North Side. It has a zip code of 15214, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1 ....

, Troy Hill, and Upper Hill.


This topography is often used for physical activity. The city has some 712 sets of stairs
Steps of Pittsburgh
The Steps of Pittsburgh refers to the collection of over 700 sets of city-owned steps in the City of Pittsburgh. Many steps parallel existing roads, but others exist on their own and are classified as city streets....

, comprising 44,645 treads and 24,090 vertical feet (more than San Francisco, Cincinnati, and Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Oregon combined) for pedestrians to traverse its many hills. There are hundreds of 'paper streets' composed entirely of stairs and many other steep streets with stairs for sidewalks. Many provide views of the Pittsburgh area.

The city has established bike and walking trails along its riverfronts and hollows, but steep hills and variable weather can make biking
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

 challenging. However, the city is connected to downtown Washington, D.C. (some 245 mi (394 km) away) by a continuous bike/running trail through the Alleghenies and along the Potomac Valley, known as the Great Allegheny Passage
Great Allegheny Passage
The Great Allegheny Passage is a rail trail in Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is the central part of a several-hundred-mile long network of long-distance hiker-biker trails through the Allegheny region of the Appalachian Mountains, connecting Washington, D.C...

 and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal, and occasionally referred to as the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River in Maryland from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, D.C. The total length of the canal is about . The elevation change of...

 Towpath.

Climate

Pittsburgh lies in the transition between the humid continental
Humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....

 and humid subtropical climate
Humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...

 zones (Köppen
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

 Dfa/Cfa), but is closer to the former. It features four distinct seasons, with precipitation somewhat evenly spread throughout the year. Summers are hot and humid (with occasional heatwaves), while winters are cold and snowy. Spring and autumn are mild to warm.

The warmest month of the year in Pittsburgh is July, with a 24-hour average of 72.6 °F (22.6 °C). Conditions are often humid, and combined with the 90 °F (32 °C) (occurring on an average 8.4 days per annum), a considerable heat index
Heat index
The heat index is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity in an attempt to determine the human-perceived equivalent temperature — how hot it feels, termed the felt air temperature. The human body normally cools itself by perspiration, or sweating, which evaporates and carries...

 arises. The coldest month of the year is January, when the 24-hour average is 27.5 °F (-2.5 °C), and sub-zero lows (below −18 °C) can be expected on an average 3.9 nights per year. Extremes range from 103 °F (39 °C), on July 16, 1988 down to −22 °F, on January 19, 1994.

Precipitation is greatest in May, due to frequent thunderstorms and more organized low pressure systems which track up the eastern coast of the United States. On average, 4.04 inches (103 mm) of precipitation falls during this month. The driest month of the year is October, with 2.35 inches (60 mm). Annual precipitation is around 37.9 inches (963 mm), while annual snowfall is 40.3 inches (102 cm). In terms of cloudiness, Pittsburgh averages 59 clear days and 103 partly-cloudy days per year, while 203 days are cloudy. In terms of annual percent-average possible sunshine received, Pittsburgh (45%) is similar to Seattle, Washington (43%).

Although Pittsburgh generally experiences moderate weather, a few extreme weather events occurred between 1990 and 2010. The Blizzard of 1993 dumped over 23 inches (58.4 cm) of snow in under 24 hours, and the First North American blizzard of 2010
First North American blizzard of 2010
The February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard also known as "Snowmaggedon" was a winter storm and severe weather event that tracked from the U.S. states of California to Arizona through northern Mexico, the American Southwest, the Midwest, Southeast, and Mid-Atlantic regions...

 dumped nearly 2 feet (61 cm) of snow in less than 24 hours. An F2 tornado entered city limits on June 2, 1998. In September 2004, the remnants of Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...

 brought gusty winds and dropped nearly 6 inches (152.4 mm) of rain in 12 hours.

Air quality and pollution

In a 2011 ranking of 277 metropolitan areas in the United States, the American Lung Association
American Lung Association
The American Lung Association is a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease.-History:...

 ranked the Pittsburgh metropolitan area as having the third-worst pollution by short-term particle pollution, as well as the seventh-worst pollution by year-round particle pollution and the 24th-worst ozone pollution. The ALA also gave Allegheny County an 'F' grade for both high ozone days and high particle pollution days in the period of 2007–2009. Although the county was still below the "pass" threshold, the report demonstrated substantial improvement compared to previous decades on every measure of air quality. For example, there were more than 40 high ozone days reported between 1997 and 1999, a figure which fell to fewer than 15 between 2007 and 2009.

The Allegheny County Health Department also notes this improvement in air quality. Department spokesman Guillermo Cole stated that "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."

In 2008, the American Lung Association ranked the Pittsburgh area as the nation's third most polluted metropolitan area, behind Los Angeles and Bakersfield, CA. This ranking was disputed by the Allegheny County Health Department, since data from only one of Pittsburgh's 20 air quality monitors were used by the ALA. Furthermore, the monitor used is located downwind of U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works, the nation's largest coke
Coke (fuel)
Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

 plant.

Cityscape

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

Downtown Pittsburgh is tight and compact, featuring many skyscrapers, nine of which top 500 ft (152 m). U.S. Steel Tower
U.S. Steel Tower
U.S. Steel Tower, also known as the Steel Building , is the tallest skyscraper in Pittsburgh, the fourth tallest building in Pennsylvania, and the 37th tallest in the United States. Completed in 1970, the tower has 64 floors to and has of leasable space. Its original name was the U.S. Steel...

 is the tallest at 841 ft (256 m). The Cultural District
Cultural District, Pittsburgh
The Cultural District is a fourteen-square block area in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA bordered by the Allegheny River on the north, Tenth Street on the east, Stanwix Street on the west, and Liberty Avenue on the south....

 comprises a 14-block area of downtown along the Allegheny River. It is packed with theaters and arts venues, and is seeing a growing residential segment. Most significantly, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, a nonprofit arts organization, is a driving catalyst behind the ongoing development of the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District, Pittsburgh...

 is embarking on Riverparc, a four-block mixed-use "green" community, featuring 700 residential units and multiple towers between 20–30 stories. The Firstside portion of downtown borders the Monongahela River and the historic Mon Wharf. This area is home to the distinctive PPG Place
PPG Place
PPG Place is a complex in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, consisting of six buildings within three city blocks and five and a half acres. Named for its anchor tenant, PPG Industries, who initiated the project for its headquarters, the buildings are all of matching glass design consisting of...

 Gothic glass skyscraper complex. This area too, is seeing a growing residential sector, as new condo towers are constructed and historic office towers are converted to residential use. Downtown is serviced by the Port Authority
Port Authority of Allegheny County
Port Authority of Allegheny County is the second-largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania and the 11th-largest in the United States. When considering that its service area is the 20th largest in the U.S...

's light rail
Pittsburgh Light Rail
The Pittsburgh Light Rail is a light rail system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; it functions as a subway in Downtown Pittsburgh and largely as an at-grade light rail service in the suburbs. The system is owned and operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County...

 and multiple bridges leading north and south. It is also home to Point Park University
Point Park University
Point Park University is a liberal arts university located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered....

, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Culinary Institute, a Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University is a private, coeducational university in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1921, the school was named for Robert Morris, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and helped finance the ensuing war with the British.-History:Robert Morris...

 branch campus and Duquesne University
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...

 which is located on the border of Downtown and Uptown.
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. Allegheny City merged with Pittsburgh under great protest from its citizens. The North Side
Northside (Pittsburgh)
North Side refers to the region of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, located to the north of the Allegheny River and the Ohio River...

 is primarily composed of residential neighborhoods and is noteworthy for well-constructed and architecturally interesting homes. Many buildings date from the 19th century and are constructed of brick or stone and adorned with decorative woodwork, ceramic tile, slate roofs and stained glass. The North Side is also home to many popular attractions such as Heinz Field
Heinz Field
Heinz Field is a stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It primarily serves as the home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers American football teams, members of the National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association respectively...

, PNC Park
PNC Park
PNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It opened during the 2001 Major League Baseball season, after the controlled implosion of the Pirates' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium...

, Carnegie Science Center
Carnegie Science Center
The Carnegie Science Center, located in the Chateau neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, opened in 1991.With a history that dates to October 24, 1939, the Carnegie Science Center is the most visited museum in Pittsburgh...

, National Aviary
National Aviary
The National Aviary, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is America's only independent indoor nonprofit aviary. It is also America's largest aviary, and the only accorded honorary "National" status by the United States Congress.-Location and features:...

, Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory
Mattress Factory
The Mattress Factory is a museum of contemporary art located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It exhibits room-sized installation art by regional, national and international artists....

 installation art museum, Children's Museum of Pittsburgh
Children's Museum of Pittsburgh
The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh is a children's museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is in the Allegheny Center neighborhood in Pittsburgh's Northside.- History :...

, Highmark SportsWorks, Penn Brewery
Penn Brewery
Penn Brewery, also known as the Pennsylvania Brewing Company, is a brewery and restaurant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Tom Pastorius in 1986, and is located at 800 Vinial Street in the Troy Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, on the site of the former Eberhardt and Ober Brewery...

 and Allegheny Observatory
Allegheny Observatory
The Allegheny Observatory is an American astronomical research institution, a part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh. The facility is listed on the National Register of Historical Places The Allegheny Observatory is an American astronomical research...

. The North Side is also home to Allegheny General Hospital, listed among the 1999 US News & World Report 2000 best hospitals nationwide.

The South Side was once an area composed primarily of dense inexpensive housing for mill workers, but has in recent years become a local Pittsburgher destination. The South Side is one of the most popular neighborhoods in which to own a home in Pittsburgh. The value of homes in the South Side has increased in value by about 10 percent annually for the past 10 years. The South Side
South Side (Pittsburgh)
South Side is an area in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, located along the Monongahela River across from Downtown Pittsburgh. The South Side is officially divided into two neighborhoods, South Side Flats and South Side Slopes. Both the Flats and the Slopes are represented on Pittsburgh City...

's East Carson Street is one of the most vibrant areas of the city, packed with diverse shopping, ethnic eateries, pulsing nightlife and live music venues. In 1993 the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh
Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh
The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh is the City of Pittsburgh’s economic development agency, committed to creating jobs, expanding the City’s tax base and improving the vitality of businesses and neighborhoods...

 purchased the South Side Works steel mill property, and worked together with the community and various developers to create a master plan for a mixed-use development including a riverfront park, office space, housing, health-care facilities, and the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

 and Pitt Panthers indoor practice fields. Construction began in 1998, and the Southside Works
Southside Works
SouthSide Works is an open-air retail, office, entertainment, and residential complex located on the South Side of the city of Pittsburgh and just across the Monongahela River from the Pittsburgh Technology Center and the University of Pittsburgh...

 is now open for business with many store, restaurants, offices, and the world headquarters for American Eagle Outfitters
American Eagle Outfitters
American Eagle Outfitters is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by Mark and Jerry Silverman as a subsidiary of Retail Ventures, Inc., a company which also owned and operated Silverman's Menswear...

.

The East End is home to the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

, Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

, Carlow University
Carlow University
Carlow University is a Roman Catholic university founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, on September 24, 1929, by the Sisters of Mercy from Carlow, Ireland. Originally called Mount Mercy College, the name was changed to Carlow College in April 1969. In 2004, Carlow College achieved university...

, Chatham University, The Carnegie Institute's Museums of Art and Natural History
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

, Frick Art & Historical Center
Frick Art & Historical Center
The Frick Art & Historical Center is a cluster of museums and historical buildings located at 7227 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States and collectively known as "Clayton"...

 (Clayton and the Frick art museum), Phipps Conservatory, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, and the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. The neighborhoods of Shadyside
Shadyside (Pittsburgh)
Shadyside is a neighborhood in the East End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It has zip codes of both 15232 and 15206, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 8...

 and Squirrel Hill
Squirrel Hill
Squirrel Hill is a residential neighborhood in the east end of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The city officially divides it into two neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South, but it is almost universally treated as a single neighborhood...

 are large, wealthy neighborhoods featuring large shopping/business districts. Oakland
Oakland (Pittsburgh)
Oakland is the academic, cultural, and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's third largest "Downtown". Only Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh can claim more economic and social activity than Oakland...

, heavily populated by undergraduate and graduate students, is home to most of the universities, Schenley Park
Schenley Park
Schenley Park is a large municipal park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between the neighborhoods of Oakland, Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district...

 and the Petersen Events Center
Petersen Events Center
Not to be confused with Petersen Sports Complex.The John M. and Gertrude E. Petersen Events Center is a 12,508-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It hosts the men's and women's Pitt Panthers basketball teams...

. Bloomfield
Bloomfield (Pittsburgh)
Bloomfield is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh; it is located three miles from the Golden Triangle, which is the city's center, and is represented on Pittsburgh City Council by Patrick Dowd and Bill Peduto. Bloomfield is referred to as Pittsburgh's Little Italy...

 is Pittsburgh's Little Italy and is known for its Italian restaurants and grocers. Lawrenceville
Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh)
Lawrenceville is one of the largest neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is located northeast of downtown, and like many of Pittsburgh's riverfront neighborhoods, it has an industrial past. Lawrenceville is bordered by the Allegheny River, Polish Hill, Bloomfield, the Strip District and...

 is a revitalizing rowhouse neighborhood popular with artists and designers, which is expected to benefit from the recent new construction of a new Children's Hospital. The Strip District is an open-air marketplace by day and a clubbing destination by night.

The West End includes Mt. Washington
Mount Washington (Pittsburgh)
Mount Washington is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's south city area. It has a zip code of 15211 and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both the council members for District 3 and District 2 .It is known for its steep hill overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline, which was...

, with its famous view of the Downtown skyline and numerous other residential neighborhoods like Sheraden
Sheraden (Pittsburgh)
Sheraden is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. Nearby neighbourhoods include Windgap, Chartiers City, Crafton Heights, Esplen, and Elliott....

 and Elliott
Elliott (Pittsburgh)
Elliott is a small, hilly neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's West End Region. Elliott is represented on the Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 2 , and uses the zip code 15220.-History:...

.

Pittsburgh's patchwork of neighborhoods still retain an ethnic character reflecting the city's immigrant history. These include:
  • German: Troy Hill, Mt. Washington
    Mount Washington (Pittsburgh)
    Mount Washington is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's south city area. It has a zip code of 15211 and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both the council members for District 3 and District 2 .It is known for its steep hill overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline, which was...

    , and East Allegheny
    East Allegheny (Pittsburgh)
    East Allegheny, also known as Deutschtown, is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh's North Side. It has a ZIP Code of 15212, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1...

     (Deutschtown)
  • Italian
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

    : Brookline
    Brookline (Pittsburgh)
    -Early settlement:Brookline was a part of the larger West Liberty Borough before its absorption intoPittsburgh in 1908. Early in its history, the area was mostly inhabited by miners and farmers...

    , Bloomfield
    Bloomfield (Pittsburgh)
    Bloomfield is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh; it is located three miles from the Golden Triangle, which is the city's center, and is represented on Pittsburgh City Council by Patrick Dowd and Bill Peduto. Bloomfield is referred to as Pittsburgh's Little Italy...

    , Morningside
    Morningside (Pittsburgh)
    Morningside is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's east end. It has two zip codes, 15201 and 15206, and has a representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 7 . It is bordered by the neighborhoods of Highland Park to the east, Stanton Heights to the west and...

    , Oakland
    Oakland (Pittsburgh)
    Oakland is the academic, cultural, and healthcare center of Pittsburgh and is Pennsylvania's third largest "Downtown". Only Center City Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh can claim more economic and social activity than Oakland...

     and Beechview
    Beechview (Pittsburgh)
    Beechview is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's South Hills area. It has a zip code of 15216, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both the council member for District 4 and for District 2 . Beechview was founded in 1905. It is Pittsburgh Fire Bureau Zone 4-10 and...

  • Polish
    Poland
    Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

    and other Eastern European: South Side, Lawrenceville
    Lawrenceville (Pittsburgh)
    Lawrenceville is one of the largest neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is located northeast of downtown, and like many of Pittsburgh's riverfront neighborhoods, it has an industrial past. Lawrenceville is bordered by the Allegheny River, Polish Hill, Bloomfield, the Strip District and...

    , and Polish Hill
  • African American: Hill District
    Hill District (Pittsburgh)
    The Hill District is a collection of neighborhoods that is considered by many to be the cultural center of African-American life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an American city. Harlem Renaissance poet Claude McKay once called the district "the crossroads of the world," referring to the...

    , Homewood
    Homewood (Pittsburgh)
    Homewood is a predominantly African American neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, officially divided into three neighborhoods: Homewood North, Homewood South and Homewood West....

    , and Larimer
    Larimer (Pittsburgh)
    Larimer is a neighborhood in the East End of the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. The neighborhood takes its name from William Larimer, who grew up in nearby Westmoreland County and, after making a fortune in the railroad industry, built a manor house overlooking East Liberty...

  • Jewish: Squirrel Hill
    Squirrel Hill
    Squirrel Hill is a residential neighborhood in the east end of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The city officially divides it into two neighborhoods, Squirrel Hill North and Squirrel Hill South, but it is almost universally treated as a single neighborhood...



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

Demographics

At the 2010 Census, there were 305,704 people residing in Pittsburgh, a decrease of 8.6% since 2000.

At the 2010 Census, 64.8% of the population was non-Hispanic White, 25.8% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.2% non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native, 4.4% non-Hispanic Asian, 0.3% from some other race (non-Hispanic) and 2.3% of two or more races (non-Hispanic). 2.3% of Pittsburgh's population was of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin (they may be of any race).

As of the census of 2000, there were 334,563 people, 143,739 households, and 74,169 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,019.0 people per square mile (2,324.1/km²). There are 163,366 housing units at an average density of 2,939.1 per square mile (1,134.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.63% White, 27.12% African American, 2.75% Asian, 0.19% Native American, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.32% of the population. As of the American Community Survey Three-Year Estimate of 2006–2008, the city's population was 67.0% White (65.8% non-Hispanic White alone), 26.5% Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.5% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 0.7% from some other race and 2.1% from two or more races. 1.8% of the total population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The five largest White ethnic groups in the city of Pittsburgh are German (19.7%), Irish (15.8%), Italian (11.8%), Polish (8.4%), and English (4.6%), while the metropolitan area is approximately 22% German, and 16% Italian
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...

, and 12% Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...

. Pittsburgh has one of the largest Italian communities in the nation, and also has the nation's fifth largest Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

 community and the largest Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

 community in the USA. In the metro Pittsburgh area live more than 200,000 Croatian descendants.

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 is 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.

In 2002, it was estimated that Pittsburgh ranked 22nd of 69 urban places in the U.S. in terms of number of residents 25 years or older who had completed a Bachelor's degree, with 31% of such people having completed the degree. The same study ranked Pittsburgh 15th of the 69 places in terms of number of residents 25 years or older who have completed a high school degree, with a figure of 84.7%.

Crime

The largest law enforcement agency in the region is the Pittsburgh Police
Pittsburgh Police
The Pittsburgh Police, or officially the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, is the largest law enforcement agency in Western Pennsylvania and the third largest in Pennsylvania...

, with close to 1,000 sworn officers. Concurrent with the jurisdiction of Allegheny County is the County Police (primarily parks and airports) the Port Authority police
Port Authority of Allegheny County
Port Authority of Allegheny County is the second-largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania and the 11th-largest in the United States. When considering that its service area is the 20th largest in the U.S...

 for rapid transit, the housing and school police, and suburban departments. The Allegheny County Sheriff
Allegheny County Sheriff
The Allegheny County Sheriff's Office is a local county law enforcement agency that serves both Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It primarily provides court, warrant, bailiff, and jail/prisoner transport services for the county...

 handles the jail and court security as well as detective/investigatory functions for smaller municipalities.

The lead law enforcement officer for the county is Allegheny County District Attorney
Allegheny County District Attorney
The Allegheny County District Attorney is the elected district attorney for Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of Pennsylvania commonwealth laws....

 Stephen Zappala. Major crimes of a Federal nature is covered by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Statistics in 2003 indicated that the Pittsburgh murder rate was 2.61 times the national average. Overall, the "violent crime" rate for the city was about twice the national average, while the "property" or non-violent crime rate was about 1.11 times (on par with) the national average.

In 2009, Forbes ranked Pittsburgh the 7th safest city in the USA in terms of violent crime.

Economy

The growth of Pittsburgh and its economy was caused by the extensive trade in steel through the 1970s. Pittsburgh has since adapted to the collapse of the region's steel industry. The primary industries have shifted more to high technology, such as robotics
Robotics
Robotics is the branch of technology that deals with the design, construction, operation, structural disposition, manufacture and application of robots...

, health care, nuclear engineering, tourism, biomedical technology
Biomedical technology
Biomedical technology broadly refers to the application of engineering and technology principles to the domain of living or biological systems. Usually inclusion of the term biomedical denotes a principal emphasis on problems related to human health and diseases, whereas terms like "biotechnology"...

, finance, and services. As of 2007, the total annual payroll of the region's technology industries, when taken in aggregate, exceeded $10.8 billion, and as of 2010, there were 1,600 technology companies. Reflecting the citywide shift from industry to technology, some former factories have been directly renovated into modern office space. For example, Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

 operates an office in a former Nabisco
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...

 factory, a complex known as Bakery Square. Some of the factory's original equipment, such as a large dough mixer, were left standing in homage to the site's industrial roots. As of January 2011, Google was leasing approximately 115000 square feet (10,683.8 m²) of office space in the complex, though not all of it was yet developed and filled with employees. Pittsburgh's generally successful shift away from its industrial past has led to it being characterized as "the poster child for managing industrial transition".

Pittsburgh has grown its economic base in recent years to include technology, retail, finance, education, and medicine. Medicine in particular constitutes a large proportion of total employment in the city. The largest single employer in the city is the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is an $9 billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 54,000 employees, 20 hospitals, 4,200 licensed beds, 400 outpatient sites and doctors’ offices, a 1.5 million-member health insurance division, as well as commercial and...

, with 48,000 employees. Combining that figure with all other hospital, outpatient clinic, and doctor's office positions, yields a count of 116,000 jobs, approximately 10% of the jobs in the region. One analyst has noted that "That's both more jobs and a higher share of the region's total employment than the steel industry represented in the 1970s."

Education is another major industry in the region. The largest single employer in that industry is the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

, with 10,700 employees.

Pittsburgh still maintains its status as a corporate headquarters city, with eight Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...

 companies calling the city home. This ranks Pittsburgh in a tie for the eighth-most Fortune 500 headquarters in the nation. In 2006, Expansion Magazine ranked Pittsburgh among the top 10 metropolitan areas in the nation for climates favorable to business expansion.

Several Fortune 500 corporations have headquarters in the city or the surrounding area. These include PNC Financial Services
PNC Financial Services
PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is a U.S.-based financial services corporation, with assets of approximately $264.3 billion...

, PPG Industries
PPG Industries
PPG Industries is a global supplier of paints, coatings, optical products, specialty materials, chemicals, glass and fiber glass. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 60 countries around the globe. Sales in 2010 were $13.4 billion...

, U.S. Steel
U.S. Steel
The United States Steel Corporation , more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States, Canada, and Central Europe. The company is the world's tenth largest steel producer ranked by sales...

, H. J. Heinz Company
H. J. Heinz Company
The H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...

, Mylan Laboratories (Located in suburban Canonsburg), WESCO International
WESCO International
WESCO International, Inc. is a holding company for WESCO Distribution, a multinational electronics distribution and services company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-History:...

, CONSOL Energy
Consol Energy
Consol Energy is an energy company headquartered in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, suburb of Cecil Township, in the Southpointe complex. It is one of the US's largest coal mining companies, along with Peabody Energy and Arch Coal...

 (Located in suburban Cecil Township
Cecil Township, Pennsylvania
Cecil Township is a township in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a suburb of Pittsburgh in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 11,271 at the 2010 census.The township contains the Southpointe suburban business park...

), and Dick's Sporting Goods
Dick's Sporting Goods
Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. , or Dick's, is a Fortune 500 American corporation in the sporting goods and retail industries.The company's headquarters are on the grounds of Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay Township near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dick's has 451 stores in 42 states as of...

 (Located in suburban Findlay Township
Findlay Township, Pennsylvania
Findlay Township is a township located west of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,060 at the 2010 census.The township is the home of Pittsburgh International Airport.-Geography:...

).

Pittsburgh and the surrounding region is also home to Allegheny Technologies
Allegheny Technologies
Allegheny Technologies, Inc. is a specialty metals company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. Allegheny Technologies is one of the largest and most diversified specialty metals producers in the world with revenue of $3.0 billion in 2009. ATI's key markets are...

, American Eagle Outfitters
American Eagle Outfitters
American Eagle Outfitters is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1977 by Mark and Jerry Silverman as a subsidiary of Retail Ventures, Inc., a company which also owned and operated Silverman's Menswear...

, Kennametal
Kennametal
Kennametal is a leading producer of metals founded in 1938 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Latrobe, Pennsylvania and still headquartered there. It delivers productivity to customers seeking peak performance in demanding environments by providing innovative custom and standard wear-resistant solutions...

, Atlas America
Atlas America
Atlas America, Inc. is a natural gas and oil extraction company based in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The corporation is also involved in the transportation of resources and features a pipeline division. The base of operations for the company is in the Appalachian shale deposits, as well as...

, Bayer USA
Bayer USA
Bayer Corporation is the Pittsburgh-based American arm of Bayer. Its headquarters are located in Robinson, a western suburb of the city...

 and the operations center of Alcoa
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...

. Other major employers include BNY Mellon, GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline plc is a global pharmaceutical, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare company headquartered in London, United Kingdom...

 and Lanxess
Lanxess
Lanxess AG is a specialty chemicals group based in Germany, with headquarters and major operations in Leverkusen. It was founded in 2004 when Bayer AG spun off its chemicals operations and parts of its polymer activities. As measured by sales, Lanxess is the fourth largest chemicals group in Germany...

. The city and the surrounding region serve as the Northeast U.S. regional headquarters for Nova Chemicals
NOVA Chemicals
NOVA Chemicals Corporation is a plastics and chemical company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, with Executive Offices in the Pittsburgh suburb of Moon Township, Pennsylvania and Lambton County, Ontario. It was founded in 1954 as Alberta Gas Trunk Lines and was later renamed to NOVA Corporation...

, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited , commonly referred to as Deloitte, is one of the Big Four accountancy firms along with PricewaterhouseCoopers , Ernst & Young, and KPMG....

, FedEx Ground
FedEx Ground
FedEx Ground is a shipping company which is a subsidiary of the FedEx corporation. It is headquartered in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Originally conceived as a lower cost competitor to UPS, Roadway Package System was created to take advantage of new barcode, material...

, Ariba
Ariba
Ariba is a software and information technology services company located in Sunnyvale, California.- Early life :Ariba was founded in 1996 by Bobby Lent, Boris Putanec, Paul Touw, Rob Desantis, Ed Kinsey, Paul Hegarty, and Keith Krach on the idea of using the Internet to enable companies to...

, and the RAND Corporation
RAND
RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces by Douglas Aircraft Company. It is currently financed by the U.S. government and private endowment, corporations including the healthcare industry, universities...

. 84 Lumber
84 Lumber
84 Lumber is an American building materials chain. 84 Lumber Company is the largest privately held building materials supplier to professional contractors in the country. Headquartered in the Pittsburgh Metro Area town of Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, it was founded in 1956 by Joseph Hardy...

, Giant Eagle
Giant Eagle
Giant Eagle, Inc., is a supermarket chain with stores in the U.S. states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland. The company was founded in 1918 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Supermarket News ranked Giant Eagle No. 21 in the 2009 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2008...

, Highmark
Highmark
Highmark is a not-for-profit health insurance company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the largest health insurer in Pennsylvania, and through a purchase in 1996, the largest health insurer in West Virginia. As Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, it primarily serves the 29...

, Rue 21, and Genco Supply Chain Solutions are major non-public companies with headquarters in the region. Other major companies headquartered in Pittsburgh include General Nutrition Center (GNC) and CNX Gas (CXG), a subsidiary of Consol Energy.

The nonprofit arts and cultural industry in Allegheny County generates $341 million in economic activity and supports over 10,000 full time equivalent jobs. Revenues of nearly $34 million are generated through local and state tax.

The region is also becoming a hub for natural gas and oil extraction in the Marcellus Shale formation.

Entertainment

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

Among the professional music venues, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.-History:...

 performs in Heinz Hall, and the Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the...

 performs in the Benedum Center
Benedum Center
The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts is a theater and concert hall located at 719 Liberty Avenue in the Cultural District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

. Both The Benedum Center and Heinz Hall provide venues for other groups, such as the River City Brass Band
River City Brass Band
The River City Brass Band is a modified British-style brass band based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band performed its first concert on November 21, 1981, with its founder Robert Bernat as conductor. In addition to its accessible performance style, RCBB is renowned for its recordings and...

 and the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. Pittsburgh has a long tradition of jazz, blues and bluegrass music. Additionally the National Negro Opera Company was founded in Pittsburgh, and was the first all African-American opera company in the United States. This led to the prominence of African-American singers like Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...

 in the world of opera. Pittsburgh has a number of small and mid-size arts organizations supported by individuals, local foundations, and the Allegheny Regional Asset District. Examples include Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre
Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre
Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre was founded founded in 1996 by Andrew S. Paul and Stephanie Riso in Pittsburgh. PICT has, in 12 short years emerged as a significant contributor to the cultural fabric of Pittsburgh with almost 2,000 loyal season subscribers, and annual attendance of over 23,000...

, Quantum Theatre
Quantum Theatre
Quantum Theatre is a professional theatre company that produces experimental productions in non-traditional performance spaces around the Pittsburgh area. Founded in 1990 by Karla Boos, the company aims to incorporate influences from world culture and the international theatre scene. The theatre...

, the Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh
Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh
The Renaissance and Baroque Society of Pittsburgh is a non-profit performing arts organization in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that presents performances of music from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical periods with an emphasis on historically informed performance...

, and the early music ensemble Chatham Baroque.

Pittsburgh Dance Council
Pittsburgh Dance Council
Pittsburgh Dance Council was established in 2002 as a programming division of . The programming mission of Pittsburgh Dance Council is to bring the best of contemporary dance from around the world to the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District stages....

 and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater host a variety of dance events. Polka, folk, square and round dancing have a long history in the city and are celebrated by the internationally famous Duquesne University Tamburitzans
Duquesne University Tamburitzans
The Duquesne University Tamburitzans are the longest-running multicultural song and dance company in the United States. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company's members are full-time Duquesne University students who receive scholarships for their activities...

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

Pittsburgh museums include the Andy Warhol Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art
Carnegie Museum of Art
The Carnegie Museum of Art, located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an art museum founded in 1895 by the Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie...

, the Frick Art & Historical Center
Frick Art & Historical Center
The Frick Art & Historical Center is a cluster of museums and historical buildings located at 7227 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States and collectively known as "Clayton"...

, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts
The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is a non-profit community arts campus that offers arts education programs and contemporary art exhibitions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

 and the Mattress Factory
Mattress Factory
The Mattress Factory is a museum of contemporary art located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It exhibits room-sized installation art by regional, national and international artists....

. Installation art is featured outdoors at ArtGardens of Pittsburgh
ArtGardens of Pittsburgh
The ArtGardens of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is an outdoor gallery of installation art where the medium of the art is growing plants...

. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, located at 4400 Forbes Avenue in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, was founded by the Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896...

 has extensive dinosaur collections and an Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

 wing. The Carnegie Science Center
Carnegie Science Center
The Carnegie Science Center, located in the Chateau neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, opened in 1991.With a history that dates to October 24, 1939, the Carnegie Science Center is the most visited museum in Pittsburgh...

 is technology oriented. The Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center and Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum are located in the Strip District. The unusual and eclectic Bayernhof Music Museum
Bayernhof Music Museum
Bayernhof Music Museum features a major collection of automated musical instruments from the 19th and 20th centuries. Located six miles northeast of downtown Pittsburgh in the suburb of O'Hara Township, Pennsylvania, it is housed in German-style mansion sited on an , dramatic overlook some above...

 is six miles (9 km) from downtown. There is a quarterly Gallery Crawl in the downtown area's cultural district that is free and open to the public to enjoy the local art scene as well as the Three Rivers Arts Festival
Three Rivers Arts Festival
Three Rivers Arts Festival is a large outdoor festival of the visual and performing arts held every summer throughout downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.The festival has been held annually, in June, since 1959....

, which takes place in the same downtown area annually during the summer. Pittsburgh is home to a number of art galleries and centers including the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University
Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University
The Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University is the contemporary art gallery of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is located on the university campus on Forbes Avenue at Morewood Avenue, in the Oakland and Shadyside neighborhoods.-About:The Miller Gallery at Carnegie...

, and the Wood Street Galleries
Wood Street Galleries
Wood Street Galleries, a visual arts project of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, is a contemporary art gallery located in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, above the Wood Street subway stop...



The city is also served by the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, and the National Aviary
National Aviary
The National Aviary, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is America's only independent indoor nonprofit aviary. It is also America's largest aviary, and the only accorded honorary "National" status by the United States Congress.-Location and features:...

.

Pittsburgh is home to one of the several licensed casinos in the state. The Rivers Casino
Rivers Casino
The Rivers Casino is a casino in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It is owned by Holdings Acquisition Co. L.P., a joint venture of Walton Street Capital LLC and High Pitt Gaming LP...

 is located in the North Shore
North Shore (Pittsburgh)
The North Shore is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's North Side. It has a zip code of 15212, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both the council members for District 1 and 6...

 neighborhood immediately west of Carnegie Science Center
Carnegie Science Center
The Carnegie Science Center, located in the Chateau neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, opened in 1991.With a history that dates to October 24, 1939, the Carnegie Science Center is the most visited museum in Pittsburgh...

 and Heinz Field
Heinz Field
Heinz Field is a stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It primarily serves as the home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers American football teams, members of the National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association respectively...

. Its southern flank faces the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

.

Pittsburgh's Wiz Khalifa
Wiz Khalifa
Cameron Jibril Thomaz , better known by the stage name Wiz Khalifa , is an American rapper. He released his debut album, Show and Prove, in 2006, and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007...

 is one of the first musical artists from Pittsburgh in recent memory to have a record at number one. His anthem "Black and Yellow
Black and Yellow
"Black and Yellow" is a song by American rapper Wiz Khalifa from his debut studio album, Rolling Papers. It was released on September 14, 2010 as the lead single from the album. The song was written by Wiz Khalifa, and StarGate, and it was produced by StarGate. It was released as a CD single in...

" (which is itself a tribute Pittsburgh; black and yellow being the colours of the city's flag) reached number one on Billboard's "Hot 100" for the Week of February 19, 2011 Not since grammy-winning blues guitarist George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....

, has a Pittsburgh musical artist received such national acclaim. Crooner Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...

 and pop singer Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...

 are from Pittsburgh suburbs.

Theatre

Theatre has existed professionally in Pittsburgh since the early 1800s. Companies include Attack Theatre, barebones productions
Barebones productions
barebones productions is a professional theatre company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which produces contemporary plays. Its mission is to "facilitate the growth of local theater artists through the production of challenging, entertaining, thought-provoking plays and attracts new young theater...

, Bricolage Production Company
Bricolage Production Company
Bricolage Production Company is a professional theatre company based in downtown Pittsburgh. Established in 2001 by Jeffrey Carpenter, it is located on Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh's Cultural District in a space that was formerly a Turkish bathhouse...

, City Theatre
City Theatre (Pittsburgh)
City Theatre is a professional theatre company located in Pittsburgh's South Side. It specializes in productions of new plays and has commissioned new works by playwrights on the national theatre scene, including Christopher Durang, Adam Rapp, and Jeffrey Hatcher...

, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre
Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre
Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre was founded founded in 1996 by Andrew S. Paul and Stephanie Riso in Pittsburgh. PICT has, in 12 short years emerged as a significant contributor to the cultural fabric of Pittsburgh with almost 2,000 loyal season subscribers, and annual attendance of over 23,000...

, Pittsburgh Musical Theater
Pittsburgh Musical Theater
Pittsburgh Musical Theater is a professional theatre company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1990 with the purpose of providing high-quality productions of musicals featuring local professionals at affordable prices to residents, the company has since expanded with the educational...

, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company is a professional theatre company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2003 by artistic director Mark Clayton Southers, the company originally held productions at the Penn Theater in Garfield and moved to a new space on Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh's...

, Pittsburgh Public Theater
Pittsburgh Public Theater
Pittsburgh Public Theater is a professional theater company based in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Cultural District.Established in 1974, it was housed in the Hazlett Theatre at the Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall on Pittsburgh’s North Side...

, Prime Stage Theatre
Prime Stage Theatre
Prime Stage Theatre is a professional theatre company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania dedicated to creating educational theatrical productions for middle school and high school students...

, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera
Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera
Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera is a nonprofit professional theater company based in the Cultural District of Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA....

, Quantum Theatre
Quantum Theatre
Quantum Theatre is a professional theatre company that produces experimental productions in non-traditional performance spaces around the Pittsburgh area. Founded in 1990 by Karla Boos, the company aims to incorporate influences from world culture and the international theatre scene. The theatre...

, Hiawatha Project
Hiawatha Project
Hiawatha Project is a professional theatre company located in Pittsburgh. Established in 2010 by Anya Martin and Michelle Carello, the company's mission is to "create original performances exploring specific social questions through myth, free association, and movement." Hiawatha Project's...

, Cup-A-Jo Productions
Cup-A-Jo Productions
Cup-A-Jo Productions is a theatre company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Established in 2004 by Joanna Lowe, the company's mission is to "further new & established works in an effort to focus on the artist by tackling a variety of subjects, exploring non-traditional venues & styles, & mixing...

, Organic Theater Pittsburgh
Organic Theater Pittsburgh
Organic Theater Pittsburgh is a theatre company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the first theatre company in Pittsburgh to focus on being "eco-friendly." Founded in 2011 by Jaime Slavinsky, the company's mission is to create an "organic theatre product" through "a unique rehearsal...

, 12 Peers Theater, Three Rivers Theatre Company, No Name Players
No Name Players
No Name Players is a professional theatre company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2000 by Don DiGiulio at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, the theatre company began as a creative outlet for DiGiulio and his classmates to hone their craft outside of college-related...

, Terra Nova Theatre Group
Terra Nova Theatre Group
Terra Nova Theatre Group is a theatre company located in the area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, founded by William Cameron. Originally located in Washington, PA, the company has also utilized the Grey Box Theatre in Pittsburgh. Terra Nova has produced full productions of both established and new...

, and Unseam'd Shakespeare Company
Unseam'd Shakespeare Company
Unseam'd Shakespeare Company is a professional theatre company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1993, the theatre's mission is to "rediscover and reinvent classic and classically inspired plays for modern audiences and present these plays in artistically ambitious and innovative...

. Collegiate companies include the University of Pittsburgh's Repertory Theatre
University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre
The University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre, or Pitt Rep, is the flagship theatre company for the University of Pittsburgh Department of Theatre Arts. Pitt Rep features students on stage with professional actors and teaching artists staging public performances of classic masterpieces,...

 and Kuntu Repertory Theatre
Kuntu Repertory Theatre
Kuntu Repertory Theatre is an African-American repertory theatre based at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.Dr. Vernell A. Lillie founded it in 1975 as a way of showcasing the playwright Rob Penny...

, Point Park University's resident companies at its Pittsburgh Playhouse
Pittsburgh Playhouse
Pittsburgh Playhouse is Point Park University's performing arts center located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It houses three performance spaces and is home to The Rep, Point Park's resident professional theatre company, as well as three student companies—Conservatory Theatre Company, Conservatory...

, and Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama productions and Scotch'n'Soda
Scotch'n'Soda
Scotch'n'Soda is a student run theatre organization that resides on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University. Its initial dedication was the creation and production of original musicals, but due to declining student interest in writing musicals over the past decade, it has taken to performing both...

 organization. The city's longest-running theater show, Friday Nite Improvs
Friday Nite Improvs
Friday Nite Improvs, or Friday Night Improvs , is a long-running weekly improvisational comedy show staged on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The show functions as an improv jam, performed by improv actors who don't normally work together...

, is an improv jam that has been performed in the Cathedral of Learning
Cathedral of Learning
The Cathedral of Learning, a Pittsburgh landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...

 and other locations for 20 years. The Pittsburgh New Works Festival
Pittsburgh New Works Festival
Pittsburgh New Works Festival is an annual festival that produces original one-act plays utilizing the resources of Pittsburgh-area theatre companies. Established in 1990 by Donna Rae, the Festival features four weeks of productions of new plays as well as two weeks of staged readings...

 utilizes local theatre companies to stage productions of original one-act plays by playwrights from all parts of the country. St. Vincent Summer Theatre
St. Vincent Summer Theatre
St. Vincent Summer Theatre is a professional theatre company that is associated with Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1969 by Father Tom Devereux, O.S.B., the company was originally composed entirely of St. Vincent students putting together a six-show season. The company...

, Off the Wall Productions
Off the Wall Productions
Off the Wall Productions is a professional theatre company located in Washington, Pennsylvania. Established in 2007 under Artistic Director Virginia Wall Gruenert and Managing Director Hans Gruenert, the theatre's mission is to "enrich, enliven, educate and entertain our audiences, to be...

, Mountain Playhouse
Mountain Playhouse
Mountain Playhouse is Pennsylvania's oldest professional summer stock theatre company and is located in Jennerstown, Pennsylvania. Housed in a restored 1805 gristmill, the theatre was founded by James Stoughton in 1939. It produces musicals, farces, and dramas each summer and also hosts...

, The Theatre Factory, and Stage Right!
Stage Right!
reStage Right! is a professional theatre company as well as a performing arts school located in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Established in 1998 as an organization for young people to take classes in musical theatre by Chris Rizk, Stage Right! also became a professional theatre company in 1999,...

 in nearby Latrobe
Latrobe, Pennsylvania
Latrobe is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the United States, approximately southeast of Pittsburgh.The city population was 7,634 as of the 2000 census . It is located near the Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorporated as a borough in 1854, and as a city in 1999...

, Washington
Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Pittsburgh Metro Area in the southwestern part of the state...

, Jennerstown
Jennerstown, Pennsylvania
Jennerstown is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 714 at the 2000 census. The borough is the home of Jennerstown Speedway. The town was named for Edward Jenner.Jennerstown is located...

, Trafford
Trafford, Pennsylvania
Trafford is a borough in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania, the borough lies primarily in Westmoreland County; only a small portion extends into Allegheny County...

, and Greensburg
Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Greensburg is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States, and a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The city is named after Nathanael Greene, a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War...

, respectively, employ Pittsburgh actors and contribute to the culture of the region.

Literature

Pittsburgh is the birthplace of Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...

 and Rachel Carson
Rachel Carson
Rachel Louise Carson was an American marine biologist and conservationist whose writings are credited with advancing the global environmental movement....

, a Chatham College (now Chatham University) graduate from the Pittsburgh suburb of Springdale
Springdale, Pennsylvania
Springdale is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh along the Allegheny River. The population was 3,405 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Springdale is located at ....

, Pennsylvania. Modern writers include Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

-winning playwright August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...

 and Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon born May 24, 1963) is an American author and "one of the most celebrated writers of his generation", according to The Virginia Quarterly Review....

 with his Pittsburgh-focused commentary on student and college life. Two-time Pultizer Prize winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...

, David McCullough
David McCullough
David Gaub McCullough is an American author, narrator, historian, and lecturer. He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award....

 was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Annie Dillard
Annie Dillard
Annie Dillard is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memoir. Her 1974 work Pilgrim at Tinker Creek won the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for General...

, a Pultizer Prize winning writer, was born and raised in Pittsburgh. Much of her memoir An American Childhood takes place in post-World War II Pittsburgh. Poet Michael Simms
Michael Simms (publisher)
Michael Simms is an American poet and literary publisher. His most recent book is Black Stone . His poems have been published in literary journals and magazines including 5 A.M., Black Warrior Review, Mid-American Review, Pittsburgh Quarterly, Southwest Review, and West Branch. His poems have also...

,founder of Autumn House Press
Autumn House Press
Autumn House Press is an independent, non-profit literary publishing company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.In a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette poetry feature, Bob Hoover writes that "Simms says he started the operation after he noticed that the 'large traditional commercial presses, had...

, currently resides in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Poet Samuel John Hazo
Samuel John Hazo
Dr. Samuel John Hazo is an author of books, including poetry, fiction, essays and plays, and the founder and director of the International Poetry Forum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is also McAnulty Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus at Duquesne University, where he taught for...

, the first poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, also resides in the city.John Edgar Wideman
John Edgar Wideman
John Edgar Wideman is an American writer, professor at Brown University, and sits on the contributing editorial board of the literary journal Conjunctions.-Early life:...

 grew up in Pittsburgh and based "Brothers and Keepers," a Nation Book Critics awarded novel in his hometown. New writers include Chris Kuzneski
Chris Kuzneski
Chris Kuzneski is a New York Times bestselling American author. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages and have been published in more than 40 countries. His works have also been named a Literary Guild's featured selection and honored by the Florida Book Awards...

 who attended the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

 and mentions Pittsburgh in his books. Pittsburgh's unique literary style extends to playwrights, as well as local graffiti and hip hop artists.

There is a Pittsburgh fantasy, macabre and science fiction genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

 popularized by film director George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...

, television personality Bill Cardille
Bill Cardille
William Robert "Bill" Cardille , is a broadcast personality from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Early career:...

's Chiller Theatre
Chiller Theatre (Pittsburgh)
Chiller Theatre was a late-night horror and science fiction movie program on WIIC/WPXI, Channel 11, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It aired from September 14, 1963 to December 31, 1983. It was hosted by Bill Cardille, known to fans as "Chilly Billy". It was a Saturday night tradition for two...

, film director and writer Rusty Cundieff
Rusty Cundieff
George Arthur "Rusty" Cundieff is an American film/television director, actor, and writer. His notable credits are as director/writer of and lead actor in the This Is Spinal Tap-like rap satire Fear of a Black Hat, as writer of the second installment to House Party, and as director of the horror...

 and makeup effects guru Tom Savini. Today, the genre continues through the PARSEC writers organization and several local Writer's Workshops including Write or Die, The Pittsburgh SouthWrites, and the Pittsburgh Worldwrights founded by Mary Soon Lee and continued by protegees Barton Paul Levenson
Barton Paul Levenson
Barton Paul Levenson is an American Writer of science fiction, fantasy and the macabre. He is a long-standing member of one of Pittsburgh's oldest Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Workshops, Carnegie-Mellon University-based Pittsburgh Worldwrights, which includes Pittsburgh science fiction...

, Kenneth Chiacchia
Kenneth Chiacchia
Kenneth Chiacchia is an American writer in the Fantasy and Science Fiction genre.- Biography :Chiacchia was born in Hackensack, NJ. He earned a PhD in biochemistry, at the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1991...

, Chris Ferrier, Robert L. Nansel and the poet Elizabeth Humphreys Penrose
Elizabeth Humphreys Penrose
Elizabeth Humphreys Penrose is an American Writer of poetry in the science fiction genre. She is a long-standing member of one of Pittsburgh's oldest Science-Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Workshops, Carnegie-Mellon University-based Pittsburgh Worldwrights, which was founded by Mary Soon Lee and...

. Mark Menold showcases the classic Pittsburgh zombie tradition through cinematic and televised works on The It's Alive Show
The It's Alive Show
The It's Alive Show is a television program produced in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Clownhouse Productions. The show is aired Saturday nights at 10:00 PM on WBGN, a local station and streamed online. Each show includes a horror or science fiction B movie with trivia, sketch comedy and live music in...

 and by holding the annual "Zombie Fest".

Local dialect

The Pittsburgh English dialect, commonly called Pittsburghese, was influenced by Scots-Irish
Scots-Irish American
Scotch-Irish Americans are an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to North America primarily during the colonial era and their descendants. Some scholars also include the 150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to...

, Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...

, German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

, Central European and Eastern European immigrants. 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), and gum bands (rubber bands). The dialect is also notable for dropping the verb "to be". In Pittsburghese, for example, 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 (e.g., Erie, Baltimore), but is noted for its somewhat staccato
Staccato
Staccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...

 rhythms. The staccato qualities of the Pittsburgh dialect have been suggested to originate either from Welsh or from Eastern European immigrants. It has so many local peculiarities that the New York Times described Pittsburgh as, "the Galapagos Islands of American dialect." The lexicon itself contains notable loans from Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...

 and other Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...

 and European languages; examples include babushka
Headscarf
Headscarves or head scarves are scarves covering most or all of the top of a woman's hair and her head. Headscarves may be worn for a variety of purposes, such as for warmth, for sanitation, for fashion or social distinction; with religious significance, to hide baldness, out of modesty, or other...

, pierogi
Pierogi
Pierogi are dumplings of unleavened dough - first boiled, then they are baked or fried usually in butter with onions - traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or fruit...

, and halušky
Halušky
Halušky are a traditional variety of thick, soft noodles or dumplings cooked in the Central and Eastern European cuisines .They are irregular in shape...

.

Livability

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

In 2005, 2009 and 2011, Pittsburgh was named most livable city in the United States and in those years, between the 26th and 29th-most-livable city worldwide by The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

. Pittsburgh ranked #28 in the book Cities Ranked and Rated (2004) by Bert Sperling and Peter Sander.

In 2010, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

and Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...

listed Pittsburgh as the most livable city in the United States. One month later, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

named Pittsburgh the 7th best place to raise a family. In August 2010, Pittsburgh was ranked the 4th best city for working mothers by Forbes and the city was ranked as one of the best for entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur. Also, in 2007, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

magazine named Pittsburgh, in an eight-way tie, the 10th cleanest city in the world.

Livability rankings typically consider factors such as cost of living, crime, and cultural opportunities. Pittsburgh has a low cost of living compared to other cities in the northeastern U.S. The average price for a 3- to 4-bedroom, 2-bath family home in Pittsburgh is $162,000, which is well below the national average of $264,540, as of October 2004, according to the Federal Housing Finance Board. In addition, average rent for all bedrooms in Pittsburgh was $789 at the end of the first quarter of 2010. This compares to the nationwide average of $1087.

Another factor enhancing Pittsburgh's livability is that area residents face very little risk of encountering a natural disaster such as an earthquake, hurricane, wildfire, or tornado. In 2009, Forbes ranked Pittsburgh as having the 2nd-lowest natural disaster risk in the nation compared to other cities. Greater Pittsburgh is not entirely free of natural disasters, however. Residents living in extremely low-lying areas near the three rivers or near one of the 1,400 creeks and streams of the region experience occasional floods, such as those caused when the remnants of Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...

 dumped record rainfalls on the region in 2004. Flooding on the three rivers is relatively rare due to federal flood control efforts on the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, which are extensively managed with locks, dams, and reservoirs. Residents living near smaller tributary streams are less protected from occasional flooding, however, and the cost of a comprehensive flood control program for the region has been estimated to run a prohibitive $50 billion.

Regional identity

Pittsburgh falls within the borders of Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...

 as defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission
Appalachian Regional Commission
The Appalachian Regional Commission is a United States federal-state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life...

. Before the city transitioned from an industrial economy to a service economy, it was characterized as the "northern urban industrial anchor of Appalachia",:167 a designation which made it an anomaly compared to much of Appalachia in the 20th century, which was traditionally characterized as southern, rural, and economically distressed.:167 In its post-industrial state, Pittsburgh has now been characterized as the "Paris of Appalachia", recognizing the city's cultural resources such as the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh are four museums that are operated by the Carnegie Institute headquartered in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera
Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the...

, as well as its service economy built upon education, healthcare, and technology.

Cultural

While the city's status as an Appalachian city is largely undisputed, the city has been described as not belonging culturally to any of the major "regions" of the United States such as the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....

 or the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

.:13 Pittsburgh lies only a few dozen miles from the spot where the physical boundaries of three major regions of the United States converge (40°38′19.67"N 80°31′8.37"W), namely the Northeastern United States, the Midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....

, and the Southern United States, and in straddling these boundaries, it borrows cultural influences from a variety of sources.

Joseph Scarpaci, professor emeritus of geography at Virginia Tech
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, popularly known as Virginia Tech , is a public land-grant university with the main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia with other research and educational centers throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and internationally.Founded in...

, has described Pittsburgh as having "one foot in the East…and the other in the Midwest".:1 In his 2009 book The Paris of Appalachia, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...

 writer Brian O'Neill meditates on this aspect of Pittsburgh's regional and cultural ambiguity. The title of the book is intentionally provocative:
"The Paris of Appalachia" some have called Pittsburgh derisively, because it's still the largest city along this gorgeous mountain chain that needs a better press agent. I've long felt we should embrace that title, though few are with me. Several tried to talk me out of slapping it on the cover, but were we called "The Paris of the Rockies," we wouldn't run from it. Sometimes we're so afraid of what others think, we're afraid to say who we are. This city is not Midwestern. It's not East Coast. It's just Pittsburgh, and there's no place like it. That's both its blessing and its curse.:13

Economic

Pittsburgh is in the rust belt
Rust Belt
The Rust Belt is a term that gained currency in the 1980s as the informal description of an area straddling the Midwestern and Northeastern United States, in which local economies traditionally garnered an increased manufacturing sector to add jobs and corporate profits...

. Despite the fact that the city lies far outside of the Great Lakes Basin
Great Lakes Basin
The Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada, whose direct surface runoff and watersheds form a large...

 and about 120 miles (193.1 km) from Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...

, it has representation in the Great Lakes Metro Chamber Coalition, and the "America 2050" organization claims that Pittsburgh is one of the "principal cities" of the Great Lakes Megalopolis
Great Lakes Megalopolis
The Great Lakes Megalopolis consists of the group of North American metropolitan areas which surround the Great Lakes region mainly within the Midwestern United States, the Southern Ontario area of Canada, along with large parts of Pennsylvania, New York, and Quebec...

.

Pittsburgh's association with the Great Lakes region
Great Lakes region (North America)
The Great Lakes region of North America, occasionally known as the Third Coast or the Fresh Coast , includes the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as well as the Canadian province of Ontario...

 is due in part to its economic connections to Great Lakes cities like Cleveland. Christopher Briem, an economist at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

's University Center for Social and Urban Research, has noted that southwestern Pennsylvania is "far more interconnected" with northeastern Ohio than it is with the eastern half of Pennsylvania, and that the industries of Pittsburgh are primarily linked to Ohioan cities such as Youngstown
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

, Akron
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...

, and Cleveland, not to Pennsylvanian cities such as Allentown
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...

, Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...

, or Philadelphia. He notes that, conversely, the population centers of northeastern Ohio are primarily connected with Pittsburgh and only secondarily connected to the state capital of Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

. Briem argues that "In so many ways the state boundaries we think of as important are no more than lines on a map." In recognizing their economic interdependence, Briem has popularized the term "Cleveburgh" to refer collectively to the cities of Cleveland and Pittsburgh, along with the smaller towns dotting the corridor of I-76
Interstate 76 (east)
Interstate 76 is an Interstate Highway in the United States, running 435 miles from an interchange with Interstate 71 west of Akron, Ohio, east to Interstate 295 near Camden, New Jersey....

 between the cities. Robert Lang and Arthur Nelson of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech also identify the region between Cleveland and Pittsburgh as being an interconnected "megapolitan area" and refer to it as the "Steel Corridor".

The scope of Pittsburgh's metropolitan influence on the surrounding area is of more than just academic interest. For example, the organization "Power of 32" focuses on addressing the issues of the 32-county metropolitan area roughly centered on Pittsburgh—a region which includes portions of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland. Despite being divided into four states and three Census Bureau—defined regions, this area functions as an interdependent economic region. Power of 32 asserts that "[t]he 32-county region has common challenges and opportunities in the global economy, but is larger than the scope of any one single political entity, authority, or organization", and that "[t]he only thing we find at artificial boundaries are problems, not solutions." Power of 32 is supported in its efforts by "30 to 40 other foundations" and funded by several Pittsburgh-area endowments including the Richard King Mellon
Richard King Mellon
Richard King Mellon , commonly known as R.K., was an American financier from Ligonier, Pennsylvania.-Biography:The son of Richard B. Mellon, nephew of Andrew W...

 Foundation and The Heinz
H. J. Heinz Company
The H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...

 Endowments.

Sports

Several teams are followed widely in the Pittsburgh area, which Sporting News named the "Best Sports City" in the United States in 2009. Besides major pro teams in baseball, football and hockey, the University of Pittsburgh's football and basketball teams have large fanbases. Robert Morris and Duquesne provide Division I basketball as well and nearby Penn State and West Virginia University have a number of fans in the Pittsburgh region.
Pro Club League Sport Venue Established Championships
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

MLB
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

Baseball PNC Park
PNC Park
PNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It opened during the 2001 Major League Baseball season, after the controlled implosion of the Pirates' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium...

1882 1901 (pre-World Series), 1902 (pre-World Series), 1909
1909 World Series
The 1909 World Series featured the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers. The Pirates won the Series in seven games to capture their first championship of the modern Major League Baseball era and the second championship in the club's history....

, 1925
1925 World Series
In the 1925 World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the defending champion Washington Senators in seven games.In a reversal of fortune on all counts from the previous 1924 World Series, when Washington's Walter Johnson had come back from two losses to win the seventh and deciding game, Johnson...

, 1960
1960 World Series
The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the New York Yankees of the American League from October 5 to October 13, 1960...

, 1971
1971 World Series
The 1971 World Series matched the defending champion Baltimore Orioles against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the Pirates winning in seven games. Game 4, played in Pittsburgh, was the first-ever World Series game scheduled to be played at night....

, 1979
1979 World Series
The 1979 World Series matched the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League's Baltimore Orioles , with the Pirates coming back from a three games to one deficit to win the Series in seven games...

Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

American Football Heinz Field
Heinz Field
Heinz Field is a stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It primarily serves as the home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers American football teams, members of the National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association respectively...

1933 1974
1974 NFL season
The 1974 NFL season was the 55th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl IX when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings...

, 1975
1975 NFL season
The 1975 NFL season was the 56th regular season of the National Football League. It was also the first time that featured an entire season with no games ending in a tie. The league made two significant changes to increase the appeal of the game:...

, 1978
1978 NFL season
The 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference...

, 1979
1979 NFL season
The 1979 NFL season was the 60th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XIV when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams...

, 2005
2005 NFL season
The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006...

, 2008
2008 NFL season
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the...

Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...

NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

Ice Hockey Consol Energy Center 1967 1991, 1992, 2009
2008–09 NHL season
The 2008–09 NHL season was the 92nd season of operation of the National Hockey League . It was the first season since prior to the 2004–05 lockout in which every team played each other at least once during the season, following three seasons where teams only played against two divisions in the...

Pittsburgh Power
Pittsburgh Power
The Pittsburgh Power is an Arena Football League team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that began play in March of 2011. The team plays its home games at the new Consol Energy Center, which they share with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League...

AFL Arena football Consol Energy Center 2011
Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Pittsburgh Riverhounds is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1999, the team plays in the National Division of the new USL Professional Division, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid....

USL
United Soccer Leagues
The United Soccer Leagues is the organizer of several soccer leagues with teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It includes men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Leagues currently organized are the USL Pro, the USL Premier Development League, the W-League, and...

Soccer Chartiers Valley Stadium
Chartiers Valley High School
Chartiers Valley High School is a public school in the Bridgeville borough of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA. The school's on-site stadium is home to the professional soccer team the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The school has an indoor swimming pool which is open to the public three evenings a...

1999
Pittsburgh Passion
Pittsburgh Passion
The Pittsburgh Passion is a women's American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The franchise began play in 2003 and is currently owned by Teresa Conn and Franco Harris. It is a licensed team in the Women's Football Alliance....

IWFL
Independent Women's Football League
The Independent Women's Football League was founded in 2000, and began play in 2001.IWFL founders began with the goal to establish a quality women's football league that would be respected as the top level of women's tackle football in the world....

American football Newman Stadium
North Allegheny Senior High School
North Allegheny Senior High School is a suburban high school in the North Allegheny School District and is located in Wexford, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The current building was built in 1974, the school has won numerous awards and was ranked in the top 1300 US high...

2002 2007
Pittsburgh Force
Pittsburgh Force
The Pittsburgh Force is a women's American Football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are currently a member of the Mid-Atlantic Division of the Women's Football Alliance. Home games will be played at Moe Rubenstein Stadium in nearby Ambridge...

WFA
Women's Football Alliance
The Women's Football Alliance is a full-contact Women's American football league which began play in the spring of 2009. They have now completed three full seasons and grew to over 60 teams slated for the 2011 season. The women play 11 person tackle football games with rules that basically mirror...

American Football Moe Rubenstein Stadium 2008

Division I College Athletics Most prominent sports Venues Conference National Championships
University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

 Panthers
Pitt Football
Pittsburgh Panthers football
Pittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football...

 (FBS)
Pitt Basketball
Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball
Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's basketball program of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pitt men's basketball team competes in the Big East Conference and plays their home games in...

Heinz Field
Heinz Field
Heinz Field is a stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It primarily serves as the home to the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh Panthers American football teams, members of the National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association respectively...


Petersen Events Center
Petersen Events Center
Not to be confused with Petersen Sports Complex.The John M. and Gertrude E. Petersen Events Center is a 12,508-seat multi-purpose arena on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It hosts the men's and women's Pitt Panthers basketball teams...

Big East Conference
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...

Football: 1915, 1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936
1936 Pittsburgh Panthers football team
The 1936 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1936 college football season. The Panthers won the Rose Bowl and received a share of the National Championship...

, 1937
1937 Pittsburgh Panthers football team
The 1937 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1937 college football season. The Panthers were crowned National Champions. Pitt was also awarded the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy as the champion of the East...

, 1976
1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team
The 1976 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1976 college football season and is recognized as that season's consensus National Champions...


Basketball: 1927–28, 1929–30
Duquesne University
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...

 Dukes
Duquesne Dukes
The Duquesne Dukes are the athletic teams of Duquesne University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Duquesne has played men's basketball only in NCAA Division I and has played football as a club team from 1891–1894, 1896–1903, 1913–1914, and 1920–1928, in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision ...

Dukes Basketball
Duquesne Dukes men's basketball
The Duquesne Dukes represent Duquesne University in college basketball. The team, which started in 1914, has only ever played in NCAA Division I and has had five appearances in the NCAA Tournament...


Dukes Football (FCS)
Palumbo Center
A. J. Palumbo Center
A. J. Palumbo Center is a 4,406-seat multi-purpose arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The arena opened in 1988, and is part of Duquesne University. It is home to the Duquesne Dukes basketball, volleyball and wrestling programs. The center hosts concerts, boxing, and other special events, and is...


Art Rooney Field
Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field
Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field is a 4,500-seat multi-purpose facility in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Situated on the campus of Duquesne University, it is the home field of the Duquesne Dukes football team....

Atlantic 10 Conference 
Northeast Conference
Northeast Conference
The Northeast Conference is a college athletic conference whose schools are members of the NCAA. The NCAA designates the Northeast Conference to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision for Division I Men's Football and to Division I Sports for all other sports.Founded in 1981 as the ECAC-Metro...

Basketball: 1955 (NIT)
Football: 1941 (FBS Massey Ratings), 1973 (NCFA club), 2003 (FCS Mid-Major)
Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University is a private, coeducational university in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1921, the school was named for Robert Morris, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and helped finance the ensuing war with the British.-History:Robert Morris...

 Colonials
Colonials Basketball
Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball
The Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Northeast Conference. The team's last appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball...


Colonials Hockey
Sewall Center
Charles L. Sewall Center
Charles L. Sewall Center, commonly referred to as the Sewall Center, is a 3,056-seat multi-purpose arena in the Pittsburgh suburb of Moon Township, Pennsylvania. It is home to the Robert Morris Colonials basketball team. The Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament was held there four times...


Island Sports Center
Island Sports Center
The RMU Island Sports Center Ice Arena is a 1,200-seat hockey rink on the western tip of Neville Island in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The RMU Island Sports Center was built in 1998, and houses several ice and inline skating rinks, a golf range, a miniature golf course, athletic fields, a...

Northeast Conference
Northeast Conference
The Northeast Conference is a college athletic conference whose schools are members of the NCAA. The NCAA designates the Northeast Conference to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision for Division I Men's Football and to Division I Sports for all other sports.Founded in 1981 as the ECAC-Metro...

 
AHA Conference
Atlantic Hockey
The Atlantic Hockey Association is a NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey–only conference. Unlike several other college athletic conferences, Atlantic Hockey has no women's...

 (hockey)


Pittsburgh's dedication to sports has a long history. All of its major professional sports teams—the Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

 of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

, the Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...

 of the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

, and the Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...

 of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

—share the same team colors, the official city colors of black and gold
Flag of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The flag of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a tricolor flag featuring vertical bands of black and gold. The coat of arms of the City of Pittsburgh is charged in the center of the gold stripe....

. This tradition of solidarity is unique to the city of Pittsburgh. The black-and-gold color scheme has since become widely associated with the city and personified in its famous Terrible Towel
Terrible Towel
The Terrible Towel is a rally towel associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football team in the National Football League . Created in 1975 by then Steelers radio broadcaster Myron Cope, The Terrible Towel has spread in popularity; fans take their Towel to famous sites while on vacation...

.

Baseball

The Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team, often referred to as the Bucs or sometimes the Buccos (derived from buccaneer
Buccaneer
The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...

), is the city's oldest professional sports franchise having been founded in 1882, and plays in the Central Division
National League Central
The National League Central Division is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was created in 1994, by moving two teams from the Western Division and three teams from the Eastern Division of the National League...

 of the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

. The Pirates are nine-time National League Pennant winners and five-time World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

 Champions. The Pirates played in the first World's Series in 1903
1903 World Series
The 1903 World Series was the first modern World Series to be played in Major League Baseball. It matched the Boston Americans of the American League against the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League in a best-of-nine series, with Boston prevailing five games to three, winning the last...

, losing to the Boston Americans
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

, but won in 1909
1909 World Series
The 1909 World Series featured the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers. The Pirates won the Series in seven games to capture their first championship of the modern Major League Baseball era and the second championship in the club's history....

, 1925
1925 World Series
In the 1925 World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the defending champion Washington Senators in seven games.In a reversal of fortune on all counts from the previous 1924 World Series, when Washington's Walter Johnson had come back from two losses to win the seventh and deciding game, Johnson...

, 1960
1960 World Series
The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the New York Yankees of the American League from October 5 to October 13, 1960...

, 1971
1971 World Series
The 1971 World Series matched the defending champion Baltimore Orioles against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the Pirates winning in seven games. Game 4, played in Pittsburgh, was the first-ever World Series game scheduled to be played at night....

, as well as in their most recent World Series appearance against the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 in 1979
1979 World Series
The 1979 World Series matched the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League's Baltimore Orioles , with the Pirates coming back from a three games to one deficit to win the Series in seven games...

. The team claims two pre-World Series titles in 1901 and 1902. The Pirates play in PNC Park
PNC Park
PNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It opened during the 2001 Major League Baseball season, after the controlled implosion of the Pirates' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium...

, which is annually ranked as one of the most beautiful Major League baseball parks because of its location on the banks of the Allegheny River and the view of the Pittsburgh skyline. An ESPN.com
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...

 feature remarked that "[t]his is the perfect blend of location, history, design, comfort and baseball…The best stadium in baseball is in Pittsburgh." PNC Park
PNC Park
PNC Park is a baseball park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city's Major League Baseball franchise. It opened during the 2001 Major League Baseball season, after the controlled implosion of the Pirates' previous home, Three Rivers Stadium...

 hosted the All-Star game in 2006. Pittsburgh also has a rich history in Negro League baseball teams with the former Pittsburgh Crawfords
Pittsburgh Crawfords
The Pittsburgh Crawfords, popularly known as the Craws, were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Named after the Crawford Grill, a club in the Hill District of Pittsburgh owned by Gus Greenlee, the Crawfords were originally a youth semipro team sponsored by...

 and the Homestead Grays
Homestead Grays
The Homestead Grays were a professional baseball team that played in the Negro leagues in the United States. The team was formed in 1912 by Cumberland Posey, and would remain in continuous operation for 38 seasons. The team was based in Homestead, Pennsylvania, adjacent to Pittsburgh.-Franchise...

 credited with as many as 14 league titles and 11 Hall of Famers between them. In addition, the Pittsburgh Pirates were the first Major League team to field an all-nonwhite lineup in 1971. One sportswriter claimed, "No city is more synonymous with black baseball than Pittsburgh." The Pittsburgh Pirates also hold the MLB record for most consecutive losing seasons, not having won a majority of their games since the end of their three year playoff streak in 1992.

Football

Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 is the most popular and tradition laden sport in the region with the nation's first-ever professional game being played in the city on November 12, 1892 between the Allegheny Athletic Association
Allegheny Athletic Association
The Allegheny Athletic Association was an athletic club that fielded the first ever professional American football player and later the first fully professional football team. The organization was founded in 1890 as a regional athletic club in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, which is today the North...

 and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club
Pittsburgh Athletic Club (football)
The Pittsburgh Athletic Club football team, established in 1891, was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1892 the intense competition between two Pittsburgh-area clubs, the Allegheny Athletic Association and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club, led to William Heffelfinger becoming the first known...

, as well as the first pro-team in nearby Latrobe
Latrobe, Pennsylvania
Latrobe is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the United States, approximately southeast of Pittsburgh.The city population was 7,634 as of the 2000 census . It is located near the Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorporated as a borough in 1854, and as a city in 1999...

 and first organized league, the NFL
National Football League (1902)
The National Football League was the first attempt at forming a national professional football league in 1902. The league has no ties with the modern National Football League. In fact the league was only composed of teams from Pennsylvania, which was hardly "national". Two of the teams were based...

 and their inaugural champions the Pittsburgh Stars
Pittsburgh Stars
The Pittsburgh Stars were a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1902. The team was member of what was referred to as the National Football League. This league has no connection with the National Football League of today. The whole "league" was a curious mixture...

.

High school
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

 games routinely get over 10,000 fans per contest and extensive press coverage. The Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....

 film All the Right Moves
All the Right Moves
All the Right Moves is a 1983 drama film directed by Michael Chapman and starring Tom Cruise, Craig T. Nelson, Lea Thompson, Chris Penn, and Gary Graham...

and ESPN's documentary Bound for Glory
Bound for Glory (ESPN)
Bound for Glory was a television show on ESPN, from October to December 2005. This show featured former Chicago Bear Dick Butkus coaching the suburban Pittsburgh Montour High School Spartans. The Spartans were a perennial Pennsylvania state champion contender in the 1950s and 1960s but have had...

with Dick Butkus
Dick Butkus
Richard Marvin "Dick" Butkus is a former American football player for the Chicago Bears. He was drafted in 1965 and he is also widely regarded as one of the best and most durable linebackers of all time. Butkus starred as a football player for the University of Illinois and the Chicago Bears. He...

, both filmed in the region, capture the tradition and passion of high school football in the Pittsburgh Tri-State. College football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 is also popular, with the majority of residents supporting the local Division I (FBS) Panthers
Pittsburgh Panthers football
Pittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football...

 of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", who compete in the Big East Conference
Big East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...

. Since its first season in 1890, Pitt claims nine national championships
NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship
A college football national championship in the highest level of collegiate play in the United States, currently the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , is a designation awarded annually by various third-party organizations to their selection of the best...

, and most recently qualified for three straight bowl games. Pittsburgh is the closest major city/media market to both Penn State University
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...

 and West Virginia University
West Virginia Mountaineers football
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University in the NCAA FBS division of college football. Dana Holgorsen is the team's 33rd head coach. He has held the position since he was promoted in June 2011 after the resignation of Bill Stewart. The Mountaineers play their...

, with WVU considered part of the media market. Many fans in the region and city believe they are a great rival round to Pitt, with both teams also receiving coverage in the local media. Local universities Duquesne and Robert Morris have loyal fan bases that follow their lower (FCS) teams. Duquesne, Carnegie Mellon University and Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College, also known as W & J College or W&J, is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, in the United States, which is south of Pittsburgh...

 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.

The most popular team in the city is the NFL's
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

. The Steelers are more than a sports team to the region and its diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...

; many have noted that news of the team has preempted media coverage of elections and other major events. The Steelers have been owned by the Rooney family
Rooney family
The Rooney family has been the majority owners and operators of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania since the formation of the franchise in 1933. Art Rooney was the founder and owner of the team until his death in 1988; ownership of the team was then transferred to...

 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 on and off the field. The Steelers have a long waiting list for season tickets, and have sold out every home game since 1972. The team won four Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

s in a six-year span in the 1970s, a fifth Super Bowl
Super Bowl XL
Super Bowl XL was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League champion for the 2005 season...

 in 2006, and a league record sixth Super Bowl
Super Bowl XLIII
Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game pitting the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the National Football Conference champion Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League champion for the 2008 season. The game was played on February 1, 2009,...

 in 2009. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 they have qualified for more playoff berths (25) and have played in (15) and hosted (11) more conference championship games than any other NFL franchise. Heinz Field serves as the home field for both the Steelers and Pitt Panthers, as well as the title rounds of both the suburban and city high school football championships. Other professional football teams include the Pittsburgh Power
Pittsburgh Power
The Pittsburgh Power is an Arena Football League team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that began play in March of 2011. The team plays its home games at the new Consol Energy Center, which they share with the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League...

, an Arena Football team scheduled to begin play in the Consol Energy Center in April 2011, and are heirs to the Pittsburgh Gladiators who hosted ArenaBowl I
ArenaBowl I
Arena Bowl '87 was the Arena Football League's very first Arena Bowl. In this match-up, it pitted the #2 Denver Dynamite against the #1 Pittsburgh Gladiators...

 in the city, competing in two total. Professional women's football team the Pittsburgh Passion
Pittsburgh Passion
The Pittsburgh Passion is a women's American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The franchise began play in 2003 and is currently owned by Teresa Conn and Franco Harris. It is a licensed team in the Women's Football Alliance....

 has existed since 2002 plays its home games at Newman Stadium
North Allegheny Senior High School
North Allegheny Senior High School is a suburban high school in the North Allegheny School District and is located in Wexford, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The current building was built in 1974, the school has won numerous awards and was ranked in the top 1300 US high...

, and the city also boasted the Ed Debartolo owned Pittsburgh Maulers
Pittsburgh Maulers
The Pittsburgh Maulers competed in the 1984 season of the United States Football League. Their most prominent player was first pick overall in the 1984 USFL draft, running back Mike Rozier of Nebraska, who won the Heisman Trophy, collegiate football's most prestigious individual award.They were...

 featuring a Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

 winner in the mid-1980s.

Hockey

Hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

 in Pittsburgh has become increasingly popular on both the amateur and professional levels during the last few decades of the 20th century, and has had a regional fan base since the semi-pro Pittsburgh Keystones of the 1890s and the first decade of the 20th century. The world's first artificial ice rink debuted in Pittsburgh at Schenley Gardens
Schenley Park Casino
The Schenley Park Casino was Pittsburgh’s first multi-purpose arena. The facility was considered the envy of the sports and entertainment world during the early 1890's, with amenities that were unsurpassed anywhere on the globe. It was built at the entrance to Schenley Park in Oakland near the...

 in 1898 and was later improved at the Duquesne Gardens
Duquesne Gardens
Duquesne Gardens was the main sports arena located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA during the first half of the 20th century. It opened 3 years after a fire destroyed the city's prior sports arena, the Schenley Park Casino, in 1896. The arena was the first hockey rink to use glass above the dasher...

. In 1924, the city was awarded one of the NHL's first franchises on the strength of its back-to-back USAHA championship winning Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets
Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets
The Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets was an amateur hockey team that existed between . They evolved from being an amateur to a semi-pro team and are one the earliest sports organizations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Yellow Jackets played primarily in the United States Amateur Hockey Association...

 featuring future Hall of Famers and a Stanley Cup winning coach. The NHL's Pittsburgh Pirates, who were the first Pittsburgh pro team to don the "black and gold", made several Stanley Cup playoff runs and featured a future Hall of Famer. With the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 of the 1930s, the Pirates folded from financial pressures, but hockey survived with the Pittsburgh Hornets farm team from the 1930s to 1967. The franchise qualified for the finals seven times and hoisted championship banners three times (1952, 1955, 1967); all in an era where only the "original six" were in the NHL and "farm team" talent (especially Calder Cup
Calder Cup
The Calder Cup is awarded annually to the playoff champion of the American Hockey League. The trophy is the world's second oldest continuous professional ice hockey championship, having first been awarded in 1937 following the 1936-37 AHL season, and continuously being awarded every year.The cup...

 champions) exceeded the level on most modern day NHL playoff teams.
In 1967, the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 doubled its teams from six to twelve and the Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...

 were born. The Penguins have won four Eastern Conference
Eastern Conference (NHL)
The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Western Conference....

 championships (1991, 1992, 2008, and 2009) and three Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...

 championships in 1991, 1992, and 2009. The Pens are owned by Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006...

, a back-to-back playoffs MVP for the Pens from 1984–2006. From 1967 until 2010 they played their home games at one of the NHL's oldest venues, and the first retractable domed stadium in the world, Civic Arena, or in local parlance "The Igloo". The Consol Energy Center replaced the "igloo" in the 2010–2011 NHL season. Robert Morris University
Robert Morris Colonials men's ice hockey
The Robert Morris Colonials men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college ice hockey program that represents Robert Morris University. The team plays its home games at the Island Sports Center in Neville Township, Pennsylvania. The Colonials are a member of...

 also fields a Division I college hockey team at the RMU Island Sports Center
Island Sports Center
The RMU Island Sports Center Ice Arena is a 1,200-seat hockey rink on the western tip of Neville Island in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The RMU Island Sports Center was built in 1998, and houses several ice and inline skating rinks, a golf range, a miniature golf course, athletic fields, a...

, and much like 100 years ago, Pittsburgh is a hotbed for semi-pro and amateur teams, with the success of the Penguins fanning interest in the sport. The number of pro-grade ice rinks have increased in the region such as the Rostraver Ice Garden
Rostraver Ice Garden
The Rostraver Ice Garden is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in the Pittsburgh suburb of Rostraver Township, Pennsylvania, USA.-History:Opened in 1965, the Ice Garden hosts local sporting events and concerts. It also has banquet rooms and a restaurant, Murph's Pub...

 and Iceoplex at Southpointe
IceoPlex at Southpointe
IceoPlex is a multi-purpose arena in Southpointe in Cecil Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. It is the practice facility for the Pittsburgh Penguins...

, and several native Pittsburgh players have entered the NHL recently citing the success of Pens in the late 1980s and 1990s as spurring their interest in the sport.

Basketball

Professional basketball has played a role in the city's sports landscape since the 1910s, with "Monticello" and "Loendi" winning five national championships in the "Black Fives" league, the Pittsburgh Ironmen
Pittsburgh Ironmen
The Pittsburgh Ironmen were a charter member of the Basketball Association of America . The team was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They ended their only season in the BAA in 1946-47 with a record of 15-45, finishing in fifth and last place in the Western Division and worst overall in the league...

 (inaugural season of the NBA), the Pittsburgh Rens
Pittsburgh Rens
The Pittsburgh Rens were an American basketball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that was a member of the American Basketball League. The founder of the ABL, Abe Saperstein, was the owner of the Harlem Globetrotters who had competed for many decades against the New York Rens and eventually...

 (early 1960s), the Pittsburgh Pipers (first American Basketball Association
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...

 championship in 1968), Pittsburgh Piranhas
Pittsburgh Piranhas
The Pittsburgh Piranhas, were a semi-pro basketball team, that began play in 1994 as part of the Continental Basketball Association. The team played all of its home games at the A.J. Palumbo Center located on the campus of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh...

 (CBA Finals in 1995), and recently the Pittsburgh Xplosion
Pittsburgh Xplosion
The Pittsburgh Xplosion was a member of the Continental Basketball Association from 2006–2008. Founded in 2004 as the Pittsburgh Hard Hats as a member of the ABA, the team, following an ownership change, took the court as the Pennsylvania Pit Bulls. The team became the Xplosion in 2005, and joined...

 and Pittsburgh Phantoms
Pittsburgh Phantoms (ABA)
The Pittsburgh Phantoms were an American professional basketball team whose office is based in the Pittsburgh suburb of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania. The Phantoms were a member of the current American Basketball Association, and began play in December, 2009...

 (both of the ABA
American Basketball Association (2000–present)
The American Basketball Association, often abbreviated as ABA, is a semi-professional men's basketball league that was founded in 1999. The current ABA has no affiliation with the original American Basketball Association that merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976...

)

Collegiate basketball's fanbase was fueled since the early 20th century by the Dukes
Duquesne Dukes men's basketball
The Duquesne Dukes represent Duquesne University in college basketball. The team, which started in 1914, has only ever played in NCAA Division I and has had five appearances in the NCAA Tournament...

 of Duquesne University and the Panthers
Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball
Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's basketball program of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Pitt men's basketball team competes in the Big East Conference and plays their home games in...

 of the University of Pittsburgh. During the 1940s to the 1970s, Duquesne was the city's most successful men's college basketball program. Appearing in the 1940 Final Four
Final four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...

, the Dukes were the city's first college basketball team to obtain a number one ranking in the AP Poll
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...

 in 1954, and remain the only city team to have won a post-season college basketball tournament, the 1955 NIT
1955 National Invitation Tournament
The 1955 National Invitation Tournament was the 1955 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.-Selected teams:Below is a list of the 12 teams selected for the tournament.-Brackets/Results:Below is the tournament bracket....

, its second straight trip to the NIT title game. The Pitt Panthers won two pre-tournament era Helms Athletic Foundation
Helms Athletic Foundation
The Helms Athletic Foundation was an athletic foundation based in Los Angeles, founded in 1936 by Bill Schroeder and Paul Helms. It put together a panel of experts to select National Champion teams and make All-America team selections in a number of college sports including football and basketball...

 National Championships
Mythical National Championship
A mythical national championship is a colloquial term used to question the validity of national championship recognition that is not explicitly competitive...

 in 1928 and 1930, competed in a "national title game" against LSU
LSU Tigers basketball
The Louisiana State Tigers basketball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I men's college basketball. The team is currently coached by Trent Johnson and has enjoyed recent success, including a Final Four run in the 2005–2006 season. Past coaches include John Brady, Press...

 in 1935, and made a Final Four appearance in 1941. Since joining the Big East Conference in 1982, Pitt has regularly found a place among the top 25 NCAA teams, including a number one ranking for several weeks in 2009, and has made the NCAA Men's basketball tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...

 for the past nine seasons, reaching the Elite Eight
Elite Eight
The term Elite Eight, or less commonly called "Great Eight", refers to the final eight teams in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship; and, thus, represents the national quarterfinals. In Division I, the Elite Eight consists of the...

 ln 2009. Pitt plays at the Peterson Events Center, which has been sold out every season since its opening in 2002. The school's student section refers to itself as the "Oakland Zoo
Oakland Zoo (cheering section)
The Oakland Zoo is the student cheering section for the University of Pittsburgh men's and women's basketball teams. The Zoo cheers on the Panthers from the bottom tier of the stands at the Petersen Events Center, primarily across from the teams' benches and on the baselines under the baskets...

", a reference to the Oakland section of the city where the university is located. Pitt and Duquesne play a heated inter-city rivalry, termed "The City Game
City Game
The City Game is an annual college basketball game between the University of Pittsburgh Panthers and the Duquesne University Dukes. The term "City Game" is also used refer to women's basketball games played annually between the two universities and may also be used to refer to other athletic...

", each season. Since the 1970s, the suburban-based Robert Morris University's Colonials
Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball
The Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Northeast Conference. The team's last appearance in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball...

 have also competed in NCAA Division I basketball. Located in Moon Township
Moon Township, Pennsylvania
Moon Township is a township along the Ohio River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Moon is a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area and is located northwest of Pittsburgh. The origin of its name is unknown for certain, although it has been suggested that it derives from a...

 close to the Pittsburgh International Airport, the team has made the NCAA Tournament every decade since the 1980s, including in 2010, while posting several conference titles. Robert Morris also plays games against Duquesne and Pitt.

Other sports

Pittsburgh also hosts several annual major sporting events, including the Pittsburgh Marathon
Pittsburgh Marathon
The Pittsburgh Marathon is a foot race covering held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. The race was held annually from 1985–2003 , and was revived in 2009 as the "Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon."The 1988 and 2000 races were USA Olympic Trials for women and men,...

 and the Great Race 10K
Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race
The Richard S. Caliguiri City of Pittsburgh Great Race, known most commonly as the Great Race, is a major 10 kilometer foot race held annually in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is named after former Mayor of Pittsburgh Richard S. Caliguiri...

, the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix
Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix
Founded in 1982 and first run on September 3, 1983, the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix is a vintage motor sports car race and multi-day motorsport festival that takes place annually in mid-July in Schenley Park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...

 in motorsports, and with abundant rivers both the Head of the Ohio Regatta
Head of the Ohio
The Head of the Ohio, also known as HOTO, is a rowing race held on the penultimate complete weekend of October each year on the Ohio River and Allegheny River, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The race is named the "Head" of the Ohio because it is a head race...

 and the Three Rivers Regatta. The city's rivers also have been the reason the Forrest Wood Cup
FLW Outdoors
FLW Outdoors is the sanctioning organization for a series of sport fishing tournament tours, the best known being the WalMart FLW Tour of high-stakes bass fishing tournaments....

 and the Bassmaster Classic
Bassmaster Classic
The Bassmaster Classic is a competition in professional bass fishing. It was first held in 1971 on Lake Mead, Nevada. Originally it was a fall event , but it switched to the summer in 1984 and then to the late winter in 2006...

 chose Pittsburgh as host of their annual championships. Annual events continue during the winter months at area ski resorts such as Boyce Park
Boyce Park
Boyce Park is a county park in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a part of the county's network of nine distinct parks.Established in 1963, it is named for William D. Boyce, the founder of the Boy Scouts of America who was born in the area. It is sited east of downtown...

, Seven Springs
Seven Springs Mountain Resort
Seven Springs Mountain Resort is an all season resort located in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. The resort is officially listed in the borough of Seven Springs but some sources still list it as Champion, as it previously was. It has a fairly high elevation for a Pennsylvania ski area, at 3001 feet...

 and Wisp
Wisp Ski Resort
The Wisp Ski Resort is located next to Deep Creek Lake in the town of McHenry in Garrett County, Maryland. The resort is near the border with West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania/Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area. It is located 32 miles from Cumberland, Maryland, 2 hours from Pittsburgh, 3.5 hours...

 as well as ice skating at PPG Place and North Park
North Park (Pittsburgh)
North Park is a county park in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the largest in the county's 12,000 acre network of nine distinct parks....

.

Golf has deep roots in the area with the region boasting the oldest course in continuous use in the nation: Foxburg Country Club
Foxburg Country Club
Foxburg Country Club, established in 1887, is the oldest golf course "in continuous use" in the United States. It was listed as Foxburg Country Club and Golf Course on the National Register of Historic Places...

 dating from 1887. The Oakmont Country Club
Oakmont Country Club
Oakmont Country Club is a country club and the "oldest top-ranked golf course in the U. S.", in the Pittsburgh suburbs of Plum and Oakmont, Pennsylvania, USA. The Pennsylvania Turnpike separates the eastern seven holes from the rest of the course....

 of suburban Oakmont
Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Oakmont is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA. It is a Pittsburgh suburb and part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 6,303 at the 2010 census....

 has hosted more U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...

 championships (eight) than any other course as well as two U.S. Women's Open championships, three PGA Championship
PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...

s, and eight U.S. Amateurs. Other area courses such as Laurel Valley Golf Club
Laurel Valley Golf Club
Laurel Valley Golf Club is a golf club located just south of Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Designed by Dick Wilson and renovated by Arnold Palmer, the Laurel Valley golf course opened in 1959. Since its opening, the club has hosted two notable tournaments: the 1965 PGA Championship and the 1975 Ryder...

 and the Pittsburgh Field Club
Pittsburgh Field Club
Pittsburgh Field Club is a private country club, established in 1882, located six miles northeast of downtown Pittsburgh in the suburb of Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania...

 have hosted PGA Championships, the Ryder Cup
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...

, LPGA Championship
LPGA Championship
The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour...

s and Senior PGA Championship
Senior PGA Championship
The Senior PGA Championship is one of the five major championships in men's senior golf. It is administered by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and is recognized as a major championship by both the Champions Tour and the European Seniors Tour. It was formerly an unofficial money...

s. The region has hosted annual PGA Tour events such as the 84 Lumber Classic
84 Lumber Classic
The 84 Lumber Classic was an golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 2000 to 2006. The event's title sponsor was lumber company 84 Lumber. The host course from 2003 to 2006, Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pennsylvania, was owned by 84 Lumber founder Joseph Hardy.-History of the 84 Lumber...

 (2001–2006) at Mystic Rock, the Pittsburgh Open
Pittsburgh Open
The Pittsburgh Open is a defunct WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1979 to 1984. It was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States and played on indoor carpet courts.-Singles:-Doubles:-References:*...

 (1950s) and the Pittsburgh Senior Classic
Pittsburgh Senior Classic
The Pittsburgh Senior Classic was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour from 1993 to 1998. It was played in the greater Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area; first in Midway, Pennsylvania at the Quicksilver Golf Club and then in Sewickley Heights, Pennsylvania at the Sewickley Heights Golf Club.The...

 (1993–1998) and since 2010 the annual Mylan Classic
Mylan Classic
The Mylan Classic presented by CONSOL Energy is a golf tournament on the Nationwide Tour. It was played for the first time in September 2010 at Southpointe Golf Club in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh...

. Such golf legends as Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955...

 and Jim Furyk
Jim Furyk
James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing...

 learned the game and began their careers on Pittsburgh area courses.

Pittsburgh has multiple mountain biking areas close to the city in area parks and in the surrounding suburbs. Frick Park
Frick Park
Frick Park is the largest municipal park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, covering .The park began when Henry Clay Frick, upon his death in 1919, bequeathed south of Clayton, his Point Breeze mansion . He also arranged for a $2 million trust fund for long-term maintenance for the park, which opened on...

 has biking trails and Hartwood Acres Park
Hartwood Acres Park
Hartwood Acres Park is a county park in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Hartwood is considered the crown jewel of the county's network of nine distinct parks....

 has many miles of single track
Single track (mountain biking)
Single track or singletrack is a narrow mountain biking trail that is approximately the width of the bike. It contrasts with double track or fire road which is wide enough for four-wheeled off-road vehicles...

 trails. A recent project, "Rails to Trails
Rail trail
A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...

", has converted miles of former railroads
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...

 to recreational trails, including a Pittsburgh-Washington D.C. bike/walking trail
Great Allegheny Passage
The Great Allegheny Passage is a rail trail in Maryland and Pennsylvania. It is the central part of a several-hundred-mile long network of long-distance hiker-biker trails through the Allegheny region of the Appalachian Mountains, connecting Washington, D.C...

. Kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...

 is popular on the city's three rivers.

Soccer in Pittsburgh is represented by the Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Pittsburgh Riverhounds is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1999, the team plays in the National Division of the new USL Professional Division, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid....

, a professional soccer team playing in the second division of the United Soccer Leagues
United Soccer Leagues
The United Soccer Leagues is the organizer of several soccer leagues with teams in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It includes men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Leagues currently organized are the USL Pro, the USL Premier Development League, the W-League, and...

 (USL). A first division team until 2004, the Riverhounds reached the 2001 US Open Cup quarterfinals
2001 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
-Schedule:Note: Scorelines use the standard U.S. convention of placing the home team on the right-hand side of box scores.-First round:Four PDL and four USASA teams start.-----Second round:...

 after beating the Colorado Rapids
Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league...

 of the Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

.

Pittsburgh is also represented by the Steel City Derby Demons
Steel City Derby Demons
Steel City Derby Demons or SCDD, are a women's flat-track roller derby league based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2006, the league played their fourth season in 2010...

, a roller derby
Roller derby
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team...

 team of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association
Women's Flat Track Derby Association
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association is an association of women's flat track roller derby leagues in the United States. The organization was founded in April 2004 as the United Leagues Coalition but was renamed in November 2005. It is registered in Raleigh, North Carolina as a 501 business...

.

Government

Prior to the Civil War, Pittsburgh was largely in opposition to slavery. This sentiment culminated in Pittsburgh being selected as the birthplace of the national Republican Party
History of the United States Republican Party
The United States Republican Party is the second oldest currently existing political party in the United States after its great rival, the Democratic Party. It emerged in 1854 to combat the Kansas Nebraska Act which threatened to extend slavery into the territories, and to promote more vigorous...

, when the party held its first convention in February 1856. From the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 to the 1930s, Pittsburgh was a Republican stronghold.
However, national economic turmoil combined with entrenched local GOP scandals by the 1930s brought to an end Republican rule. In 1933
Pittsburgh mayoral election, 1933
The Mayoral election of 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1933. In a realigning election, Democrats regained control of the mayor's office for the first time in 28 years; they have not relinquished this position since. The incumbent mayor, John Herron of the...

, William N. McNair
William N. McNair
William N. McNair , served as the 48th Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1934 to 1936.-Early life:...

 became the first Democrat to be elected mayor. With the exception of the 1973
Pittsburgh mayoral election, 1973
The Mayoral election of 1973 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1973. The incumbent mayor, Pete Flaherty of the Democratic Party chose to run for his second full term.-Primary Election:...

 and 1977
Pittsburgh mayoral election, 1977
The Mayoral election of 1977 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was held on Tuesday, November 6, 1977. The incumbent mayor, Richard Caliguiri, had ascended to the office just 10 months earlier, after long time mayor Pete Flaherty resigned to take a position in the newly formed Jimmy Carter White House...

 elections (where life-long Democrats ran off the party ticket), Democratic candidates have been elected consecutively to the mayor's office since the Great Depression. Today, the ratio of Democratic to Republican registrations within the city is 5 to 1.

The mayor and the nine-member council serve a four-year term. The government's official offices are located in the Pittsburgh City-County Building
Pittsburgh City-County Building
The Pittsburgh City-County Building is the seat of government for the City of Pittsburgh and houses both Pittsburgh and Allegheny County offices. It is located in Downtown Pittsburgh at 414 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.-Design:...

. After the death of Mayor Bob O'Connor in September 2006, City Council President Luke Ravenstahl
Luke Ravenstahl
Luke Robert Ravenstahl is the current Mayor of Pittsburgh. In September 2006, he became the youngest mayor in Pittsburgh's history at the age of 26. He is among the youngest mayors of a major city in American history....

 was sworn in as the mayor of Pittsburgh at age 26, becoming the youngest mayor in the history of any major American city. He served until a special mayoral election
Pittsburgh mayoral special election, 2007
The Mayoral election of 2007 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was a special election held on Tuesday, November 6, 2007. The incumbent mayor, Luke Ravenstahl of the Democratic Party faced Republican challenger Mark DeSantis, a telecommunications executive and adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University...

 was held in November 2007, when he was re-elected.

City council members are chosen by plurality
Plurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...

 elections in each of nine districts. The members of the city council are: Darlene Harris (1), Theresa Kail-Smith (2), Bruce Kraus
Bruce Kraus
Bruce A. Kraus is an American politician and businessman from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has served since January 2008 on Pittsburgh City Council, representing the 3rd district neighborhoods of South Side Flats, South Side Slopes, Beltzhoover, Knoxville, Arlington, Arlington Heights, Allentown,...

 (3), Natalia Rudiak (4), Douglas Shields
Doug Shields
Douglas A. Shields represents the 5th Council District in the City of Pittsburgh. He has served on Pittsburgh City Council since January 2004, also serving as Pittsburgh City Council President from 2008 to 2010...

 (5), R. Daniel Lavelle (6), Patrick Dowd
Patrick Dowd
Patrick Dowd is a Democratic Party politician in the United States. He is currently serving as a member of the Pittsburgh City Council from District 7, which includes the neighborhoods of Bloomfield, East Liberty, Friendship, Garfield, Highland Park, Lawrenceville, Morningside, Polish Hill, and...

 (7), Bill Peduto
Bill Peduto
William Peduto, Democrat, was elected to Pittsburgh City Council, District 8, in November, 2001, and to a second four-year term in 2005.In the spring primary of 2005, Peduto ran for two positions. Besides running for re-election for his council seat, Peduto was a candidate for mayor...

 (8), and Rev. Ricky Burgess (9). The president of city council is Darlene Harris, who was elected to the position on January 4, 2010.

Pittsburgh is represented in the Pennsylvania General Assembly
Pennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times , the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by...

 by three Senate Districts
Pennsylvania State Senate
The Pennsylvania State Senate has been meeting since 1791. It is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such...

 and nine House Districts
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....

. Pittsburgh's State Senators include Jim Ferlo
Jim Ferlo
James "Jim" Ferlo is a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who has represented the 38th Senatorial District since 2003. His district consists of parts of Allegheny, Westmoreland and Armstrong counties.- Background and career :...

 (38th District), Wayne D. Fontana (42), and Jay Costa
Jay Costa
Jay Costa is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate who has represented the 43rd District since 1996. He is a member of the Costa political family in Pittsburgh...

 (43). Representatives in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....

 include Jake Wheatley
Jake Wheatley
Jake Wheatley, Jr. is a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. He represents the 19th district in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives which includes a number of areas in the city of Pittsburgh including: the Hill District, North Side, South Side, Allentown, Hazelwood,...

 (19th District), Don Walko
Don Walko
Don Walko was a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 20th District. Walko was elected in 1994 and was office until 2010...

 (20), Dominic Costa (21), Chelsa Wagner
Chelsa Wagner
Chelsa L. Wagner is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 22nd District which includes the South Side and part of the North Side of the city of Pittsburgh, as well as parts of the suburbs of Baldwin, Whitehall and Castle Shannon.Wagner graduated from Seton-La...

 (22), Dan Frankel (23), Joseph Preston, Jr.
Joseph Preston, Jr.
Joseph Preston Jr. is a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 24th District and was elected in 1982.-External links:* official PA House website*Follow the Money - Joseph Preston Jr.** campaign contributions...

 (24), Dan Deasy (27), Paul Costa (34), and Harry Readshaw (36).

Federally, Pittsburgh is part of Pennsylvania's 14th congressional district
Pennsylvania's 14th congressional district
Pennsylvania's 14th congressional district is overwhelmingly Democratic. The district includes the entire city of Pittsburgh, which is solidly Democratic because of its strong ethnic labor, liberal professional, and black voting blocks. A variety of working class and majority black suburbs located...

, represented by Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Mike Doyle
Michael F. Doyle
Michael F. "Mike" Doyle is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1995. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in Pittsburgh and includes most of Allegheny County....

, elected in 1994. The Pittsburgh Police Bureau
Pittsburgh Police
The Pittsburgh Police, or officially the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, is the largest law enforcement agency in Western Pennsylvania and the third largest in Pennsylvania...

 is the law enforcement arm of the city and the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau
Pittsburgh Fire Bureau
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire is the 630-strong fire department of the City of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. The Bureau dates its history back to September 12, 1793, with the initial purchase of a fire engine and the opening of a fire station at the corner of First Avenue and Market Street in...

 is a major emergency response unit in Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh EMS provides emergency medical, heavy rescue and river rescue services to the city.

By April 2008, the city and Allegheny County were discussing a plan to merge as early as 2009 in the interests of consolidating government and enhancing the status of the region. If approved, the city of Pittsburgh would annex all of surrounding Allegheny County in a Metropolitan Government, and the population would stand at 1.2 million, making Pittsburgh the 10th largest city in the United States. However, opposition to this plan is concerned of added bureaucracy of proposed "big government", inefficiencies and possible corruption will be extended to the newly-annexed communities resulting in a loss of services and an increase in taxes due to higher debt service costs of the city.

Education

The City of Pittsburgh is home to many colleges, universities and research facilities, the most well-known of which are Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

, Duquesne University
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...

, and the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

. Also located in the city are Carlow University
Carlow University
Carlow University is a Roman Catholic university founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, on September 24, 1929, by the Sisters of Mercy from Carlow, Ireland. Originally called Mount Mercy College, the name was changed to Carlow College in April 1969. In 2004, Carlow College achieved university...

, Chatham University, Point Park University
Point Park University
Point Park University is a liberal arts university located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered....

, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, and a branch campus of suburban Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University is a private, coeducational university in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1921, the school was named for Robert Morris, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and helped finance the ensuing war with the British.-History:Robert Morris...

 as well as the Community College of Allegheny County
Community College of Allegheny County
Community College of Allegheny County, or CCAC as it is officially abbreviated, is a community college in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With four campuses and six centers, the college offers associate's degrees, certificate and diploma programs....

, The Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, and the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science. The greater Pittsburgh region boasts even more colleges and universities, including Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Clarion University of Pennsylvania, located on a campus in Clarion, Pennsylvania, is one of fourteen universities of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education ....

, LaRoche College, Slippery Rock University, Westminster College and Grove City College
Grove City College
Grove City College is a Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania, about north of Pittsburgh. According to the College Bulletin, its stated three-fold mission is to provide an excellent education at an affordable price in a thoroughly Christian environment...

 north of the city, Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University is a private, coeducational university in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1921, the school was named for Robert Morris, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and helped finance the ensuing war with the British.-History:Robert Morris...

 and Geneva College
Geneva College
Geneva College is a Christian liberal arts college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, United States, north of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional undergraduates in...

 west of the city, Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College, also known as W & J College or W&J, is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, in the United States, which is south of Pittsburgh...

, California University of Pennsylvania
California University of Pennsylvania
California University of Pennsylvania is a public university located in California, Pennsylvania, USA. Founded in 1852, it is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Cal U's enrollment is approximately 9,400.The main campus consists of about 38 buildings situated on 92 acres...

 and Waynesburg University
Waynesburg University
Waynesburg University is a private, university located in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, USA. The university offers graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations, and enrolls over 2,500 students, including approximately 1,500 undergraduates.Waynesburg University was...

 to the south, and Seton Hill University
Seton Hill University
Seton Hill University is a small Catholic liberal arts university of about 2100 students in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. Formerly a women's college, it became a coeducational university in 2002....

, Saint Vincent College
Saint Vincent College
Saint Vincent College is a four-year, coeducational, Roman Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, located about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. It was founded in 1846 by Boniface Wimmer, a monk from Bavaria, Germany. It was the first Benedictine monastery in the...

 and Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a public university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, USA. The university is northeast of Pittsburgh. It is the largest university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and is the commonwealth's fifth largest university...

 – the biggest state university – to the east.

The campuses of Carlow University, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh are located adjacent to each other in the Oakland neighborhood that is the traditional cultural and education center of the city. Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university founded by Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

 and is ranked #22 overall on US News & World Report list of America's Best National Universities. Carnegie Mellon is known primarily for its computer science
Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science
The School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA is a leading private school for computer science established in 1965. It has been consistently ranked among the top computer science programs over the decades. U.S...

, engineering
Carnegie Institute of Technology
The Carnegie Institute of Technology , is the name for Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. It was first called the Carnegie Technical Schools, or Carnegie Tech, when it was founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie who intended to build a “first class technical school” in Pittsburgh,...

, business
Tepper School of Business
The Tepper School of Business is a private business school located on Carnegie Mellon University’s campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.The school consistently ranks highly among the top business schools in the U.S., as well as in a wide range of specializations, such as finance,...

, economics
Tepper School of Business
The Tepper School of Business is a private business school located on Carnegie Mellon University’s campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.The school consistently ranks highly among the top business schools in the U.S., as well as in a wide range of specializations, such as finance,...

, public policy, information systems, fine arts
Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts
The College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA oversees the Schools of Architecture, Art, Design, Drama, and Music; along with its associated centers, studios, and galleries....

, and entrepreneurship programs. The University of Pittsburgh, established in 1787 and popularly referred to as "Pitt", is a state-related
Commonwealth System of Higher Education
The Commonwealth System of Higher Education is the organizing body of Pennsylvania's "state-related" schools, which allows the independent control of the universities while supplying them with the public funds needed for operations at each institution. Universities in the System are considered...

 school with one of the country's largest research programs. Pitt is ranked as the 19th national public university
Public university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...

 by US News & World Report and 57th overall, and is known for its programs in philosophy, international studies
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
The Graduate School of Public and International Affairs is one of 17 schools comprising the University of Pittsburgh. Founded in 1957 to study national and international public administration, GSPIA contains several highly ranked programs...

, information science
University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences
The University of Pittsburgh - School of Information Sciences is one of the nation’s pioneering schools in the education of information professionals, with a history that reaches back more than a hundred years to the days of Andrew Carnegie...

, engineering
Swanson School of Engineering
The Swanson School of Engineering is the engineering school of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846, The Swanson School of Engineering is the second or third oldest in the United States.- History :...

, business
University of Pittsburgh College of Business Administration
The College of Business Administration is one of the 17 schools of University of Pittsburgh located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is home to the undergraduate business education at the university and administration of the college is overseen by the Joseph M...

, law
University of Pittsburgh School of Law
The University of Pittsburgh School of Law was founded in 1895, and became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900...

, medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is a medical school located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The School of Medicine is also known as Pitt Med, and is ranked as a “top medical school” by U.S. News & World Report in the publication's categories of research and primary care...

, and other biomedical and health-related sciences. Carlow University is a small private Roman Catholic university that while coeducational, has traditionally educated women. Chatham University, a liberal arts women's college with coeducational graduate programs, is located in the nearby Shadyside neighborhood, but also maintains a 400 acres (1.6 km²) Eden Hall Farm campus located in the North Hills
North Hills, Pennsylvania
North Hills is an unincorporated community in Abington, Springfield, and Upper Dublin townships in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is served by the 19038 zip code. It is a lesser developed town than their neighbor, Glenside. It has a rail station on the SEPTA Lansdale/Doylestown...

. Duquesne University
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...

, a private Catholic university, is located in the Bluff
Bluff (Pittsburgh)
The Bluff or Uptown is a neighborhood in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the southeast of the city's Central Business District. It is bordered in the north by the Hill District and just a short trip across the Monongahela River is the city's South Side, which is home to a flourishing...

 neighborhood of Pittsburgh and is noted for its song and dance company, the Tamburitzans
Duquesne University Tamburitzans
The Duquesne University Tamburitzans are the longest-running multicultural song and dance company in the United States. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company's members are full-time Duquesne University students who receive scholarships for their activities...

, as well as programs in law, business, and pharmacy. Point Park University
Point Park University
Point Park University is a liberal arts university located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered....

, which recently announced a major expansion of its downtown campus, is the youngest university in the city and well known for its Conservatory of Performing Arts and its operation of the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University
Robert Morris University is a private, coeducational university in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1921, the school was named for Robert Morris, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and helped finance the ensuing war with the British.-History:Robert Morris...

 is based in the suburb of Moon Township
Moon Township, Pennsylvania
Moon Township is a township along the Ohio River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Moon is a part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area and is located northwest of Pittsburgh. The origin of its name is unknown for certain, although it has been suggested that it derives from a...

, Pennsylvania and maintains a satellite center in downtown Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and adjacent Mount Oliver.The combined land area of these municipalities is with a population of 342,503 according to the 2000 census. In August 2005, the superintendent became Mark Roosevelt. His tenure ends...

 teachers are paid well relative to their peers, ranking 17th in 2000 among the 100 largest cities by population for the highest minimum salary offered to teachers with a BA ($34,300). Pittsburgh ranked fifth in the highest maximum salary offered to teachers with an MA ($66,380). Local public schools include many charter and magnet schools, including City Charter High School
City Charter High School
City Charter High School, also known as City High, is a charter school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania self-described as a "21st century school that changes the traditional learning environments for students and teachers...

 (computer and technology focused), Pittsburgh Montessori School (formerly Homewood Montessori), Pittsburgh Gifted Center
Pittsburgh Gifted Center
Pittsburgh Gifted Center is a special school that provides gifted education, to students in Pittsburgh and Mt. Oliver.Until May 2006, the Pittsburgh Gifted Center was located at the McKelvy building in the Pittsburgh Hill District....

, Barack Obama Academy of International Studies 6-12
Barack Obama Academy of International Studies 6-12
Obama High School is a public school in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.Obama High School is one of three new 6-12 schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. It is housed in the former Reizenstein Facility...

, Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts 6–12, Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy, and a school for the blind, The Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf
Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf
The Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf is a school for deaf and hard of hearing children in Edgewood, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1869....

, or otherwise challenged children.

Private schools in Pittsburgh include North Catholic High School
North Catholic High School
North Catholic High School is a private Catholic high school located on Troy Hill on the Northside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school's mascot is the Trojan and its official colors are scarlet and gold....

, Bishop Canevin High School
Bishop Canevin High School
Bishop Canevin High School is a Catholic high school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school is located in the Oakwood neighborhood of the city.-External links:* *...

, Seton-La Salle Catholic High School
Seton-La Salle Catholic High School
Seton-La Salle Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

, Central Catholic High School
Central Catholic High School (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Central Catholic High School is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school for boys in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a part of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and is administrated and partially staffed by the Brothers of the Christian Schools....

, Oakland Catholic High School
Oakland Catholic High School
Oakland Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic college preparatory school for girls located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It was established by Bishop Donald Wuerl in 1989 as the merger of former all-girl parish high schools of Sacred Heart and St. Paul...

, Winchester Thurston School
Winchester Thurston School
Winchester Thurston School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory school with two campuses: a Pre-Kindergarten through grade five North Hills Campus in Hampton Township and a Pre-Kindergarten through grade twelve City Campus in Shadyside, Pittsburgh...

, and The Ellis School
The Ellis School
The Ellis School is an independent, age 3 – grade 12 college preparatory school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1916, the school is a private all-girls institution with a current enrollment of 470 students.-Notable alumnae:...

. Shady Side Academy
Shady Side Academy
Shady Side Academy is a private, secular coeducational PK-12 preparatory school located on three campuses in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, established in 1883.- Campuses :Shady Side Academy has three campuses in Pittsburgh....

, whose main campuses are located in Fox Chapel
Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania
Fox Chapel is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, and is a suburb of Pittsburgh located northeast of downtown.The population was 5,388 as of the 2010 census.-History:...

, has a junior high school in the neighborhood of Point Breeze
Point Breeze, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Point Breeze, or South Point Breeze, is a largely residential neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.It is adjacent to the Pittsburgh neighborhoods of Regent Square, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, and North Point Breeze, and the borough of Wilkinsburg. It includes the neighborhood of Park Place...

.

The city also has an extensive library system, both public and university. Most notable are the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is the public library system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its main branch is located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and it has 19 branch locations throughout the city...

 and the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

's University Library System, which rank 9th-largest (public) and 18th largest (academic) in the nation, respectively.

Media

There are two major daily newspapers in Pittsburgh: the liberal Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...

and the conservative Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States...

. Alternative weekly papers in the region include the Pittsburgh City Paper
Pittsburgh City Paper
The Pittsburgh City Paper is Pittsburgh's leading alternative weekly newspaper which focuses on local news, opinion, and arts and entertainment...

, Pittsburgh Catholic
Pittsburgh Catholic
The Pittsburgh Catholic is the weekly Catholic newspaper for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, published for lay people and priests. It labels itself as the oldest Catholic newspaper in continuous publication. The newspaper was established in 1844, by Rt. Rev. Michael O'Connor, D.D...

, The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh
The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh
The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh is a weekly newspaper published every Thursday for the Jewish community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, and the surrounding area. The newspaper is owned and distributed by the Jewish Publication and Education Foundation. The founding executive editor of the...

, The New People, and the New Pittsburgh Courier. Independent student-written university-based newspapers include The Pitt News
The Pitt News
The Pitt News is an independent, student-written and student-managed newspaper for the main campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland which has been active in some form since 1910. It is published Monday through Friday during the regular school year and Wednesdays during the summer...

of the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

, The Tartan
The Tartan
The Tartan, formerly known as The Carnegie Tartan, is the original student newspaper of Carnegie Mellon University. Publishing since 1906, it is one of Carnegie Mellon's largest and oldest student organizations. It currently has over 170 student members, who contribute on a weekly basis...

of Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

, "The Duquesne Duke
The Duquesne Duke
The Duquesne Duke is the campus newspaper of Duquesne University.The Duke has been in operation since March 5, 1925 . Written and edited by students, it is published every Thursday during the academic year, excluding exam periods and holidays. The paper provides a mix of campus news, student...

" of "Duquesne University
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...

", and The Globe
The Globe student newspaper
The Globe is Point Park University's independent student-produced newspaper....

of Point Park University
Point Park University
Point Park University is a liberal arts university located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered....

. University of Pittsburgh School of Law
University of Pittsburgh School of Law
The University of Pittsburgh School of Law was founded in 1895, and became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900...

 is also home to JURIST
JURIST
JURIST is an online legal news service hosted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, powered by a staff of more than 40 law students working in Pittsburgh and other US locations under the direction of founding Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Professor Bernard Hibbitts, Research Director Jaclyn...

, the world's only university-based legal news service.

The Pittsburgh metro area is served by many local television and radio stations. The Pittsburgh designated market area (DMA) is the 22nd largest in the U.S. with 1,163,150 homes (1.045% of the total U.S.). The major network television affiliates are KDKA-TV
KDKA-TV
KDKA-TV, channel 2, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. KDKA-TV broadcasts from a transmitter located in the Perry North neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and its studios are located in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Center....

 2 (CBS), WTAE
WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV is the ABC affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh, broadcasting on UHF channel 51 and identifying via PSIP as channel 4 . It also serves as an ABC affiliate for the Wheeling/Steubenville and Clarksburg/Weston, West Virginia market areas...

 4 (ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

), WPXI
WPXI
WPXI, channel 11, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter located on the north side of Pittsburgh. Owned by Cox Enterprises, the station has studios in the...

 11 (NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

), WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV
WPGH-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter at its studios on Ivory Avenue in the city's Summer Hill section. The station can also be seen on Verizon FiOS and Comcast channel 7...

 53 (Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

), WPCW
WPCW
WPCW is a The CW-affiliated television station for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that is licensed to Jeannette. WPCW is owned by the CBS Corporation and serves as an affiliate of The CW Television Network for the television market...

 19 (CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...

), WINP-TV 16 (Ion
Ion
An ion is an atom or molecule in which the total number of electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, giving it a net positive or negative electrical charge. The name was given by physicist Michael Faraday for the substances that allow a current to pass between electrodes in a...

), WPMY
WPMY
WPMY is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter located in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, WPMY is the sister station of...

 22 (MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...

), and WPCB 40 (Cornerstone
Cornerstone Television
The Cornerstone TeleVision Network is a non-commercial Christian broadcast and satellite television network based in Wall, Pennsylvania, United States. Its founder and CEO is Russ Bixler...

). WBGN
WBGN-LP
WBGN-CD is a Class A television station located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station is owned and operated by Bruno-Goodworth Network, Inc. WBGN-CD began broadcasting in 1995 on channel 59 with the call sign W59BT. WBGN simulcasts on nine Class A television stations that are strategically...

 59 is an independent station
Independent station
An independent station is in the category of television terminology used to describe a television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any television network....

 owned and operated by the Bruno-Goodworth Network.

WQED
WQED (TV)
WQED is a Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Established April 1, 1954, it was the first community-sponsored television station in the United States as well as the fifth public TV station...

 13 is the local PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

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

There are a wide variety of radio stations serving the Pittsburgh market. The first was KDKA
KDKA (AM)
KDKA is a radio station licensed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Created by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation on November 2, 1920, it is one of the world's first modern radio stations , a distinction that has also been challenged by other stations, although it has claimed to be the first in...

 1020 AM, also the world's first commercially licensed radio station, airing on November 2, 1920. Other popular stations include KQV
KQV
KQV is a radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station, which is the only broadcast station owned by Calvary, Inc., broadcasts at 1410 kHz, with 5000 watts of power day and night. KQV's call letters reportedly stand for King of the Quaker Valley...

 1410 AM (news), WBGG
WBGG (AM)
WBGG is a sports radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, owned by Clear Channel Communications. The station broadcasts at 970 kHz with 5,000 watts day and night.- History :...

 970 AM (sports), KDKA-FM 93.7 FM (sports), WKST-FM
WKST-FM
WKST-FM is a Rhythmic Contemporary outlet based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Owned by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts at 96.1 MHz, with an ERP of 44 kW...

 96.1 FM (pop and hip-hop), WBZZ
WBZZ
WBZZ may refer to:*WBZZ, a radio station licensed to serve New Kensington, Pennsylvania, United States*WQSH, a radio station in Malta, New York, United States licensed as WBZZ from 2006 to 2011...

 100.7 FM (adult contemporary), WDVE
WDVE
WDVE is a mainstream rock music formatted radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA at 102.5 MHz. It is often referred to by Pittsburghers as simply "DVE." WDVE's transmitter is located on Pittsburgh's North Side...

 102.5 FM (album rock), WPGB
WPGB
WPGB is a conservative talk radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Owned by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts at 104.7 MHz with an ERP of 13 kW...

 104.7 FM (talk), and WXDX 105.9 FM (modern rock). There are also three public radio stations
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...

 in the area; including WDUQ
WDUQ
WDUQ was a public radio jazz and news radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station broadcasted at 90.5 MHz with an ERP of 25kW. WDUQ was a full member station of National Public Radio and was also affiliated with Public Radio International and American Public Media...

 90.5 FM (National Public Radio affiliate and jazz music station operated by Duquesne University
Duquesne University
Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened its doors as the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost in October 1878 with an enrollment of...

), WQED
WQED-FM
WQED-FM is a listener-supported, public radio classical, fine arts, and news station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station, which is a sister station to both WQED-TV and WINP-TV, operates at 89.3 MHz with an ERP of 28 kW, and is a member station of National Public Radio and an affiliate of...

 89.3 FM (classical), and WYEP 91.3 FM (adult alternative). Three non-commercial stations are run by Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....

 (WRCT
WRCT
WRCT is a non-commercial freeform radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station, which is hosted in the basement of Carnegie Mellon's University Center, is run by students, staff, faculty, and community members. WRCT broadcasts on 88.3 MHz with an ERP of 1.75 kW, from atop...

 88.3 FM), the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

 (WPTS 92.1 FM), and Point Park University
Point Park University
Point Park University is a liberal arts university located in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered....

 (WPPJ 670 AM).

According to the Pittsburgh Film Office
Pittsburgh Film Office
The Pittsburgh Film Office is a non-profit 5013 corporation dedicated to economic development in the Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania region...

, over 123 major motion pictures have been filmed, in whole or in part, in Pittsburgh, including The Mothman Prophecies
The Mothman Prophecies
The Mothman Prophecies is a 1975 book by author John Keel.The book combines Keel's account of his investigation into alleged sightings of a large, winged creature called Mothman in the vicinity of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, during 1966 and 1967 with his own theories about UFOs and various...

, Wonder Boys
Wonder Boys
Wonder Boys is a 1995 novel by the American writer Michael Chabon. It was adapted into a film in 2000.-Plot summary:Pittsburgh professor and author Grady Tripp is working on an unwieldy 2,611 page manuscript that is meant to be the follow-up to his successful, award-winning novel The Land...

, Dogma
Dogma (film)
Dogma is a 1999 American adventure fantasy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also stars in the film along with an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Bud Cort, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, George Carlin, Janeane Garofalo,...

, Hoffa
Hoffa
Hoffa is a 1992 biographical film directed by Danny DeVito and written by David Mamet, based on the life of Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa. Jack Nicholson plays Hoffa, and Danny DeVito plays Hoffa's fictional longtime friend Robert "Bobby" Ciaro, an amalgamation of several Hoffa associates over...

, The Silence of the Lambs, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Zack and Miri Make a Porno is a 2008 romantic comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, distributed by The Weinstein Company, and starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. It is Smith's second film not to be set within the View Askewniverse and the first not set in New Jersey. It was...

. Pittsburgh also became "Gotham City" in 2011 for the filming of "The Dark Knight Rises (2012 release)." Horror director George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...

, a Pittsburgh native, has shot nearly all of his films in and around Pittsburgh, including the majority of his Living Dead series. Showtime's
Showtime Networks
Showtime Networks, Inc. is the corporate division of media conglomerate CBS Corporation.The company was established in 1983 as Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. after Viacom and Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment merged their premium channels, Showtime and The Movie Channel respectively, into one...

 popular series Queer as Folk is also set in Pittsburgh, although actual filming is done in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

.

Transportation

Pittsburgh is a city of bridges
Pittsburgh bridges
The Bridges of Pittsburgh play an important role in the city's transportation system.A 2006 study determined that Pittsburgh has 446 bridges, and with its proximity to three major rivers and countless hills and ravines, Pittsburgh is known as "The City of Bridges"...

 with a total of 446. Pittsburgh has three bridges more than Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, Italy, which has historically held the title "City of Bridges." Around 40 bridges cross the three rivers near the city. The southern "entrance" to Downtown is through the Fort Pitt Tunnel
Fort Pitt Tunnel
The Fort Pitt Tunnel carries Interstate 376 , US 22, US 30, and US 19 Truck between Downtown Pittsburgh and its West End neighborhood in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It has two lanes both inbound and outbound. The tunnel travels beneath Mount Washington. Its northern ramps lead directly to...

 and over the Fort Pitt Bridge
Fort Pitt Bridge
The Fort Pitt Bridge is a steel, double decker bowstring arch bridge that spans the Monongahela River near its confluence with the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It carries Interstate 376 between the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Downtown Pittsburgh.-History:The Fort Pitt Bridge opened on...

. The Panhandle Bridge
Panhandle Bridge
The Panhandle Bridge carries two rail lines of the Port Authority "T" line across the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The name comes from Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago and St...

 carries the Port Authority's Blue/Red/Brown subway lines across the Monongahela River
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...

. Over 2,000 bridges span the landscape of Allegheny County.

Expressways

Locals refer to the interstates fanning out from downtown Pittsburgh as the "parkways." I-376
Interstate 376
Interstate 376 is a major auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, located entirely within the Allegheny Plateau. It runs from I-80 near Sharon south and east to a junction with the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Monroeville, after having crossed the Turnpike...

 is both the "parkway east" connecting to I-76
Interstate 76 (east)
Interstate 76 is an Interstate Highway in the United States, running 435 miles from an interchange with Interstate 71 west of Akron, Ohio, east to Interstate 295 near Camden, New Jersey....

 (Pennsylvania Turnpike
Pennsylvania Turnpike
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is a toll highway system operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. The three sections of the turnpike system total . The main section extends from Ohio to New Jersey and is long...

) and the "parkway west" connecting to I-79
Interstate 79
Interstate 79 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States, designated from Interstate 77 in Charleston, West Virginia to Pennsylvania Route 5 and Pennsylvania Route 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania...

, the Pittsburgh International Airport
Pittsburgh International Airport
Pittsburgh International Airport , formerly Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Greater Pittsburgh International Airport and commonly referred to as Pittsburgh International, is a joint civil–military international airport located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Findlay Township, approximately west of...

, the Ohio end of the Turnpike and I-80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...

. The "parkway north" is I-279
Interstate 279
Interstate 279 is a north–south Interstate Highway spur that lies entirely within Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Its southern end is at Interstate 376 at the Fort Pitt Bridge in Pittsburgh, and the north end is in Franklin Park at Interstate 79...

 connecting to I-79. The "crosstown" is I-579
Interstate 579
Interstate 579 is a north–south Interstate Highway entirely within Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At long, it is short but not the shortest signed Interstate, an honor which belongs to I-375 in Michigan...

 allowing access to the heart of downtown, the Liberty Tunnels and the CONSOL Energy Center. Expressways such as Route 28
Pennsylvania Route 28
Pennsylvania Route 28 is a major state highway which runs for 97 miles from Interstate 279 and Interstate 579 at the Interstate 279 Interchange in Pittsburgh to U.S. Route 219 in Brockway in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The expressway from Kittanning to Pittsburgh is called the Alexander H...

 and Route 22 also carry traffic from downtown to the northeast and western suburbs, respectively. I-70
Interstate 70
Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...

, I-79 and I-76 (the Turnpike) roughly form a triangular-shaped "beltway" with I-80 and I-68
Interstate 68
Interstate 68 is a Interstate highway in the U.S. states of West Virginia and Maryland, connecting in Morgantown to in Hancock. is also Corridor E of the Appalachian Development Highway System. From 1965 until the freeway's construction was completed in 1991, it was designated as...

 within the city's media market's northern and southern boundaries. Several suburban Turnpike spurs along the Monongahela River
Monongahela River
The Monongahela River is a river on the Allegheny Plateau in north-central West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States...

, the Airport
Pennsylvania Route 576
Pennsylvania Route 576, the Southern Beltway, is a partially completed highway in the southern suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...

 and near Greensburg also help traffic flow. Navigation around the city and its suburbs can also be accomplished via the non-expressway Pittsburgh/Allegheny County Belt System
Pittsburgh/Allegheny County Belt System
The Allegheny County Belt System color codes miscellaneous county roads to form a unique system of routes in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and around the city of Pittsburgh....

.

A planned highway system called the Mon-Fayette/Southern Beltway project would allow access from the south and southwest of the city via a limited-access tolled expressway system. The projects are in the planning stages with some sections already open to traffic. The projects are being planned by The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

Airports

The city is served by Pittsburgh International Airport
Pittsburgh International Airport
Pittsburgh International Airport , formerly Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Greater Pittsburgh International Airport and commonly referred to as Pittsburgh International, is a joint civil–military international airport located in the Pittsburgh suburb of Findlay Township, approximately west of...

  17 miles (27.4 km) to the west in Findlay Township. The airport was the long time major hub for US Airways
US Airways
US Airways, Inc. is a major airline based in the U.S. city of Tempe, Arizona. The airline is an operating unit of US Airways Group and is the sixth largest airline by traffic and eighth largest by market value in the country....

 from the company's start in the 1940s until the mid 2000's. In 2000, US Airways and its regional affiliates operated over 500 daily departures from Pittsburgh to more than 110 destinations; by 2007 fewer than 70 departures to 21 destinations remained. However, in 2007, US Airways chose the city to house its new $25 million, 27000 sq ft (2,508.4 m²). 600 employees strong Global Flight Operations Center, consolidating its two smaller (pre-merger) centers in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, Arizona and along I-376 in metro Pittsburgh. Currently, the largest promotions at the airport is the expansion of other airlines, particularly Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...

' new direct trans-Atlantic service to Paris as well as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...

 rapid expansion at the complex.

Art deco style Allegheny County Airport
Allegheny County Airport
Allegheny County Airport is located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, four miles southeast of the city of Pittsburgh. It is the fifth busiest airport in Pennsylvania following Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, and Harrisburg...

 (AGC) handles 139,000 general aviation flights a year, and is located south of the city in West Mifflin
West Mifflin, Pennsylvania
West Mifflin is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, located southeast of downtown Pittsburgh. The population was 20,313 at the 2010 census....

. There are also smaller airports located near the city used primarily for corporate jets and other private aircraft: Rock Airport
Rock Airport
Rock Airport is an airport northeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania near the boroughs of Tarentum and Springdale....

 is northeast of Pittsburgh near the borough of Tarentum
Tarentum, Pennsylvania
Tarentum is a borough in Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is northeast of Downtown Pittsburgh, along the Allegheny River. Tarentum was an industrial center where plate glass and bottles were manufactured; bricks, lumber, steel and iron novelties, steel billets and sheets,...

 and Pittsburgh-Monroeville Airport is east of the city in Monroeville
Monroeville, Pennsylvania
Monroeville is a home rule municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located about east of the city of Pittsburgh, Monroeville is a bustling suburb with mixed residential and commercial developments...

.

Commercial service is also available at suburban Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport
Arnold Palmer Regional Airport is a public use airport located two nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Latrobe, and approximately 29 nautical miles southeast of Pittsburgh, in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned by the Westmoreland County...

 in the borough of Latrobe
Latrobe, Pennsylvania
Latrobe is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the United States, approximately southeast of Pittsburgh.The city population was 7,634 as of the 2000 census . It is located near the Pennsylvania's scenic Chestnut Ridge. Latrobe was incorporated as a borough in 1854, and as a city in 1999...

 via Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines
Spirit Airlines is a United States ultra low-cost carrier operating scheduled flights throughout the Americas. The airline is headquartered in Miramar, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit currently maintains a base in Fort Lauderdale, Florida...

 and formerly Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...

 and US Airways commuter service.

Several suburban private plane bases serve the region, the largest of these include Rostraver Airport
Rostraver Airport
Rostraver Airport is a public use airport in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located five nautical miles east of the central business district of Monongahela, Pennsylvania in Rostraver Township...

 and Pittsburgh-Monroeville Airport.

Public transportation

Port Authority of Allegheny County
Port Authority of Allegheny County
Port Authority of Allegheny County is the second-largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania and the 11th-largest in the United States. When considering that its service area is the 20th largest in the U.S...

, commonly known as the Port Authority, but sometimes referred to by its former nickname "PAT" or "PAT Transit", is the region's mass transit system. While serving only a portion of the Pittsburgh area's 20th largest metro area it is the 11th largest transit agency in the nation. Port Authority runs a network of intracity and intercity bus routes, the Monongahela Incline
Monongahela Incline
The Monongahela Incline, built by John Endres in 1870, islocated near the Smithfield Street Bridge in Pittsburgh. It is the oldest continuously operating funicular in the USA. It is also one of two surviving inclines from the original 17 passenger-carrying inclines built in Pittsburgh starting...

 funicular railway (more commonly known as an "incline") on Mount Washington, a light rail
Pittsburgh Light Rail
The Pittsburgh Light Rail is a light rail system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; it functions as a subway in Downtown Pittsburgh and largely as an at-grade light rail service in the suburbs. The system is owned and operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County...

 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
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

 systems. The Duquesne Incline
Duquesne Incline
The Duquesne Incline is a inclined plane railroad, or funicular, located near Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood and scaling Mt. Washington. Designed by Samuel Diescher, the incline was completed in 1877 and is long, in height, and is inclined at a 30 degree angle...

 is operated by a non-profit preservation trust, but it does accept Port Authority passes and charge standard Port Authority tolls.

The city has Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

 intercity rail service via the Capitol Limited and the Pennsylvanian
Pennsylvanian (Amtrak)
The Pennsylvanian is a 444-mile daytime Amtrak train running between New York and Pittsburgh via Philadelphia. The trains travel through Pennsylvania's capital, the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, suburban and central Philadelphia, and pass through New Jersey up to New York. Trains run once daily in...

at Pennsylvania Station
Union Station (Pittsburgh)
Union Station is a historic train station at Grant Street and Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States.-History:Unlike many union stations built in the U.S...

, also known as Union Station. Current freight railroads include CSX and Norfolk Southern. Enhancements to allow for highspeed rail transit connections to Philadelphia and the Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...

 are underway as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009, by President Barack Obama.To...

.
Funding crisis of 2010–11


Between 2007 and 2010, the Port Authority cut its annual expenses by $52 million and raised its revenues by $14 million to help alleviate a statewide transportation funding crisis. The funding crisis only grew worse, however. The state legislature assumed it would receive permission to convert Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...

 into a toll road to increase revenues, but the federal government denied the request, leading to a gap in the state transportation budget of $472 million.

On November 24, 2010, the Port Authority's board of directors approved a massive service cut and fare hike to go into effect in March 2011. The service cut would reduce total service hours by approximately 35 percent, including the elimination of 45 routes. The Port Authority's budget from the state is to be substantially reduced for 2011, and as chairperson Joan Ellenbogen noted, the Port Authority is legally required to adopt a balanced budget. Chairperson Guy Mattola stated that "Unfortunately, we are now at the point that all options have been exhausted...It is necessary to move forward with this service reduction plan recognizing the devastating consequences for riders and non-riders alike."

On December 13, 2010, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission approved a plan by governor Ed Rendell
Ed Rendell
Edward Gene "Ed" Rendell is an American politician who served as the 45th Governor of Pennsylvania. Rendell, a member of the Democratic Party, was elected Governor of Pennsylvania in 2002, and his term of office began January 21, 2003...

 to allocate $45 million in temporary funding for the Port Authority to help reduce the magnitude of these service cuts. Ultimately, service was cut 15% effective March 27, 2011.

Utilities

The city is served by Duquesne Light, one of the original power companies founded in 1912 by George Westinghouse
George Westinghouse
George Westinghouse, Jr was an American entrepreneur and engineer who invented the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry. Westinghouse was one of Thomas Edison's main rivals in the early implementation of the American electricity system...

. Water utility service is provided by the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority
Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority
The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority is a municipal authority in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is responsible for water treatment and delivery systems in the city of Pittsburgh, as well as the city's sewer system. In a 2010 report, the authority reported 83,000 drinking water service...

 and Pennsylvania American Water.

Natural gas is widely used in the area due to large reserves existing in the region. Service in Pittsburgh is provided by Equitable Gas and Columbia Gas. Both companies offer "Customer Choice" programs in which residents may choose alternative natural gas suppliers who work under an agreement to provide natural gas in smaller service areas; these companies include Dominion Peoples Plus, Direct Energy Services LLC, and Novec Energy Solutions.

Health care

The two largest health care providers are the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is an $9 billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 54,000 employees, 20 hospitals, 4,200 licensed beds, 400 outpatient sites and doctors’ offices, a 1.5 million-member health insurance division, as well as commercial and...

 and West Penn Allegheny Health System
West Penn Allegheny Health System
West Penn Allegheny Health System is an academic medical center located in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The second-largest provider of healthcare in its region, WPAHS was formed by the merger of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital , founded in 1848 as Pittsburgh's first chartered public...

, respectively.

Sister cities

Pittsburgh has seventeen sister cities:

Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

, Canada Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

, Spain Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...

, Belgium Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...

, Vietnam Donetsk
Donetsk
Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...

, Ukraine Fernando de la Mora, Paraguay Karmiel
Karmiel
Karmiel is a city in northern Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre-Safed road, from Safed and from Acre...

, Israel Matanzas
Matanzas
Matanzas is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. It is famed for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore.It is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas , east of the capital Havana and west of the resort town of Varadero.Matanzas is called the...

, Cuba Misgav, Israel Ostrava
Ostrava
Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. Located close to the Polish border, it is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence. Ostrava was candidate for the...

, Czech Republic Prešov
Prešov
Prešov Historically, the city has been known in German as Eperies , Eperjes in Hungarian, Fragopolis in Latin, Preszów in Polish, Peryeshis in Romany, Пряшев in Russian and Пряшів in Rusyn and Ukrainian.-Characteristics:The city is a showcase of Baroque, Rococo and Gothic...

, Slovakia Novokuznetsk
Novokuznetsk
Novokuznetsk is a city in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia. It serves as the administrative center of Novokuznetsky District, but it is not administratively a part of it...

, Russia
Terrassa
Terrassa
Terrassa is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the comarca of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell, the historic capital....

, Spain Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....

, Germany Saitama
Saitama, Saitama
' is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture in Japan, situated in the south-east of the prefecture. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance...

 (Omiya-ku
Omiya-ku, Saitama
is a ward of Saitama city, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It is in the Greater Tokyo Area and about 25 km north of central Tokyo. Ōmiya-ku is surrounded by Nishi-ku , Kita-ku , Minuma-ku , Urawa-ku , Chūō-ku , and Sakura-ku of Saitama city.Ōmiya-ku is the most active commercial and business centre in...

, formerly Omiya city
Omiya, Saitama
was a city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. In 2001 it merged with two other cities to form the city of Saitama. Since 1 April 2003, the area of former Ōmiya city is Kita-ku, Minuma-ku, Nishi-ku, and Ōmiya-ku of Saitama city.-Origin and pre-modern history:...

), Japan San Isidro
San Isidro, Matagalpa
San Isidro is a municipality in the Matagalpa department of Nicaragua....

, Nicaragua Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, United Kingdom Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

, Macedonia Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

, Bulgaria Wuhan
Wuhan
Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...

, People's Republic of China Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...

, Croatia Rijeka
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...

, Croatia Melbourne, Australia

See also

  • Pittsburgh (disambiguation)
    Pittsburgh (disambiguation)
    Pittsburgh is the second largest city in Pennsylvania, USA.Pittsburgh may also refer to:- Related to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania :* University of Pittsburgh** Pittsburgh Panthers, the athletic program of the University of Pittsburgh...

  • Allegheny
    Allegheny, Pennsylvania
    Allegheny City was a Pennsylvania municipality located on the north side of the junction of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, across from downtown Pittsburgh. It was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907...

    , Pennsylvania
  • List of municipalities in Pennsylvania
  • List of people from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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