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Pittsburgh

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(This article is about the city. "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" is also the name of a song written in 1952; there are also several US cities named Pittsburg.)

Pittsburgh is a city in Western Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 334,563 (metropolitan area 2,358,695). Pittsburgh, nicknamed The Steel City, was traditionally considered the center of the American steel industry. In recent years the city has turned to technology, especially biotechnology and robotics, leading the Wall Street Journal to dub the city "Roboburgh." The Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute and numerous private companies have made Pittsburgh perhaps the top robotics city outside of Japan, while the University of Pittsburgh boasts a top-15 medical school and one of the best organ transplant institutes in the world. The city is also one of the nation's major nonprofit centers, home to major foundations such as the Heinz Foundations and thousands of other nonprofit organizations. Pittsburgh also has a booming art scene and a long history of supporting culture and the arts.

History

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Pittsburgh skyline, viewed from Mt. Washington.

France was the first European country to send settlers to the forks of the Ohio River. They did so after capturing a small English garrison founded by William Trent. The Virginia colony sent Major George Washington with a scout named Christopher Gist to scout the area to see whether it was worthy of development. Washington was sent with a small regiment of colonial soldiers and was easily forced into surrender by a much larger French force from the north. During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the British colonies captured Fort Duquesne, which sat at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, at the part of downtown Pittsburgh now known as "The Point". The British built a larger fort on the same site and named it Fort Pitt in honor of the British statesman William Pitt the Elder. Fort Pitt was garrisoned in case of French attack during the French and Indian War, but by the time the improvements were made the war was over.

Pittsburgh was located in an area that was claimed by both Virginia and Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh was briefly the seat of government for the short lived District of West Augusta, a Virginia county designed to compete with Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County, based in nearby Hannastown, which also claimed the region. In 1780, Virginia and Pennsylvania agreed on the current boundaries of the state and Pittsburgh officially became part of Pennsylvania.

After the Revolutionary War, Pittsburgh was the center of the Whiskey Rebellion, which was put down by an army under the direct command of President George Washington.

Beginning in the early 19th century, Pittsburgh's proximity to large coal deposits and excellent positioning along major trade routes made it one of the world's leading industrial powerhouses. Steel production was a major industry for many years, earning the city its nickname, "The Steel City". Pittsburgh lies at the confluence of the Monongahela River and Allegheny River, which merge to form the Ohio River, ultimately draining into the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico. As an industrial city, Pittsburgh was also a major hub of early railroad activity. Millions of European immigrants settled in and around Pittsburgh in the 19th and early 20th centuries to seek employment in the steel mills, coal mines, railroads, or numerous associated industries. The production of glass, for both industrial and decorative use, was also an established industry in the city.

On July 21, 1877, a day after bloody rioting in Baltimore from Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers and the deaths of nine rail workers at the hands of the Maryland militia, workers in Pittsburgh staged a sympathy strike that was met with an assault by the state militia — Pittsburgh then erupted into widespread rioting. Another major confrontation occurred during the Homestead Strike in 1892.

Downtown Pittsburgh panorama, from 1920.


Thanks to the presence of the nearby Bettis Laboratory and the Shippingport power plant, Pittsburgh became the world's first nuclear powered city in 1960.

With the recessions of the 1970s and the advent of cheap foreign labor, Pittsburgh's steel mills found themselves unable to compete with foreign steel mills, and most closed down. This created a ripple effect that decimated the local economy, as railroads, mines, and factories across the region shut down, one by one.

The collapse of the US steel industry in the 1970s marked a major turning point for the city of Pittsburgh, and brought with it an unexpected renaissance as the mills closed and Pittsburgh began to shed its image of a dirty, smoky place. Pittsburgh was spared the fate of other postindustrial Rust Belt cities as the basis of the economy dramatically shifted from heavy industry to services and high technology. Pittsburgh is also home to various new skyscrapers, the tallest being the U.S. Steel Tower, famous for having only three sides. Also notable on the city skyline is the futuristic PPG Place.

Pittsburgh's population decline during the last half century is remarkable:

Year City Population City Rank [1] Population of the Urbanized Area [2]
1950 676,806 12 1,533,000
1960 604,332 16 1,804,000
1970 540,025 24 1,846,000
1980 423,938 30 1,810,000
1990 369,879 40 1,678,000
2000 334,563 51 1,753,000
2002 327,898 (estimate) 54 Next Data: 2010 Census

Geography

Pittsburgh in 1790.

Pittsburgh is located at 40°26'29" North, 79°58'38" West (40.441419, -79.977292)Template:GR. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 151.1 km² (58.3 mi²). 144.0 km² (55.6 mi²) of it is land and 7.2 km² (2.8 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 4.75% water.

Pittsburgh is located at the center of a fairly expansive set of river valleys, and much of the city's residential population is situated on or near the slopes of those valleys with certain neighborhoods (particularly south of the Monongahela) nearly inaccessible by car during the winter. As a result, Pittsburgh is widely believed to be right behind San Francisco as the "steepest" city in the United States. A pair of "inclines", or trams (cable cars on inclined rails) ascend the slope of Mount Washington, assist in local public transportation; several tunnels are major access routes through the slopes. Pittsburgh has more public staircases (700) than any other city in the United States, followed by Cincinnati and San Francisco. Many of these staircases have street names and street signs, and lead to hillside neighborhoods that can be inaccessible by car, especially in the winter. Pittsburgh has been called a "east coast's San Francisco".

See also: List of Pittsburgh neighborhoods

Demographics

According to the census of 2000, there are 334,563 people, 143,739 households, and 74,169 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,324.1/km² (6,019.0/mi²). There are 163,366 housing units at an average density of 1,134.9/km² (2,939.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 67.63% White, 27.12% African American, 0.19% Native American, 2.75% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.66% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races. 1.32% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

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

In the city the population is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $28,588, and the median income for a family is $38,795. Males have a median income of $32,128 versus $25,500 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,816. 20.4% of the population and 15.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 27.5% of those under the age of 18 and 13.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Pittsburgh generally has among the lowest, if not the lowest crime rates of any comparably sized city in the United States.

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Pittsburgh at night

Politics

From the Civil War era to the 1930s, Pittsburgh was considered a Republican stronghold. Since the Great Depression, Pittsburgh has been dominated by Democratic candidates.

Although considered socially moderate, Pittsburgh citizens tend to be members of the Democratic party. This is primarily due to the city's labor union population, which has continued to dwindle with the decline of the U.S. Steel market. Democratic candidates have been elected consecutively to either the mayor's office or city council since 1933, when David L. Lawrence led the party to power.

The mayor serves a four year term and the next election will be held in November 2005. City council members are chosen by plurality elections in each of nine districts.

The city is currently facing a financial crisis and has been declared a "distressed municipality" by the state. This may result in massive cuts to city programs and debates over which taxes to raise drastically.

Economy

Pittsburgh has exhibited amazing adaptability in the wake of the steel industry's collapse. The primary industries have shifted from steel manufacture and heavy industry to high technology, robotics, health care, biomedical technology, finance, and service-based fields. Education, from primary/secondary through magnet schools, specialized professional institutes, and top-flight universities, is also a major local employer. Pittsburgh has a very low cost of living compared to other cities in the Northeastern U.S., but a higher cost of living than many large Southern cities. 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 ($264,540 as of October 2004, according to the Federal Housing Finance Board). Fixer-uppers and smaller homes in the city can be found for under $50,000.

Corporations Headquarted in Pittsburgh

See also: List of major corporations in Pittsburgh

Culture

Wealthy area businessmen of the 19th century, including Andrew Carnegie, the Heinz family and Henry Clay Frick, donated large sums of money to local educational and cultural institutions. As a result, Pittsburgh is rich in art and culture. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is world-class. It owns its performance venue, Heinz Hall, which also plays host to other events throughout the year. The Benedum Center and Heinz Hall provide venues for numerous musicals, lectures, speeches, and other performances. Pittsburgh is also home to one of only two professional brass bands in the world, the River City Brass Band. Other musical arts groups include the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra (PYSO, pronounced PIE-SEW) and the River City Youth Brass Band, both of which include top musicians from the Pittsburgh area, in addition to the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, a nationally and internationally acclaimed semi-professional choir. These performances produced by these intensive programs are usually free to the public.

Fans of the visual arts and architecture are also well served by the region's offerings. The Andy Warhol Museum is dedicated to the works of Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol, while the Carnegie Museum of Art is home to works by such luminaries as Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and many others, along with galleries of sculpture, modern art, the Heinz Architectural Center, a large film and video collection, and various travelling exhibits. The Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece Fallingwater is about an hours drive from downtown, and the North Shore boasts an 1895 neogothic church, Calvary Methodist, whose interior was designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany; the church's stained glass windows are some of the largest and most elaborate work Tiffany ever created.

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Sri Venkateswara temple in Pittsburgh attracts large Hindu/Indian immigrant crowds from the BosWash megapolis.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers teaches media arts and runs three "art house" movie theaters. The Pittsburgh Playhouse at Point Park University has four resident companies of professional actors. The Carnegie Museum of Natural History has extensive dinosaur collections on display, including the complete first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered, and an Egyptian wing. The building may be distinguished by a life-size statue known as "Dippy the Diplodocus" to the right of the main entrance. Other dinosaur statues are visible around the Pittsburgh area, these decorated by artists nationwide and sold as a benefit to the Carnegie Museums. The Carnegie Science Center is more technology oriented. Pittsburgh also houses the country's National Aviary. Phipp's Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, in the Oakland region of Pittsburgh, feature seasonal and global plants in a recently-remodeled Victorian-style greenhouse. More additions to the Conservatory are scheduled to begin in 2005. Just up the street from the Conservatory is the Schenley Park Golf Course, one of Pittsburgh's premiere public golf links. Kennywood Park is widely regarded by rollercoaster connoisseurs to have one of the best collections of functional rollercoasters in the world, including several early 20th century wooden coasters: the Racer, the Thunderbolt, and the Jack Rabbit.

Recently, Pittsburgh has gained a reputation for its large indie rock scene. Several notable indie rock bands have come from Pittsburgh in recent years, including Don Caballero, and punk rock band Voice In The Wire.

Pittsburgh hardly gained immigrants from lands such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America during the 20th century. But in the 90s and into the 2000s, Pittsburgh got what it finally deserved:Immigration. Thousands of Latinos, Southeast Asians, East Asians, Africans and many other groups have started coming to Pittsburgh for a better life. Thus creating a vibrant and cultural hub for Western Pennsylvania.

Education

Pittsburgh is home to many universities and research facilities, the most prominent of which are Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University.

Carnegie Mellon University houses the first computer science school and the first drama school in the United States, both of which are widely considered to be among the best in their fields. Carnegie Mellon University also houses famous research centers such as the Robotics Institute, which is the first of its kind in the world and currently considered a leader in the field of robotics, and the world-famous Software Engineering Institute (SEI). It also houses one of the best engineering schools, and its business school is consistently ranked among the best in the nation. Carnegie Mellon University is famous for its unique interdisciplinary environment and as an innovative leader in education. Carnegie Mellon University is affiliated with 12 Nobel Laureates.

The Health Sciences Department at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center operate some of the finest hospitals in the world, and an advanced medical research center that performs pioneering work in organ transplantation, AIDS and cancer research, and many other fields. The University of Pittsburgh is also known for its departments of Asian studies (especially Japanese), engineering, philosophy and philosophy of science and for its Tier 1 law school, among other highly respected programs.

Pittsburgh public school teachers are among the best-paid in the nation, with the average teacher salary in Pennsylvania at $52,832 in 2003. Local public schools include many charter and magnet schools, including City Charter High School (computer and technology focused), Homewood Montessori (a Montessori school in an underprivileged neighborhood), Pittsburgh Gifted Center, the Frick International Studies Center, Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and several schools for blind, deaf, or otherwise challenged children.

See also: Carlow University, Chatham College, Duquesne University, Point Park University, Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics, Pittsburgh Flight Training Center, LaRoche College, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Transportation

Pittsburgh's steel bridges connect areas of the city which are otherwise divided by its many rivers.

Pittsburgh is connected to other urban centers by the Pennsylvania Turnpike and on the rails by passenger railroad Amtrak and various freight railroads. Pittsburgh is also served by the Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay Township, Pennsylvania. General aviation enthusiasts may prefer Allegheny County Airport, a 1920s art-deco marvel that once hosted Charles Lindbergh and now handles 139,000 private and corporate-jet flights a year.

Pittsburgh has a high number of freeze/thaw cycles in the winter which is sometimes blamed for the difficulty of maintaining local roads. The hills and rivers of Pittsburgh form many barriers to transportation within the city. Bridges are ubiquitous around town, as they connect the neighborhoods separated by rivers and valleys. The southern and eastern entrances to the city are through tunnels.

Automobiles

The main artery connecting Pittsburgh to the turnpike on the east is I-376, locally known as "Parkway East", while I-279 (referred to as either "Parkway North" or "Parkway West" depending on the particular stretch of road with respect to downtown) connects the city with points west (including the airport) and north. I-579 or the "Crosstown" is a spur off of I-279 that aleviates downtown and northshore traffic headed north or south and to events in either the David Lawrence Convention Center or Mellon Arena. A set of local roads are designated as a beltway system (called the Pittsburgh/Allegheny County Belt System) to form six loops centered on downtown with each loop identified by a different color. Pittsburgh, because of its radical topography, is a confusing yet rewarding city to navigate.

Mass transit

Local public transportation is coordinated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, the 14th largest transportation system in the United States, which maintains a bus service, incline railways and a light rail/subway system called "the T", which consists of street cars which go underground as they enter downtown. The T consists of three largely parallel lines, and only serves downtown and the "South Hills" suburbs -- the small "via Allentown", the 20-year-old "via Beechview", and the recently re-opened "via Overbrook." Construction on two small extensions -- one to the Convention Center, and another to the North Shore -- should begin by the end of 2004; the federal government recently agreed to pay for US$55 million of the $363 million construction price.

Bicycling

An aging population, steep hills, and variable weather make biking less popular in Pittsburgh than in some other cities. However, some efforts have been made to incorporate the bicycle into the transportation system. The "Jail Trail," formally called the Eliza Furnace Trail, stretches from downtown (at the county jail) out to the East End of the city, where bike trails can be found along some roads. Additionally, the Port Authority has installed bike racks on some buses. Bicycles are permitted on the Port-Authority-run Incline during off-peak hours. Bike Pittsburgh serves as the local bicycle advocacy group and compiles information about bicycle transportation in Pittsburgh.

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Golden Triangle seen from the Roberto Clemente (6th St) Bridge

Sports

Pittsburgh fans may also root for nearby:

Pittsburgh has a strong connection to sports, being a physical and industrial region. The area has produced greats in almost every major sport, from Stan Musial, Honus Wagner and both Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., to Joe Namath, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Curtis Martin and a slew of others.

Football is the major sport across the region both on the high school, college and pro levels. Baseball and hockey are also big draws as well as minor and school league basketball. Pittsburgh has been called the "city of champions" for it's success in sports. The city and region basked in a blizzard of championships in the 1970's. Not only did the Steelers win four Super Bowls under just one coach and core group of players (a feat that Pittsburgh alone holds), but the Pirates won two World Series and six Divison Titles. The 1970's also had the University of Pittsburgh Panthers win a National Title and contest for two others (some minor polls named Pitt #1 in those two years). The city also celebrated the short lived pro tennis league with a world championship in the 1970's and the American Basketball Association's Pittsburgh franchise started the decade off with the world's first modern basketball championship (one that for the first time allowed the dunk and three-point shot).

More recently the Pittsburgh Penguins won back to back titles in the early 1990's and the Steelers returned to the Super Bowl in the mid-90's. All three of the cities major league teams experienced multiple playoff runs in the decade of the 1990's. The Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh teams have so far been the only successes in the early 21st century.

Pittsburgh also has a strong sports heritage with the Negro Leagues being the stomping grounds of such greats as Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. The city was host to not one but two Negro League teams in the 1930's and 1940's. Both the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays were dynasties in their own right, competing in the Negro League world series almost every season for twenty straight years. Also in the regions sports history are a few upstart major league baseball teams such as the Pittsburgh Rebels and the Pittsburgh Burghers, the USFL team Pittsburgh Maulers of the mid 1980's (owned by San Francisco 49ers owner DeBartolo), the Pittsburgh Gladiators of the Arena Football League of the late 1980's and early 1990's which allowed Pittsburgh to boast of the first location for the "Arena Bowl", not to mention having it's team make two appearances in it. The Pittsburgh Triangles of the World Tennis Association of the 1970's won a title, as well as the ABA Pittsburgh Condors (or Pipers). The region also once had a thriving college football scene with Duquesne University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, and Washington and Jefferson College, all making "major" bowl game appearances and ranking very high in national polls from the 1910's through the 1940's. Today although Robert Morris, Carnegie-Mellon and Duquesne still field NCAA II or III teams the only major program in the region is the University of Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have won five World Series and participated in seven.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have won four Super Bowls and participated in five.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have won two Stanley Cup Championships.

Pittsburgh in television, film, and literature

Many authors and other artists have used Pittsburgh as a setting for their fictional works. For an incomplete list, see List of fiction set in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Film Office coordinates film and TV shoots in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. Many TV shows and movies have been shot in Pittsburgh. A list, far from all-inclusive, is at List of films and television shows shot in Pittsburgh.

Famous Pittsburghers

This is a list of some of the some of the metro area's most accomplished people in the arts, science, sports and industry.

Famous Artists

Famous Actors

Famous Atheletes

Famous Coaches


Name and spelling

Pittsburgh is one of the few American cities or towns to be spelled with an h at the end of a burg suffix. The earliest known reference to the settlement was found in a letter sent from General John Forbes to William Pitt dated "Pittsbourgh, 27th November, 1758". Bourgh (later burgh) is a variant of borough, which has cognates in words and place names in virtually every Indo-European and Semitic language, as well as others. For a fuller explanation, see under borough. The first recorded reference using the current spelling is found on a survey map made for the Penn family in 1769. In the city charter, granted on March 18, 1816, the Pittsburgh spelling is used on the original document, but due to an apparent printing error, the Pittsburg spelling is found on official copies of the document printed at the time.

On December 23, 1891, a recommendation by the United States Board of Geographic Names to standardize place names was signed into law. The law officially changed the spelling of the city name to Pittsburg. Publications for the next 20 years would use this spelling. The change however was very unpopular in the city and several businesses and organizations refused to make the change. Pressure mounted to have the old spelling restored. On July 19, 1911 United States Geographic Board, the successor to United States Board of Geographic Names, reversed the former decision and the Pittsburgh spelling was restored.

The confusion and controversy surrounding the aborted spelling change means that both the Pittsburgh and the Pittsburg spelling were commonly encountered around the turn of the 20th Century.

Sister cities

For the full list, see Greater Pittsburgh Sister Cities Association

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pittsburgh.

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