Here’s our latest city guide addition from Hillary Mann ’13: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Photo Credit: Zazzle.com
Metro Population: 2.35 million
Unemployment Rate: 6.6%
Cost of Living Index: 88 (average is 100)
Major Industries: Healthcare, research, hospitality and tourism, and higher education
Average Price of One-Bedroom Apartment: Between $785-$863
Average Climate: Winter – 29°F, Summer – 83°F
Closing Time: 2 AM
Sports Teams: Steelers (football), Pirates (baseball), Penguins (ice hockey)
Best Known For: Mister Rogers, Andy Warhol, the birthplace of Heinz Ketchup and Klondike Bars, steel manufacturing, and the Pittsburgh Steelers (six time Super Bowl Champions)
Best Foods: Heinz Ketchup, Primanti Brothers sandwiches (sandwich with fries and coleslaw in it)
Why We Chose It:
Defined by one of the most beautiful skylines in the United States and the three picturesque rivers that converge at the city’s center, Pittsburgh is a city that bodes the ideal balance of old-world charm and promise for the future. Affectionately known as “the Steel City” and “the City of Bridges” (Pittsburgh holds the world record of number of bridges in a city – 446), Pittsburgh is the largest city in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, in addition to ranking as the 22nd largest city in the United States. As the seat of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh will amaze residents and tourists alike with its political, socioeconomic, racial, religious, and ethnic demographics.
Pittsburgh is a dynamic city, attracting individuals working in various sectors of the economy, particularly those in technology, retail, finance, education, research, and medicine. The Pittsburgh metro area is home to the country’s fifth largest bank (PNC Financial Services Group), eight Fortune 500 companies (Dick’s Sporting Goods, Mylan, Consol Energy, Wesco International, H.J. Heinz, PNC Financial Services Group, United States Steel, and Allegheny Technologies), and six of the 300 top law firms in the United States. Many colleges, universities, and research facilities are located within the Pittsburgh city limits, the most famous being Carnegie Mellon University, Duquesne University, and the University of Pittsburgh. Additionally, Pittsburgh has extensive bus, subway, and light rail routes.
With all that Pittsburgh has to offer its residents, it is no wonder that Places Rated Almanac named Pittsburgh the “most livable city” in the United States. Media outlets such as The Economist, National Geographic, and the “Today Show” ranked the city of Pittsburgh as one of the top world destinations. Additionally, Forbes recently chose Pittsburgh as one of the top 10 happiest cities to work in right now and as one of the top 10 cleanest cities in the world. The United States Bureau of Census cited Pittsburgh as having one of the short average daily commutes (25 minutes). For those who are environmentally conscious, Pittsburgh is a national leader in LEED-certified space and green building.
Why You’ll Love It:
Pittsburgh is an anomaly when it comes to American cities in that it still possesses its traditional steel and labor feel, while also embodying aspects of transformation, progression, and modernism. Pittsburgh is the bedrock of the labor movement and the birthplace of the steel industry in the United States, but it is also now a wonderful, beautiful city for young professionals and families to prosper.
Pittsburgh is a city built upon its distinctive, characteristic neighborhoods. Including the city of Pittsburgh itself, there are five main sections of town, each comprised with many neighborhoods differing in the attractions, overall feel, entertainment, shopping, restaurants, and living opportunities they offer. Oakland, for example, is in the backyard of the University of Pittsburgh and is known for its great sandwich shops and reasonable apartment rents (as a result of the university’s presence). Shady Side is a historic residential neighborhood where everything is in walking distance from the restaurants to the upscale stores and boutiques to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Regarded as Pittsburgh’s “Little Italy,” the neighborhood of Bloomfield is located on a plateau just above the Allegheny River. Defined by the Italian, German, and Polish descendants who live there, Bloomfield is very close to downtown Pittsburgh and has no shortage of reasonable apartment rentals and Italian restaurants! Other well-known neighborhoods in Pittsburgh include Squirrel Hill, Mount Washington, South Side, Highland Park, East Liberty, and Point Breeze.
Pittsburgh is known for its many museums and other assorted cultural attractions. Within the performance art realm, Pittsburgh is home to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Opera, and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. The pop-culture enthusiasts may also recognize Pittsburgh as the setting for the reality show Dance Moms, which is filmed at the Abby Lee Dance Company.
Pittsburgh also has no shortage of art museums. The Andy Warhol Museum is located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh and is the largest museum in the United States to date dedicated to a single artist. Andy Warhol was born in Pittsburgh and the museum was erected in his honor to house an extensive permanent pop-art collection of Warhol’s work. The museum has over 900 paintings, 2,000 works on paper, more than 1,000 published unique prints, 4,000 photographs, and over 4,000 Warhol videotaped works. Located in Oakland, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History is internationally regarded for its research and contains over 22 million specimens within the museum’s confines. The museum, often regarded among the top five natural history museums in the United States, has the world’s largest collection of dinosaurs from the Jurassic period and the third largest collection of mounted, displayed dinosaurs in the country. Other well-known museums in the Pittsburgh area include the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Frick Art and Historical Center, and the Carnegie Science Center.
Additionally, Pittsburgh the city of Pittsburgh has a wide variety of other cultural attractions aside from art and history museums. The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is one of Pittsburgh’s most popular destinations for both children and adults alike. Located on 77 acres within the city limits, the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is one of six major zoo and aquarium combinations in the country and is home to 20 threatened or endangered species. The Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium isn’t the only place in Pittsburgh for animal lovers: the National Aviary is the United States’ largest aviary and home to 600 animals constituting about 200 species. Like the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium and the National Aviary, Phipps Conservatory is a cultural centerpiece against the backdrop of Pittsburgh’s cultural scene. On these grounds exist beautiful gardens with the thirteen-room conservatory filled with formal gardens and exotic plants.
Pittsburgh balances out its art scene with a just-as extensive sports realm. Pittsburgh is home to three professional teams: the Steelers (NFL), the Pirates (MLB), and the Penguins (NHL). If football is your sport of choice, than Pittsburgh is the city for you! The Steelers have won six Super Bowl championships, eight AFC Championship games, and played in fifteen and hosted eleven conference championship games than any other AFC or NFC team. Like the Steelers, the Penguins and Pirates have also had their share of sports wins. The Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 1991, 1992, and 2009 and the Pirates are five-time World Series champions. If you’re a sports enthusiast, the city of Pittsburgh will not disappoint!
Unlike Chicago, New York, and Baltimore, Pittsburgh is not necessarily famous for one food in particular. Traditional and famous Pittsburgh foods represent the city’s multicultural background, such as Halusky (noodles with fried cabbage or cottage cheese), Italian sausage, Kielbasa (eastern European sausages), and Pierogies (Polish dish with pasta dough filled with potato and cheese). The Primanti Brothers sandwich is known throughout Pittsburgh and to Pittsburgh natives as one of the best sandwiches in the city; you definitely won’t be hungry after you eat a Primanti Brothers sandwich since it is a sandwich with French fries and coleslaw in it! For great comfort food, be sure to check out Mineo’s Pizza and The Original Hot Dog Shop (affectionately called “The Dirty O”).
Learn more about Pittsburgh and all that this amazing city has to offer here.
Not ready to leave Bucknell? We didn’t think so.
Check out the Pittsburgh Bucknell Club
502 alumni are in the area.
Check out B-Link if you want to talk to people willing to speak about career advice and job opportunities at such places as:
National Aviary ’00
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center ’69
Deloitte ’02
Carnegie Mellon University ’74
PricewaterhouseCoopers ’11
Or in industries such as:
Software Engineering ’02
Fashion Merchandising ’94
Law ’67
Accounting ’79
Pittsburgh bonus: It’s still within easy driving distance of Bucknell!