by Xinhua writer Liu Lina
WASHINGTON, March 6 (Xinhua) -- How can the same city be both the most livable and the most leave-able in the United States? Among the renowned cities in America, Pittsburgh, where the quality of life keeps rising while the population keeps falling, is a unique place.
"Transforming. Absolutely!" when asked to use one word to describe the soul of the 252-year-old city, Christine Michelle, director of communications of Visitpittsburgh.com and a proud Pittsburgher told Xinhua last September when the city hosted the third Group of 20 (G20) Summit.
"The city has been keeping transforming itself, which makes it so dynamic," Michelle said.
"Pittsburgh is 'elusive' because it keeps changing while insisting that nothing has changed. Pittsburghers may be resistant to change, but the transformation in the urban landscape over the last twenty years is nothing short of radical," Said Franklin Toker, writer of the "Pittsburgh: A New Portrait" in his book.
Since its founding, Pittsburgh has experienced several epic transformations. It began as a fortress on a site originally selected by George Washington, the first president of the United States and one of the founding fathers of the country. A hundred years later, no other American city was as intensively industrialized, which explains why it was later assigned to "rustbelt" status.
Pittsburgh is a city full of stories, as revealed by its nicknames. The characteristic shape of the city's downtown is a triangular tract carved by the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, where the Ohio River forms, giving the city the name of "Golden Triangle."
More than 440 bridges overpassing the rivers label the city as "City of Bridge." Although the polluted times are already over, with most iron and steel companies having been removed, the city is still recognized as the "Steel City." For ten consecutive years, it is named as the clearest city across the country.
It is the cradle of many world renowned companies, including Heinz, U.S. Steel, Mylan Laboratories. It is also home to other prestigious businesses, such as Bayer USA and the operations center of Alcoa. From trade and manufacturing to the cultural industry and a green economy, the development of Pittsburgh reflects the economic history of the United States.
Pittsburgh was first chosen as a dwelling district by French explorers and traders in early days, but was formally built by English in 1758. In 1720s, the city became an industrial base for iron, brass, tin and glass products. The American Civil War in 1860s boosted the city's economy with increased production of iron and armaments. Steel production began in 1875, when Andrew Carnegie founded steel works, which eventually evolved into the Carnegie Steel Company.
By 1911, Pittsburgh was the nation's 8th largest city, producing between a third and half of the nation's steel. The city's population swelled to over a half million. By this time, the pollution from burning coal and steel production created a black fog, which earned the city a name of "hell with the lid off."
Following the Second World War, the city launched a clean air and civic revitalization project known as the "Renaissance."
The "Renaissance II" project began in 1977 and focused 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.
Remade as a thriving 21st-century city and an international center for science, medicine, biotechnology, and financial services, Pittsburgh is now routinely acclaimed as one of the most promising and livable cities in America.
During the current economic recession, however, Pittsburgh remains vibrant, adding jobs when most cities are losing them, and becoming one of the few cities in the United States to see housing property values rise.
"The story of regeneration was the inspiration for President Barack Obama to personally select Pittsburgh as the host city for the 2009 G20 Summit," Michelle said.
It is not difficult to find that one of the core competitive advantages of Pittsburgh is that this city can transform itself and advance with the times. That keeps it ahead of other old industrialized cities, the so-called "rustbelt" cities in the northeast part of the country.
Still, Pittsburgh has its own trouble of development. During the transition in past decades, the city's population shrank from 680,000 in 1950 to 330,000 in 2000.
How to keep young talents stay in the city has become one of the toughest challenges facing its 30-year-old mayor Luke Ravenstahl.
To solve the problem, as Toker put it, it not only needs the mayor's wisdom and dedication, but a broader view. As President Obama vows to reinvent the U.S. manufacturing sector, Pittsburgh may have the chance to undergo another Renaissance to revitalize itself.
