About Pittsburgh

Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers. This vital link of the Atlantic coast and the Midwest cuts through the mineral-rich Alleghenies which made the area coveted by the French and British Empires, Virginia, Whiskey Rebels, Civil War raiders and media networks.

Known for steel, Pittsburgh also led innovations and industries in aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, appliances, sports, transportation, computing, retail, cars, and electronics. This creative wealth placed Pittsburgh third (after New York City and Chicago) in corporate headquarters employment for much of the 20th century, second only to New York City in bank assets and with more stockholders per capita than any other U.S. city. America's 1980s deindustrialization laid off millions of blue-collar workers in the area, with thousands of downtown white-collar workers joining them after multi-billion-dollar corporate raids relocated the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters of Gulf Oil, Sunbeam, Rockwell and Westinghouse. This status as a global industrial and banking center, its "melting pot" of industrial immigrant workers, and top-10 rank among the largest cities in the U.S. until 1950 and metro areas until 1980 left the region with a plethora of internationally regarded museums, medical centers, parks, research infrastructure, libraries, and a vibrantly diverse cultural district.

These legacies have earned Pittsburgh the title of America's "most livable city" by Places Rated Almanac, Forbes, and The Economist while inspiring National Geographic and Today to name the city a top world destination. Since 2004, the area has added 3,304 hotel rooms and has higher