Allegheny Center (Pittsburgh)
Allegheny Center is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh's North Side. Its zip code is 15212, it has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both council members for District 6 and District 1. In 1783, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania established a 3000-acre tract of land north of where the Allegheny River merged with the Ohio River. John Redick created an initial town plan for Allegheny City- which featured 36 city blocks surrounded by a common grazing area - the following year; that initial 36-block area is today's Allegheny Center. It is still surrounded on three sides by the former grazing area, now a public park called Allegheny Commons. On either side of this park are the neighborhoods of Allegheny West and East Allegheny; because Allegheny City was intended by the Pennsylvania Legislature to serve as the county seat of Allegheny County, the central blocks of Redick's 36-block plan were designed for public uses, including a market house and post office. The main thoroughfare was East Ohio Street, which stretched from Allegheny West through Allegheny Center and to Allegheny East and beyond.
From the 19th century to 1907, Allegheny Center was thus the hub of downtown Allegheny City. The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh is located within it, as is the old Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny. Allegheny Center is home to the National Aviary, situated within West Park. After 1907, this area continued to be a hub for those residents of what was now Pittsburgh's North Side, but the area deteriorated as: 1) Allegheny's wealthiest residents, who had founded Allegheny Country Club in 1895, moved the club to Sewickley in 1902 and began moving their residences along with it. As one example of the trend, the landmark Boggs & Buhl department store, which had done a thriving business among Allegheny City's wealthy residents lost money after 1931 and was closed in 1958. In the 1950s, community leaders discussed how to revitalize the historic hub of Allegheny City and established a modern plan for Allegheny Center. Designed by architects Deeter & Ritchey, it involved a $65 million project by Inc..
The construction project razed about 518 buildings - many of them taken by eminent domain - to make way for 2 professional buildings, 4 apartment complexes totaling 840 units, 50 townhouses, a shopping mall, a 3-acre public square. The public square was the object of an international design competition sponsored by the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority; the entire Allegheny Redevelopment Area encompasses 79 acres on the North Side, about a half-mile from downtown Pittsburgh. The project converted what had been an open, walkable business district into an enclosed mall called Allegheny Center Mall that had few pedestrian entrances and sat above an underground parking garage; the central portion of East Ohio Street was closed, drivers were forced to take a new ring road around the mall and the other blocks of Redick's initial plan to proceed east or west. The mall, opened in 1965 and anchored by Sears, F. W. Woolworth Company, Zayre, had some initial success, but it did not revive the business fortunes of Allegheny City, which continued to decline after Interstate 279 allowed area residents to drive to the northern suburbs to shop.
The mall's stores began closing in the 1990s, the mall became a successful office complex. At present, the 36-block area planned by John Redick consists of the Allegheny Center Mall - now an office complex - and several public structures including the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. While there are several businesses that serve the office workers in the former mall, most business activity exists in the adjacent neighborhoods of Allegheny West and East Allegheny. A former business district along North Avenue in Central Northside, which deteriorated along with Allegheny Center, may be reviving. Allegheny West Central Northside East Allegheny North Shore List of Pittsburgh neighborhoods Toker, Franklin. Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-5434-6. Allegheny Center Children's Museum of Pittsburgh history History of the Buhl Planetarium
Strip District, Pittsburgh
The Strip District is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is a one-half square mile area of land northeast of the central business district bordered to the north by the Allegheny River and to the south by portions of the Hill District; the Strip District runs between 11th and 33rd Streets and includes three main thoroughfares — Smallman St. Penn Ave. and Liberty Ave. — as well as various side streets. In the early 19th century, the Strip District was home to many mills and factories as its location along the Allegheny River made for easy transportation of goods and shipping of raw materials, it was the home of the Fort Pitt Foundry, source of large cannons before and during the American Civil War, including a 20-inch bore Rodman Gun. Early industrial tenants of the Strip District included U. S. Steel, The Pittsburgh Reduction Company, The H. J. Heinz Company, famous ketchup and condiment manufacturer; the shipping infrastructure built around the manufacturing companies attracted other types of merchants to set up shop in the Strip.
By the early 20th century, the Strip District became a vibrant network of wholesalers—mostly fresh produce and poultry dealers. Soon, auction houses rose around the wholesale warehouses. Many restaurants and grocery stores opened to feed hungry shift workers at any hour of the day. By the 1920s, the Strip District was the economic center of Pittsburgh. By the mid-to-late 20th century, fewer of the Strip's products were being shipped by rail and boat, causing many produce sellers and wholesalers to leave the area for other space with easier access to highways, or where there was more land available for expansion. In the early 21st century, there are still several wholesalers and produce dealers in the Strip District, but some estimates say more than 80% of the produce industry left the area, preceded by the manufacturing plants and mills in the mid to late 20th century restructuring of industry. Today, many of the abandoned warehouses have been renovated as small specialty shops, restaurants and bars.
The historic St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, an 1891 landmark built in the ornate Polish Cathedral style, lies in the heart of the Strip District and served early generations of Polish immigrants. Since the late 20th century, the area has developed into a historic market district with many ethnic food purveyors, some art studios, antique dealers, unique boutiques, other businesses setting up shop where trains once delivered produce by the ton; the lack of weekday activity is in someways compensated by retail and leisure facilities which are used on weekends. In the summer months, there are open-air farmers' markets, a range of street vendors and facilities to enjoy open air drinks. Residential developers have begun to convert old factory and warehouse buildings into apartments and lofts. Examples include the Armstrong Cork Factory, Brake House Lofts, the Otto Milk Building. A mixed-use tower is planned for the Ayoob Fruit Warehouse site. More the area has attracted a number of technology companies and become a hotbed for autonomous vehicle and robotics technology.
The area is home to Uber's Advanced Technology Group, which leads the company's vehicular automation efforts, as well Argo AI and Aurora Innovation. Other technology companies with offices in the strip district include Apple, Robert Bosch GmbH, Target Corporation, Wombat Security, JazzHR, BossaNova Robotics; the Strip District has five land borders, including Downtown to the southwest, Crawford-Roberts, Bedford Dwellings and Polish Hill to the south, Lower Lawrenceville to the northeast. Across the Allegheny River, the Strip runs adjacent with the North Shore and Troy Hill with direct links to both neighborhoods via 16th Street and 31st Street Bridges, respectively. Wholey's Pittsburgh Public Market Enrico Biscotti Company Simcoach Games Heinz History Center Primanti Brothers Washington Post article Toker, Franklin. Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-5434-6. Kadushin, Raphael. "15222: Come Hungry". National Geographic. Pp. 114–122. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
Neighborhood website
East Allegheny (Pittsburgh)
East Allegheny known as Deutschtown, is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh's North Side. It has a ZIP Code of 15212, has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 1; the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire houses 32 32 Truck in Deutschtown. In 1783, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania established a 3000-acre tract of land north of where the Allegheny River merged with the Ohio River. John Redick created an initial town plan for Allegheny City – which featured 36 city blocks surrounded by a common grazing area – the following year; the common grazing area became a park now known as Allegheny Commons, the area just east of the park –, set aside for farming in Redick's initial plan – is today's East Allegheny. This area was developed between 1850 and 1900 by immigrants who were exclusively German; as a result, the area was called a mispronunciation of Deutschtown. Its residents created a business district on East Ohio Street and a residential district running south of it, from Cedar Street to Troy Hill.
These buildings were solidly built. In 1984, this area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Deutschtown Historic District; the nominating petition noted that "Dutchtown is distinguished from neighboring North Side neighborhoods by its ethnic associations and intense feeling of neighborhood solidarity. It retains the busiest original commercial district left on the North Side since the development of Allegheny Center in the 1960's." The area is a City of Pittsburgh Historic District. Construction of Interstate 279 sliced the neighborhood in half, such that there is now a West Deutschtown and an East Deutschtown. Both sections of the neighborhood suffered as a result of the Interstate's construction: some residents moved, their homes were rented by absentee landlords to low-income tenants, the area saw a general lack of investment. However, neighborhood activists established the East Allegheny Community Council and restored the neighborhood the western portion. East Allegheny is composed of "East Deutschtown," an area, bounded by East Street, East Ohio Street, Goehring Street and Vinial Streets, "West Deutschtown," which extends from Cedar Avenue to East Street and from the Norfolk Southern Mainline to Dunloe Street.
Surrounding neighborhoods include Allegheny Center, Troy Hill, Spring Hill, Spring Garden. City buses that connect East Allegheny and downtown include 500, 16B, 16F, 1D, 1F, 6A and 12A. 54C connects East Allegheny with Oakland, the city's academic center. The neighborhood citizens group is the East Allegheny Community Council; the organization offers a self-guided walking tour for the neighborhood. List of Pittsburgh neighborhoods Toker, Franklin. Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-5434-6. Deutschtown Interactive Pittsburgh Neighborhoods Map East Allegheny Community Council Deutschtown pictures North City News
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, United States. Standing at 535 feet, the 42-story Late Gothic Revival Cathedral is the tallest educational building in the Western hemisphere and the second tallest university building in the world, it is the second tallest gothic-styled building in the world. The Cathedral of Learning was commissioned in 1921 and ground was broken in 1926; the first class was held in the building in 1931 and its exterior finished in October 1934, prior to its formal dedication in June 1937. Colloquially referred to as "Cathy" by some Pitt students, the Cathedral of Learning is a steel frame structure overlaid with Indiana limestone and contains more than 2,000 rooms and windows, it functions as a primary classroom and administrative center of the university, is home to the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Social Work, many of its departments, as well as the University Honors College.
It houses many specialty spaces, including a studio theater, food court, study lounges, offices and language labs, 30 Nationality Rooms, a 1⁄2-acre, 4-story-high, gothic study and event hall. The building contains noted examples of stained glass, stone and iron work and is used by the university in photographs and other advertisements; the basement and floors up to floor 40 are used for educational purposes, although most floors above 36 house the building's mechanical equipment. These floors include theaters, computer laboratories, language laboratories and departmental offices; the basement contains a black box theater and the ground floor contains computer labs, language labs and the Cathedral Café food court. The "lobby", comprising the first through third floors, contains a massive gothic "Commons Room", used as a general study area and for special events and is ringed by three floors of classrooms, including, on the first and third floors, the 30 Nationality Rooms designed by members of Pittsburgh's ethnic communities in the styles of different nations and ethnic groups.
Twenty-eight of these serve as functional classrooms while more conventional classrooms are located on the second floor and elsewhere throughout the building. The first floor serves as the home to the offices of the Chancellor, Executive Vice Chancellor, other administration offices, as well as the Nationality Rooms Gift Shop; the fourth floor, home to the main stacks of the university's library and the McCarl Center for Nontraditional Student Success, now houses a mix of interdisciplinary studies programs. The fifth floor housed the main borrowing and reading rooms of the university library, now houses the Department of English; the Pitt Humanities Center is housed on the sixth floor. Additionally, the University Honors College is located on the 36th floors; the Cathedral of Learning houses the Department of Philosophy, considered one of the top five in the United States, the Department of History and Philosophy of Science ranked at the top of the field. Other departments in the Cathedral include English, Religious Studies, Theatre Arts, the School of Social Work which maintains the highest classrooms in the building located on the 23rd floor.
Floors 37–40 are closed to the general public, as they contain electrical wiring for the building, as well as the Babcock Room, a large conference room on the 40th floor used for meetings and special events and which provides a panoramic view of downtown Pittsburgh and the rest of the university. The 40th floor balcony houses a nesting pair of Peregrine falcons. A view from the top is available via a webcam. Golden lights, dubbed "victory lights," surround the outside of the highest floors and are lit following Pitt football wins and other notable victories, giving the upper part of the Cathedral an amber glow; the top of the building serves as the site for the transmitter of the student-run radio station WPTS-FM as well as the amateur radio repeater W3YJ, run by the Panther Amateur Radio club on a frequency of 443.45 MHz. The building is one of the host buildings of Pennsylvania's Mock Trial Competition. In 1921, John Gabbert Bowman became the tenth chancellor of the university. At that time, the school consisted of a series of buildings constructed along Henry Hornbostel's plan for the campus and included "temporary" wooden structures built during World War I.
He began to envision a "tall building", that would be termed the Cathedral of Learning, to provide a dramatic symbol of education for the city and alleviate overcrowding by adding much needed space in order to meet present and future needs of the university. His reasoning is summarized in this quote: The building was to be more than a schoolhouse, it was to make visible something of the spirit, in the hearts of pioneers as, long ago, they sat in their log cabins and thought by candlelight of the great city that would sometime spread out beyond their three rivers and that they were starting to build. Bowman looked at a 14-acre plot of land named Frick Acres. On November 26, 1921, with aid from the Mellon family, the university was given the $2.5 million plot, began plans for a proper university building on the site. One of the foremost Gothic architects of the time, Philadelphian Charles Klauder, was hired to design the tower; the design took two years to finish, with the final plan attempting
Cultural District, Pittsburgh
The Cultural District is a fourteen-square block area in Downtown Pittsburgh, USA bordered by the Allegheny River on the north, Tenth Street on the east, Stanwix Street on the west, Liberty Avenue on the south. The Cultural District features six theaters offering some 1,500 shows annually, as well as art galleries and retail shops, its landmarks include: Allegheny Riverfront Park, Benedum Center, Byham Theater, Harris Theater, Heinz Hall, O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School, Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery, Wood Street Galleries, the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. Major arts organizations based here include: Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh Dance Council, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Bricolage Production Company, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company; the cultural district was the brainchild of H. J. Heinz II, known as Jack Heinz, is managed by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust was formed in 1984 to realize Jack's vision of an entire cultural district for blocks of the Penn-Liberty Avenue corridor, a blighted area. Built as the Loew's and United Artists' Penn Theatre, construction of the building was completed in 1927. Motion picture business magnate and pioneer Marcus Loew engaged the architectural firm of Rapp & Rapp to design the movie palace; the Grand Lobby was impressive, with its 50-foot -high vaulted Venetian ceiling, massive ornamental columns, marble staircase and crystal chandeliers and silk drapes. Like many 1920s-era film palaces, Loew's Penn Theatre fell on hard times in the 1960s. Competition from television and suburban theaters along with high maintenance costs put a squeeze on profitability; the theater was scheduled for demolition. Henry J. Heinz II and Charles Denby, President of the Pittsburgh Symphony Society, together with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Allegheny Conference and the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, purchased the site and rescued the theater for the purpose of creating a new home for the Pittsburgh Symphony.
Jack Heinz and others, including his son, United States Senator from Pennsylvania John Heinz, William Rea, began the changes that would follow in the district with the purchase and renovation of the former movie palace, Loew's Penn Theater, transformed into the opulent and newly renamed Heinz Hall. This magnificent concert hall reopened after a complete restoration in 1971 as the new home for the Pittsburgh Symphony; the current seating configuration is 2,676. Heinz Hall is operated by the Pittsburgh Symphony Society; the Trust's first major project was the restoration of another visually stunning former movie palace, the Stanley Theater. The Stanley Theater was designed by the renowned theater architectural firm of Hoffman & Henon and opened on February 27, 1928. At the time, it had the distinction of being the largest theater in Western Pennsylvania, was known as "Pittsburgh's Palace of Amusement". After a $43 million restoration returning it to its original splendor, it reopened in 1987 as the newly renamed Benedum Center for the Performing Arts, is able to host about 2,885 people.
The Benedum Center is operated by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The Byham Theater, a landmark building at 101 Sixth Street in Downtown Pittsburgh, was the second major theater venue restoration project of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Built in 1903, the called Gayety Theater was a stage and Vaudeville house, it featured stars such as Ethel Barrymore, Gertrude Lawrence, Helen Hayes, it was renamed The Fulton in the 1930s. In 1990, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust bought the theater and refurbished the Fulton as part of its plan for the Cultural District; the Byham family of Pittsburgh made a major naming gift for a 1995 renovation, it has been the Byham Theater since. The current seating configuration is 1,300; the Byham Center is operated by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Today the 14-square block area continues to transform and flourish from a red-light district with only two cultural facilities—Heinz Hall and the Convention Center—to a dynamic arts and residential neighborhood with more than fourteen arts venues, including the Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School, public parks and plazas, new commercial development.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust applies a holistic approach and vision to urban redevelopment: streetscaping programs, facade restorations, new cultural facilities, public open spaces and art projects. The Cultural District's transformation is praised and serves as a model for urban redevelopment through the arts. Brendan Lemon of The New York Times wrote, "To describe Pittsburgh's unconventional, un-Disneyfied remodeling of its Cultural District... is to explore how theater can help transform urban identity". The Cultural District is home to the Pittsburgh Film Office, a non-profit organization that markets the greater southwestern Pennsylvania region as a great location for movie and commercial productions. Since its inception in 1990, the PFO has assisted more than 102 feature films and television productions to southwestern Pennsylvania to generate an economic impact of more than $575 million for the region. Benedum Center Byham Theater Harris Theater Heinz Hall O'Reilly Theater The August Wilson Center for African American Culture The Cabaret at Theatre Square Bricolage Production Company Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company
North Shore (Pittsburgh)
The North Shore is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's North Side. It has a zip code of 15212, has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by both the council members for District 1 and 6; the neighborhood is home to PNC Park and The Andy Warhol Museum. It is developing around and between the two stadiums. Two new light rail stations opened in the spring of 2012; the North Side station is located beside PNC Park and near the north portal of the Allegheny River Tunnel. Allegheny station is located by Heinz Field, is the current western terminus of the line. In October 2014 two 11-story office skyscrapers were proposed for the area by local parking lot manager Alco Parking; the project is to move forward, as soon as an anchor tenant can be found. The North Shore runs along the Allegheny River and its confluence with the Monongahela River to form the Ohio River, it is bordered by Chateau to the west, Allegheny West to the northwest, Allegheny Center to the north, East Allegheny to the northeast and Troy Hill to the east.
The Roberto Clemente, Andy Warhol and Rachel Carson Bridges provide direct links to Downtown Pittsburgh as do the first southbound exits across the Veterans and Fort Duquesne Bridges. List of Pittsburgh neighborhoods Interactive Pittsburgh Neighborhoods Map
Italy
Italy the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Austria and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km2 and has a temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe. Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, Italy has been home to a myriad of peoples and cultures. In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout modern-day Italy, the most famous of which being the Indo-European Italics who gave the peninsula its name, beginning from the classical era and Carthaginians founded colonies in insular Italy and Genoa, Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia, while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively; the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC, which became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People.
The Roman Republic conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the peninsula, in some cases through the establishment of federations, the Republic expanded and conquered parts of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. By the first century BC, the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became the leading cultural and religious centre of Western civilisation, inaugurating the Pax Romana, a period of more than 200 years during which Italy's technology, economy and literature flourished. Italy remained the metropole of the Roman Empire; the legacy of the Roman Empire endured its fall and can be observed in the global distribution of culture, governments and the Latin script. During the Early Middle Ages, Italy endured sociopolitical collapse and barbarian invasions, but by the 11th century, numerous rival city-states and maritime republics in the northern and central regions of Italy, rose to great prosperity through shipping and banking, laying the groundwork for modern capitalism.
These independent statelets served as Europe's main trading hubs with Asia and the Near East enjoying a greater degree of democracy than the larger feudal monarchies that were consolidating throughout Europe. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science and art. Italian culture flourished, producing famous scholars and polymaths such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Machiavelli. During the Middle Ages, Italian explorers such as Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, John Cabot and Giovanni da Verrazzano discovered new routes to the Far East and the New World, helping to usher in the European Age of Discovery. Italy's commercial and political power waned with the opening of trade routes that bypassed the Mediterranean. Centuries of infighting between the Italian city-states, such as the Italian Wars of the 15th and 16th centuries, left the region fragmented, it was subsequently conquered and further divided by European powers such as France and Austria.
By the mid-19th century, rising Italian nationalism and calls for independence from foreign control led to a period of revolutionary political upheaval. After centuries of foreign domination and political division, Italy was entirely unified in 1871, establishing the Kingdom of Italy as a great power. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, Italy industrialised, namely in the north, acquired a colonial empire, while the south remained impoverished and excluded from industrialisation, fuelling a large and influential diaspora. Despite being one of the main victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil, leading to the rise of a fascist dictatorship in 1922. Participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in military defeat, economic destruction and the Italian Civil War. Following the liberation of Italy and the rise of the resistance, the country abolished the monarchy, reinstated democracy, enjoyed a prolonged economic boom and, despite periods of sociopolitical turmoil became a developed country.
Today, Italy is considered to be one of the world's most culturally and economically advanced countries, with the sixth-largest worldwide national wealth. Its advanced economy ranks eighth-largest in the world and third in the Eurozone by nominal GDP. Italy owns the third-largest central bank gold reserve, it has a high level of human development, it stands among the top countries for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military and diplomatic affairs. Italy is a founding and leading member of the European Union and a member of numerous international institutions, including the UN, NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, the WTO, the G7, the G20, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Council of Europe, Uniting for Consensus, the Schengen Area and many more; as a reflection
