Uptown Pittsburgh
Uptown or The Bluff is a neighborhood in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the southeast of the city's Central Business District. It is bordered in the north by the Hill District and located across the Monongahela River from South Side; the predominant area zip code is 15219. This area is home to Mercy Hospital as well as Duquesne University, it includes a residential community, once flourishing during the first half of the 20th century. Uptown is the home of the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau 4 Engine and 4 Truck; the area was known to American frontiersmen and colonists as Ayer's Hill in honor of a fortification built by the English commander Ayers in the mid-1700s. Sometime near the Revolutionary War and throughout the 19th century the area was referred to as Boyd's Hill in the expanding frontier and than industrial city; the name is said to have been given to the neighborhood after a newly arrived businessman swayed by Hugh Brackenridge, left his downtown office and hanged himself on the hill.
The Uptown was first developed by James Tustin, an eccentric English émigré who built an estate in the area in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. His home featured an English taste in architecture and a fruit orchard, was acknowledged at the time to have been "the most beautiful place in Pittsburgh," according to a 1915 article in the Pittsburgh Gazette–Times. Tustin named his estate "Soho" after his previous residence in Britain, the name came to be applied to the neighborhood; the neighborhood was part of Pitt Township, but was annexed in 1846. The addition was precipitated by the city's efforts at regrowth following a cataclysmic fire in 1845, which destroyed 56 acres and 1,000 buildings. A 1922 guidebook, A History of Pittsburgh and Environs, noted that the area's houses were "old and not attractive, are populated by foreign mill workers and their families", a 1977 guide remarked that it was once "a pleasant residential area for many wealthy Pittsburghers" but "as industry moved in, the wealthy moved out".
The neighborhood was adversely affected by Pittsburgh's urban renewal campaign in the 1960s, in the estimation of some, "has never been reassembled". Construction projects in the area include expansion by Duquesne University, development surrounding the newly completed arena for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Fifth Avenue is home to law offices and a few restaurants, but vacant storefronts, rundown bars, small street parking lots for Downtown commuters are prevalent as well. Brick rowhouses are common in the neighborhood. There are significant efforts in the community to reassert a sense of identity, residents range from Downtown workers and long-time residents to university students and health professionals. Uptown has four land borders with Downtown Pittsburgh to the west and northwest, the Crawford-Roberts section of the Hill District to the north, West Oakland to the northeast and South Oakland to the east; the entire Bluff runs adjacent to the western section of the South Side Flats across the Monongahela River.
List of Pittsburgh neighborhoods Post Gazette article on the 19th century history of the area Toker, Franklin. Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-5434-6. Post-Gazette on residential renovations in the Bluff
New Urbanism
New Urbanism is an urban design movement which promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighborhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, has influenced many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, municipal land-use strategies. New Urbanism is influenced by urban design practices that were prominent until the rise of the automobile prior to World War II; these ideas can all be circled back to two concepts: building a sense of community and the development of ecological practices. The organizing body for New Urbanism is the Congress for the New Urbanism, founded in 1993, its foundational text is the Charter of the New Urbanism, which begins: We advocate the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the following principles: neighborhoods should be diverse in use and population. New Urbanists support: regional planning for open space, they believe their strategies can reduce traffic congestion by encouraging the population to ride bikes, walk, or take the train.
They hope that this set up will increase the supply of affordable housing and rein in suburban sprawl. The Charter of the New Urbanism covers issues such as historic preservation, safe streets, green building, the re-development of brownfield land; the ten Principles of Intelligent Urbanism phrase guidelines for new urbanist approaches. Architecturally, new urbanist developments are accompanied by New Classical, postmodern, or vernacular styles, although, not always the case; until the mid 20th century, cities were organized into and developed around mixed-use walkable neighborhoods. For most of human history this meant a city, walkable, although with the development of mass transit the reach of the city extended outward along transit lines, allowing for the growth of new pedestrian communities such as streetcar suburbs, but with the advent of cheap automobiles and favorable government policies, attention began to shift away from cities and towards ways of growth more focused on the needs of the car.
After World War II urban planning centered around the use of municipal zoning ordinances to segregate residential from commercial and industrial development, focused on the construction of low-density single-family detached houses as the preferred housing format for the growing middle class. The physical separation of where people live from where they work and spend their recreational time, together with low housing density, which drastically reduced population density relative to historical norms, made automobiles indispensable for practical transportation and contributed to the emergence of a culture of automobile dependency; this new system of development, with its rigorous separation of uses, arose after World War II and became known as "conventional suburban development" or pejoratively as urban sprawl. The majority of U. S. citizens now live in suburban communities built in the last fifty years, automobile use per capita has soared. Although New Urbanism as an organized movement would only arise a number of activists and thinkers soon began to criticize the modernist planning techniques being put into practice.
Social philosopher and historian Lewis Mumford criticized the "anti-urban" development of post-war America. The Death and Life of Great American Cities, written by Jane Jacobs in the early 1960s, called for planners to reconsider the single-use housing projects, large car-dependent thoroughfares, segregated commercial centers that had become the "norm"; the French architect François Spoerry has developed in the 60's the concept of "soft architecture" that he applied to Port Grimaud, a new marina in south of France. The success of this project had a considerable influence and led to many new projects of soft architecture like Port Liberté in New Jersey or Le Plessis Robisson in France. Rooted in these early dissenters, the ideas behind New Urbanism began to solidify in the 1970s and 80s with the urban visions and theoretical models for the reconstruction of the "European" city proposed by architect Leon Krier, the pattern language theories of Christopher Alexander; the term "new urbanism" itself started being used in this context in the mid-1980s, but it wasn't until the early 1990s that it was written as a proper noun capitalized.
In 1991, the Local Government Commission, a private nonprofit group in Sacramento, invited architects Peter Calthorpe, Michael Corbett, Andrés Duany, Elizabeth Moule, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Stefanos Polyzoides, Daniel Solomon to develop a set of community principles for land use planning. Named the Ahwahnee Principles, the commission presented the principles to about one hundred government officials in the fall of 1991, at its first Yosemite Conference for Local Elected Officials. Calthorpe, Moule, Plater-Zyberk and Solomon founded the Chicago-based Congress for the New Urbanism in 1993; the CNU has grown to more than three thousand members, is the leading international organizati
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, is the county seat of Allegheny County. As of 2018, a population of 308,144 lives within the city limits, making it the 63rd-largest city in the U. S; the metropolitan population of 2,362,453, is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, the 26th-largest in the U. S. Pittsburgh is located in the south west of the state, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. Pittsburgh is known both as "the Steel City" for its more than 300 steel-related businesses and as the "City of Bridges" for its 446 bridges; the city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclined railways, a pre-revolutionary fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. The city developed as a vital link of the Atlantic coast and Midwest, as the mineral-rich Allegheny Mountains made the area coveted by the French and British empires, Whiskey Rebels, Civil War raiders. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, shipbuilding, foods, transportation, computing and electronics.
For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment. S. stockholders per capita. America's 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out; this heritage left the area with renowned museums, medical centers, research centers, a diverse cultural district. Today, Apple Inc. Bosch, Uber, Autodesk, Microsoft and IBM are among 1,600 technology firms generating $20.7 billion in annual Pittsburgh payrolls. The area has served as the long-time federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, energy research and the nuclear navy; the area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. The nation's eighth-largest bank, eight Fortune 500 companies, six of the top 300 U. S. law firms make their global headquarters in the area, while RAND, BNY Mellon, FedEx, Bayer and NIOSH have regional bases that helped Pittsburgh become the sixth-best area for U.
S. job growth. In 2015, Pittsburgh was listed among the "eleven most livable cities in the world"; the region is a hub for Environmental Design and energy extraction. In 2019, Pittsburgh was deemed “Food City of the Year” by the San Francisco-based restaurant and hospitality consulting firm af&co. Many restaurants were mentioned favorable, among them were Superior Motors in Braddock, Driftwood Oven in Lawrenceville, Spork in Bloomfield, Fish nor Fowl in Garfield and Bitter Ends Garden & Luncheonette in Bloomfield. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham; as Forbes was a Scot, he pronounced the name PITS-bər-ə. Pittsburgh was incorporated as a borough on April 22, 1794, with the following Act: "Be it enacted by the Pennsylvania State Senate and Pennsylvania House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania... by the authority of the same, that the said town of Pittsburgh shall be... erected into a borough, which shall be called the borough of Pittsburgh for ever."
From 1891 to 1911, the city's name was federally recognized as "Pittsburg", though use of the final h was retained during this period by the city government and other local organizations. After a public campaign, the federal decision to drop the h was reversed; the area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee and several other settled groups of Native Americans. The first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers Dutch, followed in the early 18th century. Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers. During 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off; the French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalle's 1669 claims.
The French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years' War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne; the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddock's Field. General John Forbes took the forks in 1758. Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named "Pittsborough". During Pontiac's Rebellion, native tribes conducted a siege of Fort Pitt for two months until Colonel Henry Bouquet relieved it after the Battle of Bushy Run. Fort Pitt is notable as the site of an early use of smallpox for biological warfare. Lord Jeffery Amherst ordered blankets contaminated from smallpox victims to be distributed in 1763 to the tribes surrounding the fort; the disease spread into other areas, infected other tribes, killed hundreds of thousands. During this period, the powerful nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, based in New York, had maintained control of much of the Ohio Valley as hunting grounds by right of conquest after defeating other tribes.
By the terms of the 1768 Treaty of
Brunot Island
Brunot Island is a 129-acre island in the Ohio River. It is part of the Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in the United States, it was named for Dr. Felix Brunot; the family entertained the Lewis and Clark expedition on the island in August 1803. The island is home to the Brunot Island Generating Station, a 315 MW fossil fuel power plant; the Ohio Connecting Railroad Bridge crosses the Ohio River at the island. The island does not otherwise connect to the land, all vehicular traffic must use a ferry to access the island; the employees of the power plant use a pedestrian walkway on the railroad bridge to go to work. The walkway is not accessible to the public. From 1903 to 1914, the island was the home of Brunots Island Race Track. Type: Fossil fuel. Airgun Accident
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
Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh
The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh is the City of Pittsburgh’s economic development agency, committed to creating jobs, expanding the City’s tax base, improving the vitality of businesses and neighborhoods. The URA achieves this mission by assembling and conveying sites for major mixed-use developments; the URA is facilitating a number of large-scale real estate developments, including: Almono Bakery Square 2.0 Civic Arena Redevelopment East Liberty Transit Center Hunt Armory The Gardens at Market Square SouthSide Works Station Square As of 2015, nearly $3 billion in private investment has been leveraged by $336 million in tax increment financing administered by the URA – a leverage ratio of 9 to 1. Between 2006 and 2012, the URA: Issued 401 loans/grants totaling $580 million with $80 million of URA investment Invested $348 million in economic development projects, leveraging over a billion dollars in total project costs Leveraged $60 million in tax increment financing to create $520 million in total investment Initiated $545 million in housing development projects, creating 4,024 housing units with $138 million of URA investment Provided $9.4 million in loans and grants to rehabilitate 611 housing units and $20.3 million in mortgage loans for the purchase of 422 housing units
