Pittsburgh: City Profile

Overview of the city of Pittsburgh. I discuss neighborhoods, walkability, transit, economy of the city, companies located there, food, sports, and more. If you want the best analysis of Pittsburgh, this is it. Check out other videos in the City Profile series for similar analyses of other cities.

0:00 Intro
1:18 Bridges
1:47 Downtown & Neighborhoods
4:12 Southside
4:54 North Shore
5:31 Poverty
6:59 Parks
7:28 Hills
8:38 Transit
9:28 Squirrel Hill
11:35 Economy
13:00 Housing
13:51 Food
14:48 Sports Teams
15:16 Accent

Album displayed:
U2 - "Boy" (1980)

[DK]

Pittsburgh is true hidden gem that is often overlooked. Big city amenities with a small town feel.

[liamhodgson]

Pittsburgh resident here, you hit it spot on. I would add a few other cool things worth knowing for visitors
1. The inclines are under the transit authority, so it’s the same cost and ease as a bus ride (no reservations or anything)
2. Bikeshare has been upgraded recently, very high quality and includes e bike rentals for like an extra dollar or something
3. South side is really only dangerous late at night, if you are there in the day or evening you have nothing to worry about. Watch out for cars tho as always
4. The T (trolley/subway) is free downtown and to get to the stadiums
5. Picklesburgh has been absolutely nuts recently. Still fun but expect huge crowds
6. There is good neighborhood bike lanes but between neighborhoods can be challenging, sometimes just based on topography. Expect to have to utilize busy streets, stay on sidewalk, or use the buses to skip bad roads (all buses have bike racks)
7. Let’s go panthers

[Thebestaustin-df]

When I was a teenager (we lived in Minnesota), my Dad who was a truck driver took me with him once to Pittsburgh. I had the fortune of seeing that city for the first time at night emerging from the Fort Pitt Tunnel! It to this day is one of the more impressive “introductions” to a new city I have ever experienced!

[Jjjaaahhnn]

People in Pittsburgh have some of the strongest calves I've seen from walking on all those hills.

[RobertFallon]

Pittsburgh transplant here. I grew up in Boston, went to college in Chicago, grad school in San Francisco, lived also in Kentucky, Ohio, and Germany—and Pittsburgh is my favorite of all these areas.

A few additional points:

1. PGH history is fascinating, from its central role in the French and Indian War (that is, the reason we speak English rather than French), to our contributions to labor and union history, to our local luminaries such as Andrew Carnegie and Andy Warhol, we have a rich history.

2. We have world-class cultural offerings here, such as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (it’s phenomenal!) and the Carnegie Institute (museums).

3. It’s freakishly safe from natural catastrophes—far more safe than other places I have lived. No earthquakes, nor’easters, hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides, floods, droughts, or wildfires to speak of.

4. It’s located at the intersection of a number of different regions of the country: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Appalachia, the South, and the Midwest, giving the area a curious and unique identity.

[itaylor]

Native Pittsburgher 🙋🏼‍♀️ currently living in Dallas - the more time I spend away from Pittsburgh the more I realize how much character the city has. The only downside is the weather. You don’t see sun for maybe 3/4 of the year and it gets quite depressing. That being said, when there is a sunny day, people are extraordinarily friendly and outgoing and love being outside. Another thing is that the people are very blue collar. You can go to the strip district and count on two hands the amount of people dressed in their Sunday best but most just dress casual and I love it so much!! No one is trying to put on a show or be fake. I miss my hometown so much after watching this.

[kohaku_amba]

Pittsburgh is my type of city. A nice, walkable city with beautiful green hills, great hiking opportunities, affordable homes, and just today I found they have a really, really nice board game store. I'm always a sucker for a good board game! Definitely a hidden gem among American cities.

[Yormsane]

Really enjoying this 'City Profile' series, I'm getting a good education from every new episode. Hoping you'll cover some cities further out west, too: Omaha, Memphis, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Tucson, etc.

[Mark-uqkm]

I really appreciate your Pittsburgh profile. I think it is accurate and respectful. I'm a Pittsburgher now living in Florida. After 67 years of Pittsburgh weather I became weary of seven months of clouds cold, snow and rain and followed by five months of clouds, warm and rain. The one thing the 'Burg lacks is sunshine and it started to affect my well being. But, I sure do miss being a part of America's Most Livable City.

[noahkrocks]

Pittsburgh’s topography is truly unique. If you follow the Ohio river west, the Allegheny north and then Monongahela south, you’ll see river towns that were formed on the back of the steel industry. These towns were not part of the “city” but they were all cut into the side of hills along rivers, but as a lot of places are in the rust belt, these towns are struggling. A lot of the decline in population you see in western pa is due to these struggling river towns, built by industries that are no longer there. Along with immigrant families that had many kids, pgh population decrease can be attributed to people just not having as big of families they used to as well. These river towns are filled with many elderly people.

[shills]

As a Pittsburgh native, great video. My favorite thing about Pittsburghese isn’t so much the accent as much as the grammar. The main thing we do is shorten phrases, especially “to be”. For example, we say “The washer needs fixed” as opposed to “The washer needs to be fixed” or “The washer needs (a) fixing”

Most interesting part of the city by far is the view out of the Fort Pitt Tunnel. I have never seen a city view/reveal top that. Gives me goosebumps every time.

Another interesting part of the Fort Pitt bridge is that it’s 4 lanes, with the two right lanes from the Fort Pitt tunnel and the two left merging from Carson Street. However both exits to the North Side are on the left, and gives drivers from the tunnel heading to the north side about 3 seconds to merge across to the far left lane. Always fun to drive.

One of the funniest things to me is how the North Shore/North Side has its name changed based on what the person is talking about. Event at PNC Park? On the North Shore. Robbery in the neighborhood a block from PNC Park? Happened on the North Side. The news seem to give the North Shore positive things only, and North Side negatives, despite being the same thing. I’ve found many just refer to it as the North Side. Notice how the South Side is never referred to as the South Shore. I’ve always found it funny that the new developments on the north side are somewhat protected by the “North Shore” name, but can be referred to as the North Shore/Side in the same paragraph or news segment depending on what event is being described. Not a negative so much as a funny thing I’ve noticed.

Great video though. I go to school just outside Detroit and while I love that area too, I find myself missing Pittsburgh a lot. Video gave me a boost in a week where I’ve been longing to finally get home again for Thanksgiving.

[Texanator]

I miss my hometown! Pittsburghese was a part of life. My granddad wrapped newspapers in gumbands and my grandma would red up the room when it was a mess.

[AlexCab_]

Pittsburgh is a grossly underrated city.

[denisweimer]

I'm in Houston and had only driven through Pittsburgh once about 30 years ago. About 2 years ago, my company merged with another in Pittsburgh. Since then, I've been spending a ton of time in Pitt. And I'm REALLY liking the city. It does have a great small town feel to it even though it's large, the sports venues are a blast, and the FOOD! OMG! Driving around does take a bit of getting used to, as there are no straight routes to your destination - you have to know before you go. But lots of cool places to explore, and so far, nothing but really friendly people (although a bit strange at time to a Texan, but then again, I'm sure they feel the same about me!). Overall, I'm really digging Pittsburgh and I can't wait to get back up there for another sandwich with fries and cole slaw IN THE SANDWICH at Primanti Bros. (Also check out the calzones at Vincent's of Green Tree... you're welcome.)

[zteanalysisofcompanies]

Truly a legendary city, one of a kind. The hilly topography among 3 major rivers, in combination with the breathtaking skyline and bridges makes this imo the city in the USA with the most aesthetic WOW factor of all.

[Fireneedsair]

Just stumbled across your channel. I LOVE cultural geography and I LOVE Pittsburgh. I often think of how cities were formed and the effects the cities history, geography, hydrology, weather etc have on the natives as well as the transplants. Good job!

[evanhayon]

Pittsburgh really does have its own vibe that is super unique and unlike anywhere else in America

[mitchellnagy]

Really cool to see you cover Pittsburgh finally! Nice profile of town, it's cool to see your perspectives!

[ThatIsInterestingTII]

Excellent profile of one of my favorite cities in the country. This gets the Pittsburgh stamp of approval!

[sxdesu]

Pittsburgh-er here! If I remember correctly, the lore behind the famous Permanti's sandwiches is that they stacked fries and coleslaw on a standard pastrami sandwich for the coke/steel workers to have a whole meal they could scarf down before returning to work. Workers rights sure have come a long way!