When steel and heavy manufacturing vanished a quarter-century ago, Pittsburgh lost 200,000 jobs in three years. Hulks of deserted mills, their furnaces dead-cold, glowered from the banks of the city's three rivers like the eerie stone faces on Easter Island. Young people fled, turning the town's fabled black-and-gold color scheme to gray.
Fast-forward 25 years. As most of the nation reels in debt and despair, Pittsburgh is on the move: A new $200 million downtown office tower, upscale condos, a casino, a new hockey arena and a riverfront convention center.
Its air and water are clean, and its waterfront is lined with bike trails and entertainment complexes. Six Fortune 500 firms hang their hats here. Carnegie Mellon University serves as a magnet for some of the world's best and brainiest young people.
via Pittsburgh’s renaissance holds lesson for Cleveland – Metro – cleveland.com
