Downtown Pittsburgh

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Coordinates: 40°26′28″N 80°00′00″W / 40.44111°N 80.00000°W / 40.44111; -80.00000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Downtown
Central Business District; Golden Triangle
better source needed]
 • Total0.64 sq mi (1.7 km2)
Population
 (2020)[2]
 • Total5,477 [1]

Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District,[2] is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose joining forms the Ohio River. The triangle is bounded by the two rivers.

The area features offices for major corporations such as

Federated Investors, and Alcoa. It is where the fortunes of such industrial barons as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, Henry J. Heinz, Andrew Mellon and George Westinghouse were made. It contains the site where the French fort, Fort Duquesne
, once stood.

Historical population
YearPop.±%
better source needed]
Source: University of Pittsburgh[5]

Location

The Central Business District is bounded by the

Uptown/The Bluff, the Strip District, the North Shore, and the South Shore
.

Transportation

The Smithfield Street Bridge
Famed mural on the 300 Sixth Street building

Public transportation

Downtown is served by the

Port Authority's light rail subway system (known locally as the "T"), an extensive bus network, and two inclines (Duquesne Incline and Monongahela Incline
). The Downtown portion of the subway has the following stations:

T Stations

Downtown is also home to the Pittsburgh Amtrak train station connecting Pittsburgh with New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. to the east and Cleveland and Chicago to the west. Greyhound's Pittsburgh bus terminal is located across Liberty Avenue from the Amtrak Station, in the Grant Street Transportation Center building.

Highways

Major roadways serving Downtown from the suburbs include the "Parkway East" (I-376) from Monroeville, the "Parkway West" (I-376) from the airport area, and the "Parkway North" (I-279) from the North Hills, and (I-579) in Downtown Pittsburgh. Other important roadways are Pennsylvania Route 28, Pennsylvania Route 51, Pennsylvania Route 65, and U.S. Route 19.

Three major entrances to the city are via tunnels: the

Liberty Tunnels. The New York Times once called Pittsburgh "the only city with an entrance,"[6] specifically referring to the view of Downtown that explodes upon drivers immediately upon exiting the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Also traveling I-279 south and I-376
, the city "explodes into view" when coming around a turn in the highway.

Local streets

Wood Street

Downtown surface streets are based on two distinct grid systems that parallel the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers.[7] These two grids intersect along Liberty Avenue, creating many unusual street intersections. Furthermore, the Allegheny grid contains numbered streets, while the Monongahela grid contains numbered avenues. And, in fact, there are cases where these numbered roadways intersect, creating some confusion (i.e. the intersection of Liberty Avenue and 7th Street/6th Avenue). This unusual grid pattern leads to Pittsburghers giving directions in the terms of landmarks, rather than turn-by-turn directions.[7]

Bridges

Main article:
Pittsburgh Bridges
At least seventeen of Pittsburgh's bridges are visible in this aerial photo

Pittsburgh is nicknamed "The City of Bridges". In Downtown, there are 10 bridges (listed below) connecting to points north and south. The expanded definition of Downtown (including the aforementioned surrounding neighborhoods) includes 18 bridges. Citywide there are 446 bridges. In Allegheny County the number exceeds 2,200.

Downtown Bridges

Sixth Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh

Bridges of Expanded Downtown

  • West End Bridge carries US Route 19 from the West End/South Shore to the North Shore/North Side just west of Downtown
  • 16th Street Bridge
     carries 16th Street from the Strip District to Chestnut Street on the North Side
  • Washington's Landing
    on Herr's Island
  • Washington's Landing
    at Herr's Island
  • 31st Street Bridge connects PA Route 28 on the North Side with 31st Street in the Strip District
  • 33rd Street Railroad Bridge connects the North Side to the Strip District and crosses Herr's Island
  • South 10th Street Bridge connects the Armstrong Tunnel at Second Avenue just east of Downtown with the South Side at South 10th Street
  • Birmingham Bridge connects East Carson Street on the South Side with Fifth and Forbes avenues in Uptown

Downtown districts

Downtown contains a wealth of historic, cultural, and entertainment sites. While most people still consider the entire Downtown as one neighborhood, there are several significant subdistricts within the Golden Triangle.

  • The
    historic district in the central business district. It is bounded by Wood Street, Forbes Avenue, Grant Street, and Liberty Avenue. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on December 17, 1985.[8]
  • Point State Park area: At the triangle's tip is Point State Park with its giant fountain and the Fort Pitt Museum. This park was the original site of both Fort Duquesne by the French and the subsequent Fort Pitt by the British.
  • The
    Penn-Liberty Historic District
    encompasses the Penn & Liberty avenue corridor in the Cultural District.
  • The Fifth & Forbes Corridor is Downtown's shopping district along Fifth and Forbes avenues and includes historic
    Burlington Coat Factory and Brooks Brothers
    .
  • The Grant Street area is the seat of Pittsburgh's and Allegheny County's government and is also a prestigious corporate address with many of the city's tallest skyscrapers.
  • The Firstside neighborhood along the Boulevard of the Allies and Fort Pitt Boulevard adjacent to the Monongahela River is an educational and residential district. It is home to Point Park University and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh both of which have high-rise student housing in the neighborhood. Numerous other residential projects are also under construction in this neighborhood.

Economy

Pittsburgh's number of jobs is generally stable.

Downtown Pittsburgh retains substantial economic influence, ranking at 25th in the nation for jobs within the urban core and 6th in job density.[9]

better source needed
] These numbers reflect employment in the city as a whole, not just the central business district; but the central business district has the highest density of employment of any Pittsburgh neighborhood.

Pittsburgh has long been a headquarters city, with numerous national and global corporations calling the Golden Triangle home. Currently, Downtown is still home to a large number of Fortune 500 companies (7 in the metro area, 5 of which are in the city in 2022, which ranks Pittsburgh high nationally in Fortune 500 headquarters):

– co-headquartered in PPG Place

– headquartered in the Tower at PNC Plaza

– headquartered in PPG Place

– headquartered at Station Square

– headquartered at the

US Steel Tower

Downtown is also home to

US Steel Tower
.

Major buildings

See also: List of tallest buildings in Pittsburgh
The sweeping roofline of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on the Allegheny River

Parks and plazas

Market Square, Pittsburgh
Market Square

Downtown is home to numerous parks, large and small:

  • Point State Park at the tip of the Golden Triangle
  • Mellon Square located in the square between Oliver & Sixth avenues and Smithfield Street and William Penn Place
  • Market Square
    at Forbes Avenue & Market Street
  • Mellon Green located at Grant Street & Sixth Avenue
  • FirstSide Park located between Grant & Ross streets and First & Second avenues.
  • Gateway Center plazas located around the Gateway Center skyscrapers near Liberty Avenue & Stanwix Street
  • Plaza at PPG Place near Third Avenue & Market Street
  • US Steel Tower
    Plaza at Grant Street & Sixth Avenue
  • Katz Plaza at Penn Avenue & Seventh Street
  • Triangle Park bounded by Liberty Avenue, Fifth Avenue & Market Street
  • Allegheny Riverfront Park along the Allegheny River below Fort Duquesne Boulevard
  • Mon Wharf Landing along the Monongahela River below Fort Pitt Boulevard (under construction)
  • North Shore Riverfront Park opposite Downtown along the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, part of the larger Three Rivers Park

Educational facilities

While Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood is known as the educational center of the city, Downtown is home to several higher education institutions as well as a branch of the city's Carnegie Library system and a Pittsburgh Public Schools 6–12 school:

Residential areas

Downtown has several condos, including Gateway Towers and Chatham Place dating to the 1960s [11] and more modern structures as well. There are over 5,000 apartment and condo units in Greater Downtown Pittsburgh.

Surrounding neighborhoods

See also

References

  1. ^ "State of Downtown - Downtown Pittsburgh" (PDF). Downtown Pittsburgh. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2018. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "PGHSNAP 2010 Raw Census Data by Neighborhood". PGHSNAP Utility. Pittsburgh Department of City Planning. 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  3. ^ "PGHSNAP - Neighborhoods: All Raw Data". google.com. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  4. ^ "Census:Pittsburgh" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2007. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  5. ^ "Pittsburgh Census Tracts". pitt.libguides.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Top Ten Reasons to Visit Pittsburgh". Archived from the original on March 3, 2001. Retrieved June 28, 2007.
  7. ^
    Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Archived from the original
    on January 31, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  8. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  9. ^ Miller, Harold (August 3, 2008). "Regional Insights: Pittsburgh is a national player in jobs per square mile but needs more population". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on August 17, 2008. Retrieved August 6, 2008.
  10. ^ Briem, Christopher (August 5, 2011). "hold em like they do in Texas plays". Nullspace. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  11. ^ "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Downtown Pittsburgh.
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