Where can you get all this living history in one city?

Pittsburgh wants a new phrase to describe and market itself--something more applicable than "Steel City." Preservation Pittsburgh suggested the phrase " Alive with Tradition" to capture not only the living history of our city, but how our sense of heritage and tradition can actually energize our future while adding to our quality of life.

The Image Gap Committee described several characteristics of Pittsburgh that fit in very well with the "Pittsburgh--Alive with Tradition." What do you think?

"Urban Beauty Surrounded by Rivers and Outdoor Adventure"

The Rivers--considered a sacred confluence when two rivers meet to make a third, the history of the region that began with the rivers could be introduced at the Point State Park Museum and include more about Native American traditions. History--Braddock's Defeat, Mt. Washington (no poseur here, Washington actually stood on this mount!), Ft. Necessity, Steel Heritage Route, Ft. Pitt and Heinz Historic Center expansions.

Natural surroundings--Green hillsides that have embraced the rivers for generations and still provide a stunning backdrop to the City itself. Outdoor activities within the region that are excellent, vast areas of greenspace, trails and parks and for the less active, beautiful cemeteries filled with Victorian and Beaux Arts sculpture.

" Heritage and Current Home of Innovation and Transformation"--Education and High Tech reflected in academic institutions-- "incubator of intellectual and cultural capital, a continuing tradition of excellence."

"Pride in Working, Making and Doing"--"a diverse work force with a passion for work and work well done"

Culture--How many cities this size boast TWO restored, historic, world-class concert halls, symphony orchestra, several live theater companies, an opera, ballet, jazz clubs that are phenomenal, PLUS live performances by almost every musical artist on the A-grade concert crawl--not to mention the neighborhood coffee-house and bar scenes which are their own little oases of intimate music making.

Entertainment/Eating--From pierogies to Italian sausage, from Primanti's to Mediterranean, Pittsburghers are ethnic and they eat ethnic--and keep their traditions alive!. Where else can you get 80+ year-old seafood restaurants (Polis ) selling $9 dinner plates on cloth-covered tables and a Spanish patisserie around the corner? Unlike the fancy restaurants in Houston, Pittsburgh never runs out of meatloaf by 6 pm....

Sports teams--Forbes' Field backwall and the home plate hidden in the Econ Hall on Pitts' campus; and, of course, the Penguins could revamp the Igloo, make the roof openable and be the only team in the National Hockey League to play in a historic building WITH A ROOF THAT OPENS TO THE NIGHT SKY JUST BEFORE THE TEAM COMES ON THE ICE! The Steelers have fans that spread all across the United States with chip't chop't ham parties.

Architecture--Begin with Heinz Chapel, throw in Mellon Hall (with the largest number of monolithic columns in the world), H.H. Richardson's City/County Building and re-adapted jail, move to PPG Towers, the Igloo, our new Convention Center, more bridges per capita than any city in America and one starts to get an appreciation for the quality and tradition of architecture and engineering here in Pgh.

Corporate and Foundation Giving--13 years ago, Pittsburgh had the highest per-capita contributions to the arts of any city in America--San Francisco weighed in at $8 per person, Pittsburgh was giving $14. The tradition of leaving something behind as a legacy to better the community has incredibly strong roots here and is something our foundations, corporations and citizens can be very, very proud of.

And finally, the element that pulls ALL this together--Pittsburgh's rich fabric of historic architecture and wonderfully alive neighborhoods, many of which look nearly the same now as they did 90 years ago. Why keep casting our nets into the waters we call "the Future" while ignoring what we already have--what we've ALWAYS had--living traditions that add to our quality of life. Come back to Pittsburgh--it's "alive with tradition."

As grass-roots, all volunteer organization, Preservation Pittsburgh represents many people in the region who feel strongly that the historic fabric of our town is one of its chief assets. Do YOU have stories, photos, comments to add to Pittsburgh's "Alive with Tradition?"