I DIDN'T EXPECT Pittsburgh to take my breath away. This was, after all, a city once so full of smokestacks and soot that, in his 1868 travelogue for the Atlantic Monthly, biographer James Parton described it as "hell with the lid taken off." But as my taxi emerged from the Fort Pitt Tunnel on a Friday afternoon in June, I was taken aback by the panorama of rivers and bridges that unfolded before me. In the distance, sunlight glinted off the mirrored façade of PPG Place, the skyline's crown jewel, its neo-Gothic spires piercing a bluebird sky.
Pittsburgh's tale of Rust Belt revival is hardly new-the city spent decades reinventing itself after the steel industry collapsed in the 1980s. And since 2006, starting with Google, more tech companies have been setting up shop among the vibrant arts and cultural venues, while boundary-pushing chefs have brought the food scene on par with some of the country's hottest culinary hubs. The result? A next-gen 'Burgh that is simultaneously youthful and old-school, fresh and gritty, cutting-edge and delightfully retro.
FRIDAY
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