Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Located in the Pennsylvania state, downtown Pittsburgh is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Pittsburgh. It is colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle and is officially the central business district of the region. The city is the headquarters to several major global financial institutions including PNC, the nation’s 5th largest bank, as well as the Federated Investors and the regional headquarters of BNY Mellon.

The city itself is also a renowned powerhouse for its heavy manufacturing industries particularly steel (PPG Industries), glass and oil, with it being home to the offices of few major corporations in the United States, such as U.S. Steel, PPG, Bank of New York Mellon, Heinz, Federated Investors and Alcoa. It is here where the fortunes of industrial barons Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon and George Westinghouse were made.

west virginia and into pennsylvania!

Allegheny River

Downtown at night

The downtown area is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, together with the Ohio River, merging and forming the “triangle” as bounded by the three rivers themselves. This lush presence of rivers is home to many iconic bridges which spans these water bodies; serving transport and utility needs throughout downtown Pittsburgh.

View from the top of the David L Lawrence Convention Center

It’s from the city’s David L Lawrence Convention Center where you can catch few of the many bridges such as Roberto Clemente Bridge, Andy Warhol Bridge and the Rachel Carson Bridge just off the PNC park. Not all the bridges here are road and pedestrian bridges, the train bridges residing here are the Allegheny Aqueduct and Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge. The David L. Lawrence Convention Center itself is a significant symbol of the modern Pittsburgh region, connecting the urban city to the waterfront overlooking the Allegheny River itself.

PNC park and Heinz Field

convention center grounds

On the streets

Sporting-wise, Pittsburgh is the home ground to two of the most prominent and popular sports in the states itself, football and baseball. For those who follow the NFL, Pittsburgh is home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who competed in the last superbowl finals, despite losing the Green Bay Packers. The Heinz Field stadium here across the Ohio river serves primarily as the home to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Panthers American football teams and the University of Pittsburgh football team. Given it’s strengths in the industry, it’s not surprising that the local football team here started off with humble beginnings supported and funded by a steel giant in the country, and therefore the “Steelers” name too. Baseball is another favorite sport here too. The PNC Park is a baseball park located here is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the city’s Major League Baseball (MLB) team.

Pittsburgh market

Mmm flowery!

Lunch at P&G pamela’s diner

On a normal day here, street side pubs and cafes are a common place for sport and social gatherings, particularity catching the MLB on the pub TV when I was there. Public transport in the downtown areas are well served by buses and the Port Authority’s light rail subway. The Pittsburgh regional greyhound bus station can also be found just off the city’s main convention center too.

Not far off Liberty avenue along Penn Avenue is the food and marketplace of the city, it is within walking distance in downtown and is buzzing with crowds in the mornings and lunchtimes, particularly on weekend Sundays. It’s then where the streets here are transformed in a roadside market place, complete with street lined food hawkers, merchandise stands, fruits and flower stalls just to name afew.

Awesome lunch!

Rooftop drumming

a night of party!

There are also loads of souvenir merchandise stalls hawking apparel and gear of the city’s major sport teams, namely that of the Steelers and Pirates. They are everywhere. After all with the NFL 2010, this is Steeler’s territory, and you definitely won’t want to be packing any packer’s gear here. Have a go at the food by the road side cafes or dine at the historical Primanti Brothers diner or P&G Pamela’s diner just off 20th and 21st street. You will be in for an traditional American treat for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Topping up the city of Pittsburgh will be the diverse night life here, food stalls are generally open till late. Night hangouts are decent with few good pubs and clubs, when I was there there were many late night roof top percussions in town as well as night clubbing venue to spend your night away. Simple plain, yet effective for a good chillout.