Proud girl from da Burgh!

Sept 15th, 2009

Goog Morning,

Well, first of all I just wanted to share with you all that my city, Pittsburgh, was featured in an article in "Corriere della Sera," one of the most important newspapers in Italy, coming from its seat in Milan. My friend told me about it, and I was excited that the Italians took time to talk about my city! It writes,"Pittsburgh: City of the future, Icon of the post-industrial passage from steel to the center of consciousness." Obviously this article centers around the fact that Obama chose to hold the G20 Convention in Pittsburgh, and I translated the article and wrote it below for your viewing pleasure. I was tickled to read them talk so highly of my city, describing in brilliant adjectives the striking first view of the 3-River city as you exit the Fort Pitt Tunnels.

I have never doubted the beauty of my city, nor its potential for growth as it has been rated by the Economist to be the most livable city in the United States. It is a growing city center that is investing in projects to rein in capital to increase the development and appeal of the downtown area, the surrounding neighborhoods and commercial developments, and the many attractions it offers. The small and shining city center rising with its reflections cast on the confluence of the three rivers provides a center of life to Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, and it is called the “City of Bridges” (720 to be exact). In my opinion, Pittsburgh is structured like Chicago—not nearly to a great extent—but in the fact that there is a small yet grand city center that is then hugged tightly by many characteristic and cultural neighborhoods, towns, and beautifully developed suburbs. Did you know about the development of its “Green Architecture”?--including the beautiful convention center that was one of the first giant green buildings in the world. Pittsburgh has always been underestimated, and in this aspect, we have the potential to rise past the expectations of those who do not know better. The City of Steel has changed its face to shine like it has been newly polished, and it would be surprising to look at the cost of living compared to cities such as Philadelphia—you would be surprised. One of the aspects that I am most proud of about Pittsburgh, is the diverse cultural heritage that has constructed the city from its inception—from the Native Americans to the immigrants of stronger ages, from all parts of the world. Therefore, I am proud of my city, I’m proud to be a Pittsburgh girl, I can speak Pittsburghese if I wanted to, I cheer for the Steelers, and I hope this city will be hospitable for the G20 convention.

As for my life today? A cold rainy front has moved over Milan, and I have to recommence my search for work. It is a very frustrating task, and I have to buckle down and do a bilateral attack: online approach and asking around the city in person. It should be a very mellow day, but I will have to buy a few groceries today despite the fact that I am down barely having any money in my checking account. Could I write that off as being so terrifying that I find it funny?

Here is the Article:


Pittsburgh:
città del futuro
Icona del passaggio post-industriale: dalla siderurgia a centro di conoscenza
"City of the Future: I con of the post-industiral passage from steel to the center of consciousness."

"The juice of the story is all in a laugh; what escaped the reporters of the White House when they discovered from the speaker, Robert Gibbs, that the president had chosen Pittsburgh as the new seat of the G20, September 24th. After Beijing, Berlin and London…the top brass of the industrial powers and of the emerging economies meeting in Pittsburgh? Possible—they will have asked themselves, that Obama is referring precisely to that city in Pennsylvania that was, rest in peace, the world capital of steel and that then with the collapse of heavy industry in the early eighties, it became a symbol of the end of the world, mother of all the ghost cities, metropolitan rusty pieces of junk for the first in the Rost Belt? Provocation for provocation, then why not choose Detroit? And they continued giggling. Then Gibbs froze the reporters in the building, yet ill-tuned to the visionary brilliance of the president: “Pittsburgh is an extraordinary American history, it is the city of the future.”

In fact, after less than a half an hour riding anonymous and rainy street from the airport, qhen you exit from the Fort Pitt Tunnel and you find yourself passing, in one second, from the gray nothing and void of the tunnel to being face to face with downtown Pittsburgh, placed there like a prow glittering in the middle of three rivers, a Manhattan of shining pastel colors—in short, when you are faced with this love at first sight—it is mathematic that you ask yourself with mouths open, but how did they keep concealed a thing so beautiful? What secret do these people keep? Just across the bridge I called, Tony Buba, an former steelworker , son of minors and today a legendary director from the 70s that has never stopped filming documentaries of Braddock, his working-class neighborhood. “Here you couldn’t see anything, the lights were lit even in the daytime, the smoke from the blast furnaces obscured everything, the rivers were black and putrid, said Tony. “Then the factories closed their gates, the city stopped, the fog began to gradually lift, and slowly the sun appeared. At that time, the people discovered to live in a wonderful city, decided that it needed to be reborn. And here we are, with the Economist that declares Pittsburgh even the most livable city in America. I am cooking a pike I caught this morning, go ahead.”
Don’t let yourselves be deceived by words: “Pitts” 310 thousand inhabitants, is still called the “Steel City’, here is still established the engineering union, the United Steelworkers union, like its counterpart, UsSteel corporation; and it goes without saying the glorious football team is that of the Steelers. Now this is the city of 35 colleges and universities—Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh the pride and joy—of nanotechnology, biotechnology, hub driven by the hospital UPMC, one of the largest healthcare provides in the world, leader in transplants, which employs 50 thousand people with a turnover of 5.6 billian euro ( and in fact the Steel tower, the biggest skyscraper, has become the UPMC tower). The wall street journal has decided to call it “Roboburgh” choosing robotics as the distinctive mark of Pittsburghese excellence (3oo spin-offs of from the academic filled of information technology with wholly private funds). How did this happen? “20 years ago, while the steel industry disappeared causing a devastating social disaster, the grand capital, the families of Carnegie, Frick, Mellon and Heinz did not escape with the loot, “ recounts Luke Ravenstahl, 29 years old, the youngest mayor in America. “But they continued to finance the universities and the cultural funds. Therefore, it triggered a virtuous process that enabled researchers to work on winning projects that have low federal funds, funds that have attracted researchers and other private capital. Paul C. Wood, vice president of UPMC explains the diversity and therefore the personality nerve to Pittsburgh: "This is not about chasing the ball, but look to get where you think the ball will come. Does not live by the day, focusing on the bubble of the moment, but thinking about the next generation and investing without seeking public assistance. In short, the mindset is still that working, even though there are hardly any workers. "

Unlike the rest of the country, the price of homes increases, there is a boom in….the unemployment has halted at 5 percent, and the rebranding of the city as the best place in America for families and young professionals (newsweek) has brought, only this year, 4,000 under-30 graduates to repopulate the 89 neighborhoods situated on the hills and along the rivers of Pittsburgh. Obama could not have choosen the Steel city, the city that was to have died, but instead he enjoys its Rennaissance."