FORGED FROM STEEL
FORMER INDUSTRIAL POWERHOUSE PITTSBURGH IS FIRING DIFFERENT UP FOR A KIND OF FUTURE. LINDSAY SUTTON SUGGESTS YOU PAY IT A VISIT ONCE TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS ALLOW
IT’S hard to believe, but the one-time industrial hellhole of Pittsburgh has had a dramatic conversion.
The city that used to be a conveyer belt of heavy metal, producing up to half of America’s steel, is now officially one of the country’s top ten most liveable cities.
Before coronavirus struck, it was a magnet for tourists and a foodie destination of distinction.
Quite simply, it’s become a jewel in Pennsylvania’s crown. A city where soot-stained white collar workers once had to change their shirts at midday has now become a clean, environmentally conscious place to savour.
Pittsburgh has left behind its murky old image of foundries, blast furnaces and rolling mills that made the wealth for the few but brutally polluted the atmosphere for the many.
The city has cleaned up its act and showed it can ‘steel the show’ in a new way.
It now also has a direct flight from the UK. Last year, BA celebrated its centenary by putting on a four-days-a-week Dreamliner service from Heathrow at civilised hours too: out just before tea-time, arrive in time for an evening meal. Return at 10pm, sleep through the night, and arrive in London at 10.35am.
Like the plane, it was a dream experience – and all for just over £500.
Simply arriving in Pittsburgh from the airport is a spectacular experience.
It’s a show-stopper, and a big surprise, from the moment you drive out of the mile-long highway tunnel, built into a cliff. Suddenly, you see the immense fountain at Fort Pitt Point, where Pittsburgh’s two rivers meet to form the old Ohio River that wends its way west to eventually join the mighty Mississippi.
It’s genuinely awesome to see the city stretching out on the Golden Triangle of land behind the fountain and between the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. Little wonder that the New York Times described Pittsburgh as “the only city with a grand entrance.”
On the riverbanks, old steel mills have been pulled down, to be replaced by a modern and pretty streamlined waterfront, with skyscrapers reaching up, alongside Pittsburgh’s two citadels of sport – one for American football, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the other the baseball home of the Pirates.
Pittsburgh has changed its economic base to embrace new-tech enterprises, with firms like Google settling in. It’s experimenting with robotics and driverless cars despite its steepsided valleys, rivers and bridges. You can feel the energy, the opportunity, and the feeling of confidence – and that makes for an exciting city.
No longer ‘Steel City’ it has become known as the ‘City of
No longer ‘Steel City’, it has become known as the ‘City of Bridges’. There are no fewer than 446... Venice, eat your heart out!
Bridges’. There are no fewer than 446 such spans – more than you’ll find in any other city in the world. Venice, eat your heart out! With their arcing shapes lit up at night, and the light reflecting back up from the rivers flowing below, it makes a stunning spectacle.
Staying at the city centre Renaissance Hotel, looking out over one of the major bridges is a delight, both by day and by night. With its magnificent 1906 architecture, its stylish atrium just inside the main entrance, copper dome and impressive staircase, it’s the perfect place to stay.
However, even though Pittsburgh has had a makeover and revamped itself into a vibrant, cutting-edge city, those 300 years of producing America’s iron and steel has produced a lasting cultural legacy, courtesy of the immense wealth in the hands of its big industrialists.
People like Andrew Carnegie, the richest man in the world back in 1901, when he sold his huge steel mills to JP Morgan’s US Steel corporation.
Also farmer-turned-banker Thomas Mellon, and his son Andrew, who gave the city a university of immense repute.
Then there was the tough, strikebreaking industrialist Henry Clay Frick, a partner of Carnegie, and a coal and coke magnate who collected great works of art that still form the backbone of The Frick, a series of galleries and museums based on and around the Frick family home.
Perhaps unexpectedly, the Andy Warhol Museum houses the largest collection of his work in the city where he was born and brought up before he went East.
But why would a Pittsburgh boy paint a tin of Campbell’s soup, rather than Heinz? After all, the original Henry John Heinz set up in Pittsburgh, so Warhol’s decision is regarded as pretty disloyal in these parts.
The legacy of Scottish-born Carnegie, one of America’s great philanthropists, comes in a series of world-class museums, art galleries and universities of note – all still marvels to this day.
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History still houses the first T-Rex fossil to be unearthed, up in Montana, and brought to Pittsburgh to be displayed.
Next door is the Carnegie Museum of Modern Art, the first of its kind in the world. Not to mention the Carnegie Hall, a venue for music and theatre,and the famous Carnegie Libraries, which were invaluable for upwardly mobile and motivated citizens who wanted to better themselves.
On the food front, the Acorn restaurant reflects Pittsburgh’s growing reputation for top-class cuisine. Situated in the trendy Shadyside district, Chicago-trained chef Scott Walton serves up superb and imaginative dishes, and the ambience is relaxed and welcoming.
In contrast, it’s a fact that the now ubiquitous Big Mac was invented in Pittsburgh. So was the Jeep... and the famous 57 varieties of Heinz.
Spending time in the Heinz History Centre is fascinating. There’s sport, the story of HJ Heinz himself, complete with giant ketchup bottle, and a complete history of Pittsburgh, from the British wars with France and the Native Americans onwards. Getting round the city is easy with Uber, though you will need a hire car for the surrounding area.
An hour or so from Pittsburgh are two of the architectural ‘jewels’ of America, built by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Fallingwater is built over a waterfall in the middle of a forest in the Laurel Highlands, and Kentuck Knob – the summer home of British-born Lord Peter Palumbo – is built into a hillside. Well worth a day’s visit at least.
You can stay at the Lloyd Wrightinspired Nemacolin Resort, a stylish and relaxing resort in 2,000 acres of land. There is so much to do, it’s described as a ‘playground,’ and includes two golf courses, hiking trails, a spa, and several choices of restaurants for top-class fine dining.
The whole experience of Pittsburgh, and then the world-class architecture just outside, gives a new meaning to the expression ‘tales of the unexpected’.
A real experience in real America.