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Yes, it's starting, but it hasn't finished yet, not by a long run.
In 2010, only Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Friendship, Regent Square, Point Breeze, North Oakland, Highland Park, Allegheny West, and the Strip District had a majority of over-25 residents with BAs or higher notice the geography - except for three, they are all in the typical lower East End block which has long been affluent.
As odd as it seems, some "middle-class" white neighborhoods like Bon Air and East Carnegie have far less college graduates than black neighborhoods like Garfield, Upper Hill, and California-Kirkbride. I think this is mostly a function of age - while white people in general are much more likely to have college degrees, 30-year old black people are more likely than 60-year old white people in most of Pittsburgh.
Regardless, yes, Pittsburgh is far less working-class white than it was 10, 20 years ago. But I still think it holds the crown for the time being. Huge swathes of the city - including virtually everything south of the Mon besides South Side - have seen essentially no gentrification yet.
Considering the average MSA has a college attainment rate of ~35% among adults 25 and older, I think 40% would be a better threshold for determining the future potential of a city neighborhood, because you won't find many neighborhoods in any city with over half the population having college degrees. With the exception of four neighborhoods that have concentrations of Section 8 housing, Pittsburgh's East End neighborhoods are all either gentrified or gentrifying. Basically, the East End is to Pittsburgh what the North Side is to Chicago, and the South Side (of Pittsburgh) has become a de facto extension of the East End.
The North Side neighborhoods (of Pittsburgh) are next in line, with redevelopment beginning to spread out beyond the Mexican War Streets area. Manchester and East Allegheny are two neighborhoods that are ripe for it. Allegheny West, Fineview and Brighton Heights are in decent shape as it is. The only North Side neighborhoods that are being left out are those east of I-279 (Troy Hill, Spring Hill, Spring Garden), plus the areas around Observatory Hill.
As for the South Hills neighborhoods, you're right about them; I always tell people that if they're south of the Monongahela River and they can't see downtown Pittsburgh, then they're in an area with not much going on. Sadly, some of the South Hills neighborhoods have become Section 8 hellholes too. One wild card, though, is that neighborhoods like Brookline and Beechview have a small Hispanic cluster, so if the Hispanic population starts to grow faster, then those two neighborhoods will probably get a nice shot in the arm.
The real forgotten area of the city is the West End. There really isn't much going on in any of those neighborhoods, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're the last area of the city to be redeveloped. Aside from those North Side neighborhoods east of I-279, the West End is the last bastion of white, working-class Pittsburghers in the city.
It is less than 60% non-Hispanic White and I believe that the college degree percentage is around the national average. I could be wrong about the latter.
Personally, I'd say it's my current residence of Pittsburgh, but I'd love to hear other opinions.
How to judge:
White (non-Hispanic) population must be a clear majority - preferably more than 60%.
City must not be heavily-gentrified yet - many white people within city limits still lack a college degree.
Bonus points for cities which are larger in population, and more urban in built structure. Hence sun-belt cities which include large tracts of essentially suburban housing don't count, as they are less "city-like."
I hope you've discovered in your studies that Pittsburgh has one of the most educated young populations in the United States. The "overall" educational attainment number for Pittsburgh appears mediocre because of the famously large elderly population... a demographic distortion legacy of the 70s/80s steel collapse. Older Americans are less college-educated... but especially so in Pittsburgh due to the dominance of primary metals manufacturing. While still a potent force in the voting booth, these less-educated elderly Pittsburghers have little relevance to Pittsburgh's present and future economy.
The educational attainment of Pittsburgh's young workforce is a big reason for the region's economic dynamism during this period of global economic malaise. The region's growing labor force in an era where the national labor force is shrinking... is tied to the region's strong in-migration rate... which spurs the gentrification/redevelopment/investment that is springing up throughout the city.
Once defined by heavy industry and blue-collar masses, Pittsburgh now hosts the fifth most educated young workforce in the United States, a distinction that groups the city with such urban intellectual hubs as Boston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., according to a recent report in the Pittsburgh Economic Quarterly published by the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR).
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Narrow the category to 25- to 34-year-olds who have earned a graduate or professional degree, and Pittsburgh fares even better, joining Washington, D.C., in leading the nation with 21.5 percent.
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Due to decades of out-migration, Pittsburgh was the first major region to see its senior population compose a large percentage of overall population... 50% larger than the national average for the latter half of the 20th century. However, in recent years... while the rest of the US increases its senior population... Pittsburgh's is shrinking. The less-educated cohorts are dying off while Pittsburgh experiences brain gain from educated young adults moving here. The characterization of Pittsburgh as "working class" is obsolete in terms of occupational composition and educational attainment.
I think if you went back to the 1980s or earlier, Portland, Oregon could qualify as being one of the most old-school working class white cities(although the ethnic white populations of Italians or Germans or Poles was assimilated much earlier by the 1950s).
Not so much anymore, but Portland was one of the larger cities to have it's population remain very white and working class through much of it's history. You can still see some of this on the east or north side of town or in some of the suburbs, but much of the inner neighborhoods are upwardly mobile liberal transplants these days, while the outer neighborhoods have recieved higher numbers of Asians and Hispanics along with blacks from the inner core displaced by gentrification. But as recently as the 1980s, now hip areas like SE Hawthorne and Belmont or NW 21st were largely white and mostly working class(or poor).
Suburban Detroit (Macomb County and Downriver Wayne County).
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