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Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
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Pittsburgh, a city of only 300,000 and metro of 2 million, punches so far above it's weight in terms of cultural amenities, civic institutions, food scene, and built urban form and potential that I struggle to find another city its size that beats it. What do you all think...what other cities come close or beat Pittsburgh of similar size when it comes to these amenities?
I know Cleveland will be a quick response. I know Cleveland has great legacy institutions, but I'd argue it doesn't quite beat Pittsburgh in terms of urban parks and food scene. Very debatable though and a lot will come down to personal preference.
This is largely due to Pittsburgh prominence and wealth in the industrial age. It was considered to be one of the most robust cities of that era with a population pushing 700,000. And the wealth of the Carneigie's, Mellon's etc. were all invested back in the city and why Pittsburgh has so many great institutions that rival even a city like Atlanta/Seattle/Dallas etc.
Sadly the end of the industrial age brought about a decline, but thanks to largely Carnegie Mellon being one of the top tech universities in the nation and the size and reach of UPitt. Pittsburgh's economy has reinvented itself.
If it was not for the investments of Pittsburgh wealth back in the industrial age, Pittsburgh would not be what it is today.
It truly is the definition of a legacy city. And perhaps one of the most underrated in the nation.(Far exceeds: Portland, Austin, Nashville).
Pittsburgh, a city of only 300,000 and metro of 2 million, punches so far above it's weight in terms of cultural amenities, civic institutions, food scene, and built urban form and potential that I struggle to find another city its size that beats it. What do you all think...what other cities come close or beat Pittsburgh of similar size when it comes to these amenities?
I know Cleveland will be a quick response. I know Cleveland has great legacy institutions, but I'd argue it doesn't quite beat Pittsburgh in terms of urban parks and food scene. Very debatable though and a lot will come down to personal preference.
Pittsburgh metro is 2.35 million, just to clarify. It might seem like a minor point, but there do happen to be quite a few metros with very close to 2 million people, and Pgh is about 15% larger than those, and has a bigger history than most, so it may not be that surprising that it has more things. The smallish city limits population is really only because it hasn't annexed as much of the surrounding area as most other cities- its boundaries for strict city limits are only 55 sq. miles
Metro size is a big factor here, but if we're just looking at individual cities....
Cleveland (pop. ~ 385,000) comes to mind. Buffalo (~ 258,000) also punches above it weight in that regard.
Some other possibilities include Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Madison, St. Louis, and Rochester.
Overall, many of these cities used to have larger populations and stronger economies that help found and support massive cultural amenities. Some of these cities have lost population (and economic support) in the past decades, but have held onto many of their longtime cultural institutions.
This is largely due to Pittsburgh prominence and wealth in the industrial age. It was considered to be one of the most robust cities of that era with a population pushing 700,000. And the wealth of the Carneigie's, Mellon's etc. were all invested back in the city and why Pittsburgh has so many great institutions that rival even a city like Atlanta/Seattle/Dallas etc.
Sadly the end of the industrial age brought about a decline, but thanks to largely Carnegie Mellon being one of the top tech universities in the nation and the size and reach of UPitt. Pittsburgh's economy has reinvented itself.
If it was not for the investments of Pittsburgh wealth back in the industrial age, Pittsburgh would not be what it is today.
It truly is the definition of a legacy city. And perhaps one of the most underrated in the nation.(Far exceeds: Portland, Austin, Nashville).
Falls Short in one or more areas: Cincinnati, Nashville, Charlotte
I think St. Louis would be a tie basically, but Pittsburgh has it beat in urban form IMO. Overall it's probably got about an equal amount of amenities to Pittsburgh among the peer cities.
A mix of long-ago money, current business relevance, and a strong university sector...hard to beat.
Newer cities can play catch-up if they have a lot of money. But that takes generations, and my impression is that Pittsburgh's closest peers typically aren't known for their wealth, whether that's strong public sector funding, billionaire donors, or huge numbers of middle- and upper-middle-income/wealth residents. They typically don't have a ton of urban tourism either, as that can be a big factor for museums etc. Or that's my impression. (They have their share of those things, but enough to play catch-up?)
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