Articles Archive - Page 56 of 155 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

No Contest

Pittsburgh’s arts and culture sector outperforms many of its peer cities when it comes to arts participation, organizations per capita and economic impact, but equity issues persist, according to a new from the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council. Attendance of arts and culture events dwarfs that generated by the region’s professional sports teams combined—Steelers included. “It’s …

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Creative Capital

Buying Your Way Into Nobility

by Greg Curtis

We’re talking about the “subtle maneuvers” we were using to try to drag the charming-but-antediluvian Isle of Arran into the modern era and prevent Lady Jean from hobbling off to the poorhouse. Putting the old ladies to work One day, I arrived on Arran after spending a few days in Edinburgh talking with Lady Jean’s …

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Profiles

Jim Roddey, Business Executive and Community Leader

by Jeff Sewald

I was born in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1933, when the city was still pretty small, and lived with my parents in a little house at the foot of a mountain. My father was the comptroller for the city but, more importantly, he was a passionate ham radio operator, and a lover of electronics—and flying. …

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Arts

Pittsburgh Cultural Events Calendar

by PQ Staff

In every issue, in partnership with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Quarterly presents a calendar of arts and events happening in Downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. Copies of this 16-page guide are also made available in theaters, venues, restaurants and hotels across downtown. Complete with a 3-month season-at-a-glance calendar, you’ll see just how many not-to-miss events …

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Regional Annual Report

Gone Before Their Time

by Julia Fraser

In Pittsburgh’s early 20th century industrial economy, danger lurked in rail yards, on the exposed I-beams of tall buildings under construction and in steel mills where gases and fire coexisted. “Ten minutes before, we stood there laughing, and not one of us had an idea there was anything wrong with that furnace,” lawyer and journalist …

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Regional Annual Report

Crime Is Dropping, but So Are Relations With Police

by Bill O'Toole

Editor’s note: This story was first published in the Spring 2020 issue of Pittsburgh Quarterly. Southwestern Pennsylvania continues to be one of the safest metropolitan regions in the nation, and the latest data suggest it’s only getting safer. The overall crime rate in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 1,687.7 per 100,000 residents …

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Regional Annual Report

Sinkholes, Congestion and Amazon

by Bill O'Toole

On the morning of Monday, Oct. 28, a massive sinkhole, roughly 20 feet in diameter, suddenly opened on 10th Street in Downtown Pittsburgh, swallowing the back half of a Port Authority bus. There were no serious injuries, and the cartoonish photos shared from the scene were generally met with delight on social media across the …

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Special Reports

Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2020

by Pittsburgh Today Staff

To view a PDF version of Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2020, click here.

Regional Annual Report

The Obesity Puzzle

by Julia Fraser

Temptation lurks in gooey fudge icing layered in a slice of moist chocolate cake and the hot salty crunch of a french fry. The sight and smell can incite the body to ramp up blood pressure, heart rate, skin conductance and salivary response—characteristics of arousal and excitement. It’s a response that Lisa Germeroth hopes to …

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Regional Annual Report

Pittsburgh’s Economy 2020

by Kurt Rankin

Pittsburgh’s economy has a difficult row to hoe as we look ahead to 2020. Economic potential through the new year will be supported by stable consumer conditions and business sentiment, but the resources necessary to keep up with demand are running thin. It may be time for Pittsburgh to deliver on the promise of affordability …

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Regional Annual Report

Cleveland 11,000 – Pittsburgh 1

by Jeffery Fraser

The housing bubble had burst and the nation was reeling from recession. The City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County were feeling the pain more than most places in 2009. Foreclosures were mounting by the thousands, and Fannie Mae and other lenders were desperate for a way to off-load the abandoned properties filling their books. They …

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Opinion Pittsburgh Immigration

Pittsburgh Tomorrow: Facing Facts and Seizing Opportunity

by Douglas Heuck

I arrived in Pittsburgh on July 5, 1985, for a 12-week internship at the old Pittsburgh Press. I expected to stay that long. However, from my entry through the Fort Pitt Tunnel to my first front-page story on one of the last big steel strikes, Pittsburgh was a fascinating place. It was also a place …

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Regional Annual Report

Gauging K–12 Education Quality

by Jeffery Fraser

Allegheny County residents are tough graders when assessing the performance of the public schools that educate 115,000 county children in grades kindergarten through 12, a far-ranging survey of their views on education suggests. Fewer than half give schools a better-than-fair rating for their class size, funding, student preparedness, parental involvement and diversity of the student …

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Arts

PICT’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

by Stuart Sheppard

There is an effulgence to William Shakespeare’s work that is always better to channel than to distort. And this is especially true of the luminous “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” his first undeniable masterpiece, composed during the winter of 1595-96, and performed this midwinter in sly context by PICT Classic Theatre. For when better to have …

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Restaurant Reviews

Bar Botanico, Il Pizzaiolo, Superior Motors

by Pittsburgh Quarterly Restaurant Review Board

The Pittsburgh Quarterly Restaurant Review Board recognizes outstanding restaurants and chefs, publishing the top 20 annually in “The List.” Diverse board members are chosen for their interest and knowledge of food and fine dining. Each is anonymous, ensuring no special treatment during restaurant visits—but in the coming reviews, each has picked an icon from the …

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Creative Capital

Scotch to the Rescue…

by Greg Curtis

Before I describe the “subtle maneuvers” we orchestrated on Lady Jean’s behalf, I want to emphasize that these weren’t all my ideas. They were an amalgam of many conversations with the accountants, estate managers, attorneys, Charles Fforde and Lady Jean herself. I was merely a kind of midwife presiding over their birth. On the other …

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Health

Physical Activity vs. Physical Fitness

by Joseph A. Luxbacher

Question: “I do not enjoy nor have the time to do formal workouts on a regular basis, but I think that I am an active person overall. I walk, hike and enjoy gardening. How hard do I need to exercise to get any benefits from the activity?” What we are really discussing here is the …

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Opinion

On a Pedestal: Moe Coleman Awards, Kiski School, Women in Leadership

by PQ Staff

Finding someone able to debate politics with civility and respect is difficult today, when public discourse all too often turns coarse and divisive. Former Allegheny County Executive Jim Roddey and his “across the aisle” friend, Duquesne University law professor and former Pittsburgh deputy mayor Joseph Sabino Mistick, are trying to cultivate more people who are …

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Books

A Graphic Look at Pittsburgh

by John Allison

Frank Santoro’s “Pittsburgh” is a loving portrait of his Swissvale family, a rich evocation of Pittsburgh’s recent past and a complex exploration of how memory informs the present. After years in California and New York, Santoro now lives in his late grandparents’ home in Swissvale. Internationally revered by his peers, he is one of the …

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Restaurant Reviews

Dish Osteria

by Pittsburgh Quarterly Restaurant Review Board

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Events

Gentlemen’s Night Out: Cigars, Steelers and Birds

by PQ Staff

The 2020 Gentlemen’s Night Out on the North Shore benefitting the National Aviary was held on Friday, February 7 in the PNC Champions Club at Heinz Field. The event was hosted by Michael Mascaro, Executive Vice President of Mascaro Construction and member of the National Aviary Board of Trustees. National Aviary ambassador birds, including a …

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Events

Lights! Glamour! Action! Celebrates Pittsburgh Film Office’s 30th Anniversary

by PQ Staff

The 20th annual Lights! Glamour! Action! drew 750 attendees, dressed to the nines, to The Pennsylvanian on February 8, 2020. The Academy Awards-themed gala benefited the Pittsburgh Film Office and its mission to promote the southwestern Pennsylvania region as the place to produce television, featured films, commercials, documentaries and digital content. Since 1990, the PFO …

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