Articles Archive - Page 70 of 154 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

Damon Young recently bought a rather nice house a block away from me. Yet I don’t expect to be invited over, although I am about to lavish praise on his brave, incisive and witty memoir about growing up and living while black in Pittsburgh. Even a blurb-ready assessment—Damon Young is not only the city’s most …

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This Week’s Astrology: Mar. 7–13, 2019

by Judi Vitale

Mercury retrograde usually brings its fair share of frustration, and that will be a given this week. In case you missed it, the planet of communication commenced its vacation on March 5th, and will stay in a state that produces difficulties with travel, language, mechanical devices and electronics from now to the end of the …

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American Spirit

The 96th Birthday

by Kate Benz

Grandma is being really nice about the birthday cake you insisted on baking from scratch for her 96th birthday. Because it’s a little … dense for something that was supposed to very light and airy and angel food cakey. “This is why normal people just buy the Betty Crocker and be done with it,” howls …

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Events

The Pittsburgh Heart Ball Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary

by PQ Staff

The Pittsburgh Heart Ball celebrated its 30th Anniversary and its commitment to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives, on Saturday, March 2nd at the Wyndham Grand. The event highlighted and celebrated the work of the American Heart Association, its donors and volunteers, and most importantly, its survivors. Two honorees were …

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Events

ACMSF Awards Gala Salutes Physician Heroism

by PQ Staff

More than 300 guests gathered for the Allegheny County Medical Society Foundation (ACMSF) Celebration of Excellence Awards Gala at the Westin Convention Center Hotel, downtown Pittsburgh, on March 2. An intimate champagne VIP reception kicked off the evening which recognized top gala sponsors and honored 2019 ACMS president, Adele L. Towers, MD, MPH, FACP, and …

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Profiles

Chin Music

by Evan Pattak

In late August 2018, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill peduto looked at his calendar and was pleased to notice a rarity—a nine-day break without a scheduled public appearance. He celebrated his unusually long vacation in an unusual way. “I didn’t shave during those nine days,” he recalls.“ I made a conscious decision that I wouldn’t go anywhere …

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Creative Capital

The Trouble with China

by Greg Curtis

Virtually every American policymaker believed that the collapse of the USSR marked “the end of history.” Ever since the dawn of human civilization, hostile societies had vied for supremacy, resulting in war after war. But, it was thought, the break-up of the main sponsor of Communism demonstrated that there were simply no political ideas that …

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Contest Ideas

2019 Pittsburgh Tomorrow Contest: Have an Idea to Improve Pittsburgh?

by PQ Staff

The submission period for the Pittsburgh Tomorrow contest is now closed. We will notify the finalists once chosen. Thank you to all who participated! How would you like to have a private audience with the Mayor, County Executive and a group of potential funders to explain your idea to make Pittsburgh a better place? That’s …

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Regional Annual Report

What’s the Big Idea?

by PQ Staff

As the kickoff to a region-wide competition, we asked a group of regional leaders to submit an idea, in 50 words or less, that, if enacted, would make Pittsburgh a better place to live. It could be something that wouldn’t cost a dime or it could be a multimillion-dollar public works campaign. Below are their …

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This Week’s Astrology: Feb. 28–Mar. 6, 2019

by Judi Vitale

This week begins in relative quiet, but the horizon will be filled with changes and challenges that will make life much more boisterous. Although the most powerful influence will come from planet Uranus as it moves into Taurus for keeps, we also will have to confront the difficulties in communications, travel, and technology that comes …

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Creative Capital

Outlasting the Russians

by Greg Curtis

Within a period of four months in 1945, both Germany (in May) and Japan (in September) surrendered. At that time the Allies controlled most of the world, including Western Europe, while the Soviets controlled Eastern Europe. The USSR had been our “ally” during the war only in the narrowest sense of the word. Stalin had …

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Spotlight

Finding the Green for Green Spaces

by Julia Fraser

Gathering Place in Tulsa, Okla. was named the best new attraction in America last year by USA Today. It’s a sprawling $465 million park with lakes, gardens, wetlands and an extravagant playground. Essentially, it’s a public park, built and maintained with private dollars, and in that regard, it’s an exception as urban public parks go. …

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Events

Pittsburghers Walk the Red Carpet at “Lights! Glamour! Action!”

by PQ Staff

Party goers dressed to the nines walked the red carpet under The Pennsylvanian’s iconic rotunda on Saturday, February 23 for “Lights! Glamour! Action!” benefitting the Pittsburgh Film Office. Inside, 750 guests enjoyed a fabulous night of dinner, drinks and dancing. While the 2019 Oscars went without a host, Pittsburgh’s biggest night in film was hosted …

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Opinion

Fairy Tale or Future: The Choice Is Ours

by Douglas Heuck

The Amazon HQ2 spectacle was a grand 21st Century fairy tale. It had everything: the world’s richest company promising happily-ever-after status to the city that would win its second headquarters, $5 billion in investment and 50,000 jobs. For 17 months, people murmured throughout the land. Some whispered that Amazon’s move was a brilliant marketing stratagem; …

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Regional News

The Pittsburgh Flip

by Julia Fraser

Tom Maiden has been renting in the city of Pittsburgh for decades. He has a well-paid job as manager of user services at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, and while he’s never shut the door on the idea of buying a home, the ease and convenience of renting is too compelling. “While renting might be slightly …

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Arrivals

Holland, Beltran, Lee, Hayes, Kiser, Welsch, Griffith

by PQ Staff

Michael Holland is vice chancellor for science policy and research strategies at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the first to hold the new appointment. His duties include developing and implementing university research policies and strategies to support collaborations across a range of disciplines. He also oversees the creation of major research initiatives. Holland, a …

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Regional News

Never-Ending Gap

by Julia Fraser

The wide gap between incomes earned by white and black workers is a national phenomenon that won’t go away. And it’s particularly severe in southwestern Pennsylvania. African Americans living in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area earn 48 percent less than white residents on average, 2017 U.S. Census Bureau median income data suggest. Income influences …

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Regional News

More People Are Leaving the Region. Does It matter?

by Jeffery Fraser

Sometime in 2008, more people began moving into the cities and suburbs of southwestern Pennsylvania from other parts of the country than were leaving for places and opportunities elsewhere. It was a watershed moment, the long-awaited reversal of a decades-long trend of being on the losing end of U.S. migration patterns. It proved to be …

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Special Reports

Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2019

by Pittsburgh Today Staff

To view a PDF version of Pittsburgh Today and Tomorrow 2019, click here.

History

Strolling the Streets of Classic Pittsburgh

by David Aschkenas

Take a walk around the Pittsburgh of yesteryear in this photo collection by David Aschkenas. Although the photographs were taken between 1978 and 1982, some look like they could fit into the 1940s with old neighborhood storefronts and hints of the city’s ethic roots. View more of David Aschkenas’s work at www.daschkenasphoto.com.

Spotlight

The Parks Puzzle

by Julia Fraser

While the origin of the expression, “a walk in the park,” is unclear, it’s a safe bet the author wasn’t a planner trying to stitch urban parks and trails together to create flowing greenways throughout a city like Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh’s bountiful and diverse parks range from popular destinations, such as Schenley Park in the heart …

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Birds

Be Alert for a Fast and Active Winter Visitor

by David Liebmann

I was walking where the paved road turns to dirt at Hartwood Acres one winter day. The trees were creaking with cold. Dry leaves were tinged with a dusting of snow. The sky, all gray. Suddenly, there was a bird, small, moving fast. It landed on a sapling no more than 10 feet away and …

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