Pittsburgh Metro Area
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Greater Pittsburgh is a populous region centered around its largest city and economic hub,
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The region encompasses Pittsburgh's urban core county, Allegheny, and six adjacent
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
counties:
Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong, ...
,
Beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...
,
Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...
, Fayette,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, and Westmoreland in
Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
, which constitutes the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area MSA as defined by the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
. As of the 2020 census, the Greater Pittsburgh region had a population of over 2.37 million people. Roughly one-fifth of the entire population of Pennsylvania resides within the region. The core city, Pittsburgh, has a population of 302,971, making it the second-largest city in the state. Over half of the region's population resides within Allegheny County, which has a population of 1.24 million and is the second-largest county by population in the state.


Definitions

Garrett Nelson and Alasdair Rae's 2016 analysis of American commuter flows, "An Economic Geography of the United States: From Commutes to Megaregions", identified the Pittsburgh megaregion as a region encompassing the entirety or significant portions of 54 counties in
Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
, Eastern
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
, Northern
West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...
, and Western
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
. By this definition, the informal regional boundaries are similar to historical interpretations where the region is defined as the central portion of the
Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York (state), New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Oh ...
to the west and north of the
Allegheny Front The Allegheny Front is the major southeast- or east-facing escarpment in the Allegheny Mountains in southern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, eastern West Virginia, and western Virginia, USA. The Allegheny Front forms the boundary between the ...
and south of
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also ha ...
and Pennsylvania's Northern Tier. The hills and river valleys along the Upper
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...
and its many eastern tributaries, including the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers have historically been the major centers of population of the region. According to this research the US can be divided into 'mega regions' based on the most extreme commuting patterns within a geographical area (commutes within 100 miles from the core city). By this liberal definition, the Pittsburgh mega region consists of twenty-eight
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
counties ( Allegheny,
Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong, ...
,
Beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...
,
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst t ...
,
Blair Blair is an English-language name of Scottish Gaelic origin. The surname is derived from any of the numerous places in Scotland called ''Blair'', derived from the Scottish Gaelic ''blàr'', meaning "plain", "meadow" or "field", frequently a “ba ...
,
Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...
,
Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity). It emerged later, in the medieval period ...
,
Cameron Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 1 ...
,
Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk,
Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
, Fayette,
Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
,
Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community *Greene, Iowa, a city *Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene *Greene (town), New York ** Greene (village), New York, in the town ...
,
Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cr ...
,
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, Mifflin,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...
, Venango, Warren,
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, and Westmoreland), nineteen
West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...
counties ( Barbour,
Brooke Brooke may refer to: People * Brooke (given name) * Brooke (surname) * Brooke baronets, families of baronets with the surname Brooke Places * Brooke, Norfolk, England * Brooke, Rutland, England * Brooke, Virginia, US * Brooke's Point, Palawan ...
, Doddridge,
Grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...
,
Hancock Hancock may refer to: Places in the United States * Hancock, Iowa * Hancock, Maine * Hancock, Maryland * Hancock, Massachusetts * Hancock, Michigan * Hancock, Minnesota * Hancock, Missouri * Hancock, New Hampshire ** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshir ...
,
Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
,
Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
, Marion,
Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...
,
Mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2 ...
, Monongalia,
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
,
Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...
, Randolph, Taylor, Tucker,
Tyler Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...
, Upshur, and Wetzel), five
Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
counties ( Belmont, Columbiana,
Harrison Harrison may refer to: People * Harrison (name) * Harrison family of Virginia, United States Places In Australia: * Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin In Canada: * Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
, Jefferson, and Monroe), and two
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
counties ( Allegany and Garrett), and portions of
Chautauqua, New York Chautauqua ( ) is a town and lake resort community in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 4,017 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Chautauqua Lake. It is the home of the Chautauqua Institution and the birthplace ...
in and around Ripley. . The combined population of the megaregion was over 4.9 million in 2016. There are also several formal definitions of Greater Pittsburgh which are often used in media mentions of the region. These include the
Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...
's Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and Pittsburgh-New Castle-Weirton, PA-OH-WV Combined Statistical Area (CSA). The
Nielsen Corporation The Nielsen Corporation, self-referentially known as The Nielsen Company, and formerly known as ACNielsen or AC Nielsen, is a global marketing research firm, with worldwide headquarters in New York City, United States. Regional headquarters for ...
's Pittsburgh Designated Market Area (DMA) is another commonly used formal definition of the region. There are nineteen counties included in at least one of these definitions and their combined population was over 2.9 million in 2016.


Economy

Historically, Pittsburgh has been grouped in the "
rust belt The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions an ...
"; however, reflective of the rebound of the region within the last generation, the metro area has been included as a part of the "
Great Lakes Basin The Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada, whose dir ...
" gaining representation in the Great Lakes Metro Chamber Coalition. Pittsburgh's association with the
Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of the eight U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with the Canadian p ...
is due in part to its economic, demographic and commuter connections to Great Lakes cities like
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
,
Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
, Toledo and even
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
. Christopher Briem, an economist at the
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
's University Center for Social and Urban Research, has argued that southwestern Pennsylvania is "far more interconnected" with northeastern Ohio than it is with the eastern half of Pennsylvania, and that the industries of Pittsburgh are primarily linked to Ohioan cities such as Youngstown,
Akron Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...
, and
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...
, not to Pennsylvanian cities such as
Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: *Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California *Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County *Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...
,
Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...
, or
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
. He notes that, conversely, the population centers of northeastern Ohio are primarily connected with Pittsburgh and only secondarily connected to the state capital of
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
. Briem argues that "In so many ways the state boundaries we think of as important are no more than lines on a map." In recognizing their economic interdependence, Briem coined the term "Cleveburgh" to refer collectively to the cities of Cleveland and Pittsburgh, along with the smaller towns dotting the corridor of
I-76 Interstate 76 may refer to: Interstate Highways in the United States * Interstate 76 (Colorado–Nebraska) * Interstate 76 (Ohio–New Jersey), running through Pennsylvania Video gaming * ''Interstate '76 ''Interstate '76'' is a vehicular c ...
between the cities. Robert Lang and Arthur Nelson of the Metropolitan Institute at
Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...
also identify the region between Cleveland and Pittsburgh as being an interconnected "megapolitan area" and refer to it as the "Steel Corridor".


Education

The largest school district in the area is the
Pittsburgh Public Schools Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district serving the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (except for two small parts served by the Baldwin-Whitehall School District) and adjacent Mount Oliver. As of the 2021–2022 school year, the ...
, with the school districts of
Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia C ...
also boasting large student bodies. Many
private schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...
also serve the core county of Allegheny. More public districts are found throughout
Beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...
, Westmoreland, and
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
counties, as well as private schools in each county. Several area colleges and universities serve the region. Pittsburgh itself is home to many colleges, universities and research facilities, the most well-known of which are
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
, the
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
, and
Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...
. Also in the city are
Carlow University Carlow University is a private Catholic university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1929 by the Sisters of Mercy. Carlow's thirteen athletic teams are the Celtics, a reflection of the university's Irish heritage and roots. In 201 ...
,
Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students ...
,
Point Park University Point Park University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Grea ...
, the
Community College of Allegheny County Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) is a public community college in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. With four campuses and four centers, the college offers associate degrees, certificates, and diplomas. History The Pennsylvania legis ...
,
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (PTS) is a Presbyterian graduate seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1794, it houses one of the largest theological libraries in the tri-state area. History Pittsburgh Theological Seminary was formed ...
,
Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary The Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) is a Reformed Presbyterian seminary in Point Breeze, Pennsylvania. RPTS is a ministry of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America and was founded in 1810, making it the fifth old ...
, and the
Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science is a funeral service program based in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Notable alumni * James Huberty – Perpetrator of the San Ysidro McDonald's massacre The S ...
. Within the greater metropolitan area, universities include
Clarion University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion, also known as PennWest Clarion, is a public university campus in Clarion, Pennsylvania. Part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), the institution was founded in 1867 and offers ...
,
La Roche University La Roche University is a private university in McCandless, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1963 by the Sisters of Divine Providence as a Roman Catholic college and now sits on an campus in McCandless within the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Histo ...
,
Slippery Rock University Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university ...
, Westminster College and
Grove City College Grove City College (GCC) is a private, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a normal school, the college emphasizes a humanities core curriculum and offers 60 majors and 6 pre-profession ...
north of the city,
Robert Morris University Robert Morris University (RMU) is a private university in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1921 and is named after Robert Morris, known as the "financier of the mericanrevolution." It enrolls nearly 5,000 students and offers 60 ...
and
Geneva College Geneva College is a private Christian college in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1848, in Northwood, Ohio, the college moved to its present location in 1880, where it continues to educate a student body of about 1400 traditional underg ...
west of the city,
Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries t ...
,
Pennsylvania Western University Pennsylvania Western University, or PennWest is a public university with campuses in California, Pennsylvania; Clarion, Pennsylvania; and Edinboro, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and accredited b ...
and
Waynesburg University Waynesburg University is a private university in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1850 and offers undergraduate and graduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. The university enrolls over 2,500 students, including ...
to the south, and Seton Hill University,
Saint Vincent College Saint Vincent College is a private Benedictine college in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 by Boniface Wimmer, a monk from Bavaria, it is operated by the Benedictine monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey, the first Benedictine monastery in the ...
and
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The uni ...
to the east.


Transportation


Airports

Pittsburgh International Airport Pittsburgh International Airport , formerly Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, is a civil–military international airport in Findlay Township and Moon Township, Pennsylvania. Located about 10 miles (15 km) west of downtown Pitts ...
is located to the west of
downtown Pittsburgh Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River who ...
in Findlay. The smaller but less crowded Arnold Palmer Regional Airport to the east of downtown in Latrobe provide commercial service to the metro area. Pittsburgh International was the
fortress hub An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer (or stop-over) points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the ...
of
US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon ...
from 1952 to 2005 with over 500 daily departures to more than 110 destinations in 2000. By 2007, fewer than 70 departures to 21 destinations remained. In 2007, US Airways did select the airport for its new $25 million, 27,000 sq ft (2,500 m2), 600-employees-strong Global Flight Operations Center. Since being de-hubbed the airport has seen expanded service from
JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...
,
Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...
and
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along ...
' direct trans-Atlantic service to Paris. Arnold Palmer Regional Airport offers commercial service via
Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines Inc. (stylized as spirit) is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. carrier headquartered in Miramar, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Latin Americ ...
to the Carolinas, Florida and Texas. Palmer has had commercially scheduled air service since the 1980s.
Allegheny County Airport Allegheny County Airport is in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. It is the fifth-busiest airport in Pennsylvania following Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, and Harrisburg. The airport is owned by t ...
in suburban
West Mifflin, Pennsylvania West Mifflin is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, located southeast of downtown Pittsburgh. The population was 20,313 at the 2010 census. It is named after Thomas Mifflin, 1st Governor of Pennsylvania, signer of the Un ...
, is the area's largest general aviation airport. The historic landmark, art deco terminal was the main passenger airport for the area until 1952. Allegheny opened in 1931 as the nation's third-largest and first with "hard surface" runways. Smaller suburban airports serve as private plane and corporate jet bases include: *North Metro: **
Butler County Airport Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport , also known as the Butler County Airport or K. W. Scholter Field, is a public airport southwest of the central business district of Butler, the county seat of Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The ...
**
Zelienople Municipal Airport Zelienople Municipal Airport is a public airport in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, a mile west of Zelienople, a borough in Butler County, Pennsylvania, in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The airport is owned by the Borough of Zelienople and o ...
**
Rock Airport Pittsburgh Northeast Airport is a privately owned, public use airport in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The airport is located 12 nautical miles (14  mi, 22  km) north-northeast of the central business district of ...
**
New Castle Municipal Airport New Castle Municipal Airport is a small municipal airport located in Union Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania serving Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Union Township is an outskirt of New Castle, Pe ...
**
Lakehill Airport Lakehill Airport , is a privately owned airport near Mars, Pennsylvania, U.S., part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area Greater Pittsburgh is a populous region centered around its largest city and economic hub, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The r ...
*South Metro: **
Allegheny County Airport Allegheny County Airport is in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Pittsburgh. It is the fifth-busiest airport in Pennsylvania following Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, and Harrisburg. The airport is owned by t ...
**
Rostraver Airport Rostraver Airport is a public use airport in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Geography It is located five nautical miles (9 km) east of the central business district of Monongahela, Pennsylvania in Rostraver Township. It ...
**
Joseph A. Hardy Connellsville Airport Joseph A. Hardy Connellsville Airport is a public-use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) southwest of Connellsville in Dunbar Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned by the Fayette County Airport Authority a ...
** Washington County Airport *East Metro: ** Pittsburgh-Monroeville Airport **
Greensburg Jeannette Regional Airport The Greensburg Jeannette Regional Airport is a privately owned, public use airport which is located three  nautical miles (6  km) north of the central business district of Jeannette, a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Unite ...
**
Indiana County-Jimmy Stewart Airport Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...
** Arnold Palmer Regional Airport *West Metro: **
Beaver County Airport Beaver County Airport or is a county-owned public airport three miles northwest of Beaver Falls, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, but Beaver County Airport ...
**
Eddie Dew Memorial Airpark Eddie Dew Memorial Airpark , is a privately owned airport near Toronto, Ohio, U.S., part of the Pittsburgh Combined Statistical Area. The airport opened in December 1937. Twenty-two aircraft are reported as being based at the airport; approxi ...
(Ohio) **
Jefferson County Airpark Jefferson County Airpark (Steubenville, Ohio) , is a full-service general aviation public airport near Steubenville, Ohio, U.S., part of the Pittsburgh Combined Statistical Area that serves small and mid-sized private, corporate and commercial ...
(Ohio) **
Herron Airport Herron Airport is a privately owned airport in New Cumberland, West Virginia, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in N ...
(West Virginia) ** Wheeling Airport (West Virginia)


Interstates

The Pittsburgh area is served by four main-line Interstates including the
Pennsylvania Turnpike The Pennsylvania Turnpike (Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike) is a toll highway operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A controlled-access highway, it runs for across the state. The turnpike's we ...
(which is co-signed with I-76 and in the extreme eastern part of the region also co-signed with I-70): * * * * It's also served by several Interstate spur routes: * * (future) * *


Other expressways

* serving west area commuters from
Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a ...
, through
West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...
and into the metro area of
Washington County, Pennsylvania Washington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 209,349. Its county seat is Washington. Washington County is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is ...
, and into Allegheny merging into I-376. * in the Greensburg area and co-signed with I-376 through the city and western suburbs. * * * along the Ohio River in Jefferson County, Ohio. * serving the Allegheny Valley commuters in the Northeast and through suburban Armstrong County. * a 70 mile long interstate grade route between the south hills and West Virginia. * serving commuters along the
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...
valley to the northwest of the city. * as a partial east hills beltway for traffic from both Interstate 70 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike/Interstate 76. *Fort Duquesne Boulevard serving as a downtown expressway between I-279 and I-579.


Port

The
Port of Pittsburgh The Port of Pittsburgh is a vast river traffic region in southwestern Pennsylvania. It spans a twelve-county area including Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Blair, Butler, Clarion, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmorelan ...
ranks as the 21st- largest port in the United States with almost 34 million short tons of river cargo for 2011, the port ranked 9th-largest in the U.S. when measured in domestic trade.http://aapa.files.cms-plus.com/PDFs/2011%20U%20S%20%20PORT%20RANKINGS%20BY%20CARGO%20TONNAGE.pdf


Mass transit

The
Pittsburgh Regional Transit Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT, formerly Port Authority of Allegheny County) is the second-largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania and the 20th-largest in the United States. The state-funded agency is based in Pittsburgh and is overseen ...
agency (PRT) is the largest mass transit service in the metro area and includes a 26-mile subway/light rail system, all serving the central core. This system is complemented by the
Butler Transit Authority Butler Transit Authority, also known as theBus or the BTA, is a public transportation service in Butler, Pennsylvania. The service provides local transit in central Butler County and commuter routes from Butler to Pittsburgh. The BTA operates a fle ...
and Town & Country Transit to north destinations,
Beaver County Transit Authority The Beaver County Transportation Authority (BCTA) is the operator of mass transportation in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Seven routes are provided, all of which serve the southern and central portions of the county, which are incorporated into sub ...
and
New Castle Area Transit Authority New Castle Area Transit Authority is a public transportation service located in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. It provides inter-city bus and paratransit service to select communities within the county. Because the region is located within the met ...
to northwest destinations,
Westmoreland County Transit Authority The Westmoreland County Transit Authority (WCTA) is the operator of mass transportation in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Using 35 buses, a total of 18 routes are operated, the majority of which serve the urbanized corridor that makes up the ...
and
IndiGo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', ...
to eastern destinations, and
Washington City Transit ''Freedom Transit (formerly 'Washington City Transit')'' is the designation for the public transit agency that provides bus services in the urbanized portion of central and northern Washington County, Pennsylvania. Description Local bus routes op ...
,
Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority is a public transportation service located in Washington County, Westmoreland County, and a small portion of Fayette County in Pennsylvania. It provides inter-city bus and paratransit service to select communitie ...
and
Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation, known by the moniker of FACT, is a public transportation service located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. It provides inter-city bus and paratransit service to select communities within the county. Because t ...
serving southern destinations. The University of Pittsburgh Transportation System also provides services in the eastern core of the metropolitan area while Mountain Line Transit serves the city, western suburbs and an express route south to
Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The largest city in North-Central West Virginia, Morgantown is best known as the home of West Virginia Universi ...
. A metro map of all fixed route transit routes for Pennsylvania counties can be found here.


Rail

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
serves the region with stops at
Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals. Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to Current train stations * Baltimore Penn Station * Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...
in
Downtown Pittsburgh Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River who ...
,
Connellsville Connellsville is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, southeast of Pittsburgh and away via the Youghiogheny River, a tributary of the Monongahela River. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 7,637 ...
to the southeast and both Greensburg and Latrobe to the east. Freight rail is a major industry for the area with the
Pittsburgh Line The Pittsburgh Line is the Norfolk Southern Railway's primary east–west artery in its Pittsburgh Division and Harrisburg Division across the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is part of the Keystone Corridor, Amtrak-Norfolk Southern's combin ...
and the
Conway Yard Conway Yard (also known as Conway Terminal) is a major rail yard located in the boroughs of Conway and Freedom, Pennsylvania, northwest of Pittsburgh, along the Ohio River. It was the largest freight yard in the world from 1956 until 1980.Edwin K ...
among other infrastructure serving the region.


Interstate bus

Both the
Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and ...
and
Megabus Megabus may refer to: * Megabus (Europe), a low-cost coach service with services in Europe owned by ComfortDelGro. * Megabus (North America), a low-cost bus service in the United States and Canada owned by Variant Equity Advisors. * Megabús, a ...
serve the area.


Recreation & rail trails

*
Deckers Creek Trail The Deckers Creek Trail is a rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with ...
*
Great Allegheny Passage The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) is a rail trail between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cumberland, Maryland. Together with the C&O Canal towpath, the GAP is part of a route between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., that is popular with through ...
*
Mon River Trail The Mon River Trail is a rail trail located in West Virginia, United States. The trail is composed of two separate sections - the north section and the south section, which are connected by the Caperton Trail. It is relatively flat and follows ...
*
Montour Trail The Montour Trail is a multi-use recreational rail trail near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was formerly the Montour Railroad. It has a mostly crushed limestone with partially asphalt surface, appropriate for bicycling, walking, running, and cross ...
*
Ohio River Trail The Ohio River Greenway Trail (ORT) is a proposed route that would interconnect existing trails in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The proposal is spearheaded by the Ohio River Trail Council (ORTC), a volunteer-led, non-profit ...
*
Ohio River Water Trail The Ohio River Water Trail navigates the counties of Allegheny, Beaver, Columbiana, and Hancock in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The trail is under the stewardship of the Ohio River Trail Council. The water trail or blue ...
*
Panhandle Trail The Panhandle Trail is a rail trail in southern Pennsylvania and the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. It occupies an abandoned railroad corridor that had been known as the Panhandle route which has been converted to a bicycle and walking trail ...
* Stavich Bike Trail *
Three Rivers Heritage Trail The Three Rivers Heritage Trail is an urban rail trail paralleling the riverbanks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Allegheny County for about , often on both sides of the rivers, and offering views of the city. The trail is promoted and maintained i ...
*
West Penn Trail The West Penn Trail is a 17-mile long rail trail in western Pennsylvania. It runs on old rail alignments of the Conemaugh Line near the Conemaugh River The Conemaugh River is a long tributary of the Kiskiminetas River in Westmoreland, Indian ...
*
Western Maryland Rail Trail The Western Maryland Rail Trail (WMRT) is a shared-use rail trail in the U.S. state of Maryland that follows the former right-of-way of the Western Maryland Railway (WM) between Fort Frederick State Park and Little Orleans via Hancock, paralle ...
*
Westmoreland Heritage Trail The Westmoreland Heritage Trail is a partially completed rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also ...
*
Wheeling Heritage Trails The Wheeling Heritage Trails are two trails in Wheeling, West Virginia. The Ohio River Trail is a long mixed use rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has ...


Culture

Pittsburgh and its surrounding area has a distinct regional identity and has historically been regarded as a transitional region within the Northeastern United States. The region's counties also fall within the borders of
Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, C ...
as defined by the
Appalachian Regional Commission The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) is a United States federal–state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life. Congress established A ...
. The City of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
has been characterized as the "northern urban industrial anchor of Appalachia": which makes it an anomaly compared to much of Appalachia which has traditionally been characterized as southern, rural, and economically distressed. Joseph Scarpaci,
professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of geography at
Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...
, has described Pittsburgh as having "one foot in the East...and the other in the Midwest".
Barbara Johnstone Barbara Johnstone (born March 24, 1952) is an American professor of rhetoric and linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University. She specializes in discourse structure and function, sociolinguistics, rhetorical theory, and methods of text analysis ...
, professor of rhetoric and linguistics at
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
, ascribes this isolation and idiosyncratic cultural identity of the region to the difficulty of moving through the
Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...
and the
Allegheny Plateau The Allegheny Plateau , in the United States, is a large dissected plateau area of the Appalachian Mountains in western and central New York (state), New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Oh ...
.
The Pittsburgh area was sort of isolated. It was very hard to get back and forth across the mountains. There's always been a sense that Pittsburgh was kind of a place unto itself—not really southern, not really Midwestern, not really part of Pennsylvania. People just didn't move very much.
In his 2009 book, ''The Paris of Appalachia'',
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...
writer Brian O'Neill meditates on this aspect of Pittsburgh's regional and cultural ambiguity. The title of the book is intentionally provocative:
"The Paris of Appalachia" some have called Pittsburgh derisively, because it's still the largest city along this gorgeous mountain chain that needs a better press agent. I've long felt we should embrace that title, though few are with me. Several tried to talk me out of slapping it on the cover, but were we called "The Paris of the Rockies," we wouldn't run from it. Sometimes we're so afraid of what others think, we're afraid to say who we are. This city is not Midwestern. It's not East Coast. It's just Pittsburgh, and there's no place like it. That's both its blessing and its curse.


Arts


Visual arts

Greater Pittsburgh is home to several museums, galleries, and organizations which promote appreciation for the visual arts. The largest art museum in the region is the
Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbu ...
, founded in 1895 by industrialist
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...
and located in Pittsburgh's
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...
neighborhood. It is renowned for its collections of 19th and 20th century decorative art,
Japanese prints Woodblock printing in Japan (, ''mokuhanga'') is a technique best known for its use in the ''ukiyo-e'' artistic genre of single sheets, but it was also used for printing books in the same period. Widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (160 ...
, and
old master print An old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition. The term remains current in the art trade, and there is no easy alternative in English to distinguish the works of "fine art" produced in printmak ...
s.
Contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic ...
museums include the
Mattress Factory The Mattress Factory is a contemporary art museum located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a pioneer of site-specific installation art and features permanent installations by artists Yayoi Kusama, James Turrell, and Greer Lankton. The museum ...
and the
Andy Warhol Museum The Andy Warhol Museum is located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist. The museum holds an extensive permanent collection of art and arc ...
, both located on Pittsburgh's North Side. Other regional visual arts museums include: * Frick Art and Historical Center ( Point Breeze, Pittsburgh) * Contemporary Craft ( Strip District, Pittsburgh) *
ToonSeum ToonSeum: Pittsburgh Museum of Cartoon Art is a museum devoted exclusively to the cartoon arts, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ToonSeum is one of three museums dedicated to cartoon art in the United States. ToonSeum moved to its own gallery ...
(
Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...
, Pittsburgh) *
Westmoreland Museum of American Art The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is an art museum in Greensburg, Pennsylvania devoted to American art, with a particular concentration on the art of southwestern Pennsylvania. Art lover Mary Marchand Woods bequeathed her entire estate to e ...
( Greensburg) *
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art (SAMA) is an art museum with five locations in southwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. It is headquartered at Saint Francis University in Loretto, where it was founded in 1976. Other locations were o ...
(Multiple locations - Loretto, Ligonier Valley, Johnstown, and Altoona) *
The Maridon Museum ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
(
Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...
) *
University Museum at Indiana University of Pennsylvania A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
(
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...
) * Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts ( New Castle) *
Venango Museum of Art, Science, and Industry Venango may refer to: Places in the United States * Venango, Kansas, an unincorporated community * Venango, Nebraska, a village * Venango County, Pennsylvania * Venango, Pennsylvania, a borough * Venango Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania * ...
( Oil City) *
Palmer Museum of Art The Palmer Museum of Art is the art museum of Pennsylvania State University, located on the University Park, Pennsylvania, University Park campus in State College, Pennsylvania. Collections The museum has an increasing permanent collection of mo ...
( University Park) *
Erie Art Museum Erie Art Museum is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The Museum holds a collection of more than 8,000 objects, with strengths in American ceramics, Tibetan paintings, Indian bronzes, photography, and comic book art. Focusing on the museum collection ...
(
Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
) *
Juniata College Museum of Art Juniata may refer to: Places in the United States In Michigan *Juniata Station, Michigan or ''Juniata'', a railway station in Fremont Township, Tuscola County *Juniata Township, Michigan, a civil township of Tuscola County In Nebraska * Juni ...
(
Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cr ...
) *
Art Museum of West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Tech ...
( Morgantown)


Sports and recreation

The Pittsburgh area served as a launchpad for the professionalization of both
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
and
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...
in the 1890s and 1900s. The first professional player ( William Heffelfinger) played for a Pittsburgh football team in 1892, which was followed by the first open professional (
John Brallier John Kinport "Sal" Brallier (December 12, 1876 – September 17, 1960) was one of the first professional American football players. He was nationally acknowledged as the first openly paid professional football player when he was given $10 to play f ...
), the first all-professional team (the
Latrobe Athletic Association The Latrobe Athletic Association was a professional football team located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, from 1895 until 1909. A member of the unofficial Western Pennsylvania Professional Football Circuit, the team is best known for being the first f ...
), and a participant in the first all-professional league (the
Pittsburgh Stars The Pittsburgh Stars or Pittsburg Stars were a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that were only in existence for one season in 1902. The team was a member of what was referred to as the first National Football ...
of the first National Football League). In the case of ice hockey, the
Western Pennsylvania Hockey League The Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL) was an originally amateur and later professional ice hockey league founded in 1896 and existing through 1909. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the league became the pre-eminent ice hockey league in ...
was the first hockey league to pay its players in 1901, eventually merging into the first fully pro league, the
International Professional Hockey League The International Professional Hockey League (IPHL) was the first fully professional ice hockey league, operating from 1904 to 1907. It was formed by Jack "Doc" Gibson, a dentist who played hockey throughout Ontario before settling in Hought ...
, in 1904. Professional hockey in Pennsylvania predated the professionalization of the game in Canada (where it eventually came to dominate in the early 20th century) by four years. Today, the region is home to three major league franchises in baseball, football, and hockey; several minor league teams in soccer, baseball, and hockey; and three major NCAA universities.


Golf

Golf in the metro area boasts such courses as
Oakmont Country Club Oakmont Country Club is a country club in the eastern United States, located mostly in Plum with only a very small portion of the property located in Oakmont, suburbs of Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania. Established in 1903, its golf course ...
, which has hosted the U.S. Open a record nine times, and
Foxburg Country Club Foxburg Country Club, established in 1887, is the oldest golf course in continuous use in the United States. It is located in Foxburg, Clarion County, Pennsylvania, United States of America, approximately north of Pittsburgh on a hill rising abou ...
the oldest continuous club in the U.S. Such tournaments as the
84 Lumber Classic The Pennsylvania Classic was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held from 2000 through 2006 at three different Pennsylvania courses. The event's final title sponsor was lumber company 84 Lumber. The host course from 2003 to 2006 was Mystic Rock n ...
, Pittsburgh Senior Open and the current
Mylan Classic The Mylan Classic was a golf tournament on the Web.com Tour. It was played for the first time in September 2010 at Southpointe Golf Club in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The title sponsor was Mylan, a pharmaceuticals company ba ...
call the region home. Area courses have also hosted multiple PGA Championships,
LPGA Championship The Women's PGA Championship (branded as the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for sponsorship reasons) is a women's professional golf tournament. First held in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by the ...
s, U.S. Women's Opens and
Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
matches.


Annual sports events

Annual sporting events include the Head of the Ohio crew race,
Three Rivers Regatta The Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta, named for the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers at Pittsburgh, is an annual motorboat and river festival held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The festival was first held in ...
, Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, and the
Pittsburgh Marathon The Pittsburgh Marathon (also known as Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual road marathon usually held on the first Sunday in May in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States, first held in 1 ...
. The regions rivers have hosted the
Bassmaster Classic The Bassmaster Classic (known as the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic for sponsorship) is a tournament in the sport of professional bass fishing. It was first held in 1971 on Lake Mead, Nevada. Originally it was a fall event, (1971-1983 ...
and Forrest Wood Cup and the city has enjoyed having one of only two teams to host the
Major League Baseball All Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...
a record eight times. The area has also hosted the NHL All Star Game,
NHL Winter Classic The NHL Winter Classic (french: La Classique hivernale de la LNH) is an annual regular season outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on or around New Year's Day, generally in a football or baseball stadium in an area ...
,
Senior Olympics The National Senior Games (Senior Olympics) are a sports competition for senior citizens in the United States. It is conducted by the National Senior Games Association (NSGA) once every two years. Akin to the Summer Olympics, it is a multi-sp ...
,
NHL Entry Draft The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...
, AHL All Star Game, NCAA Tournament and Frozen Four. Winter in the region sees sport continue at such rinks at PPG Place and North Park as well as area ski resorts like
Boyce Park Boyce Park is a county park lying mostly in the Borough of Plum, in eastern Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a part of the county's network of nine distinct parks. Its southernmost reaches (south of Old Frankstown Road) also e ...
,
Seven Springs Mountain Resort Seven Springs Mountain Resort is an all-season resort located in the borough of Seven Springs, Pennsylvania. It has a relatively high elevation for a Pennsylvania ski area, at above sea level. Activities include biking, canopy touring, ziplining, ...
, Hidden Valley, Laurel Mountain and Wisp.


See also

*
Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
*
Northwest Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
*
Pittsburgh Media Market The Pittsburgh Media Market is part of the Greater Pittsburgh region. It is primarily a definition of the reach of the Pittsburgh television and radio media as defined by Nielsen in a prime sense. The area is actually smaller than the true area o ...
* Pennsylvania census statistical areas * List of Pennsylvania metropolitan areas


References

{{Authority control Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Beaver County, Pennsylvania Butler County, Pennsylvania Fayette County, Pennsylvania Indiana County, Pennsylvania Washington County, Pennsylvania Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania Geography of Pittsburgh