Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the confluence of the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...

and the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...

whose joining forms the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

. The triangle is bounded by the two rivers. The area features offices for major corporations such as PNC Bank, U.S. Steel, PPG,

Bank of New York Mellon The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, commonly known as BNY, is an American international financial services company headquartered in New York City. It was established in its current form in July 2007 by the merger of the Bank of New York an ...

Heinz The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. ...

, Federated Investors, and

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

. It is where the fortunes of such industrial barons as

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

Henry Clay Frick Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company and played a major ...

, Henry J. Heinz,

Andrew Mellon Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), known also as A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. The son of Mellon family patriarch Thomas Mellon ...

and

George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was a prolific American inventor, engineer, and entrepreneurial industrialist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his creation of the railway air brake and for bei ...

were made. It contains the site where the French fort,

Fort Duquesne Fort Duquesne ( , ; originally called ''Fort Du Quesne'') was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. It was later taken over by the British, and later the Americans, and developed ...

, once stood.

Location

The Central Business District is bounded by the

to the south, the

to the north, and I-579 (Crosstown Boulevard) to the east. An expanded definition of Downtown may include the adjacent neighborhoods of Uptown/The Bluff, the Strip District, the North Shore, and the South Shore.

Transportation

Public transportation

Downtown is served by the

Port Authority A port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other transportation infrastructure. ...

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

subway system (known locally as the "T"), an extensive bus network, and two inclines ( Duquesne Incline and Monongahela Incline). The Downtown portion of the subway has the following stations: ''T Stations'' * Station Square on the South Shore in the Station Square development (street-level station) * First Avenue near First Avenue & Ross Street, Downtown (elevated station) * Steel Plaza at Sixth Avenue & Grant Street, Downtown (underground station) * Penn Plaza near Liberty Avenue & Grant Street, Downtown (underground, limited service) * Wood Street at the triangular intersection of Wood Street, Sixth Avenue, and Liberty Avenue, Downtown (underground station) * Gateway Center at Liberty Avenue & Stanwix Street, Downtown (underground station) * North Side near General Robinson Street & Tony Dorsett Drive on the North Shore (underground station) * Allegheny near Allegheny Avenue & Reedsdale Street on the North Shore (elevated station) Downtown is also home to the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

train station connecting Pittsburgh with New York City,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and Washington, D.C. to the east and

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

and Chicago to the west.

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

's Pittsburgh bus terminal is located across Liberty Avenue from the Amtrak Station, in the Grant Street Transportation Center building.

Highways

Major roadways serving Downtown from the suburbs include the "Parkway East" ( I-376) from Monroeville, the "Parkway West" ( I-376) from the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

area, and the "Parkway North" ( I-279) from the North Hills, and ( I-579) in Downtown Pittsburgh. Other important roadways are

Pennsylvania Route 28 Pennsylvania Route 28 (PA 28) is a major state highway, which runs for from Anderson Street in Pittsburgh to U.S. Route 219 (US 219) in Brockway in Pennsylvania in the United States. From Pittsburgh to Kittanning, it is a limited acc ...

, Pennsylvania Route 51, Pennsylvania Route 65, and U.S. Route 19. Three major entrances to the city are via tunnels: the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Squirrel Hill Tunnel on I-376 and the Liberty Tunnels. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' once called Pittsburgh "the only city with an entrance," specifically referring to the view of Downtown that explodes upon drivers immediately upon exiting the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Also traveling I-279 south and I-376, the city "explodes into view" when coming around a turn in the highway.

Local streets

Downtown surface streets are based on two distinct grid systems that parallel the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. These two grids intersect along Liberty Avenue, creating many unusual street intersections. Furthermore, the Allegheny grid contains numbered streets, while the Monongahela grid contains numbered avenues. And, in fact, there are cases where these numbered roadways intersect, creating some confusion (i.e. the intersection of Liberty Avenue and 7th Street/6th Avenue). This unusual grid pattern leads to Pittsburghers giving directions in the terms of landmarks, rather than turn-by-turn directions.

Bridges

Pittsburgh is nicknamed "The City of Bridges". In Downtown, there are 10 bridges (listed below) connecting to points north and south. The expanded definition of Downtown (including the aforementioned surrounding neighborhoods) includes 18 bridges. Citywide there are 446 bridges. In Allegheny County the number exceeds 2,200. ''Downtown Bridges'' Dwntwnpgh27

* Fort Pitt Bridge carries I-376 (Previously I-279) between Downtown and the Fort Pitt Tunnel *

Fort Duquesne Bridge The Fort Duquesne Bridge is a steel bowstring arch bridge that spans the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was colloquially referred to as " The Bridge to Nowhere" prior to its completion. History The bridge was constructed from ...

carries I-279 between Downtown and the North Shore * Smithfield Street Bridge carries Smithfield Street between Downtown and the South Shore * Panhandle Bridge carries the city's

transit system between Downtown and the South Shore * Liberty Bridge connects the Liberty Tunnel to I-579 Downtown *

Roberto Clemente Bridge The Roberto Clemente Bridge, also known as the Sixth Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. History First bridge The original bridge at the site was a wooden covered bridge with six spans ...

(formerly 6th St Bridge) connects 6th Street Downtown to Federal Street on the North Shore at

PNC Park PNC Park is a baseball stadium on the North Shore (Pittsburgh), North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the fifth location to serve as the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates. Opened during the 2001 Major League Baseb ...

Andy Warhol Bridge Andy Warhol Bridge, also known as the Seventh Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh. It is the only bridge in the United States named for a visual artist. It was opened at a cost of $1.5 million on June 17, 1926, in a ...

(formerly 7th St Bridge) connects 7th Street Downtown to Sandusky Street on the North Shore at the Andy Warhol Museum *

Rachel Carson Bridge __NOTOC__ The Rachel Carson Bridge, also known as the Ninth Street Bridge, spans the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the naturalist and author Rachel Carson, a Pittsburgh native, it is one of ...

(formerly 9th St Bridge) connects 9th Street Downtown to Anderson Street on the North Shore *

Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge The Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge, listed as the Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge on the National Register of Historic Places, is a double-deck bridge, double-deck truss bridge, steel truss railroad bridge spanning the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Pen ...

carries freight and

trains from Downtown to the North Shore * Veterans Bridge carries I-579 from Downtown to the North Side ''Bridges of Expanded Downtown'' * West End Bridge carries US Route 19 from the West End/South Shore to the North Shore/North Side just west of Downtown * 16th Street Bridge carries 16th Street from the Strip District to Chestnut Street on the North Side * West Penn Bridge (pedestrian/bike-only) is part of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail connecting the North Side to Washington's Landing on Herr's Island * 30th Street Bridge connects River Avenue on the North Side with Waterfront Drive on Washington's Landing at Herr's Island * 31st Street Bridge connects PA Route 28 on the North Side with 31st Street in the Strip District * 33rd Street Railroad Bridge connects the North Side to the Strip District and crosses Herr's Island * South 10th Street Bridge connects the Armstrong Tunnel at Second Avenue just east of Downtown with the South Side at South 10th Street * Birmingham Bridge connects East Carson Street on the South Side with Fifth and Forbes avenues in Uptown

Downtown districts

Downtown contains a wealth of historic, cultural, and entertainment sites. While most people still consider the entire Downtown as one neighborhood, there are several significant subdistricts within the Golden Triangle. * The Pittsburgh Central Downtown Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

in the central business district. It is bounded by Wood Street, Forbes Avenue, Grant Street, and Liberty Avenue. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

(NRHP) on December 17, 1985. * Point State Park area: At the triangle's tip is Point State Park with its giant fountain and the Fort Pitt Museum. This park was the original site of both

by the French and the subsequent Fort Pitt by the British. * The Cultural District along Penn and Liberty avenues on the Allegheny River includes numerous theaters, galleries, and concert halls including Heinz Hall, Byham Theater, O'Reilly Theater, Benedum Center, and Wood Street Galleries as well as restaurants and housing. The Penn-Liberty Historic District encompasses the Penn & Liberty avenue corridor in the Cultural District. * The Fifth & Forbes Corridor is Downtown's shopping district along Fifth and Forbes avenues and includes historic

Market Square A market square (also known as a market place) is an urban square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world. A market square is an open area where market stalls are tradit ...

. Downtown is home to numerous independent retailers plus large retailers such as Burlington Coat Factory and Brooks Brothers. * The Grant Street area is the seat of Pittsburgh's and Allegheny County's government and is also a prestigious corporate address with many of the city's tallest skyscrapers. * The Firstside neighborhood along the Boulevard of the Allies and Fort Pitt Boulevard adjacent to the Monongahela River is an educational and residential district. It is home to

Point Park University Point Park University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Formerly known as Point Park College, the school name was revised in 2004 to reflect the number of graduate programs being offered. In 2021, it had a total undergraduate ...

and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh both of which have high-rise student housing in the neighborhood. Numerous other residential projects are also under construction in this neighborhood.

Economy

Downtown Pittsburgh retains substantial economic influence, ranking at 25th in the nation for jobs within the urban core and 6th in job density.

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

economist Christopher Briem notes that the level of employment in the city has remained largely constant for the past 50 years: " hetime series of jobs located in the City proper are about as stable as any economic metric in the region, or in any other Northeastern US urban core, over many decades. In 1958, here were294,000 jobs located in the city proper...Those numbers are virtually identical today which tells me there is a certain limit to how many jobs can efficiently be located in what are some relatively (very) constrained areas." These numbers reflect employment in the city as a whole, not just the central business district; but the central business district has the highest density of employment of any Pittsburgh neighborhood. Pittsburgh has long been a headquarters city, with numerous national and global corporations calling the Golden Triangle home. Currently, Downtown is still home to a large number of

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

companies (7 in the metro area, 5 of which are in the city in 2022, which ranks Pittsburgh high nationally in Fortune 500 headquarters): *

Kraft Heinz The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC), commonly known as Kraft Heinz (), is an American multinational food company formed by the merger of Kraft Foods Group, Inc. and the H.J. Heinz Company co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Kraft Heinz is t ...

– co-headquartered in PPG Place *

PNC Financial Services The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American bank holding company and financial services corporation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its banking subsidiary, PNC Bank, operates in 27 states and the District of Columbia, with 2,629 ...

– headquartered in the Tower at PNC Plaza *

PPG Industries PPG Industries, Inc. is an American Fortune 500, ''Fortune'' 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By ...

– headquartered in PPG Place * WESCO International – headquartered at Station Square * U.S. Steel – headquartered at the US Steel Tower Downtown is also home to General Nutrition Centers, GNC, Dollar Bank, Equitable Resources, Duquesne Light, Federated Investors and Highmark as well as the regional headquarters for Citizens Financial Group, Citizens Bank, Ariba, and Dominion Resources. Regional healthcare giant University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, UPMC has its corporate headquarters in the US Steel Tower.

Major buildings

* 11 Stanwix Street * 525 William Penn Place * Allegheny County Courthouse * Benedum Center * BNY Mellon Center (Pittsburgh), BNY Mellon Center * Byham Theater * Pittsburgh City-County Building, City-County Building * David L. Lawrence Convention Center * EQT Plaza * Heinz Hall * Fifth Avenue Place (Pittsburgh), Fifth Avenue Place * Federated Tower * First Presbyterian Church (Pittsburgh), First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh * Frick Building * Gateway Center (Pittsburgh), Gateway Center * Grant Building (Pittsburgh), Grant Building * Gulf Tower * K&L Gates Center * Koppers Tower * O'Reilly Theater * Oxford Centre * Union Station (Pittsburgh), Penn Station * One PNC Plaza * Two PNC Plaza * Three PNC Plaza * Trinity Cathedral (Pittsburgh), Trinity Cathedral, downtown * PPG Place * Regional Enterprise Tower * Union Trust Building (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), Union Trust Building * US Steel Tower * William S. Moorhead Federal Building

Parks and plazas

Downtown is home to numerous parks, large and small: * Point State Park at the tip of the Golden Triangle * Mellon Square located in the square between Oliver & Sixth avenues and Smithfield Street and William Penn Place *

at Forbes Avenue & Market Street * Mellon Green located at Grant Street & Sixth Avenue * FirstSide Park located between Grant & Ross streets and First & Second avenues. * Gateway Center plazas located around the Gateway Center (Pittsburgh), Gateway Center skyscrapers near Liberty Avenue & Stanwix Street * Plaza at PPG Place near Third Avenue & Market Street * US Steel Tower Plaza at Grant Street & Sixth Avenue * Katz Plaza at Penn Avenue & Seventh Street * Triangle Park bounded by Liberty Avenue, Fifth Avenue & Market Street * Allegheny Riverfront Park along the

below Fort Duquesne Boulevard * Mon Wharf Landing along the

below Fort Pitt Boulevard (under construction) * North Shore Riverfront Park opposite Downtown along the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, part of the larger Three Rivers Park

Educational facilities

While Pittsburgh's Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood is known as the educational center of the city, Downtown is home to several higher education institutions as well as a branch of the city's Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Library system and a Pittsburgh Public Schools 6–12 school: *

* Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts in Pittsburgh, Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts (also known as Pennsylvania Culinary Institute) * Robert Morris University's Downtown branch * Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School, Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts 6–12 * City Charter High School

Residential areas

Downtown has several condos, including Gateway Towers and Chatham Place dating to the 1960s and more modern structures as well. There are over 5,000 apartment and condo units in Greater Downtown Pittsburgh.

Surrounding neighborhoods

* Bluff (Pittsburgh), The Bluff/Uptown * Crawford-Roberts (Pittsburgh), Crawford-Roberts neighborhood in the Hill District * North Shore (across the Allegheny River) * South Shore (across the Monongahela River) * South Side Flats (across the Monongahela River) * Strip District

References

External links

Downtown Pittsburgh
*

{{Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Downtown Pittsburgh, Neighborhoods in Pittsburgh Economy of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks Central business districts in the United States, Pittsburgh Academic enclaves Shopping districts and streets in the United States