By the end of WWII Pittsburgh was an exhausted city. A 1944 Wall Street Journal survey gave Pittsburgh a “class D rating, having a bleak future with little promise for growth”. But not only did we survive, we thrived. Witness: Gateway Center, Point State Park, Mellon Square, the Civic Arena, Heinz Hall, and the US Steel Building. Then in the late 70’s/early 80’s, Renaissance I summarily collapsed with 18% unemployment and the loss of 158,000 local manufacturing jobs. But wait, Renaissance II, seemingly out of the blue, provided renewed vitality through six new downtown skyscrapers, five massive infrastructure projects, the development of the North Shore, and the creation of the Cultural District. Through apt photos and lucid text we will describe each element of these two phenomenal city rebirths.
((Howard Voigt - In Person: CMU Campus - Wednesday))
