Downtown Central Business District; Golden Triangle | |
|---|---|
 Downtown Pittsburgh as seen fromMount Washington | |
 Location of Downtown Pittsburgh inPittsburgh | |
| Coordinates:40°26′28″N80°00′00″W / 40.44111°N 80.00000°W /40.44111; -80.00000 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Allegheny County |
| City | Pittsburgh |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.64 sq mi (1.7 km2) |
| Population (2020)[2] | |
• Total | 5,477[1] |
| • Density | 8,600/sq mi (3,300/km2) |
Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as theGolden Triangle, and officially theCentral Business District,[2] is the urban downtown center ofPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the confluence of theAllegheny River and theMonongahela River whose joining forms theOhio River. The triangle is bounded by the two rivers.
The area features offices for major corporations such asPNC Bank,U.S. Steel,PPG,Bank of New York Mellon,Heinz,Federated Investors, andAlcoa. It is where the fortunes of such industrial barons asAndrew Carnegie,Henry Clay Frick,Henry J. Heinz,Andrew Mellon andGeorge Westinghouse were made. It contains the site where the French fort,Fort Duquesne, once stood.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | 7,864 | — |
| 1950 | 7,517 | −4.4% |
| 1960 | 2,211 | −70.6% |
| 1970 | 3,679 | +66.4% |
| 1980 | 3,220 | −12.5% |
| 1990 | 3,785 | +17.5% |
| 2000 | 2,721 | −28.1% |
| 2010 | 3,629 | +33.4% |
| 2020 | 5,477 | +50.9% |
| [3][4][better source needed] Source: University of Pittsburgh[5] | ||
The Central Business District is bounded by theMonongahela River to the south, theAllegheny River to the north, andI-579 (Crosstown Boulevard) to the east. An expanded definition of Downtown may include the adjacent neighborhoods ofUptown/The Bluff, theStrip District, theNorth Shore, and theSouth Shore.
Downtown is served by thePort Authority'slight rail subway system (known locally as the "T"), an extensive bus network, and twoinclines (Duquesne Incline andMonongahela Incline). The Downtown portion of the subway has the following stations:
T Stations
Downtown is also home to thePittsburghAmtrak train station connecting Pittsburgh with New York City,Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. to the east andCleveland and Chicago to the west.Greyhound's Pittsburgh bus terminal is located across Liberty Avenue from the Amtrak Station, in the Grant Street Transportation Center building.
Major roadways serving Downtown from the suburbs include the "Parkway East" (I-376) fromMonroeville, the "Parkway West" (I-376) from theairport area, and the "Parkway North" (I-279) from theNorth Hills, and (I-579) in Downtown Pittsburgh. Other important roadways arePennsylvania Route 28,Pennsylvania Route 51,Pennsylvania Route 65, andU.S. Route 19.
Three major entrances to the city are via tunnels: theFort Pitt Tunnel andSquirrel Hill Tunnel onI-376 and theLiberty Tunnels.The New York Times once called Pittsburgh "the only city with an entrance,"[6] specifically referring to the view of Downtown that explodes upon drivers immediately upon exiting the Fort Pitt Tunnel. Also travelingI-279 south andI-376, the city "explodes into view" when coming around a turn in the highway.
Downtown surface streets are based on two distinct grid systems that parallel theAllegheny andMonongahela rivers.[7] 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.[7]
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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 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.
Downtown Pittsburgh retains substantial economic influence, ranking at 25th in the nation for jobs within the urban core and 6th in job density.[9]
University of Pittsburgh economist Christopher Briem notes that the level of employment in the city has remained largely constant for the past 50 years: "[the] time 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, [there were] 294,000 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."[10][better source needed] 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 ofFortune 500 companies (7 in the metro area, 5 of which are in the city in 2022, which ranks Pittsburgh high nationally in Fortune 500 headquarters):
– co-headquartered inPPG Place
– headquartered in theTower at PNC Plaza
– headquartered inPPG Place
– headquartered atStation Square
– headquartered at theUS Steel Tower
Downtown is also home toGNC,Dollar Bank,Equitable Resources,Duquesne Light,Federated Investors andHighmark as well as the regional headquarters forCitizens Bank,Ariba, andDominion Resources. Regional healthcare giantUPMC has its corporate headquarters in theUS Steel Tower.
Downtown is home to numerous parks, large and small:
While Pittsburgh'sOakland 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'sCarnegie Library system and aPittsburgh Public Schools 6–12 school:
Downtown has several condos, including Gateway Towers and Chatham Place dating to the 1960s[11] and more modern structures as well. There are over 5,000 apartment and condo units in Greater Downtown Pittsburgh.
Downtown Pittsburgh travel guide from Wikivoyage