Why Pittsburgh?

Pittsburgh: a dynamic city that boasts world-leading technology and innovation, nationally recognized cultural and culinary offerings, and the cost of living well below the national average. It’s a story of invention and reinvention: steel to software, plate glass to robotics, and aluminum to autonomous technology.

Still a leader in metals and materials engineering, the Pittsburgh region’s economy is stable and diversified. Through the second half of the 20th century, Pittsburgh strengthened its “Meds & Eds” – knowledge-based industries, including colleges like Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. UPMC is at the forefront of such breakthroughs as face transplants to sports medicine, and its hospitals and healthcare facilities are the state’s largest employer.

Pittsburgh is an international leader in green building construction and rehabilitation. Our convention center was the first in the world with LEED certification, and facilities at Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens generate their energy and reuse on-site captured water. Pittsburgh has become the R&D location for Apple, Google, Intel Research, and Facebook’s Oculus virtual reality business. Self-driving vehicles are being pioneered and tested here by Uber, Ford’s Argo AI, Aptiv and Aurora. Startups enjoy technical support from such incubators as Innovation Works, AlphaLab, and AlphaLab gear, and the region is outpacing the nation in tech and venture capital investing.

Alcoa, U.S. Steel, Bayer, Kraft Heinz, COVESTRO, Phillips Respironics, GE, Seimens, Chevron, Shell, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Boeing, Bombardier, and Mylan are among the advanced manufacturing, energy, and life sciences firms here. Businesses focused on cybersecurity and knowledge management are growing. Mellon Bank operates its asset management business here, and Pittsburgh is the hometown of PNC Financial Services, Inc., the ninth-largest bank in the United States.

Even in volatile times, Pittsburgh has traditionally been a haven for real estate, and millennials keen to become homeowners are choosing Pittsburgh for its affordability and walkability.

When it comes to downtime, Pittsburgh shines. Our cultural offerings include a symphony orchestra, a professional ballet company, two opera companies, several adventuresome dance companies, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, traditional museums, and internationally renowned institutions such as the Mattress Factory and The Andy Warhol Museum. If you’re a professional sports fan, you probably need no convincing: Pittsburgh is home to the Steelers, with more Super Bowl visits than any other NFL team; hockey’s Penguins, winner of six Stanley Cups; the Riverhounds soccer club, and a wealth of NCAA sports teams from the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University and Robert Morris University.

Pittsburgh is a foodie’s paradise. Pittsburgh recently topped Zagat’s list of best American food towns and is enjoying a youth-driven food boom that features inventive restaurants, food trucks, farm-to-table dining, community-supported agriculture programs, and award-winning distillers of whiskey and rum, and craft beer operations by the armload.

Located at the lush confluence of three rivers, the Pittsburgh region offers outdoor recreation in all four seasons, and some of the most diverse topography in the United States. Bike, walk, or rollerblade miles of riverfront trails, kayak its rivers, take a guided hike of rural woods or breath-taking vertical inclines, and ski or snowboard down the dozens of mountain slopes within an hour’s drive of downtown Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh’s affordability has made it a magnet for filmmakers from the vintage (George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” and 1983’s campy “Flashdance”), as well as more recent offerings (“The Dark Knight Rises,” “Jack Reacher,” “The Fault in Our Stars,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “Love and Other Drugs,” to name just a few). On the small screen, “This Is Us” is set in Pittsburgh (if not filmed here), as was the much-loved children’s program “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood” (and Tom Hanks’ 2019 feature film “It’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighbor.”

I was wondering if you’ll fit in? Check out our Community/Networking Resources of friendly, welcoming organizations that will help you feel at home fast.