My Mega-Regional Easter Basket: Pittsburgh IS a Great Lakes City!
March 24, 2008 by the GLUE Team
I have had several recent conversations with some of Pittsburgh’s self-identified regional taxonomists who disagree with GLUE’s categorization of the burgh as a Great Lakes city. I will be the first to admit we are not dealing with a cut and dry categorization here.
The term “Rustbelt” is pejorative and anachronistic but attractively gritty in certain circumstances.
Alternatively, I’ve taken to experimenting with a “Midwest” tag. With only anecdotal evidence available, I’ll tell you that it hasn’t been pretty. I’m not sure exactly what the fuss is all about, but there seems to be general agreement amongst Pittsburgh natives I know that it simply will not fly.
One protester of the “Midwest” stamp went so far as to say that Pittsburgh is the capital of America’s “Middle-East” region. Does that mean we will need to start naming, and re-pronouncing, places in Arabic, Hebrew, and Farsi in addition to the Pittsburgh-ization of French names (think North Versailles, or Ver-sayles)?
Then of course there’s the “Mid-Atlantic” distinction. OK, I haven’t really given it a chance. The term wants to be followed by “Sales VP” or “Regional Manager” - an org chart classifier, perhaps, but not much else. I do not anticipate legions of Pittsburghers rallying around a call for Mid-Atlantic revitalization.
Jim Marczak did not put the taxonomy issue to bed in yesterday’s Post-Gazette, but he did proudly associate us with our freshwater oasis to the north, Lake Erie. My ardent hope is that his piece marked the beginning of a sincerely felt Great Lakes identity in Pittsburgh.
Among my favorite passages:
“Let’s face it, the Pittsburgh area is not really competing against Cleveland and Buffalo and Toronto. The entire Great Lakes region is competing for the next international investment dollar with Shanghai and Mumbai and Dubai, and we must work together to make it more attractive to investors.”
Making the region more attractive to international investors may not be the only reason mega-regionalism rings my chimes, but it’s a big one. As Erie’s twenty-something green-trepreneur Lucas McConnell said to me in January, “There is no reason industry can’t be responsible for the reemergence of this region as a global force. It will just be a different kind of industry.” Hear, hear!
If we exclude cities that don’t literally abut the Great Lakes from our regional concept, we severely undercut the potential power of cooperation.
4 Responses to “My Mega-Regional Easter Basket: Pittsburgh IS a Great Lakes City!”
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I’m a Pittsburgher living in Washington, DC.
My friends from south of the Mason-Dixon line think of Pittsburgh as the North.
My friends in Boston think of Pittsburgh as the South.
My friends in DC think of Pittsburgh as the Midwest.
My friends in the Midwest, Southwest, and Northwest consider Pittsburgh East Coast.
Pittsburgh, as my anecdotal amateur polling has indicated, is someplace else, apparently. It’s Yonder. It’s solidly in the Rust Belt, as it’s industry fell apart in the 80’s.
As one thing it has moreso than the other cities you’re discussing, it has a huge amount of intellectual capital; perhaps a fifth of the city is involved with the various universities and colleges. Instead of attracting investment for new blue collar industries… it seems that Pittsburgh’s future may be tied to a combination of white collar industry and a low cost of living in a city with major amenities and low crime.
Well, heck, I should probably add to that.
Pittsburgh has some massive similarities to the Great Lakes cities. Depends on how you define the Great Lakes region, I think; if the definition includes those cities that are part of the Rust Belt, you’ve got yourself a perfect fit.
Even if Pittsburgh isn’t part of the Great Lakes region by anyone’s definition, there’s a lot to be gained by working with the neighbors, finding out what’s working towards building the regional economies, and everyone heading in the right direction together.
And heck, my wonderful girlfriend proves me wrong, by pointing out US Steel’s Pittsburgh Fleet.
Hunh.
http://www.duluthport.com/99summer/ussgreatlakesfleet.html
I am a firm believer in never undercutting the potential power of cooperation.