Pittsburgh's Time to Shine

Pittsburgh kinda suffered from an image problem for quite a long time. People often associated the western Pennsylvania city with long winters, rabid Steeler fans and unwelcoming factories and steel mills. But Pittsburgh is way more than that, and we're happy that the G-20 summit, which kicked off Thursday, finally gives the city a chance to show off.

"This is a great opportunity for Pittsburgh to showcase itself," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl eagerly explained to a bored reporter looking for a story, as observed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "The opportunity we have is to introduce -- to reintroduce -- Pittsburgh to the world. ... If you are looking for a North American city, Pittsburgh makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons."

City leaders are smartly taking advantage of the international media that poured into the city wondering why, off all the places in the world, the Earth's most important leaders are gathering in... Pittsburgh. "The question they ask over and over again is 'Why Pittsburgh?'," Ravenstahl said. "It's never been teed up like this."

Leaders including the mayor say Pittsburgh makes a lot of sense because it's faring better than other rust-belt cities because the economy is more diverse than it was 30 years ago. Plus, the city has fun stuff to do like the Andy Warhol Museum, Carnegie Science Center and Frank Lloyd Wright's House on Falling Waters, which is situated nearby.

So don't scoff at Pittsburgh. It's actually kind of cool. Really.

Photo courtesy of brunkfordbraun via Flickr.