We all know Pittsburgh's history is a bleak tragedy; it's a wonder we didn't end up like Detroit or Cleveland. Let's explore.
"Pittsburgh was once known as the “Smoky City” or “Hell With the Lid Off” due to the overwhelming befouled conditions that plagued it for over a century. Its geographic location and natural resource endowments made it an ideal home for the industries that inevitably created the pollution problem. The city’s dark past has been described as a cautionary tale for cities lacking environmental control."
Well ok. Right off the bat we are comparing our beautiful 'burgh to hell itself. Admittedly it does sound pretty dismal to have to turn on street lamps at noon everyday because of how much smoke there is. Blue collar tahn.
"Pittsburgh has an extremely long history of pollution and the struggle to alleviate it. Extractive industries such as coal mining resulted in some of the biggest and longest lasting impacts on the environment. It began in 1762 when a coal seam was discovered along the south bank of the Monongahela River. Coal was an important energy source that fueled the industrialization of most of the country, but Pittsburgh’s environment paid the price for it. Smoke pollution was the most noticeable effect of coal consumption and gave the city its identity as the “City of Smoke”."
Ironically the tobacco industry seems to have an outsize influence on our market; the city of smoke.
"There were efforts made in the 1800’s to reduce air pollution, but they were rarely enforced. Smoke control ordinances and the Bureau of Smoke Control were introduced, but not very successfully due to lack of proper regulations, enforcement, and control technologies. It was also very difficult to convince residents that the smoke was a problem. Many people felt the smoke was a sign of productivity and prosperity. They believed the smoke was good for their lungs and helped crops grow. Pittsburgh’s dark haze inspired many poems and was an important part of the city’s identity."
This is one of my favorites; look, if you are living in a version of Pittsburgh that outsiders would describe as "hell with the lid off" - there may be no higher form of optimism than to say 'many people felt the smoke was a sign of productivity and prosperity; they believed the smoke was good for their lungs and helped crops grow.' Also, shoutout to the general concept that the world is about a million percent better in 2015 than it was 100 years ago.
"By the 1940’s, Pittsburgh was dark at all hours of the day. Photographs of the past show dark downtown streets lined with bright streetlamps at ten in the morning. The city was reaching a breaking point. David L. Lawrence became mayor in 1946 and promised he’d beautify and clean up the city. In his first inaugural speech, Lawrence said, “I am convinced that our people want clean air. There is no other single thing which will so dramatically improve the appearance, the health, the pride, the spirit of the city.”"
Need to rename this blogspot 'Downtown David L. Lawrence'...
Here's the part where we really set ourselves apart from dim lights like Cleveland:
"Pittsburgh has changed over the past century like no other American city has. There are no longer any steel mills within city limits. It has emerged from the darkness of the steel industry and moved into the bright future of healthcare, education, technology, and financial services. The industries of the past have been replaced with technology and research companies like Google and RAND as well
as global financial institutions like PNC and Highmark Insurance.
"
I don't know how it happened, but our leadership pivoted out of being the city where industry was so disgusting that people thought constant smoke blocking out the sun was 'good for their lungs' to a technology hub that attracted the nerds from google. I'm not so sure Mario Lemieux's role hasn't been underrated in this write-up; that said here's the MLA bibliography for this book report
http://popularpittsburgh.com/darkhistory/
If there is any way to buy the picture at the beginning of this post I will pay upwards of ~$10000 dollars to own the 'grim Pittsburgh' poem
RIP Neil Walkoff
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