Pittsburgh Weighs Submitting Bid To Host Democratic Convention

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pittsburgh will take the first step in pursuing a possible bid to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention. But you might want to hold off on the balloons, banners and buttons for now.

There’s no shortage of political and logistical challenges still to overcome if the Steel City is to land its first major political convention, not to mention tough competition from other cities, including those in neighboring Ohio, a key battleground state.

Mayor Bill Peduto intends to submit a letter of interest to the Democratic National Committee by Saturday’s deadline, spokesman Timothy McNulty said Thursday.

Pittsburgh was one of three dozen cities invited to bid for the 2016 convention by DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz earlier this month.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/02/28/City-weighs-submitting-bid-to-host-Democratic-convention/stories/201402280132#ixzz2udR8dNTK

30 Years Of Change: A New Direction For Pittsburgh

English: Downtown Pittsburgh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Morphing from steel industry collapse to eds-and-meds rebirth, from a too-gray place that young people flee to one that attracts them as a “green” center of culture and recreation, from a tale of Rust Belt woe to one of urban transformation, it is indisputable that the Pittsburgh region is a far different place than it was 30 years ago.

And by most standards, it would seem to be a far better place as well.

Since 1983, when the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a special section chronicling the unique and worrisome issues confronting the region during Depression-level hits to its workforce, Pittsburgh has lost people, corporations, churches, schools and, yes, even a prothonotary.

But it has rebuilt its economy; added museums, theaters and riverfront trails; replaced its sports facilities, airport and convention center; and reinvented the Pittsburgh Downtown as a place to live, while serving the thousands more who commute to it by opening a subway, busways and a highway to the north.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/30-years-of-change-a-new-direction-for-pittsburgh-706424/#ixzz2gzxczfUQ