Green Pittsburgh
If you think of smokestacks and steel mills when you think of Pittsburgh, you’ve got it all wrong.
When you think about the green movement, Pittsburgh is the first city that springs to mind, of course. It may be hard to forget about those images of steel mills belching smoke into the sky, but the green movement is a vital force in Pittsburgh.
The huge parks, designed to preserve green space and connect Pittsburghers to the outdoors, serve as the crown jewels of a city working to transform itself.
Pittsburgh’s Green Building Alliance pushes businesses and residents alike to consider green-building design, techniques, and materials in new construction and in renovations for reuse. There are buildings all over town testifying to the Alliance’s success; it’s hard to miss them, from PNC’s Firstside Center to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
This isn’t to say Pittsburgh is perfect: there’s a long way to go before places like Portland, OR slip below us in the ratings. But bike enthusiasts, green-design advocates, and Chinese Dragon Boaters alike have a deep commitment to making Pittsburgh a greener city. The industrial past is giving way to a sustainable and beautiful future.
Built Environment
- Community Design Center of Pittsburgh
- Construction Junction (Center for reusable building materials—also has links to sites for green homeownership)
- Green Building Alliance
- Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area (Walking tours)
Natural Environment
- Frick Environmental Center
- Friends of the Riverfront
- Greenways for Pittsburgh
- Pittsburgh Citiparks
- Riverlife
- Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Public Transportation
- Bike Pittsburgh
- Port Authority (Pittsburgh public transit system)
Green
Pittsburgh
A remarkable environmental transformation has put Pittsburgh at the forefront of the Green Movement.
The days of the smoke-filled, industrial city are so last century. >