Pittsburgh might be called the city of surprises. Contrary to a long-lived reputation for smoke and steel, this post-modern metropolis has become a world-class example of a city excelling in the art of self-transformation.

Even after the decline of steel in the 1980s, manufacturing remains a powerful and now more stable part of Pittsburgh's future. Across its diversified economy jobs flow from a larger stream of businesses, institutions, and startup enterprises in health care, education, information technologies, robotics, fashion, and finance--as well as an array of professional services in engineering, accounting and law.

To these dynamic sectors, Pittsburgh adds the assets of a well-maintained infrastructure, a world-renowned catalog of educational and research institutions, and a calendar of diversions kept full throughout the year. Placed in a landscape that captures the eye with its natural and created vistas, Pittsburgh has used the lessons of change to learn how to look ahead.