[PRCo] FYI--Interesting Article Concerning Pittsburgh Economy From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[Herb Brannon]

 By Joe Smydo / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh is one of only three U.S. metropolitan areas to have recovered
from the international recession, the Brookings Institute said Friday in a
report that city and Allegheny County officials embraced as one more sign
that the region is on the move.

According to the report, Metro GlobalMonitor 2012, Pittsburgh, Dallas and
Knoxville, Tenn., were the only three U.S. regions to have bounced back
from the recession.

The report said two metropolitan areas in Canada and three in Mexico also
have recovered. The report classifies Canada as part of North America and
Mexico as part of Latin America.

The findings were based on an analysis of employment numbers and other
economic data.

"Pittsburgh has turned the corner and is the national example of how to
grow jobs and innovate. ... But there is still much more work to be done to
ensure that Pittsburgh grows even more jobs and remains America's 'most
livable' city for years to come," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said in a statement.

County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said a diversified economy helped the
region weather the recession.

"We are in technology, and we are in finance. We are still heavily involved
in steel and heavy manufacturing ... life sciences, entertainment, the
movie industry. Energy has been kind of the latest thing over the past
couple of years," Mr. Fitzgerald said in an interview. "I think the change
in the form of government 12 years ago has had a lot to do with the success
as well."

After a referendum, the county in 2000 replaced a three-member board of
commissioners, which had legislative and executive power, will a full-time
executive and a part-time council that handles legislative matters. Mr.
Fitzgerald, who took office in January, said the concentration of executive
authority in one person has propelled the region forward and helped to
foster cooperation among government, business, organized labor and the
nonprofit community.

The Brookings Institute report is in line with what others have said about
Pittsburgh's recovery.

In January, a report released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Council
for the New American City listed Pittsburgh as one of 52 metropolitan areas
that had recovered all of the jobs that were lost during the recession or
were expected to do so by Dec. 31. In fact, researchers said they expected
the region to gain jobs by year's end.

Of the 300 metropolitan areas worldwide included in the Brookings report,
40 percent never experienced a recession or have recovered from it, said
Emilia Istrate, associate fellow in Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Program
and lead author of the report.

Ms. Istrate said she found no "recipe" for economic recovery. An expanding
business and financial services sector, buoyed by growth in the energy
industry, helped Pittsburgh and Dallas, she said, while health care,
education, government and construction helped Knoxville.

In an interview, Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero said health care
institutions, the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory
have contributed economic stability to the region, while city officials
"primed the pump" for recovery with strategic investments in streets and
other infrastructure and tax-incentives for developers. In the last year,
she said, a number of big retailers have moved to the area.

"More people are working," she said. "More people have money to spend in
the retail sector."

Despite the downturn, she said, the city continued investing in
quality-of-life improvements to ensure Knoxville remained "a place where
business wants to be."
 Joe Smydo: jsmydo at post-gazette.com or 412-263-1548.
END Of PPG Article

I have also attached a panorama photo of the view looking from my back
porch out over Brentwood, Baldwin, West Mifflin and Pittsburgh. I need to
learn how to minimize the "curving" which takes place with these shots.
-- 
Herb Brannon
*In Pittsburgh...The Paris of
Appalachia<http://www.arc.gov/appalachian_region/TheAppalachianRegion.asp>
*
Let's Go Bucs



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