<p>I understood that the air quality in Pittsburgh went from terrible to great with the passage of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and establsihment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In Pittsburgh, all problems were "point source emissions" (from the steel factories) so the smokestack scrubbers could get right at 90+% of the difficulty.
In L.A., it's more diffuse (non-point source emissions) because the problem is a combination of our car behavior and weather inversions, neither of which can be readily changed until we decide to work on the first one, anyway.
THerefore, I was surprised that Pitt still suffers re: air. I understood the turnaround was quick and significant, 20+ years ago. What happened? Lax enforcement? (No pun intended, re: "lax")</p>
<p>Haha LurkNessMonster, no, I'm not in public relations. I just loved my time in Pittsburgh. I truly think it is one of the best cities in the country and definately the best-kept secret. I've done a lot of traveling and have seen a lot of cities, and Pittsburgh has always bene one of my favorites.</p>
<p>paying3tuitions, if you look at the breakdown of the survey, Pittsburgh does not even finish in the top 25 in terms of smog and ozone pollution. What gave Pittsburgh its ranking was "particle pollution," which is a quite debatable statistic. Pittsburgh has come an EXTREMELY long way from the old days. The South Side, which was once filled with smokestacks and factories, is now one of the top nightspots in the city. Steel and coal have been replaced by medicine, technology, education, and art.</p>
<p>Eight Pittsburgh law firms make highest-grossing list
<a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/04/30/daily11.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/04/30/daily11.html</a></p>
<p>You know the list lacks credibility when they have Portland and SF on it. But Pittsburgh is a great city to live in!</p>