Pittsburgh ranked tops in U.S. by The Economist

British magazine gives city a jolly good No. 1 rating

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

By Mackenzie Carpenter, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato was calling — no, crowing — from his cell phone, in full, gleeful, salesman-for-the-region mode, ticking off the number of recent surveys declaring Pittsburgh the nation’s most livable city (four or five); the number of front-page New York Times stories about Pittsburgh in the past three months (two) and the value of such publicity to the Pittsburgh area (priceless).

Given that abundance of good publicity, the news that Pittsburgh once again is the most livable city in the United States — and 29th worldwide — in a 2009 survey by British magazine The Economist was “great news, but not a surprise,” Mr. Onorato said. Read More→

Pittsburgh’s residential real estate market isn’t the only one bucking the nationwide downward trend.

The area’s commercial real estate market outranked every other major metropolitan area in the country in the fourth quarter of last year, according to a recent report from credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service.

The report, which focused on the office, apartment, and hospitality markets, gave Pittsburgh an overall average score of 77 out of 100 based on vacancy rates and other factors.

“Today, top credit experts have once again told the world that Pittsburgh’s steady growth continues to shine during these tough economic times,” said Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl in a statement.

Oklahoma City, 74, San Francisco, 74, Honolulu, 72, and Los Angeles, 68, rounded out the top five markets.

Riverside, Calif., 36, Jacksonville, 33, Trenton, N.J., 33, Detroit, 26, and Phoenix, 24, were the lowest scoring markets.