I fell in love twice during the summer of 2009. The first time I fell in love with the man who would become my husband. The second time I fell in love with Pittsburgh, the city he had called home for more than three decades.

“You’re moving where?” family and friends asked when I announced not only that I was getting married but also moving away from Florida where I had lived for three decades. I had moved from Michigan in 1980 to Florida and swore I’d never go back to the north to live. Then suddenly I made my announcement—not only that I was moving north, but I was also moving to Pittsburgh? Few folks understood.

Photo by P.C. Zick – In the Strip District of Pittsburgh

The love part they understood, but they marveled that I had fallen in love with an industrial city known for its coal dust and factories. I admit, I also thought it strange, but I quickly discovered that Pittsburgh was a well-kept secret from most of the country as I explored its landscape and culture and met its people.

In all fairness, I had been fascinated by the geography of Pittsburgh since college in Michigan. It stuck out to me in a otherwise boring geography class as I learned about the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers converging to form the mighty Ohio, giving Pittsburgh a starring role in the Industrial Revolution of this country.

The idea of water creating our urban centers left an impression. Then I never thought much about Pittsburgh until 2009, when love brought me to visit the city for the first time.

The landscape of the Pittsburgh area surprised me. When I drove into the city from the airport for the first time, I marveled at the hills and the valley below carved out by the three rivers of Pittsburgh.

Photo by P.C. Zick – Looking up at hills above Ohio River in downtown

Soon after I moved to the Steel City, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported folks had volunteered to paint planters downtown to freshen up for spring. No wonder Pittsburgh could reinvent itself from a coal and steel town filled with dirty skies to the gem it is today. The residents made it possible because they passionately love the city and all it represents. It uniquely exists as a gateway to the rest of the county and has been called the western East, the eastern West, the southern North and the northern South of the United States.

Places of green still exist here because the hills make some sections uninhabitable, both surprising and delighting me. I am an urban country girl, and I have always wanted it both ways. During the five years I lived there, I found balance in both my surroundings and in my personal life.

I loved the hills, but I also loved the architecture of the churches, commercial buildings, and homes. Studying those structures is a lesson in American history all by itself. The bridges are also a wonder of engineering and architecture. Pittsburgh, known as the “City of Bridges,” with 446 total has more bridges than any other city in the world, including Venice.

Photo by P.C. Zick – From the Allegheny River one of three identical bridges named after Pittsburgh icons – Roberto Clemente, Andy Warhol, and Rachel Carson

My love affair intensified after a visit to the Heinz History Center. I found myself curiously emotional as I learned about the people who could claim the area as home. Many influential folks from Pittsburgh played an important role in my life. Dr. Benjamin Spock taught me I would not spoil my child by picking her up when she cried, and Mr. Rogers visited our neighborhood every day to reinforce the concepts of friendship and citizenship in my young daughter. A statute of Fred Rogers complete with a red sweater looks out over the three rivers from what will forever be Heinz Field to those who love the Steelers passionately.

Jonas Salk erased the fear of polio during my childhood. And food stuffs I’ve eaten most of my life from Heinz to Delmonte originated in Pittsburgh.

Rachel Carson, whose environmental writing helped develop awareness of DDT and the pollutants in the air, began her life and education in a Pittsburgh still coughing from the fumes of coal-burning plants. She inspires me in my writing and life to this day. One of the first female journalists Nellie Bly broke through glass ceilings allowing me privileges unknown to the women of her generation.

Stephen Foster immortalized the place I lived in Florida for nearly three decades through song. He never visited “way down upon the Suwannee River,” but he called Pittsburgh home.

And Andy Warhol left Pittsburgh as soon as he could, but the city still claims the artist as a native son. An impressive museum and a bridge over the Allegheny—one of the three sister bridges named for Roberto Clemento, Warhol, and Rachel Carson—named for him grace the downtown area near PNC Park, home of the Pirates. He showed me that being different could be mind-expanding.

Although I did not know it at the time, Pittsburgh and its people served as the backdrop to my life, from the ketchup I poured on my burgers to the polio shot I received as a child. No wonder I fell hard for this place of steel with its soft edges and open arms.

Photo by P.C. Zick – Steelers at Heinz Field before its name was changed to Acrisure Stadium

Approaching downtown from the west, there is no view of a skyline. A mile from the city center all that’s visible are hills and signs announcing the approach of the Fort Pitt Tunnel. The tunnel, nearly a mile long, cuts through the rock of the hillside. Lights within its confines guide the way until daylight can be seen at the end.

Photo by P.C. Zick – Fort Pitt Tunnel from downtown

Suddenly, vehicles burst into the sunshine, and the highway crosses the Monongahela River. The sights of downtown—two stadiums, the Point, and all the skyscrapers appear showing a city in its finest glory with the Ohio River to the left and the Allegheny River straight ahead, and a distinctive skyline of steel and glass. I was a goner the first time I came out of the tunnel into the sunshine sparkling on the water.

Photo by P.C. Zick – Point State Park

Even though I moved away ten years ago, we still visit, and I am still in love. Once I fell in love, I also became a fan of the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins, a requirement! We’ve traveled the country over the years, and on Sundays during the football season, we’ve always managed to find a Steelers bar from San Antonio to Myrtle Beach; Sedona to Charleston; Tallahassee to San Francisco. And every summer when we return, a visit to PNC Park to watch the Pirates mostly lose is a must-do event.

Photo by P.C. Zick – PNC Park

Go Steelers!

Photo by P.C. Zick – Watching the Steelers play while visiting Charleston, South Caroline in 2024.