North Side : Buzz

"In 1980, when [City of Asylum founder Ralph Henry] Reese bought his house, the North Side was a blighted district, in a city whose name stood for deindustrialization and urban decay. It was a strange place for the owner of a successful telemarketing firm to live--but Reese, who wears a bow tie and unkempt hair, is an unusual man," the New Yorker post by George Packer reads. "Three decades later, Pittsburgh has stabilized its decline (attention should be paid by Detroit, Cleveland, and other urban apocalypses), and the North Side is enjoying a modest renewal, thanks in part to Reese and his wife, Diane Samuels, an artist, who bought four other row houses on their block of Sampsonia Way."

The homes in which the organization's persecuted international writers find refuge are marked by unique facades that brighten Sampsonia Way with Chinese calligraphy, Burmese script and a cityscape mural.

Click here to read the complete New Yorker article.

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Click here to see the full scans of the Vogue Italia article.

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The book, by photographer and filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman, contains more than 200 photographs of nearly 75 species. Among the National Aviary's birds featured in the book are African penguins, scarlet macaw, Eurasian eagle owl, American kestrel, green aracari, military macaw, call duck, spectacled owl, hyacinth macaw and a blue-fronted Amazon parrot. Approximately half the birds in the book were photographed at the Aviary last fall. The birds were photographed during a multi-day shoot that involved a team of Aviary trainers.

Click here to purchase the book and view a behind-the-scenes video on Pop City.

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Other top museum accounts include the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian, the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Whitney Museum.

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"People are drawn to cupcakes because of their versatility, uniqueness, and convenience," says James Gray, owner and head baker for Dozen Bake Shop. "Cupcakes are so easy to eat and don't require plates or utensils."

Dozen has locations in Squirrel Hill, Lawrenceville, Downtown and the North Side, and recently announced a South Side spot

Click here to read the complete Forbes Traveler article.

There's the vista of the Golden Triangle from Mt. Washington, the North Side's National Aviary, the "often overlooked" Frick Art & Historical Center (a "true gem"), the South Side's Victorian architecture and Lawrenceville's Church Brew Works, where crowds wait hours to worship at the altar of beer.

To read the complete Toronto Star article, click here.

O'Toole grumbles, "Though you've heard the buzz about the city's selection as host of the G-20 summit this week and its recent rankings as the nation's 'most livable' city, you privately assume that if it's livable, it's lame."

As she proves, Pittsburgh is far from lame.

The article provides a rollicking exploration of the North Side's North Shore (pop art! kayaking! activities for the kids!), Oakland (amazing architecture, world-class universities and some cool green spaces) and Lawrenceville (the Brooklyn of the Steel City).

We'll forgive O'Toole for starting on the defense, but only 'cause it's clear she loves this city as much as we do. (But seriously, enough with the self-loathing "you may think Pittsburgh sucks, but we're actually surprisingly awesome" stuff, okay? It's not a surprise anymore. We are awesome, thank you very much.)

To read the complete Washington Post article, click here.

"Short of attending a Steelers game (alas, they're away next weekend), there's no better way to see the real 'Burgh than to visit one of these generations-old, family-run German, Polish, red sauce Italian and sandwich spots," writes Andrew Bender.

Among Benders' recommendations: a Primanti Brothers sandwich topped with slaw and fries; a Devonshire sandwich and French fry-topped salad at the Union Grill in Oakland; pirogues and stuffed cabbage at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern; the best burgers in the Burgh at Tessaro's; and schnitzel and spaetzle at Max's Allegheny Tavern on the North Side.

To read the complete Los Angeles Times article, click here.

The videos, which could be useful for visiting delegates and media, are also available on Brady Communications' website, which provides printable PDFs for out-of-towners with all of the information featured in the videos.

To view the "Pittsburgh's G-20 Gems" videos, click here.