The Pittsburgh Citizen

After three chemical spills in the past nine days, and following a history of environmental problems over the last year, Pennsylvania officials have ordered Cabot Oil and Gas, one of the most active natural gas companies in the state, to stop its hydraulic fracturing operations in Susquehanna County pending an intensive review.

Part X is here, the final part, the one post to explain it all: How did Pittsburgh reinvent itself?

I am into the home stretch with this ten-part series on Pittsburgh's current revitalization, its causes and cures. Today's installment briefly takes up a couple of technical points, which means I'll skip over Chris Briem's blast at Friday's downer of a Wall Street Journal column about Pittsburgh's past masquerading as Pittsburgh's future. I'll save a comment on that piece for Part X.

School closures during the G-20 Summit are giving students a chance to learn from the conference. In response to concerns about traffic, demonstrations, and security, the University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Point Park University, the downtown campus of Robert Morris University, and all 66 Pittsburgh public schools have canceled classes during the G-20 Summit. The West Mifflin School District has also canceled classes.

Most of the posts in this almost-complete-ten-part-series on The Story Behind Pittsburgh's Revitalization, or How Did Pittsburgh Become the "It" City All of a Sudden, have had a good news/ bad news flavor. Pittsburgh has some undeniable economic and cultural momentum. It looks mah-vel-ous, to borrow Billy Crystal's brilliant Fernando Lamas parody, especially on a bright and warm blue day like today. I've been arguing that there is still a long road ahead. Lots of problems and challenges remain.