[upbeat rock music] both: i took a walk through this beautiful world felt the cool rain on my shoulder found something good in this beautiful world i felt the rain getting colder - la, la - sha la, la, la, la sha la, la, la, la - sha la, la, la - sha la, la, la, la sha la, la, la, la, la - pittsburgh is a city of neighborhoods, each with its own rites and rituals, a patchwork of cultures that took shape over a century ago. back then, the city was a beacon of hope and possibility for people from all over the world, offering the promise of work, prosperity, a new life. pittsburgh could have been another company town gone to beautiful ruin, but something happened. the city started to pop up on lists of the most livable places in america. it became attractive to a new wave of people from elsewhere looking to reinvent themselves and make a new world. and so we find ourselves asking the same questions we ask in other cities in transition. are the n
[ acordian ] i took a walk through this beautiful world felt the cool rain on my shoulder found something good in this beautiful world i felt the rain getting colder sha, la, la, la, la, la, sha, la, la, la, la, la, sha, la, la, la, la, la, sha, la, la, la, la anthony: pittsburgh is a city of neighborhoods. each with it s own rights, and rituals. a patchwork of cultures that took shape over a century ago. back then, the city was a beacon of hope and possibility for people from all over the world, offering the promise of work, prosperity, a new life. pittsburgh could have been another company town gone to beautiful ruin. but something happened. the city started to pop up on lists of the most livable places in america. it became attractive to a new wave of people from elsewhere looking to reinvent themselves and make a new world. and so we find ourselves asking the same questions we ask in other cities in transition. are the new arrivals, new m
feeling the same way getting lost in the daily grind feel like i lose my mind - justin severino opened his restaurant, cure, as an ode to flesh, smoke and animal fat, maggie merskey designs and creates bar programs at bars and restaurants across the city, and sonja finn was here from the beginning, planting the flag for farm-to-table cooking back in the early days with her restaurant, dinette. - for our future how many years will we wait, the devil controls our fate our minds and lives at stake they re using us for bait - the countryside around pittsburgh is beautiful. another world. i joined a group of foodie all-stars
cure was all about satisfying me. like, 100%. anthony: if i m running a high-end restaurant in pittsburgh, who am i employing as porters, dishwashers. sonja: students. justin: honestly, like, our dishwashers are white kids. anthony: no way. justin: pittsburgh, pa, is a big bright shining star of an example of what blue-collar america was a hundred years ago. sonja: when we are looking at who is applying, we also need to look at neighborhoods. the topography of pittsburgh is such that neighborhoods are separated by bridges and ravines. and this sort of thing means that people stay within their neighborhood. anthony: everybody is talking about a pittsburgh renaissance. there are artists coming, there are hip, new restaurants. somebody is making money. sala: yes. anthony: money is definitely coming in. is it lifting all boats? sala: no. it is not. the new pittsburgh attracts new
restaurants, whether you were in the restaurant business or not. and that wasn t pittsburgh. when i opened dinette in 2008, you know, i m expecting people like me to be coming in. i m 29, that s who i m building this restaurant for. and everyone was. justin: 56. sonja: yea, my parents age or older. justin: you know, i thought to myself, i m going to this neighborhood that s basically desolate. i m going to take this building that s, it s a restaurant that s been closed for seven years. and i m going to do something nice here. you know i didn t expect the reaction i got from the actual people that lived around me. anthony: right. justin: you know, which was not positive. they liked it the way it was. you know, that was their life. and then i move in and all of a sudden, i open this restaurant and people with nice, fancy cars are taking their parking spaces. and now i m a yuppie gentrifier.