The 10 Best Things That Happened in Pittsburgh in 2025

Five years after the pandemic onset and all the rippling economic turmoil that came in its wake, 2025 turned out to be a big one for Pittsburgh. We elected a new mayor, city leadership finally started paying real attention to a downtown revitalization strategy, and seemingly every corner of the city swung into pre-NFL Draft mode—cleaning, sprucing up, slapping a fresh coat of paint on things that needed slapped. All told, it was another great year for the City of Steel, the City of Iron, the City of Bridges, the City of Champions. Let’s review the best of the best of 2025, in no particular order:

After four years of construction, Pittsburgh’s new $1.7 billion, 800,000+ square-foot airport terminal officially welcomed its first passengers on November 18, 2025. With our city’s character showcased in every nook and cranny, visitors to Pittsburgh will get a good idea of what we’re all about well before they shoot out of the Fort Pitt tunnel to find the car’s occupants immediately and automatically shushed into reverent silence by a magnetizing cityscape. Nature, sports, landscapes, people, businesses, neighborhoods—Pittsburgh is on display in the new terminal in a big, international way. Pittsburghers were so eager to get an early peek at the transformation that thousands signed up to help with two trial runs, happily carting empty suitcases and a positive attitude as they bid farewell to the whirrrr of the speedy train and the clickety-clacks of the baggage claim floor tile and traded them for a short walk, soothing surfaces, double the number of security lines and 6,000 additional parking spaces. Kudos to badass CEO Christina Cassotis who led the project with grace, humor, expertise and a plainly evident desire to give the people of Pittsburgh an airport that represented not only them, but also their pride. Mission accomplished.

The City of Champions doesn’t always feel like such what with the Penguins finding new ways to let goal leads slip through their creases* and with the Pirates continuing to suck the suck of a million Dysons—that is to say, they stay stunk. It remains to be seen at this writing what the remainder of the Steelers season will bring as they face the Ravens in a winner-take-all hold-back-your-hair-because-here-come-the-nervous-pukes season finale. But the City of Champions indeed secured a professional sports championship in 2025 via our pro soccer club, the Riverhounds. They won their first USL title in their quarter-century history on November 22, 2025 by defeating Tulsa in a 5-3 shootout in front of a televised national audience. Their sister club, the Riveters, finished their first year of play by winning their division before falling out of the conference semifinals. One thing is certain: with all this winning and with the Hounds selling out 73% of their home games since 2023, we’re gonna need a bigger boat soccer stadium. Good news! The team announced in August that Highmark Stadium will undergo an expansion to increase seating capacity to 15,000, putting the team in position for Division One sanctioning in the future. Pittsburgh? Soccer town.

*not a euphemism

There’s an entire set of southwestern PA residents who want you to believe Pittsburgh is a violent, crime-ridden hellhole. With their personal politics almost always backlighting their claims, they do everything to convince you. They point out every crime-related news story and hold it up as evidence: “SEE? DO YOU SEE??” they announce victoriously. They want you to believe that ANY city crime is a new phenomenon that correlates directly to ruling political party rather than what it really is—a perpetual issue that all urban centers have faced since urban centers became a thing. Take it from this historian; you ain’t seen nothing compared to crime during earlier eras. That said, Allegheny County now has the receipts to prove that violent crime is not only falling, but is doing so in historic fashion. I don’t have to give you the numbers when you can just look at the chart of homicides reported to the Allegheny County medical examiner over the past nearly two decades. The City of Pittsburgh can claim the same, as they’ve seen the fewest homicides AND non-fatal shootings since as far back as 2018, the earliest year I can research on their dashboard. Yes, there’s crime. Yes, there are problems. So shush the fearmongers and get out and enjoy all our city and county have to offer.

It has been a long three years since I last contributed to the Post-Gazette out of solidarity with striking union members. It has been a long three years since I last shared a link to a Post-Gazette article. More importantly, it was a long three years that the newspaper was a struck paper before a series of legal wins at the federal level motivated the Guild to return to work in November 2025 with a stated goal of immediately doing their part to return the paper to its former status of “One of America’s Great Newspapers.” I cannot express how much, as a historian, I value the rich legacy of the Post-Gazette—one that stretches back to the earliest days of Pittsburgh when it was still a military fort town. I need so badly for the paper to survive. I hope the Blocks understand the enormous responsibility they shoulder to protect its legacy. I hope they understand that it’s not about them or their family or their status or wealth. It’s not just about business. It’s about the seams of solid, honest journalism that run through the bedrock of any healthy city. If the Blocks don’t much care to continue protecting the legacy, I wish they’d walk away.* Long live the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Please subscribe. Not an ad.

* Bob Nutting, are you also listening?

Pittsburghers love to brag when we make published lists, from the massive accolades that come with being named the Most Livable City to the scattered applause that comes with being named something like “One of the best cities for deodorant sales.” But this year we made a truly brag-worthy list: National Geographic’s Best of the World for 2026. As their editors and experts compiled their popular annual travel recommendations, they nestled our very own metropolis amongst some of the world’s most picturesque places—South Korea; Rio de Janeiro; Yamagata Prefecture in Japan; Rwanda; Khiva, Uzbekistan; Oaxaca, Mexico. It’s an impressive list and Pittsburgh being the only U.S. urban center on it is quite a compliment. Why did they put us on the list? They point to our museums (especially next year’s Carnegie International) and places like the North Side’s Pop District and Aviary, neighborhoods like the Strip, the forthcoming Market Square unveiling slated for April and other revitalization efforts happening alongside preparations for the NFL Draft. This is one list we shouldn’t hesitate to brag about for all of 2026. I mean, be really annoying about it.

Listen. I’m never ever ever going to be happy about the name Carnegie coming off of the Science Center. I hate it. I hate it so much. I hate it like the Pittsburgh Penguins hate a three-goal lead. It’s the historian in me; it’s the yinzer in me. Call things what they’re called once and never ever change the name. Are you listening, Starlake/First Niagara/Post-Gazette/Chicken of the Sea/Chef Boyardee Amphitheater? The same goes for Heinz Field. That said, having visited the Science Center recently (I’m a member!) and experiencing the impact of Kamin money … well it shut my fat. mouth. up. The $65 million donation means that everything is shiny and new and overhauled and painted. Have you seen the cool screen in front of the miniature railroad? The refurbished open and inviting lobby? The new Sports360 exhibit? Even the website got itself a spiffy makeover. And it’s not just the Science Center. The $11.5 million they’ve given to the History Center means kids 17 and under get to visit for free … in perpetuity. They donated $25 million to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History for a refresh of the Hall of Dinosaurs and ongoing paleontological research; it’s the largest gift since Carnegie’s in 1895. Tack on another $65 million they donated this year to the new UPMC Presbyterian tower in Oakland for construction and ongoing research support and it’s clear the Kamins seem hellbent on singlehandedly shoring up our city’s cultural and science institutions. And we all benefit from that. Bravo.

Like the new airport, it felt like we’d been waiting forever for the 2025 US Open at Oakmont Country Club. The world’s best golfers finally teed off for the 125th playing of the major on June 12, 2025, vying for a total purse of $21.5 million across four days of tournament play in front of around 200,000 total spectators injecting an estimated $288.8 million into Pennsylvania’s economy. This was the 10th time Oakmont has hosted the tournament, the last nearly a decade ago, and it maintained its reputation as a day-ruining course that makes even the world’s most talented golfers want to yeet their clubs, bag and all, into the sun. American J. J. Spaun won his first major by being THE ONLY PLAYER TO FINISH UNDER PAR … and just barely, coming in at a whopping one stroke under. If there’s a golf course in hell, it’s probably Oakmont. But it’s also in heaven, as any golfer will tell you they’d swim the Mon for a chance to tee off on this course they know will kick them crying to their knees. Despite some dramatics from Mother Nature, including windy storms and lightning, the Open was a huge success and once again showcased that the Pittsburgh region is more than what the world thinks we are. Though she be but little, she is fierce.

This year, the much-needed post-pandemic downtown revitalization stopped being theoretical and started feeling real. Take a little stroll once the weather isn’t the kind that makes your skin hurt and makes you question why you live in a place that has air that makes your skin hurt. The signs of revitalization are everywhere, thanks in part to a $600 million investment by the state. Market Square is already showing off portions of its new look that will soon serve as a visual throwback to its late 18th-, early 19th-century history as an open air market. Arts Landing, the Cultural Trust’s new outdoor civic space is taking shape, promising to bring some much-desired additional community space to the Golden Triangle. On the North Side, the Pop District continues to fill out while the Esplanade that we seemed to hear about for a decade has actually broken ground. This Post-Gazette article highlights additional revitalization projects that are underway, including new housing and hotels. I’ve been saying since the end of the pandemic that we have to start looking at downtown less as a center of business and more as a destination. These changes will go a good ways toward doing that very thing.

When SNAP benefits took a hit in 2025 due to government shutdowns alongside cuts outlined in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (I still can’t believe that’s what it’s called; we are not a serious country), many families across the U.S. found themselves experiencing unexpected food insecurity. As donations poured into the nation’s food banks in an effort to offset the cuts, one local man decided to take matters into his own hands. In October, Whitehall’s A.J. Owen took his young sons on a $150 Aldi run on Steelers Sunday to create a bin-based food pantry. Saying he wanted to be one of those helpers Mister Rogers spoke about, his front lawn food pantry went viral on TikTok where he shared his daily work with captions like, “We will not let Pittsburgh go hungry.” Before long he was taking congratulatory calls from Governor Shapiro, enjoying national media coverage, finding thousands of dollars in donations in his mailbox, and even better, inspiring people across the country to start their own free food pantries. Named one of Good Morning America’s Changemakers for 2025, A.J. continues to preach the gospel of fighting food insecurity with community action while making Pittsburgh proud to call him one of their own.

When Sara Innamorato stepped her stylish heels and comfy sneakers into the footprint left behind by Rich Fitzgerald in early 2024 as the first woman to lead Allegheny County, there were a lot of judgmental eyes on her. Could she do the job? Does she have the education? The skills? The charisma? Is she too progressive? Can she really make a difference? Armed with a blazing smile, visible tattoos, and an unmistakable hell-yes attitude, she set out to prove her critics wrong and her supporters right. One of her lofty goals was the 500 in 500 initiative that she launched in June 2024 with the goal of identifying 500 affordable housing units available in Allegheny County in 500 days and matching them with those experiencing homelessness, particularly those using emergency shelters as long-term housing. Smartly, instead of devoting resources to building new shelters to solve the overcrowding problem, the county chose to devote resources to getting people into homes, thus freeing up the shelters for what they’re intended—emergencies. On October 18, 2025, day 500, Innamorato announced that 622 people had been housed in 387 units, while another 83 people were in the process of moving into an additional 37 units. Another 12 units had been identified for matching with those in need. Beyond that, 132 additional units are pledged to the initiative or are under construction. This is the way forward, and Sara Innamorato deserves applause for addressing the problem with equal measures of empathy and action. Job well done.

There’s a lot to be proud of in Pittsburgh as we close out 2025. Tomorrow, we must look to 2026 when the city will encounter economic turbulence. How our city and county leaders handle this will determine our path for likely the next decade. Will they find a way to pull us out of a dive to soar above the mountain? Or will they crash us back into state oversight? I remain hopeful that regardless of what 2026 brings, we have proven time and again that we are a resilient people who always find a way to rise out of the ashes of whatever burned down around us.

See you in 2026!