ABSTRACT
Perhaps the most important attribute that might characterize a region is its resilience: Can a region bounce back from economic adversity? In the United States, two examples are often drawn of major regions that have met this test. Just after World War II, New England lost the dominance that it had held for decades as the center of the nation’s textile industry. Its loss was the South’s gain, and enormous amounts of capital and labor left the region in the decades that followed. Today, New England’s rebirth is widely acknowledged, and industries ranging from electronics and computer software to higher education and medical research vie for leadership as drivers of economic change. Few would now doubt its vitality. The second example is that of the Pittsburgh region. In contrast to New England, Pittsburgh’s resilience does not come from phenomenal growth in several key industries. Rather, its restructuring resulted from a radical decline in its manufacturing sector and modest growth elsewhere. Taken together, however, the factors that lay behind this change seem to have brought about a new vitality in the region. In this chapter we will describe the structural change that Pittsburgh has undergone, and present evidence that this change may have established a basis for the region’s future growth.
