Rebuilding Pittsburgh: RIDC and the Transformation of the Steel City (Globe Pequot), written by journalist Jeffery Fraser, chronicles the past seven decades of Pittsburgh’s economic transformation, the impacts of the collapse of the steel industry, and the region’s revitalization in the present day.

Side by side is the story of RIDC, the Regional Industrial Development Corporation, which has played a central role in many of the developments that have made this turnaround possible.

The book is available through Amazon and other booksellers at this link.

This book showcases the efforts of RIDC to renew and improve the Pittsburgh region. From revitalizing abandoned steel mills and industrial sites into thriving business and technology parks to transforming underutilized land into locations built for job-creating companies, the organization has created a unique blend of economic development advocacy, community and regional revitalization, and high-quality job creation that could be a model for other regions that were once powerhouses of America’s industrial economy.

“I am proud of the role we play in helping our region meet its challenges, and I’m proud that RIDC has earned a reputation as the go-to development organization that gets complex projects done,” said Donald F. Smith, Jr., RIDC’s President, a role he’s held since 2009. “Whether it involves foreseeable challenges—downtown office building vacancies post-COVID, loss of population in the region, preparing larger sites to attract larger, job-creating companies while also supporting local communities, RIDC will be at work, identifying opportunities to point the region’s economy toward the future and making those visions into reality.”