Pittsburgh Ranked Among Top 20 Healthiest Metros

The City of Champions (it's so sweet to be the first city to win the Super Bowl and Stanley Cup in the same year) ranked 18th in the Brookings Institution listing that ranks 100 metropolitan areas based on the strength of local economies. This is in stark contrast to the economies of the nearby "rust belt," which includes nearby cities such as Youngstown, OH (#90) and Toledo, OH (#92). San Antonio topped the list at number one, with Harrisburg ranked 17th, followed by Detroit which came in, unsurprisingly, at number 100. Pittsburgh's relatively stable economy is credited to its focus as a center for both health care and higher education.

"The most interesting thing about Pittsburgh, and the reason it is doing so well is that its economy is based on 'eds' and 'meds,' and parts of manufacturing that are not hugely affected by auto manufacturing," said Howard Wial, one of the authors of the Brookings study.

Pittsburgh was also one of 38 cities in the study that did not see a decline in housing prices from the first quarter of 2008 to the same quarter in 2009. Instead, Pittsburgh housing prices actually rose 2 percent during that period. The city ranks ninth in the country for the lowest rate of foreclosures.