In 1900, the University of Pittsburgh paid just over $500,000 for 45 acres of property said by our institutional biographer to sit "on, along and over the top of the unlovely hillside north of O'Hara and Terrace streets."

Though perhaps not the most desirable parcel, that land was available, and it was affordable. Nine years later, the University moved its campus from Observatory Hill on the North Side to Oakland.

What a move that proved to be. In the decades that followed, Oakland became the educational, medical and cultural capital of Western Pennsylvania. Today, no other section of the city has a comparable concentration of distinguished institutions, stimulating intellectual activity, and youthful energy.

Think about all that is contained within the borders of this one neighborhood. Pitt and CU and Carlow. The Board of Education and the school for the Blind. The Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History, Music Hall and Public Library. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Schenley Park, Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall. UPMC Presbyterian, Magee-Womens, Children's, Eye and Ear, Montefiore and Western Psych. Thousands of faculty members and physicians. Tens of thousands of students.

Along with all of that activity inevitable comes some noise, some litter and some congestion, but all of that exists in fairly manageable doses. Oakland today remains an attractive urban magnet - for students, for faculty and researchers, and for citizens who simply want to experience the best of city life as visitors of on a longer-term basis. And the good news is that Oakland has not come close to tapping the full potential of its drawing power.

In fact, though much of the region's attention is focused on the impressive projects now being planned or already under way on the new North Shore and Downtown, Oakland is embarking on a renaissance of its own. CMU has made a broad range of improvements to its campus. The Carnegie Museums have spruced up their buildings' exteriors, dramatically upgraded their internal exhibit spaces, and brought a life-sized model of a dinosaur into the shadow of the Cathedral of Learning. Carlow's new Palumbo Science Center is a fabulous addition to Forbes Avenue. And Pitt is moving forward with a $500 million capital projects plan, the largest in its history.

The University of Pittsburgh's initiatives include the well-publicized demolition of Pitt Stadium, work that began shortly after our exciting win over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Our portfolio of projects also will include the construction of both the long-awaited Peterson Events Center and a new academic center occupying a full square block fronting on Forbes Avenue. It will include an addition to the Hillman Library, and it will include the renovation of the Masonic Temple -- labeled by some a "white elephant" but soon to be publicly revealed as a masterpiece of classic architectural restoration with an infusion of modern technology.

Each of these projects will add not only to the quality of campus life, but also to the overall quality of life in Oakland. The same obviously is true for the projects undertaken by Carlow, the Carnegie, CMU and the UPMC. For the area ever to achieve its full potential, for Oakland's good and for the good of the larger region, it will require greater attention to the spaces and services not controlled by any of these institutions, however. Among the matters deserving of particular attention are the following:

The enhancement of the Fifth and Forbes avenues corridors: Forbes Avenue is the Gateway to Oakland. Not too many years ago, it might have bee described as shabby. Today, with a growing number of new or renovated "anchor facilities," is has become more pleasing to the eye and more attractive to retail businesses. The elimination of a few remaining eyesores, the addition of trees, greater attention to building exteriors and the infusions of other aesthetic improvements would create an even more appealing urban atmosphere.

The development of better systems of public transportation: When Pitt and the Port Authority entered into their pioneering contract permitting University students, staff and faculty to ride PAT buses without paying individual fares, in return for an annual lump-sum payment, the response was greater than either party had anticipated. Because of the positive impact on parking and traffic, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the resulting shift to public transportation was the community of Oakland itself. That experience underscores the need for aggressive action with respect to even better mass transit links. Oakland and the Downtown area rank only behind Center City Philadelphia as Pennsylvania's hubs of urban activity. Linking those areas through the best available transportation system should be a regional priority.

The improvement of the existing housing stock: Oakland should not only be a great place to study and to work. It should be a great place to live. One of the attractive features of such East End neighborhoods as Shadyside and Squirrel Hill is their proximity to Oakland. And when a new, and very upscale, condominium complex recently was constructed in North Oakland, the response was overwhelming. However, too much of the area's housing stock, particularly in South Oakland, is not what it should be.

The city and the university already have cooperated to hire an additional housing inspector for the area. As the university increases the number of on-campus units available for undergraduates, market pressure should lead Oakland landlords to upgrade their properties as they are forced to compete for the choosier and more mobile population of graduate students and institutional employees. Even as all sections of Oakland become more attractive residential locations, for homeowners and for tenants, we should work for the return of a supermarket and other retail outlets essential for convenient daily living.

Creating a more pedestrian friendly environment: Oakland is an area in which people do a lot of walking to get from place to place. That is most obviously true of the on-campus population, but it is also true of workers and of visitors, whether they get to Oakland by bus or car. Think, for example of the out-of-town tourist or the regional resident who decides to spend a day sampling what Oakland has to offer. Phipps Conservatory, the Carnegie Museums and the Nationality Rooms of the Cathedral of Learning each are treasures. Collectively, they present a "destination attraction" that can be matched nowhere else, and they sit within walking distance of each other.

However, what basically separates them is a large, unattractive surface parking lot -- hardly the kind of inviting space that would add positively to any visitor's impression of "the Oakland experience." Pitt's "living and learning spaces" are bisected by Bigelow Boulevard, which impedes the development of the sense of campus so important in today's competitive marketplace. As long as Fifth Avenue contains a "wrong way" bus lane, it will be a pedestrian hazard, not only for students but for those visiting hospital patients and for others. These are matters that need to be addressed not as special favors to the most directly affected institutions but as a means of enhancing the value of regional assets and adding to the overall quality of the community.

A focus on regional economic development: Virtually every group that has studied the matter has concluded that the economic future of the region depends upon success in developing certain cluster industries. These include such areas as advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, environmental technology and information technology. Regional progress in those areas is directly tied to the ideas being developed by scientists at our two research universities. Standing alone, Pitt and CMU are internationally recognized centers of pioneering research. Working together they present a potential that few cities in the world can match. Close cooperation is becoming more and more a part of life at Pitt and CMU, but those collaborative efforts often are impeded by a lack of essential infrastructure.

Well over a century ago, Pitt Chancellor George Woods said: "The value in every respect to our community of a large and well-endowed and well-equipped university is not understood … The education acquired in a University will be the best means of opening up new industries, should those upon which we now almost wholly depend languish. Intelligent men will devise and build them up." Though his language obviously is dated by his gender choices, Chancellor Woods' basic message rings even more true with the passage of time.