If Nordstrom could only see us now.

Pittsburgh, the city whose dilapidated Downtown streets the sought-after department store snubbed three years ago, leads the nation as the home for hot urban businesses, according to Inc. Magazine's fifth annual list of the 100 fastest growing inner-city companies in the country.

Pittsburgh topped the rankings with seven companies on the list. Last year, the city claimed six companies on the list to finish second behind Chicago.

"This is a wonderful honor not only for Pittsburgh's seven winners, but also for our city," crowed Mayor Tom Murphy, who nominated 90 companies for the list.

Rankings were based on revenue growth from 1997 to 2001. To be considered, companies had to be privately owned and have at least 51 percent of operations located in economically distressed urban areas.

The winners were selected from a pool of 5,000 companies nominated from 155 cities.

The fastest-growing Pittsburgh-based company on the list was Scott Pipitone Design, a graphic design business on the North Side that employs 27. The company had 2001 revenue of $3.5 million and a blistering five-year growth rate of 1,315 percent, ranking No. 14 overall.

The other Pittsburgh winners included Stargate Industries, ranked No. 17; Allegheny Child Care Academy, No. 21; Renaissance 3 Architects, ranked 30th; Ditto Document Services, No. 38; Confluence Technologies, No. 48; and Five Star Development, No. 49.

It's worth noting that one of the local stars -- Stargate -- has been shinning a little less brightly of late. The 9-year-old Internet service provider in the Strip District, which topped the overall rankings last year with a spectacular 4,449 percent growth rate, stumbled recently under the weight of high debt and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection two weeks ago.

"In the rough and tumble world of fast-growth companies, sometimes this happens," said Deirdre Coyle, spokeswoman for the Boston-based Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, which helped compile the rankings.

"We hope Stargate gets back on its feet."