Practically everywhere he goes in the city of Pittsburgh, Jerome Dettore can see the fruits of his life's work.

Jerome Dettore Age: 57 Residence: Mount Washington Hometown: Braddock Occupation: Executive director of the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority In the news: Dettore, who had been serving as acting executive director of the URA, was named permanent executive director last week and his contract was extended until the end of 2006. Family: Wife, Marlene, daughter Alison O'Brien, 29, of Philadelphia, and son Christopher, 26, of Palo Alto, Calif. Education: Bachelor's degree in civil engineering, Carnegie Mellon University; graduate study at University of Pittsburgh in urban and regional planning Quote: "The city is the core of culture and human interaction."

There is Washington's Landing at Herrs Island, once a blighted brownfield, now transformed into a complex of attractive homes and offices, boasting a public park, marina and rowing center.

The lights of SouthSide Works shine brightly years after the LTV steel mill went dark.

And whenever Dettore approaches the Squirrel Hill Tunnel, the sight of a new neighborhood sprouting up on the hillside -- a housing development called Summerset at Frick Park, built on a former slag heap -- fills him with satisfaction.

Dettore has been working for the Urban Redevelopment Authority for 36 years. The city's economic development agency calls itself "a developer of last resort," going places -- environmentally contaminated sites or economically blighted neighborhoods -- where the private sector fears to tread.

It was his very first job, and Dettore would prefer it to be his last.

URA board members last week extended Dettore's contract until the end of 2006, and gave him the full title of executive director.

"I love this job," he said. "I find it very invigorating."

Dettore interned at URA in 1968 while he studied civil engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. One of his first assignments was to help the Hill District recover from the neighborhood riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Dettore later became director of engineering, then in 1993 was promoted to deputy executive director. When longtime URA Director Mulugetta Birru left in August, Dettore took over as acting director.

Throughout his career, Dettore has assumed a prominent role in rebuilding sections of almost every city neighborhood, and has witnessed a city he thinks is on the rise.

"I'm proud of Washington's Landing," he said. "I'm proud of Summerset at Frick Park. I'm proud of the SouthSide Works. I'm proud of the Pittsburgh Technology Center. We've impacted almost every neighborhood in the city."

Dettore is a true believer in the importance of the urban core, and the necessity of luring newer, younger residents to it.

"Younger people love cities," Dettore said. "It was my generation that was the first to flee the cities for the suburbs."

Pittsburgh is a great city, Dettore said; it just needs talented people committed to urban ideals. To that end, the URA has been trying to strengthen its ranks with graduates fresh from Carnegie Mellon's H.J. Heinz School of Public Policy and Management.

For inspiration, Dettore looks to cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, Portland, Ore., and New York -- models of urban redevelopment with vital retail and residential cores. Dettore pointed out that Pittsburgh is now one of the cities that other metropolitan areas look to for guidance.

"How strong we are now economically following the collapse of the steel industry, what we've done to rehabilitate all our brownfields," he said, "people are always trying to find out how we did it."

Dettore is quick to credit everyone else besides himself: a state government that is supportive of urban areas, a good relationship with the city planning department, his talented staff at URA.

"I like to be the one that pulls them together," he said.

John Coyne, director of engineering and construction for the URA, called Dettore "totally dedicated to the city of Pittsburgh."

For Dettore, one of URA's greatest successes was the preservation and renovation of the historic Old Monongahela Connecting Railroad Bridge, which sits alongside the Hot Metal Bridge on the same set of piers.

"We saved it," Dettore said. "We did the right thing."

Dettore was instrumental in planning, arguing for and securing funding for the reopening of the 100-year-old bridge, which was needed to serve the SouthSide Works development, said Coyne.

"That was a large decision point the URA faced," Coyne said. "The master plan suggested a vehicular connection was mandatory, and it would have taken 15 years to design another bridge."

Construction to convert the bridge to a pedestrian and bicycle crossing will soon begin, said Coyne.

"That is one of the good stories," he said.

As for the months ahead, Dettore has many redevelopment projects he'd like to make happen: getting a new retail corridor established in the Hill District, securing funding for the South Side's Riverfront Park and for the next phase of Summerset at Frick Park, which has run out of money. Dettore also wants to develop a new library in the Hill District.

"There are some professions that allow you to go into a whole bunch of different directions, and I think engineering is one of them," Dettore said. "I don't [just] function as an engineer. I function as a manager and a planner and a policy guy and an arbiter, working with community groups, which is an art in itself.

"There's so much [to this job] and in the end, you're building a city. I mean -- wow."