After years of economic slide that left McKeesport reeling from high unemployment, crime and blighted neighborhoods, community and business leaders in this old steel-mill town say it is undergoing a significant economic face-lift.

The problem is, however, not a lot people know about it, Mayor James Brewster said at an economic development summit he held yesterday to highlight some of the triumphs in McKeesport's ongoing turnaround.

"These are exciting times for us," Mr. Brewster said in his presentation to about 200 city officials, business owners and residents gathered in the Palisades Hall at McKees Point.

In the last four years, Mr. Brewster said, McKeesport has seen continuous signs of growth with the opening of 119 new businesses, creation of more than 450 new jobs and an expansion of the city's existing businesses.

"We are doing well, but all too often, we get stuck in the negative because people don't know much about what is happening in our city," Mr. Brewster said, adding that his administration has presided over construction of 27 new homes and expansion of the city's tax base by $3 million.

Much of what is happening now, which includes the paving of 87 city streets, construction of two baseball fields and the razing of abandoned houses, was spurred by more than $27 million in federal, state and county funding that poured into McKeesport, said city administrator Dennis Pittman.

"We have sustained the blows from our loss of the steel industry and now we are trying to diversify our business base with companies that have a specific connection to McKeesport," he said.

After being $1.2 million in debt four years ago, Mr. Pittman said, McKeesport has climbed its way back to financial solvency because of homegrown businesses like McKeesport Candy Co., Book Country Clearing House and Blueroof Technologies, a McKeesport nonprofit organization that has plans to build 12 new houses in an independent living community for senior citizens.

What is happening in McKeesport now is all the more compelling because the city, like many other communities in the Mon Valley is struggling against economic forces beyond its control, said Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.

In many old steel-mill towns, he said, "the infrastructure is old, the economy changed, and you were left with legacy costs that you couldn't control on your own."

Citing his administration's push for the redevelopment of Carrie Furnace, a 137-acre swath of Monongahela riverfront property in Rankin and Swissvale, and the recently completed renovation of the Homestead Grays Bridge, Mr. Onorato told people at the summit that he is committed to major investment in Mon Valley towns.

And for McKeesport, that investment might also mean an extension of services, said District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., who talked about his plan to open a regional courthouse in the Mon Valley.

"We have found that about 16 percent of the major crimes are generated in this Mon Valley corridor," Mr. Zappala said, laying out plans for what could be the McKeesport Regional Justice Center.

"It's an opportunity to create a courthouse here, where you will be able to do anything that you can do at the courthouse in Pittsburgh," Mr. Zappala said.

The idea of a regional courthouse complex in McKeesport was borne of necessity, but it could also fit in with what McKeesport is trying to do, he said.

"We spend about $400,000 in leasing fees Downtown because we don't have enough room in our locations Downtown," Mr. Zappala said.