It isn't pretty, and anyone who's walked around Downtown near Market Square has seen it firsthand.

There's a concentration of construction tying up streets and sidewalks at Stanwix Street and Liberty, Fifth and Forbes avenues. Some of it is related to the $538.8 million subway extension (which is halfway completed) and the relocation of the Gateway Plaza T station. Some of it is due to the $5 million replacement of Market Square with a more pedestrian-friendly, European-style plaza. And some of it is new construction of offices, residences and shops in that corner of the Golden Triangle.

Anchoring the neighborhood's new look is Downtown's first skyscraper since 1987, Three PNC Plaza. Its 26 stories are beginning to take in office workers and customers, and the adjacent parklet is a triangular oasis at the confluence of busy streets.

Other improvements are perking up the sector. The Heinz Healey menswear store anchors a building on Fifth that's been beautifully renovated by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. The work on the new YMCA plows ahead in the former G.C. Murphy building. And all around, old facades are being renewed, while some new facades are being installed and made to look old.

The point is that the dust and noise and scaffolding will eventually be gone -- pretty much next year -- and Downtown will be left with a rebuilt historic neighborhood. That's why instead of looking down at the dirt and the barriers, Pittsburghers should look up at the new glass and roof lines and polished look of their city.

It's the face of things to come.

Cartoonist Rob Rogers does "Rob's Rough," an early look at his work and his creative process, exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.