This Thanksgiving, I'd like to give thanks to Pittsburgh -- a city I came back to a decade ago to teach at the University of Pittsburgh for what I thought would be a one-year sabbatical from Hollywood. The journey has been far longer and richer than I ever imagined. Here are a few reasons why I think Pittsburgh is so special:

• The Pittsburgh comeback . Sometimes we can't fully see or appreciate what we have here, but having spent the past year touring more than 25 cities with the movie, "My Tale of Two Cities," which is about Pittsburgh's comeback story, I am keenly aware of just how much progress this city has made -- even since producer Stephanie Dangel Reiter and I started filming six years ago. Today, instead of seeing smoke, the first image in many folks' minds when they think of Pittsburgh is that of a city that has reinvented itself for a new age, a model for post-industrial cities everywhere.

• No longer Hollywood's best kept secret . In 2003, the Steeltown Entertainment Project made a short film called "Pittsburgh: Hollywood's Best Kept Secret" with "Chicago" director Rob Marshall, "E.R." producer John Wells, Oscar winner Shirley Jones and others talking about Pittsburgh's legacy and future potential in the entertainment industry. It seemed like a crazy dream when Steeltown co-founder Ellen Weiss Kander suggested that "entertainment could become Pittsburgh's new steel." But anyone who saw the fake snow on Gotham City Hall (a.k.a. Mellon Institute) or had a Tom and Katie sighting on Walnut Street can see that the secret is out.

• The town that conquered polio -- and who knows what's next? After World War II, Jonas Salk, his Pitt research team and the families of Pittsburgh worked together on a risky medical experiment that resulted in the first successful polio vaccine -- one that Salk chose not to patent, because, he said, it would be like "patenting the sun." During these challenging economic times, it is good to remember what Pittsburghers can do when we roll up our sleeves and work together.