Albuquerque, New Mexico

Pittsburgh (Union Station), Pennsylvania

Albuquerque ( AL-bə-kur-kee; Navajo: Beeʼeldííl Dahsinil [pèːʔèltíːl tɑ̀xsɪ̀nɪ̀l]; Eastern Keres: Arawageeki; Jemez: Vakêêke; Zuni: Alo:ke:k'ya; Jicarilla Apache: Gołgéeki'yé), also known locally as Duke City and abbreviated as ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the 32nd-most populous city in the United States, with a census-estimated population of 558,545 in 2017. It is the principal city of the Albuquerque metropolitan area, which has 915,927 residents as of July 2018. Albuquerque's Metropolitan statistical area is the 60th-largest in the United States. The Albuquerque MSA population includes the cities of Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, Placitas, Corrales, Los Lunas, Belen, and Bosque Farms, and forms part of the larger Albuquerque–Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area, with a total population of 1,171,991 in 2016. The city was named in honor of Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 10th Duke of Alburquerque, who was Viceroy of New Spain from 1702 to 1711. The growing village was named by provincial governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdés. The Duke's title referred to the Spanish town of Alburquerque, in the province of Badajoz, near the border with Portugal. Albuquerque serves as the county seat of Bernalillo County, and is in north-central New Mexico. The Sandia Mountains run along the eastern side of Albuquerque, and the Rio Grande flows through the city. Albuquerque has one of the highest elevations of any major city in the U.S., ranging from 4,900 feet (1,490 m) above sea level near the Rio Grande to over 6,700 feet (1,950 m) in the foothill areas of Sandia Heights and Glenwood Hills. The civic apex is found in an undeveloped area within the Albuquerque Open Space; there, the terrain rises to an elevation of approximately 6880+ feet (2,097 m). Albuquerque is home to Kirtland Air Force Base, Sandia National Laboratories, the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, the University of New Mexico, Central New Mexico Community College, Presbyterian Medical Services, Presbyterian Health Services, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Albuquerque Biological Park, the Petroglyph National Monument, and the New Mexico Technology Corridor, a concentration of high-tech private companies and government institutions. Albuquerque is also the home of the International Balloon Fiesta, the world's largest gathering of hot-air balloons, taking place every October.Albuquerque and its metropolitan cities and municipalities constitute the southernmost end of the Southern Rocky Mountain Front megaregion of the United States. The population of this geographic region, which incorporates other major Mountain West cities such as Denver and Colorado Springs, is 5,467,633 according to the 2010 United States Census.

Pittsburgh ( PITS-burg) is a city in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. A population of about 301,048 residents live within the city limits, making it the 66th-largest city in the U.S. The metropolitan population of 2,324,743 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania (behind Philadelphia), and the 27th-largest in the U.S. Pittsburgh is located in the southwest of the state, at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers. Pittsburgh is known both as "the Steel City" for its more than 300 steel-related businesses and as the "City of Bridges" for its 446 bridges. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclined railways, a pre-revolutionary fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. The city developed as a vital link of the Atlantic coast and Midwest, as the mineral-rich Allegheny Mountains made the area coveted by the French and British empires, Virginians, Whiskey Rebels, and Civil War raiders.Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York City and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment; it had the most U.S. stockholders per capita. America's 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. This heritage left the area with renowned museums, medical centers, parks, research centers, and a diverse cultural district.Today, Google, Apple Inc., Bosch, Facebook, Uber, Nokia, Autodesk, Microsoft and IBM are among 1,600 technology firms generating $20.7 billion in annual Pittsburgh payrolls. The area has served as the long-time federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research and the nuclear navy. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. The nation's eighth-largest bank, eight Fortune 500 companies, and six of the top 300 U.S. law firms make their global headquarters in the area, while RAND, BNY Mellon, Nova, FedEx, Bayer and NIOSH have regional bases that helped Pittsburgh become the sixth-best area for U.S. job growth.In 2015, Pittsburgh was listed among the "eleven most livable cities in the world"; The Economist's Global Liveability Ranking placed Pittsburgh as the most or second-most livable city in the United States in 2005, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014. The region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and energy extraction.