So: this is probably in the top three most photographed views of Downtown Pittsburgh, shot from the West End Overlook. 

Here, you can see the first stretch - around a mile or so - of the Ohio River, crossed by the West End Bridge, the first bridge over that water course.  Above the bridge, you can see Heinz Stadium, sometimes called the "Mustard Palace" for the color of its seats.  Beyond that, the stadium for the Pirates really isn't visible, but it's there.  On either side of the Point, that stub of land between the rivers are the Fort Duquesne and the Fort Pitt Bridges, carrying highway traffic across the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers (those are listed respectively, or from left to right as you're looking at them).

 

Just visible upriver from the Fort Duquesne are the "3 Sisters," more-or-less matching bridges at 6th, 7th, and 9th Streets leading over to the North Side.  And above them, on the horizon, is the tower of the Cathedral of Learning, the main building of University of Pittsburgh.

 

The tallest building was built for U.S. Steel back when it was still a behemoth of industry.  It's still a powerhouse, but not like it used to be.  Known for a time as the USX building, it now has twenty-foot tall letters proclaiming UPMC: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

 

That stub of land between the rivers and downtown is the Point.  The Point is now a state park, but at various times has had exposition buildings, railroad trackage, mixed use buildings, and at its earliest, was the home of a colonial stockade.  That stockade was named both Fort Duqusne and Fort Pitt, depending on whether the French or the English colonists were in possession.  That's where Pittsburgh was begun: on the Point and working its way up what is now known as The HIll District (yep, like Hill Street Blues) where nearly all of August Wilson's plays are set.  The Hill District, stretching back to Polish Hill and out of sight toward Oakland is the leafy-green stretch just to the left of the downtown towers in the photo.

 

On the right of the photo above the Ft. Pitt Bridge can be seen some of the brick buildings of the South Side, once the city of Birmingham.  The South Side still has a lot of its old architectural stock, though the mills are gone.  Instead it's kind-of like the Bohemia of the 'burgh: lots of bars, clubs, independent shops and restaurants.  It's "cool."

 

I guess it's good that Pittsburgh was held by the English (hence the name Pittsburgh, named for William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham - which I'm pretty sure is the same Chatham that got named-for in New York and New Jersey).  If the French had held it, the whole town might have been called Duquesne instead of the other, smaller municipality south of the Mon.  The colonial era would have been compelely different and we'd be speaking French - it might all be part of French Canada!  Fortunately, it worked out like it did, and we can speak American - I mean English - which is good 'cause I can't speak French.  If the French had bought New Amsterdam, would they have named it Nouvelle Paris?  It boggles the mind. 

And because I can: 

 

 

This view, shot from up on Mt. Washington (that's Mahnt Warshington if you wannit t' sahnd right n'at) shows the principle auto bridges over the lower Allegheny River: Ft. Duquesne, the 6th, 7th, and 9th Street, the I-579 "Veteran's," and the 16th St Bridges.  The Vet's Bridge doesn't show very well: it's the thin slab of white concrete which is actually cutting off the bottom view of the 16th St. bridge piers. The dark, iron structure just upstream from the 9th St. Bridge is a rail trestle used by Amtrak and Norfolk Southern.  

PNC Park, home of baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, is between the Ft. Duquesne and the 6th St. Bridge on the north side of the river: it's the semi-circular structure in the middle ground on the left.  Surrounding it is the now totally re-developed waterfront of what used to be the city of Allegheny, now Pittsburgh's "North Shore" and "North Side," where still a few products are made by Heinz, Alcoa has its headquarters, and a museum is dedicated to the works and life of Andy Warhol.  Yes, Warhol is from Pittsburgh.  The Warhola family still work scrap metal on the North Side.

On the south side of the river, to the right of the photo, just past the 9th St. Bridge is the gleaming white ski slope roof of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center; the cantilevering structure juts out toward the riverside and over the 10th Street Bypass.  Running upstream from the Lawrence is the Strip District, followed by the Lawrenceville neighborhood. In the distance are the tall buildings of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (UPMC), and the Friendship neighborhood.

The leafy hill to the right is "The Hill."  The north side of The Hill District is the portion just in frame.  Further into the frame above the Strip is Polish Hill.

The fountain of the Point is just in frame at the bottom right.