Pittsburgh Livability at Risk?

Pittsburgh-area real estate prices are rising, which is a good thing when all things are considered, but relatively low and relatively stable real estate prices have long been central to Pittsburgh's ranking as a "most livable city."  (I'm happy to note that as the year approaches its end, at least one of my predictions for 2010 is on its way to being confirmed!)  Can our collective ego take that news, when it comes?

I hope so, because Pittsburgh is about to face another cultural blow.  After years of cultivating the Cupcake Class, we face the sad news that cupcakes are no longer hip.  Tasty, but not cutting edge.  The New York Times has decreed that pies are the new cupcakes. 

In the Department of Things I Didn't Know, Baked Goods Division, I learned the other day that at least one of Pittsburgh's vaunted independent bakeries produces its donuts from a commercial mix, rather than from scratch.  As a member in good standing of the Donut Division, I can confirm that the resulting products are exceptionally tasty.  But it is increasingly easy to see that the distinction between "locally produced" and "produced with substantial input from a multinational bakery supplier" is pretty thin.  Dunkin' Donuts represents a difference of degree, rather than a difference of kind.

Pies?  Inauthentic donuts?  Meaningful public/private economic development partnerships?  Apres le Cupcake may be here sooner than I thought.