Make some room, Atlantic City. Pittsburgh’s joining the neighborhood.
Pittsburgh is getting its own city-specific edition of the Monopoly board game. Dennis Gavaghen, marketing executive at Top Trumps, the makers of Monopoly, was in Pittsburgh Wednesday to encourage Pittsburghers to send suggestions of landmarks and places they would like to see featured on the game’s board.
Iconic landmarks, such the Cathedral of Learning, the Duquesne Incline and the Birmingham Bridge could be some of the locations that replace Monopoly’s classic Atlantic City sites.
Ella Gibbs, custom games executive at Top Trumps, said they chose Pittsburgh as the next city to feature because of Pittsburgher’s pride for the city as well as the city’s abundance of landmarks.
“Whenever we do these editions, we really look for two things,” Ms. Gibbs said. “We want people who are proud of where they’re from and love being from that city and also landmarks that would look good on the Monopoly board.”
According to Mr. Gavaghen, Pittsburgh hits all the checkpoints for a city-specific Monopoly game.
“We’re spoiled with choice when it comes to landmarks,” Mr. Gavaghen said.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and local TV personality Rick Sebak joined Mr. Gavaghen and Mr. Monopoly, the board game’s mascot, at Grandview Overlook on Mount Washington for the announcement.
According to Mr. Gavaghen, Top Trumps has been creating global city editions of Monopoly for over 25 years. However, they just started creating U.S city-specific editions in 2018, and Pittsburgh is the ninth U.S. city featured. While similar games such as “Pittsburgh in a Box” and “Pittsburgh-opoly” exist, this will be the first official Pittsburgh version of Monopoly made by the makers of the game.
Against the backdrop of a gray sky and the Downtown skyline, Mr. Fitzgerald said he is glad Pittsburgh will be a featured city.
“We've all played Monopoly,” he said. “It's such an iconic game, a historic game. We're glad to be a part of it. We think we have some really special, iconic places that could be used in the game.”
Mr. Gainey thanked the makers of Monopoly for making Pittsburgh part of the “Monopoly family” and said Pittsburgh is a “city of neighborhoods.”
Sporting a navy blue and gold bowtie, Mr. Sebak offered a few ideas of what he thinks might be included in Pittsburgh’s version of Monopoly.
“I have to wonder, for the really cheap properties, might the Fern Hollow Bridge have a chance?” Mr. Sebak said.
Mr. Sebak said he wants to see big streets featured, such as Forbes and Braddock, but he would also like to see some of the more “unknown” streets, such as East Sycamore.
While Mr. Sebak said there is a possibility that people might nominate locations that are not around anymore, with the large number of landmarks and neighborhoods vying for spots on the board, he does not think the makers will choose to include them.
“I think because this is going to be the first official Pittsburgh version, it will be 21st century Pittsburgh,” Mr. Sebak said. “When you just consider that we have 90 neighborhoods, there’s a lot of competition to be included.”
Mr. Gavaghen said he’s spent the last week in Pittsburgh trying local restaurants, meeting with business executives and talking with local people. He said he thinks the game will be successful because of people’s affection for the city.
“There’s a lot of pride when it comes to Pittsburgh,” Mr. Gavaghen said. “Pittsburgh people really care about Pittsburgh.”
Top Trumps will accept suggestions until March 30th and will finalize the featured locations soon after that. Mr. Gavaghen said the game will hit shelves in October and will be sold on Amazon, in CVS and in other independent retail stores.
If you want to nominate a location or landmark, send an email to: Pittsburgh@toptrumps.com.
Elizabeth Primrose: eprimrose@post-gazette.com
First Published: February 24, 2022, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: February 24, 2022, 2:19 p.m.