When you're from Washington, DC and you hear "Smithsonian," you think:
1) "This is gonna be awwwwwe-sooooome!" and
2) "FREE!"
Um. The Heinz Center certainly isn't free -- 15 bucks per adult. And it's not as awesome as I'd hoped.
Don't get me wrong. It's a good museum. The building is beautiful, the layout logical, the artifacts thoughtful. But when compared to the rest of the Smithsonian family, the Heinz Center just doesn't quite measure up (Except for Air & Space. I hate Air & Space.). And I didn't learn as much about the history of Pittsburgh itself as I'd thought I would. I wanted more about the city's vital and varying neighborhoods, less about its textiles and glass; more about its rises and falls, less about western Pennsylvania's role in colonization; more about its captains of industry, less about the Steelers.
If you only have a limited amount of time in Pittsburgh, I'd give the Heinz Center a miss.