Since its founding, Riverlife has been an active proponent of riverfront development focused towards bettering the beauty and recreational aspects of Pittsburgh's rivers.
Over $129 million of public and private funding has been invested in building Pittsburgh's riverfront park system since 2000, resulting in over $4.1 billion in adjacent development in the forms of hotels, office buildings, entertainment venues and other real estate projects located next to the park.
[1] Past and present board members of Riverlife include Carol Brown, former president of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust; Teresa Heinz of the Heinz Endowments; Paul O’Neill, former United States Secretary of the Treasury; Dan Onorato, Chief Executive of Allegheny County; and Art Rooney, Jr., president of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The core goal of Riverlife is to reclaim, restore and promote Pittsburgh's riverfronts as an environmental, recreational, cultural, and economic hub for the people of the region and its visitors.
This is being accomplished through a combination of the following three approaches: Riverlife has often been a distinct voice in the areas of Pittsburgh development projects.