School Districts See Changes, but Enrollment Holding Steady

by Bill O'Toole

Amid uncertainty and rising economic distress, school districts in the Pittsburgh region are reporting relatively steady enrollment numbers entering the new academic year, although demand for online-only education within districts and among cyber charter schools appears to be on the rise. The reopening of schools has been a hot topic of debate in southwestern Pennsylvania …

School Districts See Changes, but Enrollment Holding Steady Read More »

Rust Belt to Digital Belt: Re-Tooling Communities and Students for the Future

by Donald Bonk

Donald Bonk interviews Kevin Snider, chancellor of Penn State New Kensington, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. This interview was conducted before COVID-19. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. View Kevin Snider’s LinkedIn profile here. “We have a role to play in figuring out how you …

Rust Belt to Digital Belt: Re-Tooling Communities and Students for the Future Read More »

Turning Waste Into Energy

by Bill O'Toole

John Stolz believes Pittsburgh is flushing a critical source of renewable energy down the toilet. Literally. He proposes the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County join the growing ranks of urban areas upgrading their wastewater treatment plants to renewable power plants that use the process of biodigestion to create energy. Stolz, who is the director …

Turning Waste Into Energy Read More »

Jobs Slowly Return

by Julia Fraser

The coronavirus pandemic’s attack on the Pittsburgh region’s economy slowed in August. Employers in the seven-county Metropolitan Statistical Area added 6,400 jobs to their payrolls from July 2020 to August 2020, according to recently released data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Pittsburgh region lost about 100,500 jobs between August 2019 and August 2020—a …

Jobs Slowly Return Read More »

How Allegheny County Spends its $212 Million CARES Package

by Jeffery Fraser

Allegheny County unveiled a new COVID-19 testing center in McKeesport last week as health officials braced for the confluence of the coronavirus outbreak and the approaching flu season. The center, which can perform 200 tests a day, didn’t cost county taxpayers one dime. It is the highest profile example to date of how the county …

How Allegheny County Spends its $212 Million CARES Package Read More »

CMU Incubates the Science Fiction Future

by Donald Bonk

Donald Bonk interviews David Mawhinney, executive director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. This is the second part of a two-part interview, conducted before COVID-19. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read David Mawhinney’s bio here. …

CMU Incubates the Science Fiction Future Read More »

Light the Bridges for a Gleaming Downtown

by Jeffery Fraser

Dressing the Rachel Carson Bridge with 27,000 color-changing LED lights got the public’s attention in 2016. And the popularity of the temporary installation, done as part of the City of Pittsburgh’s bicentennial celebration, bought it an extended 18-month run. If that’s the case, says former Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey, why not artistically illuminate …

Light the Bridges for a Gleaming Downtown Read More »

Revolutionary Entrepreneurship: An Interview with David Mawhinney of CMU

by Donald Bonk

Donald Bonk interviews David Mawhinney, executive director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. This is the first part of a two-part interview, conducted before COVID-19. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read David Mawhinney’s bio here. …

Revolutionary Entrepreneurship: An Interview with David Mawhinney of CMU Read More »

How Do We Attract People to Pittsburgh?

David Feehan, president of Civitas Consultants in Maryland, is a recognized expert in downtown revitalization. For more than 50 years, his work has helped improve dozens of cities and neighborhoods in the United States and elsewhere, including Minneapolis, Detroit, Austin, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Today spoke with him about ideas that might help …

How Do We Attract People to Pittsburgh? Read More »

Don’t Discuss It—Be It: An Interview With International Businessman David Iwinski

by Donald Bonk

Donald Bonk interviews David Iwinski, attorney and managing director of Blue Water Growth, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. This interview was conducted before COVID-19. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read David Iwinski’s bio here. “Cities, like individuals, have little choice but to achieve their …

Don’t Discuss It—Be It: An Interview With International Businessman David Iwinski Read More »

Venting off Steam… and Turning It Into a Musical Downtown Clock

by Jeffery Fraser

Lynn Dunbar is well acquainted with the vertical steam pipe that juts from the pavement at Penn Avenue and Seventh Street in Downtown Pittsburgh for patrons of the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts and the rest of the Cultural District to see. Her husband is in the Pittsburgh Symphony, she once worked for the …

Venting off Steam… and Turning It Into a Musical Downtown Clock Read More »

Unemployment Jumped in July

by Julia Fraser

Unemployment soared in southwestern Pennsylvania last month as the coronavirus pandemic continued to weigh on the local economy. The unemployment rate in the seven-county Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area rose from 12.8 percent in June to 14.3 percent in July, according to data from Pennsylvania Department of Labor, Center for Workforce Information & Analysis. An estimated …

Unemployment Jumped in July Read More »

New URA Director Brings Fresh View of Pittsburgh’s Potential and Assets

by Donald Bonk

Donald Bonk interviews Greg Flisram, executive director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. This interview was conducted before COVID-19. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read Greg Flisram’s bio here. “Geographically, where the city is—kind of nestled in the lower Great …

New URA Director Brings Fresh View of Pittsburgh’s Potential and Assets Read More »

Adding Amenities to Bike Trails: What Riders Experience Matters

by Bill O'Toole

The City of Pittsburgh is poised to gain dozens of miles of new bike lanes in the next decade. While avid cyclist Tom Vesch welcomes the expansion, he suggests thinking beyond the trails themselves to consider the broader experience of riders. “Our burgeoning trail system in the city could be enhanced to include amenities along …

Adding Amenities to Bike Trails: What Riders Experience Matters Read More »

Back to School?

by Julia Fraser

Back-to-school shoppers are scooping up tracksuits, vintage 1990s oversized tees and everything tie-dye. But this year, many local students will debut their first day of school outfit on Zoom or coordinate the look with a face mask when they step on the school bus. Since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the school year last March, schools …

Back to School? Read More »

Jobs Make up Ground, but Still in Short Supply

by Julia Fraser

Jobs trickled back into the Pittsburgh region in July as many business restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus were lifted. The region gained 6,000 jobs in July from June, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. But the boost isn’t enough to bring the region back its pre-pandemic economy. In July, there …

Jobs Make up Ground, but Still in Short Supply Read More »

‘It’s Been Crazy’: Gun Sales Break Records

by Jeffery Fraser

Gooch Ionadi has seen spikes in gun sales before. He’s come to expect a surge of buyers at his Smoke ‘N Guns shop when a mass shooting rekindles debate over gun control laws. And presidential elections are busy years, as a rule. But nothing compares to the last four months. “I’m seeing little old women, …

‘It’s Been Crazy’: Gun Sales Break Records Read More »

Richard Florida: Iconic Thoughts on Pittsburgh

by Donald Bonk

Donald Bonk interviews Richard Florida, influential professor, author and urban theorist, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. This is the third part of a three-part interview. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read Richard Florida’s Creative Class bio here. Read his University of Toronto bio here. …

Richard Florida: Iconic Thoughts on Pittsburgh Read More »

Bold Action Needed: Richard V. Piacentini, Melia Tourangeau, J. Kevin McMahon, Bill Hunt

by PQ Staff

At a time when the Pittsburgh region is continuing to lose population and has been seeing regional job losses the past few months, we asked a group of regional leaders to respond, in 200 words or less, to this question: What action do we need to take to create the kind of growth, vitality and dynamism that will stem …

Bold Action Needed: Richard V. Piacentini, Melia Tourangeau, J. Kevin McMahon, Bill Hunt Read More »

Richard Florida’s Three Game Changers for the Post-COVID World

by Donald Bonk

Donald Bonk interviews Richard Florida, influential professor, author and urban theorist, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. This is the second part of a three-part interview. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read Richard Florida’s Creative Class bio here. Read his University of Toronto bio here. …

Richard Florida’s Three Game Changers for the Post-COVID World Read More »

Bold Action Needed: David Finegold, Vincent J. Delie, Jr., Karen Hanlon

by PQ Staff

At a time when the Pittsburgh region is continuing to lose population and has been seeing regional job losses the past few months, we asked a group of regional leaders to respond, in 200 words or less, to this question: What action do we need to take to create the kind of growth, vitality and dynamism that will stem …

Bold Action Needed: David Finegold, Vincent J. Delie, Jr., Karen Hanlon Read More »

Futurists Mull What Changes Lie Ahead

by Bill O'Toole

The Futurists tried to warn us. For decades, researchers and experts in the field of Strategic Foresight, or Futurism, have warned that the United States is dangerously unprepared for a pandemic. The U.S. Government Accountability Office produced dozens of studies on the topic since the early 2000s. A 2004 forecast report from the National Intelligence …

Futurists Mull What Changes Lie Ahead Read More »