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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 …

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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 …

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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. …

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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 …

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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. …

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How Do We Attract People to Pittsburgh?

by Pittsburgh Today Staff
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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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. …

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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 …

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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. …

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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 …

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Pittsburgh Tomorrow Podcast: Richard Florida, Author, “The Rise of the Creative Class” (Part 1)

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 first 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. …

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Stemming Loss or Swelling Growth?

by John F. Rohe
Generating population growth and stemming population loss create different winners and losers. Growth has enabled scientific collaborations, human comforts, and flourishing cities. What’s not to like?  By contrast, Edward Abbey cautions: “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell.”  What ends might population growth now serve? Is there too little …

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Bold Action Needed: James McQuade, Laura Karet, Stefani Pashman

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 …

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Bold Action Needed: Timothy Parks, David Malone, Jane Werner

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 …

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Pittsburgh Tomorrow Podcast: Lance Chimka, Allegheny County Economic Development Director

by Donald Bonk
Donald Bonk interviews Lance Chimka, Allegheny County Economic Development Director, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. This episode was first published in February 2020. View the episode archive here. Read Read Lance Chimka’s full bio here. “We need to repopulate. Part of that is density. …

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Pittsburgh Tomorrow Podcast: Lynne Porter, M.D., Carnegie Mellon University

by Donald Bonk
Donald Bonk interviews Lynne Porter, M.D., entrepreneur-in-residence for the Innovation Fellows Program at The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read Read Lynne Porter, M.D.’s full bio here. “The only thing that …

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Bold Action Needed: Esther L. Bush, Ken Gormley, Mary Frances Cooper

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 …

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Pittsburgh Tomorrow Podcast: Vincent Burke, Lifelong Pittsburgher

by Donald Bonk
Donald Bonk interviews Vincent Burke, a lifelong Pittsburgher, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. Burke is on staff at the Pennsylvanian Apartments in downtown Pittsburgh and resides in the Northside. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. “I’ve been a Pittsburgher all my life except for a …

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