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

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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Bold Action Needed: Helen Casey, Bill Schenck, Farnam Jahanian

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: Vivek Kumar, CEO and Founder of Qlicket

by Donald Bonk
Donald Bonk interviews Vivek Kumar, CEO and founder of Qlicket, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read Vivek Kumar’s full bio here. “Paul Graham… A founder of Y Combinator (national start-up accelerator), who’s from Pittsburgh, actually went to Gateway High …

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Bold Action Needed: Lisa Schroeder, Grant Oliphant, Gregg Behr

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: Sean Luther, Executive Director of InnovatePGH

by Donald Bonk
Donald Bonk interviews Sean Luther, executive director of InnovatePGH, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read Sean Luther’s full bio here. “Pitt and CMU have evolved to be extremely complementary. They physically overlap in this really unique urban environment. That …

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Did We Do Any Good?

by David M. Feehan
Did VISTAs in Pittsburgh even come close to “eliminating poverty,” the stated goal? There is no evidence that this happened, nor do any of the ex-volunteers think they even made a dent. What, then, did they achieve? Most VISTAs believe that they were able to help individuals who needed help. Some of this help was …

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Bold Action Needed: Jim Roddey, Diane Holder, Bill Strickland

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: Audrey Russo, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council

by Donald Bonk
Donald Bonk interviews Audrey Russo, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read Audrey Russo’s full bio here. View her LinkedIn profile here. “It would be creating a culture of zero tolerance for …

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They Came to Pittsburgh to Eliminate Poverty

by David M. Feehan
Now, more than 50 years hence, it is time to ask a few important questions: Did the presence of VISTA Volunteers have an impact on the communities they served, and how? And what impact did the VISTA program have on the lives of the VISTAs themselves? What follows are the stories of almost a dozen-and-a-half …

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Bold Action Needed: Patrick Gallagher, Sunil Wadhwani, Dennis Unkovic

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: Diamonte Walker, URA of Pittsburgh Deputy Executive Director

by Donald Bonk
Donald Bonk interviews Diamonte Walker, deputy executive director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, as part of the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. The transcript is abridged and edited for clarity. View the episode archive here. Read Diamonte Walker’s full bio here. “A lot of folks didn’t believe that Pittsburgh would become what it is. …

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VISTAs in Pittsburgh

by David M. Feehan
Editor’s note: This is part one of a three-part series. We came to Pittsburgh from all across the United States—from California and Oregon, from Minnesota and Michigan and Alabama, from Florida and New York, from big cities and small towns. We came to Pittsburgh with one mission in mind: To eliminate poverty. We were VISTA …

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Pittsburgh Tomorrow Podcast: Aaron Watson, CEO of Piper Creative

by Donald Bonk
We began recording the voices of Pittsburgh Tomorrow in January through early March as a new decade fueled excitement about the future of our community. We delayed publishing the interviews, however, during the pandemic shutdowns. Now, it is too soon to know how the virus, it’s economic aftermath and the recent protests and riots will …

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Pittsburgh Tomorrow Podcast: Michael McQuade, VP for Research at CMU

by Donald Bonk
We began recording the voices of Pittsburgh Tomorrow in January through early March as a new decade fueled excitement about the future of our community. We delayed publishing the interviews, however, during the pandemic shutdowns. Now, it is too soon to know how the virus, it’s economic aftermath and the recent protests and riots will …

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Pittsburgh Tomorrow: Facing Facts and Seizing Opportunity

by Douglas Heuck
Editor’s note: The following column was published in the Spring issue of Pittsburgh Quarterly, just before the coronavirus changed the landscape across the world. It was part of an overall package entitled “Pittsburgh Today & Tomorrow” dedicated to considering changes that we in the Pittsburgh region might undertake in order to overcome consistently tepid economic …

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