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

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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Only the Top Two Percent

For readers who missed part 1 of this series of posts, I am summarizing a fictional novel written almost forty years ago. Two days after receiving Grace Atkinson’s posthumous note, George and Jenny Leader found themselves in the Roosevelt Room across from the Oval Office listening intently as Dr. Michael Solomon discussed the issue of …

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Vacancy Inspection: Woodsboro Pike

I imagine her at these windows, looking out at fields in neat rows under a thin muslin of snow a week into the new year, emerging soft into the May air, ready for the combine in early November. She would know how the scene changes over the year, the exact angle at which the spring …

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Just Askin’… Steven Knapp

Q: What’s the most interesting thing about your job? A: Sadly, I was only on the job for six weeks before the pandemic forced us to close our four museums to the public! But I was in the buildings long enough to begin to appreciate the striking differences between the formal kind of education to …

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My Date with Destiny

The late Elsie Hillman, Grande Dame of the GOP and former National Republican Committee Woman, called me early one summer morning, a few weeks before the republican national committee convention in 1988. Vice President George H.W. Bush was the presumptive nominee and a close personal friend of Henry and Elsie Hillman. Elsie explained that she …

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

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

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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Despotism of the Wise

For readers who missed part 1 of this series of posts, I am summarizing a fictional novel written almost forty years ago. Meanwhile, back in Washington, D.C… President Johnson had been seized on a Sunday morning, and everyone else on the list had been detained by 8:15 a.m. on Monday. By Monday afternoon, rumors had …

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Futurists Mull What Changes Lie Ahead

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 …

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Welcome to Cherry Hill

In 1935, financier Jerome Hill and his second wife, Adelaide, commissioned famed architect Benno Janssen to design a home for them in Sewickley Heights. They named it Cherry Hill, perhaps a play on their name, and probably built it as a second home to escape from the smoky city. Sewickley historians classify the house as …

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

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?

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

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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Debating IQ

For readers who missed part 1 of this series of posts, I am summarizing a fictional novel written almost forty years ago. As Dr. Michael Solomon knocked cautiously on the door of Grace’s apartment, he was well aware that Grace was furious with him. Sure enough, when Grace’s face showed in the door window, she …

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Voter Registration High Despite Pandemic

Voter registration in southwestern Pennsylvania and across the state could surpass totals seen in the last presidential election year even as the coronavirus disrupts tried-and-true tactics for reaching and registering new voters. With three months left to register, Pennsylvania is 80,000 voters shy of surpassing the total number of registered voters who were eligible to …

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Under a Bridge

Since 1996, photographer Teake Zuidema has called Pittsburgh his hometown. For the largest part of that time, he photographed all over the country and world, but hardly ever in Pittsburgh. That changed in 2018 when he began to accept assignments to photograph musicians, dancers, ethnic minorities and roller skaters in the ’Burgh. When the pandemic …

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Exercising in the Heat: Tips to Stay Safe

Question: “My primary forms of exercise are jogging and biking. Are there any special precautions I should take when exercising in extremely hot and humid conditions?” Four primary factors—air temperature, humidity, wind velocity and thermal radiation—interact to determine the level of heat stress imposed on the human body when exercising outdoors. For example, jogging on …

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

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

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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Unemployment Eases and Labor Force Shrinks

The unemployment rate fell across southwestern Pennsylvania in June, when business closures began to ease as the region moved into the “green phase” of pandemic restrictions. But the coronavirus has taken a huge bite out of the local workforce. Pittsburgh’s seven-county metropolitan statistical area posted a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 12.5 percent in June. …

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Drinking Scotch and Talking Democracy

For readers who missed part 1 of this series of posts, I am summarizing a fictional novel written almost forty years ago. One evening at the faculty club, with Grace Atkinson and Michael Solomon deep into The Macallan, the conversation turned to Grace’s evolving views of the American Constitution. As noted earlier, Grace believed that, …

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The Pirates’ First Great Rivalry: The Dreyfuss-McGraw Feud

Sports rivalries usually develop between teams that are competing with each other for league championships. For the Pirates, it was the Reds in the 1970s, the Phillies in the 1980s, and the Braves in the 1990s. Once the teams are no longer contenders, the rivalry fades away. The most intense and bitter rivalry for the …

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