Articles Archive - Page 47 of 154 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

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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Regional News

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 …

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Regional News

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 …

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Creative Capital

A New Way of Governing

by Greg Curtis

For readers who missed part 1 of this series of posts, I am summarizing a fictional novel written almost forty years ago. Since only 2 percent of Americans had “Capability Quotients” above 130, that meant that 98 percent of citizens would never hold public office. And that meant, in turn, that Grace Atkinson’s selection-by-lot idea …

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Birds

The Oven Bird

by David Liebmann

In 1916 when Robert Frost published “The Oven Bird” in his collection Mountain Interval, he had just returned from three years in England. There, he found his poetic voice in both the vernacular and imagery of New England as well as traditional British forms. “The Oven Bird,” a sonnet like many of Frost’s poems, describes …

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Arts

Who Quotes Nero?

by Samuel Hazo

Poems have birthdays but no funerals. They somehow manage to outlive their creators as well as the times and cultures in which they were written. Why? How? Numerous answers have been given—some academic, others pedestrian, and still others with silence and a shrug. The common theme that appears in these various answers is that poems …

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Regional News

‘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, …

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Health

Rethinking Obesity

by Julia Fraser

Tammy Dolan had always been a “heavy kid.” Still, she never considered herself “really big.” Then came college and weight gain. She graduated and was ready to face the world. But, “I wasn’t happy with myself,” said the 39-year-old from Centerville, Crawford County. She tried dieting and exercise but couldn’t lose the pounds. After consulting …

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Pittsburgh Tomorrow Podcast

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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Regional Annual Report

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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Creative Capital

Only the Top Two Percent

by Greg Curtis

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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PQ Poem

Vacancy Inspection: Woodsboro Pike

by Matt Hohner

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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Profiles

Just Askin’… Steven Knapp

by PQ Staff

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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History

My Date with Destiny

by Jim Roddey

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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Pittsburgh Tomorrow Podcast

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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Regional Annual Report

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

by PQ Staff

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Creative Capital

Despotism of the Wise

by Greg Curtis

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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Regional News

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 …

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Homes

Welcome to Cherry Hill

by Marylynn Uricchio

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

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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Regional News

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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