utterly opinionated

I was disappointed.   And then I wasn’t.

Every month Kim, Sara & I host a cityLIVE! event.  We are interested, as we believe our audience is, in understanding issues that impact our city and region.  We are interested in holding a forum that allows everyone to attend.  And we are most interested in nurturing a thoughtful exchange of ideas.

And so last night I was disappointed.  Some people came to our event with their minds made up.   They intended not to listen to others.  They did not intend to exchange ideas.  The resulting conversation was bitter and cruel.   “Answer the question” they shouted when they didn’t like the answer they were given.  Some even challenged the location of the venue, the legitimacy of the panel and the sincerity of the speakers.

Admittedly, the topic we chose was an emotional one — the fate of Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena.  Should the Igloo be demolished or should it be saved? This iconic building, a spectacular remnant of the Modern Movement, has a sordid history.  It was built where a vibrant neighborhood once was.  It left behind it a wake of blight and devastation as big as a Tsunami wave.  The Hill District, a predominately African American neighborhood, still lies in ruins sixty years later.  Lingering bitterness and mistrust accompany the physical devastation.  Mistrust of black for white.  Mistrust of everyone’s motives.  MISTRUST.  I did not understand this clearly until last night.

The event and the tense exchanges left me feeling unsettled, as if somehow the questions we’d asked, the issues we’d raised, the panel we had so carefully selected were irrelevant next to this much bigger issue.   I felt like an impostor in the room.  I heard clearly that I had no right as a white woman to have a say about the fate of the Igloo.

This thought rankled with me.

How can a civic building belong to one neighborhood or to one group of people?  How can it’s future lay in the hands of politicians who will soon be gone?  This building and it’s history is far bigger than that.  Its fate should be decided by Pittsburgh’s people – ALL of them.   As the event came to a close I felt very alone with these thoughts.

Then something remarkable happened. A steady stream of people came to thank me.  Emails followed.  How unfortunate that not everyone understood the nature of the event, they said.  The Igloo is important to us too.   We want an opportunity to be educated, to help decide.   We want to hear other perspectives .  We want to be involved.

So many voices, thinking just what I had.  And with every voice, the disappointment faded.

Everyone deserves to earn enough money to pay for their daily essentials.  On face value alone the proposed prevailing wage bill in Pittsburgh makes sense.  It speaks to the basic decency of employers and their willingness to take some responsibility for their employees lives.

As I understand it, the legislation ties real estate development dollars that the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority invests in a project to a guarantee that the developer pays prevailing wages to everyone involved, for evermore.  This means any business within a development must also comply.  No longer do the proponents of the bill want to trust employers to do the right thing.  They want to ensure that public dollars result in prevailing wages.

I so sympathize with this point of view.

But I’m going to land on the other side of this debate, and here’s why.

About five years ago I purchased the Liberty Bank Building on main street in East Liberty.  It sits in a neighborhood that at that time had many shuttered storefronts.  It had been vacant for ten years, and I lovingly called it “green”.  The building was covered inside with green mold.  The renovation that we embarked on was extensive and complicated.  Not much was left to save but the beautiful sandstone walls.  It is not a huge building but it was a huge financial undertaking.  It required the URA’s assistance, my life savings and an awful lot of time.  This is the sort of project you call “patient”.  I took this on because it matters to me that my projects make a difference in the long run and I was sure this one would.

In the early years it was almost impossible to find good tenants.  Tenants came and went, damaging the spaces and requiring more funds to repair them.  New potential tenants could not see the value of locating to this neighborhood.  It was tough.  Very tough.  My partners and I lost money.  Dollar Bank and the URA helped as much as any financial partner could.  They worked with us, unfailing, through the tough times until now, five years later, we are beginning to break even.

The due diligence that came along with city funds that were borrowed has also been burdensome but I believe a fair exchange.  Every year (amongst a sea of other reports) I compile a report of jobs created in the building.   Where once no-one was employed here, now sixty-one people come to work at the Liberty Bank Building every day.  I consider this a staggering success.  If I had to entice tenants to the building and require that they report their wage rates to me or the URA, I doubt that we would be at break even today.

Today, Rich Lord reported Rabbi Jami Gibson as rhetorically asking developers, “Why can’t you get by on the minimum profit?”.

This comment hits me hard in the gut.  I get by on LESS than minimum profit, Rabbi Gibson.  I’ve invested myself whole-heartedly into this neighborhood.  While the building I built may not require that everyone in it receives prevailing wage, it has helped to turn this neighborhood around, and brings far more jobs along with it than just inside the building alone.

Would I have tackled this building with the prevailing wages as an added mandated obligation?

No.

Every city needs its angels, and Los Angeles has plenty of them.

It has been several weeks since I returned from Los Angeles.   My trip there as a panelist for an American Institute of Architects SDAT was a rich, if exhausting, experience.  Three intense days there bred a familiarity I will never shake off.  I know downtown Los Angeles now.

Whenever I make one of these trips I expect to discover a city that is somehow better off than Pittsburgh.  I expect to find a city that somehow has its act together. Los Angeles, after all, is the second largest city in the United States covering almost 500 square miles.  In 2008, it was named the world’s eighth most powerful city by Forbes.com. Full of significant architecture, with a rapidly growing residential population it is easy to imagine that downtown Los Angeles should be the envy of every other city.

And yet, like most other American cities, it is rotten at its core.   It is the hole in the donut.  It has some serious problems to overcome.

Politics keep its nine districts distinctly divided, reinforcing the already existing and striking differences between them in both architecture and population. A civic center with great building stock, historic Broadway with a vibrant ethnic community, Skid Row with a sad and unwanted population and a manufacturing district, unheard of in most downtowns, essentially all ignore each other.   Its streets are wide, fast and disruptive, a convict population continues to be discharged at alarming rates into the city center, and the economy has stalled the growing residential population and is endangering the vitality of historic Broadway.

Like every other city one needs to look beyond these physical issues to really understand it.   Here, just like in Pittsburgh, I met a group of passionate and hopeful people all working tirelessly towards improving their downtown.   They are not elected officials.  They will not be paid for their work.   This is their neighborhood and they have claimed it.  They are the city’s angels.

Who knows better than them what the problems are?   Who knows better than them what the potential is? If I were Mayor of Los Angeles I would let them rise up, craft their vision and give them the resources to fulfill it.

I came home happily, eager to see Pittsburgh’s beautiful downtown again.   Our problems seem small now compared to Los Angeles.  Yet one is the same.  Our angels, plentiful and passionate, are all too often ignored.

Last night’s cityLIVE event, 10 people. 3 minutes, was a rollicking success.  10 brilliant people with 10 brilliant ideas.

Our moderator, Chris Potter of the City Paper, conducted a survey to determine the “winner” by providing 5 pennies to each audience member and a styrofoam cup for each panelist, bedecked with their photo.    Late last night, Chris and his wife counted pennies.  He remarked that as an alternative-weekly journalist, a lot of his workdays end this way.

Top honors, or should I say, the most pennies go to Jon Rubin of the renowned East Liberty Waffle Shop.  Chris will make a donation in his name to Pittsburgh Promise.  The amount is TBD but he promises it will be less than the $10 million donated by UPMC, but more than the 41 cents dropped into Jon’s cup.

Jon amazingly crammed three big ideas into three little minutes.

First, he proposed to kick all of  Pittsburgh’s universities (classrooms, teachers, students and all) out of their buildings and relocate them throughout the entire city into storefronts, apartments, boats, and tree houses.  No longer would students be tempted to stay on their cloistered campuses. Writing classes would be conducted on coal barges,  a physics program in row houses, a business school at city hall and university lectures in backyards and street corners.  Imagine!

Second, he proposed super-gigantic sky fans to be installed around the perimeter of downtown Pittsburgh, blowing clouds away and creating a perpetual sunny zone over downtown to attract businesses, tourists and even more new residents.  Sunbathers would abound.  Suburban flight would be reversed and most importantly, the weather in the surrounding suburbs would actually become worse.

And last, but not least, John proposed exporting our greatest resource – the Steelers.  Our football team would become an international traveling soccer team in the off season.  Think of them as the Harlem Globetrotters of soccer.   The last World Cup had viewership of 30 billion people and John thinks we are missing out.  ”If we really want to call ourselves the city of champions, I suggest we take the big leap and go with the sort shorts” said John.

Last night was a celebration of the talent we have here in Pittsburgh.   It was a chance to hang loose and let ideas roll.  In every idea presented there was passion, conviction and truth.   Take any of them and push them forward and we could rebrand Pittsburgh in a completely unexpected way.

I’m voting for the city wide campus.  Short shorts on Steelers don’t seem quite right to me.

This lovely little city, Pittsburgh, is under siege.  Every day the media describes yet another crisis.  Eight more schools to close.  Library branches to be shuttered.  A court order to fix the water and sewer system.  Underfunded pension funds. Property and business taxes that are burdensome.  Disappearing bus stops.  Disappearing mail boxes.  And the latest, a mayor who wants to tax our local college students to balance the city’s books.

Someone has been asleep at the wheel.

It has been decades now since Pittsburgh’s population was halved.  Any sensible person would surely understand that half the people + the same number of services = disaster?

For the past decade the question in my head has become louder, more strident.   Where is the leadership who will say it the way it is?  Where is the leadership that will prepare it’s citizens for reality?

A leader should look like this.  She should prepare her city’s citizens for the strategy that must be thought through – a shrinking city strategy.  She should find ways to consolidate the city’s citizenry, to consolidate services.   She should have the courage to say that upfront.  She should focus on how to grow the city.  And she should share the plan so that her citizens will understand that there will be pain, but there is also hope. She should know that cities are the future and that Pittsburgh will grow again.

Neither the head of the library system nor the superintendent of the public schools are to blame for the situations they inherited.    Audits, anger and outrage will not change that fact.

Join me at the first event of cityLIVE!’s third season,  as we examine how to brand (or not brand) Pittsburgh.

The eyes of the world are on Pittsburgh right now.  Not only is the G-20 Summit drawing world  leaders and thousands of reporters, but over the last year Pittsburgh has been constantly in the “good” news.   

How is it then that the response to our selection as the location of the G-20 Summit has been a resounding “Why Pittsburgh?”  David Francis reported (for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) that some people in Europe have “expressed concern that world leaders might not be safe in such a place.”

What must we do to shake an image that no longer fits our city?   Our moderator and panelists will engage in a feisty discussion on branding (or unbranding)  our city.

Panelists include Madhu Malhan, VP and director of creative branding, Publicis, USA;  Gloria Blint, president of Red House Communications; and Charlie Humphrey, executive director of Pittsburgh Filmmakers, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and the Pittsburgh Glass Center.

Moderating will be Brian Bronaugh, president and executive creative director of Mullen-Pittsburgh.

Bring a friend and you both get a drink free! Show your love!  Show up ….

John Schmitz walked me around the block yesterday.   That is the block where the G-20 Summit will be played out in just two months from now.   He had warned me in advance of what he wanted.  He wanted the dirty, devily details for his story.  He wanted to focus on things that we normally don’t focus on, and so we did.

We noted the thousands of black round dirty gum splotches stuck to the sidewalk and the once red brick pavers now grey with dirt.   We noted dead trees with long forgotten christmas lights strung through them.   We noted muddy fire hydrants and badly patched roads.   We noted asphalt sidewalks where brick is the standard; contractor parking in a lane that ought to be open to vehicles;  and poorly sign-posted street works.  And we noted enough signs that if they were collected and stacked, they’d fill Heinz Field.

As I mouthed the dirty little details, the voice in my head became stronger until I had to say it out loud. Pittsburgh has good bones.  It is rich with a remarkable downtown, historic architecture, amazing river trails and beautiful neighborhoods. We should not forget that the film of dirt can be washed away.

The remarkable by-product of the G-20 summit is the energy that it has harnessed.   In just nine weeks since the announcement was made, over 1,600 people have volunteered to assist and that number is growing.  This is for an event that is just two days long.

And so I must wonder.  What if that energy were harnessed for something more than spiffing things up? What if the energy continued beyond those two days?  Could 1,600 people rebrand Pittsburgh?   Could 1,600 people bring new businesses here?  Could 1,600 people craft a strategic vision for Pittsburgh and the region?   Could 1,600 people finish the last 11 miles of the Great Allegheny Passage?

Do we have the courage to let 1,600 people loose?

Last week Mickey McManus put a smile on my face.  

As CEO of MAYA Design inc., Mickey heads up one of the most successful local companies in Pittsburgh.   MAYA (“most advanced yet acceptable”) is an unusual firm.   Their work centers on the interaction of technology and humans, from washing machines to defense.

Over the last few weeks MAYA has been noticed not only locally, but also nationally by Fast Company and Fortune Small Business.   Cool.

And then last week at our CEOs for Cities salon in downtown Pittsburgh, Mickey put that smile on my face.   We were talking about the Talent Dividend, and how a 1% gain in residents with college degrees in Pittsburgh would reap an annual dividend of $1.8 billion.   “Forget 1%” he said, “we should think big.  Let’s shoot for 10 or 20%.”  Cool.

According to Nathan Martin, CEO of Deeplocal, another Pittsburgh firm, cool is what we need. Lots of cool.  Deeplocal, a mobile software design, development, and strategy studio, brings together artists, designers, and technologists to solve complex communication problems.  They are a very hip firm.  Nathan believes that more cool companies will bring that talent knocking at our door.  He might be right.  

“What if we become the city of Entrepreneurs?” urged Terri Glueck, director of Community Development and Communications at Innovation Works.  “What if we create a community fund, all contribute just a little and all become angel investors in new entrepreneurial ventures?  Pittsburgh would be known world wide as the city of Entrepreneurs.”

Big thinkers, cool thinkers and strategic thinkers like Mickey, Nathan and Terri should be at every power table in Pittsburgh.  Pittsburgh would become the center of the universe mighty quickly.

I had breakfast with Tom Murphy at Ritter’s this morning.

It’s interesting how mayors are real people. Tom as mayor was a little unapproachable and just a little bit scary.   Tom as past mayor is a great person to have breakfast with.  

Over the past few years when I’ve seen Tom, he likes to tell me (and everyone who is within earshot) that we fought a lot when he was mayor.  I don’t remember it that way, but he might be right.   I think, maybe, I scared him a little too.

Back then, when I was developing the first few lofts that downtown Pittsburgh had ever seen, there were no policies in place to help developers like me.   I pushed him to make them happen and things did not always go smoothly.  There were times when I was angry and Tom remembers them.  

Still, I enjoyed breakfast with Tom and I hope he enjoyed breakfast with me.  We talked about running, biking, the trails, diet, his job, my job, politics, Pittsburgh and more.  With a job at the Urban Land Institute, he lives in Washington four days a week now and has rather purposefully removed himself from Pittsburgh life.  

What a shame.  I, for one, hope that he will come back to us.  He has a lot to offer us.

I’ll be joining Councilman Bill Peduto and others for an educational bike tour along Pittsburgh’s downtown streets and riverfront trails. We’ll talk about Pittsburgh’s history, unique architecture and urban planning, with a slight political twist.  

Join me?  Sign up at Venture Outdoors.   Bring your own bike or rent one.  You won’t regret it!

I wrote about the Talent Dividend summit a couple of days ago.  Now I’d like to tell you what I learned there.

If Pittsburgh focussed on increasing the number of residents with four year college degrees by just 1%, we’d reap an annual dividend, the “Talent Dividend”, of $1.8 billion dollars.   $1.8 billion dollars is the equivalent to the payroll of a very very large company.    This is not an argument for education.  This is an argument for economic development.  

Currently Pittsburgh sits in the bottom one-third of 50 metro areas in four year college attainment rates.  I’m sure you know the cities that sit at the top of the list.   They are cities that thrive and continue to attract talent.   Those cities are Washington, San Jose, San Francisco, Boston, Raleigh, Austin, Minneapolis and Seattle.  Talent begets talent.

What benefits would we gain from a better educated population?  First, higher median incomes across the board, with an approximate increase of $2000 per household per annum.  Second, lower unemployment rates, since unemployment rates are always higher with less education.  

Our best opportunity for achieving the Talent Dividend, may lie in several areas.  First, we have many expatriate Pittsburghers who would like to return.  Second, we may be able to do a better job retaining the talent we have.  Can we do a better job match making people to jobs that are available?  There are currently 17,000 positions posted on imaginemynewjob.com, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliances new job site.  That’s a lot of vacant jobs!  Third, there are a large group of people who started college and did not finish.  Who are they?  How can we help them attain that four year college degree?

There are important initiatives, such as the Pittsburgh Promise, that are underway and will help us to reach this 1% increase.   It will take focus to find other ways to get there.  

My CEOs for Cities “cluster” has tackled a few big projects.   This week will be a very big one.

On Tuesday we are hosting an event as part of a 51 city tour that CEOs for Cities is organizing to talk about The Talent Dividend.  We’ve asked leaders to attend who cover a broad spectrum of interests from architects to university heads.  What they have in common is their deep commitment to the city of Pittsburgh.   We need them to seize the opportunity that this city dividend offers. 

City Dividends is the latest research to come out of CEOs for Cities and quantifies some very real opportunities for cities.   They calculate the monetary gain top metro areas would enjoy if they were to increase their college attainment by one percentage point (The Talent Dividend), reduce vehicle miles travelled by one mile per person per day (The Green Dividend) and reduce the number of people in poverty by one percentage point (The Opportunity Dividend).  According to CEOs for Cities, Pittsburgh would see an additional $1.8 billion pumped into its economy annually simply by accomplishing The Talent Dividend.  

That’s a lot of money.   There’s a lot we could do with it.  

We have a history here of losing a lot.  Jobs lost, people leaving and a city reduced in size to half is the story that is most often told about Pittsburgh.  We have also accomplished a remarkable amount.  Just last week the Economist ranked Pittsburgh the most livable city in the U.S. 

Still, there is more to do.  Our workforce is not as skilled as it could be.  Our population is far less diverse than other cities.  We don’t have enough high school graduates who go on to college.  This leaves us at a great competitive disadvantage.  We must have all of these things in place in order to compete for new business.  Ultimately this will allow our city to be reborn. 

A one percent increase in college attainment is a very big goal, too big for any one person to tackle.  As I review the enormous range of talent, experience and background assembling on Tuesday I wonder whether perhaps together they can do what no one of them can do alone.

In 2004 I met Carol Coletta. I didn’t really meet her. To be precise, she interviewed me for her radio show, Smart City. I was in Pittsburgh and she was in Memphis. My latest building project had just been published in Dwell magazine and it fascinated her. It was a difficult but enjoyable interview. She asked questions that were clearly posed by someone who loves cities.  I did not know then the influence that she would have on me and Pittsburgh.  

A couple of years later Carol became president of CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders dedicated to building the next generation of great American cities. I finally met her in person and we became friends. We had come from different backgrounds to the same place. It’s not often that you meet someone who is as passionate about cities as you are. I joined the organization.

As our personal connection grew stronger, so did my belief in her work. CEOs for Cities has produced some interesting research about the status of American Cities and what will make them thrive. Carol’s clear and consistent thinking is imprinted boldly on every piece.

Then, two years ago,  Carol asked if I could gather a small “cluster” of Pittsburgh leaders together. She thought we might begin to explore city issues as a group.  I invited some friends to breakfast and so began my CEOs for Cities adventure.

Our “small” cluster has grown to 30 heads of significant organizations. Our monthly conversations are dedicated to the city and how to further it. We’ve talked about city county consolidation, buses, campaign finance reform, streets, and the essence of cities. We’ve sponsored a few events, and we hope to sponsor more. Connections are being made.

Now, thanks to Carol, we have a local network of urban leaders who are dedicated to building the next generation of this city.  Her influence continues and the work begins.