The next time someone tells you that Pittsburgh is losing population, yell at them.
For the first time in 19 years the Census reports that the number of people migrating into the Pittsburgh region in 2009 exceeded the number migrating out. The remaining tiny population loss of 434 people last year is accounted for by more people dying than being born. We are still a very old region.
So get busy. Lets young up and shake that “really old” title as well.
Black is de rigeur in Paris
Black coats, black boots, big black scarves, and even black hair. Black is as certain as the methodical parade of grey stone buildings on every Parisian street. Paris wears black well. Tres chic.
At home the exuberance of individuality is as messy as the backdrop of our chaotic buildings and streets. Black hair is eclipsed by blond, red and even purple strand. Colorful clothing abounds. Gaudy sneakers encase happy feet.
The elegance of Paris and its inhabitants pleases me. The exuberance of my fellow Americans puts a smile on my face.
Back by popular demand! We’ve gathered 10 more brilliant Pittsburgh minds to tell you about their funkiest, biggest, hairiest. most brilliant ideas for change. Give us 30 minutes on December 9, and we’ll change the way you see the city at this cityLIVE! event. Forget feasibility, funding or anything as ridiculous as consensus-building. We asked for ‘thought-provoking’ and ‘outside the box’.
You’ll want to meet our panelists after the show. A glass of wine and a chat to polish off the evening. Hilary Robinson, dean of the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University. Raymar Hampshire, the young founder of sponsorchange.org. Jon Rubin, CMU Art Professor and the man behind the wildly successful Waffle Shop. Susan Everingham, the director of RAND’s Pittsburgh office. Scott Faber, a developmental pediatrician at the Children’s Institute. Alexi Morrissey, artist. Priya Narasimhan from Carnegie Mellon’s Mobility Center and founder of YinzCam. Janera Solomon of the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater. LaVerne Baker Hotep from the Center for Victims of Violence and Crime. Sean Jones of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra. They make for spicy conversation.
And to make sure that we don’t take ourselves too seriously, Chris Potter, the renowned editor of City Paper, will moderate with his unabashed and ascerbic charm.
You can read about last year’s event here. Greg Viktor will be writing a story again on it this year, in case you miss the event again.
But you won’t, will you? See you there …
While I write this at four in the afternoon, in Pittsburgh the day I have just enjoyed has not yet dawned.
A week ago I made my way half way across the world. First, bright-eyed, from Pittsburgh through Minneapolis St. Paul to Los Angeles. Then, bleary-eyed from LA to Melbourne in Australia. Every time I make this journey I am determined to spend the horrendously long travel time well and at first I do. I read, I write and I work. By the end of the first fifteen hours, when I board the plane from LA to Melbourne, my resolve crumbles and the remaining hours are spent dozing while watching bad movies.
When I arrive I fight my way through the fog of jet lag (ferocious since the time difference is sixteen hours) to reconnect with my parents, my sisters and my nephew. Family visits crammed into two weeks always leave me feeling dissatisfied. They are both too short and too long. I vow I won’t eat too much so I don’t have to wrestle the pounds back off when I get home. But the food is a reminder of the home I grew up in. For two weeks I am tempted by the tastes that I cannot take home with me. Milk bars, laksa, licorice, ginger beer, turkish bread and tropical fruit are all stronger than me.
Although I am Australian by birth, by now I have spent half my life in America and I am caught forever in between. My strange half Australian half American accent marks me. Interesting in my adopted town. A defector in my country of birth. Quizzical looks wherever I go.
A few years ago I set about finding a way to fit in on these visits to Melbourne. The trail that runs beside my sister’s house loops its way through and around the city. This has become the starting point for my visits. Two days after I arrive, my head still slightly foggy, I pull out her ancient bike and cautiously ride down the trail that was once unfamiliar but now belongs to me. Here I fit right in. On a bike my strange accent is barely noticeable.
Here, on the trail, I am surrounded by people of every ethnicity. This is where the people of the city congregate, on its trails and in its parks. This is where differences fade away. Just like in Pittsburgh.
Is the rush out of Pittsburgh finally over?
Was there ever really a rush?
Every year since 1995 Christopher Briem has updated his annual report on migration trends in and out of the Pittsburgh region. Every year an average of 13% of the population has migrated out the Pittsburgh Metro Statistical Area and almost the same number has migrated in.
While in the past the local media has focused on the 13% who choose to leave, Pittsburgh is apparently attractive enough for almost the same number to choose to come. Just a sliver has separated these two numbers in past years. For every 10 that leave, 9 others find reason to come, a mere 10% imbalance. This was never a profound imbalance but just a slow leak that eventually had to be plugged. That moment has now come.
For me, this year’s report marks the beginning of the end. The decline of net population loss has been steady since 2005. In 2007 – 2008, there was a net population loss of just 738 people. That is just 0.25% of the population. Nothing. Nobody worth talking about.
Nothing worth talking about, except for this.
In past years the local media has trumpeted Pittsburgh’s migration misfortunes loudly, focusing on those leaving instead of those coming. I suppose because this year’s loss number is so pitifully small it isn’t much of a story. This year, the first with good news, the media are painfully silent.
But for me, this is a story worth talking about. It is another indicator of Pittsburgh’s transformation. The point is this. We are healthy. A lot of people are finding a reason to come here. Let’s keep that in mind. And let’s keep them coming.
I can hardly wait for the 2008 – 2009 numbers!
Audrey Russo, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council, is taking a vacation. At my loft. Downtown. Half a block from the epicenter.
You may wonder how this came about.
About a week ago Audrey, who has media credentials for the G20, realized how difficult it would be to come and go to downtown, so I offered a bedroom. When I met up with Audrey yesterday afternoon, she was already weary. She had started the day early with Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google. She had put on two events with him, and there was networking still to do at the Welcome World event.
That evening, back at my loft, after downing a beer and some carrot cake, Audrey went to bed. She didn’t resurface until 9:30 am.
The G20 has turned our downtown home into an oasis of silence. It is surprisingly peaceful here right now. Liberty Avenue is closed to traffic. The sounds we normally hear — buses, cars and horns — are non-existent.. The silence is broken only by occasional chants in the distance.
Great place for a vacation.
Josh and Adam at the Pocono Indian Museum in Delaware Water Gap.
There’s another transformation going on, and I’m going to have to leave my old habits behind to explore it.
Just yesterday morning I had coffee with a (very) young man. Only 24 years old, Adam moved to Pittsburgh a year ago and likes it here. He did not come for a job. He brought his job with him. As a programmer he can work virtually wherever he likes.
One year into his stay, Adam has decided to dig in. This is where he is going to stay. He has some energetic and creative business ideas that I for one want to see come to fruition. He shows the sort of focus and passion that I wish some of my older friends had hung onto. Now, they are jaded and cynical about Pittsburgh’s future and about what we can accomplish.
He is not.
Adam likes it here, likes his lifestyle, lives in a loft and can bike everywhere. He is fascinated by the stories he hears of young entrepreneurs and the interesting businesses they are starting here. He wants to tell those stories so that people will understand what Pittsburgh, the authentic Pittsburgh, is really like.
We talked about how he might disseminate these stories. And that’s when he floored me. As I blathered out my traditional list of economic development agencies, he bubbled forth with a list of blogs, web sites, and groups I had never heard of. He looked blank when I said the words, Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, as if I was from Mars. At the moment I understood how much I have to learn if I’m going to help shift Pittsburgh’s meter from mediocre to spectacular. I’m going to have to learn what he and others like him want, not what we think they want.
I’m going to have to stop doing business as usual.
I felt energized by that meeting. He thanked me, but truthfully I should thank him. For his excitement about Pittsburgh. For reminding me not to become jaded and cynical. For showing me that there is always a new way.
cityLIVE! Pittsburgh is celebrating the start of it’s third season. Three seasons of excellent panelists, engaging topics, delightful networking and free wine. Come hobnob with some of our funders and panelists at my loft downtown on September 16, from 6 – 8 pm. Help us to build a fantastic third season. $100! It will go a long way.
RSVP to eve@nowall.com
Yesterday I blew my diet, big time, at Big Mama’s House of Soul.
For several years the bright yellow House of Soul in Pittsburgh’s Strip District has screamed BBQ at me. Shame on me for not stopping sooner. On Tuesday I finally did. Big Mama was there, but “Oh honey” she said “ I need a rest on Monday and Tuesday. The ribs will be cooking again tomorrow morning”.
And so yesterday I went back for Big Mama’s ribs all cooked from scratch. The dining table is a big picnic table outside, tented to protect you from rain. Street noise fills in for background music. Ronel, Big Mama’s grandson, helps her out in the kitchen and says she is the sweetest woman alive. No amount of coaxing would get him to divulge his grandma’s secret twenty-seven spice jerk chicken recipe. He tells me that Big Mama’s recipes have been handed down in his family for one hundred years. One hundred years in Pittsburgh.
One hundred delicious years.
I overate. My hands were sticky with BBQ sauce. I’m sure I weigh five pounds more today. Damn, it was worth it.
I worked at my favorite coffee shop, Big Dog, on the South Side today.
It’s Sunday. I shouldn’t have been working. I didn’t want to be working. I coaxed myself over there with a ride along the luscious south side trail and rewarded myself with one of their fabulous cappuccinos. Big Dog’s cappuccino is the best in town.
I wasn’t alone. Over here was Mark DeSantis, former mayoral candidate, working hard and laughing loud. And over there was Franco Dok Harris, current mayoral candidate, cramming for his MPRE exam.
Big Dog must be where the big dogs hang.
RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Ride Across Iowa) is a week long ride from the west to east end of Iowa. Every year, in the last week of July, 15,000 riders participate. Seriously. 15,000.
My friend Seth Gernot rode it last week with VIRGIN tattooed down his calves. It was his first time, but definitely not his last. The 450 mile journey crossed Iowa from the Missouri River to the Mississipi. Although the days are long, the intent is not to finish them fast. ragbrai is a celebration first and a ride second.
The towns on the route were small, as small as 2,000, but they rolled out large quantities of food and alcohol. Seth ate 13 different kinds of pie on the ride. He stretched the limits of his spandex shorts.
15,000 tourists in the state of Pennsylvania wouldn’t be bad would they? They could ride from Pittsburgh to Philly and visit every country fair and hamlet on the way. They could eat pierogi, hot italian sausage sandwiches and drink local beer.
I want to stretch the limits of my spandex shorts. I’ll do it in Iowa if I have to. But I’d love to do it in Pennsylvania first.
Tonight I joined the throngs in downtown Pittsburgh and settled on the Clemente Bridge for the fireworks show. I’m used to a certain tone, a certain crowd and a certain reticence downtown. It was different tonight. Gone were the men in suits. Gone were the commuters, replaced instead with a diverse and exuberant crowd. Lawn chairs, strollers, blankets and picnics lined the river. Loud music filled the air. Flip flops and sandals were the uniform of the night.
Tonight, downtown Pittsburgh belonged to everyone. Tonight Pittsburgh did it right.
I’m married to a stubborn man.
Several years ago he and our son decided to buy a hobie cat. It’s a big sailboat and requires dedication to sail regularly. I had to build serious muscles to help step the mast. We’ve spent many happy weekend days sailing at Lake Arthur nearby, or a little further afield at Presque Isle
Last year, John started muttering a lot about the insanity of not being able to sail on our gorgeous rivers. He dreamed of being able to ride a bike to the boat, and heading off for a sail with the ease that only an urban lifestyle would allow. He dreamed of the rivers dotted with romantic sailboats.
Then he started to plan. Research came first which he accomplished by running up and down the rivers, watching the currents and scouting potential launch locations. Eventually he settled on a site just north of the West End Bridge. An obliging marina owner was willing to go along with John’s idea to launch from the grassy bank there.
Next came the selection of the perfect boat. The Bravo was it, another Hobie and not much more than a surfboard with two hulls and a sail. He put a deposit on it. Then he set about learning how to sail it, and how to sail the rivers. This was not an easy task, which he chronicled in his blog. He kept going back until last weekend he made it all the way to the 6th Street Bridge.
Wow!
While docked next to Kayak Pittsburgh, passers by commented, “Great to see someone sailing on the rivers!” and “Do you own that,” another hopeful called out, “Or did you rent it?!” And this set the final phase of John’s plan in motion. It’s time to get more sailors on the rivers. He knows that sailing the rivers is tricky. He knows that an alternative source of power is necessary – in case the wind drops, or in case the sailor gets confused about wind direction, or in case a barge moves faster than expected. How best to make it possible for others to enjoy?
John has found the answer. A Trimaran, called the Adventure Island. It has a simple sail system that anyone can easily learn and it has foot pedals that propel the boat if you’ve lost the wind. They’re not so different from the kayaks rented out by Kayak Pittsburgh.
Is that what is next for the rivers? Pretty soon, John hopes, when the water is blue and winds are fair, he’ll see you sailing alongside him.
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.
double wide grill, a restaurant in Pittsburgh’s south side
Every now and then I feel like I’m glued to my chair, glued to my computer, glued to my life. It’s hard to change gears but by now I remember the way it feels when I do.
Woolen bicycle shirt, comfy shorts, keen sandals and my ipod are all I need to break away. Just 300 feet and I hit a trail. Once I’m on my bike and I ride the gorgeous Pittsburgh rivers I’m unglued. Completely. Mesmerized by Leonard Cohen, the rhythmical motion of my legs and the seemingly endless trails, the 20 miles go fast.
At the end, the reward is great. My bike leans up against a fence. My helmet is on the table. The air is warm, The food is here.
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!
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.
My son arrived home rather unexpectedly last Wednesday night. He left early on Tuesday morning a married man.
Jonathan was almost 25 when he enlisted in the army 6 months ago. This may not be every parent’s dream but I am proud of him. He took a bold step towards a life he wanted to lead, and left the love of his life behind to do it. On this brief trip home he planned to tie himself to her forever.
My work was interrupted by their request for help on Thursday afternoon. They wanted to get married by Tuesday and didn’t know where to begin. Neither did I. I had eloped in London many years ago. Weddings are not my strong point. Since downtown Pittsburgh is my neighborhood, I sent them off with $75 to apply for a marriage license at the City County Building. Over the next three days, a plan was laid and executed.
Monday morning was busy. We picked up the bride’s bouquet at Fragile Paradise just a few doors down, pies from the Strip and her parents from Greentree. Walking to the City County building for the ceremony was not an option, due to heels and an elderly grandmother. Instead the wedding party rode the brief mile in two vehicles — men in my red jeep and women in my daughter’s beaten up Honda. We made sure that bride and groom did not set eyes on each other until they were inside the marriage license office.
As we crossed Grant Street the bride walked cautiously in her beaded ivory dress with bouquet clasped in front of her. Heads turned, horns tooted and people smiled as she crossed the street. A bride on Grant Street is a rare sight.
Judge McCarthy took a break from more serious duties in the courtroom next door to perform the ceremony. An ex-marine on standing orders to marry the military he was clearly delighted to perform the duty and we with his kindness.
It was a wedding to be remembered. A reflection of our life downtown — beautiful and very very urban.