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Pittsburgh's Big Rank Jump (Part 2)
November 14, 2002 @ 9:00 AM on 90.3
The market is down, corporate scandals have made the stock markets seem unsafe and even real estate may be on shaky ground for investors. It's been a bleak economic year throughout the country. All the while, Northeast Ohio has been dealing with the loss of momentum from its renaissance of the 1980's. Yesterday, ideastream's Shula Neuman reported on changes in Pittsburgh that - while small - have helped Southwest Pennsylvania start its own renaissance. Today, Shula reports on factors that have helped create that revitalization.
 
Shula Neuman:
Pittsburgh may not be the silicon valley of this part of the country.
However, Southwest PA has made some choices over the past decades
that are now contributing to what appears to be a comeback. Nearly
50,000 people work in hi-tech or bio-tech in Allegheny County and,
if David DeSimone has a say in it, there will be plenty of jobs in
the arts. DeSimone is senior vice president of operations for the
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust - an organization that manages five theatres
and oversees public and private investments in an area known as the
Cultural District.
David DeSimone: We also have a secondary component to what
we do, sort of a second business which is real estate development
in the sense of looking at this 14-square-block area and figuring
out how to try to make strategic investments to help the arts grow.
SN: Under the Cultural Trusts' care, what was a red-light district
30 years ago has been transformed into a neighborhood that's home
to the Pittsburgh Opera, the ballet, the symphony and several theatre
companies. Public art adorns the streets and squares, and there are
plenty of restaurants and bars to visit before or after a show. A
new convention center sits at one end of the district and a new baseball
stadium is just across the Allegheny River, easily accessible by foot
or car. DeSimone says it was all part of an extended strategic plan.
DD: The job is by no means done. There are still some noxious
uses we're looking at and a lot of investment in district amenities.
And of course, the whole idea of the land assembly was to eventually
create a residential neighborhood and we're very hopeful that we can
get that new construction. There have been some loft style buildings
that have been reconverted by the real Holy Grail is to get new construction.
SN: Unlike the Holy Grail, the quest for new construction has
actually been found. Lincoln Property Company, a Dallas based developer,
is breaking ground on an 18-story high rise residential building -
the first of its kind anywhere downtown in more than 30 years. The
developer says demand for a variety of housing options reflects the
changing corporate demographic. Gulf Oil and U.S. Steel are no longer
the primary employers and suits and ties are no longer the uniform
of corporate Pittsburgh. They've been replaced by the high-tech worker
who wants an urban experience, with artistic opportunities 24 hours
a day.
Tinsie Lipchak: This has always been, I think... this has always
been a good artist community.
SN: Tinsie Lipchak is executive director of the Office of Cultural
Tourism in Pittsburgh. She says the old brand of arts group - major
symphonies and big theatre companies - have been joined by about a
hundred smaller groups that cater to the younger, high-tech worker.
TL: I think there is the new generation, the younger people who are
recognizing the value of arts as a quality of life issue and who attend
things and like to support their fellow artist. They see the value
in that.
SN: The entire region is beginning to see the financial value
of supporting its artistic community. According to the Pittsburgh
Cultural Trust, money generated either directly or indirectly by the
arts organizations amounts to $368 million. In addition, through a
1% Regional Asset District Sales Tax for area's cultural amenities,
the county is realizing a 414% return on its investment. But beyond
the immediate fiscal returns, the younger generation of Pittsburgh
artists and professionals are using their creative energy to make
political change as well. For example, a group called Ground Zero
advocates social equity through performance art in the neighborhoods.
And there's PUMP - or the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project - an eight-year-old organization that hosts a sports club and some social events, but that primarily puts energy into lobbying state legislators for funds for things like a new ballpark or new modes of transportation.
Kristin Szymkowiac: I've been working downtown for a year and
a half, and still, it never ceases to amaze me what I didn't know
was there.
SN: While touring downtown Pittsburgh, Kristin Szymkowiac,
executive director of PUMP and a native Pittsburgher, still marvels
at her city. She might be Southwest Pennsylvania's biggest cheerleader,
but she points out that the success of PUMP is indicative of Pittsburgh's
attitude toward new opportunities.
KS: If young professionals and young people didn't feel like
they could have a voice in this city, they would not have decided
to form PUMP in the first place. And because they decided to form
it and are having their voice heard, because you can make a difference
in this town, then we continue to grow.
SN: It just may be that openness to new ideas that has helped
Pittsburgh emerge from a once dying steel town into a city which is
now being held up as a model for inspiration to other cities, just
like Cleveland was not too long ago. In Pittsburgh, Shula Neuman,
90.3.
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