Come back to the 5 and Dime …

What downtown Pittsburgh really needs is a good 5 and dime, a variety store like another G.C. Murphy or H.L. Green.  In 2015 those stores are called Target or Big Lots or even TJ Maxx to some extent. And dare I mention WalMart?  Those types of stores fill the daily needs of the broadest swath of incomes and tastes, commuters and residents.  But instead, many years ago, Pittsburgh got a solution for which there was no problem.  It’s taken some time but the proof of that contention has appeared.

Macy’s announcement to close its downtown store points out more than just the evolution of the local, or even national retail environment.  The fact that the closing was not met with howls of anguish from Pittsburgh politicians and pages of copy in local newspapers analyzing the, surely negative, ramifications speaks volumes about Pittsburgh’s newfound self confidence.  The closing’s shock was mitigated in the same announcement with plans that the former Kaufmann’s building will become an upscale mixed use development which in turn supports recent assertions of Pittsburgh’s attractiveness as an investment locale.

But here I call attention to the case for remembering recent history – and hopefully not repeating it.  Ever again.  It wasn’t so long ago in the administration of Mayor Tom Murphy that the City taxpayers were committed to provide subsidies to May Department Stores so they could desecrate the architectural gem that was the former Mellon Bank building across from Kaufmann’s in order to insert a Lord & Taylor department store.  At the time I believed those types of subsidies were folly and time has proven me correct, not that it’s a reason to take satisfaction.  The important point is that the high gloss veneer provided by upscale retail is not a basis for economic development.  I am not opposed to government subsidies when they help increase employment or social wellbeing in an area.  But taxpayers deserve a real return on government investment.  For economic development projects, this means recruiting businesses that provide jobs with wages that are higher relative to the local norm and will also return tax revenues to the subsidizing government entity.  Consumer retail outlets have historically shown they are not economic growth engines.

Instead of pouring public monies into retail and real estate schemes, the City’s past Administrations would have been more productive to partner with our universities and hospitals to help expand infrastructure needed for their growth initiatives which in turn would have added high income jobs.

During the Richard Caliguiri administration I recall there was an effort to recruit a Macy’s department store to Pittsburgh in a downtown mall development, City Center, proposed for the Grant Street corridor.  I remember at the time comments made about how Pittsburgh would enter the big leagues if we had a Macy’s. Guess what? The Universe always gives you what you ask for, just not usually in the way you expect.  We got our Macy’s and in fact Pittsburgh is getting back to the economic big leagues – but the two are unrelated.  Retail follows income; retail does not create income.  Income creation is the key to economic and social development.  And Pittsburgh still sits woefully low on per capita income rankings for major metros.

Pardon a little dig.  After Mayor Murphy’s pyrrhic success at recruiting Lord & Taylor to downtown [as well as his failure to bring Nordstrom to downtown’s Fifth Avenue Place – he did love a good department store project], did His Honor move on to other development projects within Pittsburgh?  Why no; he moved to that income producing freight train that is Washington, D.C. and the Urban Land Institute, while leaving behind what became an architecturally damaged structure in the very heart of our downtown.  Experience is the best teacher and we usually learn more from failures than successes.  I hope those City officials involved in these retail fiascos remember their lessons when expounding on solutions for America’s urban areas from well located think tank pedestals such as the ULI.  

And what downtown Pittsburgh needs is a good 5 and dime. With a shout out to Robert Altman.

It Pays to Advertise, even a little

No, this is not a discussion about Pittsburgh’s seemingly genetic inability to promote itself.  I’ll make that topic a rant for the future.  As Steve Case, the founder of AOL said at a recent economic development conference in Pittsburgh, the city “has a humility, a reluctance to beat its chest and talk about all the great things” happening here.  But these are times when such an approach is more vice than virtue.

What I’d like to see is Pittsburgh advertise itself as a destination for the job seekers from across the globe, but specifically today, those that will be coming from Greece.

Look, the economic mess in Greece is not going to be resolved with a quick solution.  Already there are reports of a “brain drain” as Greeks with the education, skills and financial wherewithal migrate to countries from northern Europe to Canada to Australia.  I have to believe because of history and family connections, a certain number will come to the States.

The “Washington Post” recently reported that Greece’s population has a higher percentage of college graduates than the US.  Those degree holders would find Pittsburgh a natural landing spot.  With a historically large Greek community already in place and with jobs available in the fields of medicine and engineering, Pittsburgh is attractive to degreed immigrants from any country on earth looking for a better life.  Isn’t that obvious?

So let’s advertise it.