Audrey Russo Gets It!

What an exciting thing to read in the latest NEXTPittsburgh Web site edition comments by Audrey Russo of the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

Yes, yes and more yes those of us that love Pittsburgh are thrilled with all the positive attention our city has recently received from both national and international sources, some of whom, other than those ubiquitous “best of” lists, actually matter.  But there is a discomfort about this and I suspect it comes from informed Pittsburghers realizing there remains a lot missing from those rosier views of our fair city.  Audrey Russo is one of those informed realists.

Here’s the money shot quote from NEXTPittsburgh’s piece with the cumbersome title “What We Love And Don’t Love About All The National Press Pittsburgh Is Getting”:

“Despite the significant press, new Census Bureau estimates show the Pittsburgh metropolitan area lost 5,051 people last year. It’s down 3,240 overall since the 2010 census, the only one of the nation’s 30 largest metro areas to have lost population.

That worries Audrey Russo, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council, who works to cultivate relationships with investors outside the region, because telling the city’s story isn’t enough.

“There’s not real investment happening here and let’s face it, that’s what matters,” says Russo, who acknowledges she’s “the biggest fan” of cool things happening in Pittsburgh but she’s troubled by the population loss.

Pittsburgh doesn’t need to grow as quickly or as much as Raleigh, N.C., but it needs to keep up, Russo says. “It’s not a marketing campaign—it’s not the days of New York saying, ‘We’re the Big Apple.’ The world is a different place and you can’t fool people. It’s a campaign to get investment here. It’s a matter of designing public policy to be attractive, and making sure the relationships are cultivated.””

Here’s the link to the whole article.  And thank you Audrey Russo.  There’s still a lot of hard, fun, rewarding, frustrating work to be done on building a better Pittsburgh.  Long may Ms. Russo and people like her work in and for Pittsburgh.

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/