Kudos and Cranks

Kudos for the planned new Oaklander Hotel on the Pittsburgh Athletic Association property. Being managed under the Marriott Autograph Collection marque is a real coup for the neighborhood.  The architecture is pleasing and the brand is sufficiently high end to complement the development progress in the gem that is Pittsburgh’s university district.

Cranks on Mayor Bill Peduto’s smear campaign on Uber.  First he accuses Uber of being the reason Pittsburgh did not win the Smart Cities Challenge competition.  [Full disclosure: a friend of mine works for a global engineering construction firm that has been hired to assist Columbus with their winning projects and he tells me Columbus’ approach was more in line with what the feds wanted for this initiative.]  Then he launches a public relations campaign accusing Uber of not using its resources to benefit more Pittsburghers.  Huh?  Seems to me Uber is providing a lot of benefit to Pittsburgh and the region by locating a major research effort in the City and providing hundreds of jobs that may grow into the thousands.  And high paying jobs at that.  Being blunt, let’s face facts:  beggars can’t be choosers.  In my DNA I know, and in my bones I feel Pittsburgh is truly one of the most special places on the global map.  However, it’s certainly not a hot spot for economic success by most current definitions.  Companies like Uber are the way to make up for a period of economic stagnation tracing back to WWII.

Kudos to Ford Motor Company and Argo AI for bringing $1B in investment “to Pittsburgh”.  I qualified that statement as I will wait to see how many jobs are actually created in Pittsburgh given Ford’s plans to also spread research across Detroit and the Bay Area. Still it’s a nice public relations win for us.

Cranks again on Peduto’s Administration for somehow screwing up the Penn Plaza redevelopment.  Now there are lawsuits and counter lawsuits.  WTF?  OK, I know I will be lambasted for saying this but I’ve lived in gentrifying cities all my life – from Boston in the 70s to a New York back from bankruptcy’s brink in the 80s to the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta when its total metro area was [believe this or not] still smaller than Pittsburgh’s.  Gentrification happens.  You cannot stop it if a city is to grow and prosper.  Stopping development is not the way to make impoverished citizens’ lives better nor encourage the arrival of new citizens who can create wealth for a larger community. Pandering to the overly progressive crowd may score political points for a politician who is seeking future offices but it has never been shown to make citizens lives better.  I would hate Pittsburgh to become another… Caracas.

Kudos to Angelique Bamberg and Jason Roth of the Pittsburgh “City Paper” for their always well-reasoned and well-explained restaurant reviews.  Particular props for a recent review that complimented a restaurant’s restrained use of the “industrial look” in their fixtures.  Bamberg and Roth noted that it may be time Pittsburgh broke out of its adulation of its industrial past and went for interior architecture that provides more light and air. Bravo!  Less brick and more glass please, interiors and exteriors!

Kudos to Pitt, CMU and UPMC for their April 18^th conference, The Next Big [Data] Thing.  Let’s finally get some momentum on Pittsburgh putting together the obvious pieces of high tech know-how, software engineering, medical and bio-engineering expertise, and a good quality of life environment to start a world class, world ranked, world beating digital health industry.  The Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance is thinking the right way when UPMC’s Program Director notes that Pittsburgh has all the components present to become as dominant in digital health as coastal university centers.  Bravo!  Let’s get competitive here, economically speaking.

Lastly, I have to quote HM Queen Elizabeth who famously referred to a bad year in the Royal Family’s life as her “annus horribilis”.  Well over the last few months, Pittsburgh has suffered the same with the deaths of Thomas Starzl, Arnold Palmer, Dan Rooney and Henry Hillman.  Great cities always find new blood to carry on the vision and work of their best leaders.  Let’s support those who can fill the shoes of those Steel City heroes.