Leo..I had the exact same thoughts after I spent a week up there for work. On a saturday afternoon around 1:00 and it was a chore to find a place that was open to eat, and the union labor that i was forced to deal with was as you expect.

When you would ask the locals where everyone was, they would just answer matter factly, "no one lives in the city." Those type of cities always seem dead to me.
Rob | Homepage | 02.09.07 - 9:26 pm | #

Carnegie Mellon is one of the premier technical schools in the world, why hasn't that translated into a tech industry like Stanford and MIT? Where do those students who lived in Pittsburg at least 4 years end up? Maybe they don't really love it there.
kaptain kirk | 02.10.07 - 1:02 pm | #

on a slightly unrelated note, unions seem to be killing off business here in York, PA as well. CAT closed up shop about 8 years ago and moved out of state when they decided not to recognize the unions demands there.
We're a week and a half into the Harley Davidson strike here now. I'm curious how this will play out.
greg | 02.10.07 - 3:17 pm | #

Come to Seattle. Not only do we have tech, hope and hills, but killer views.
bago | 02.10.07 - 8:34 pm | #

I've thought about this problem. How do you resuscitate city to bring back jobs, communities, cultural life?

A few things come to mind.

The first is unlibertarian. Government is good at creating infrastructure (cf., interstate highway system) and there's a case that they're qualifed and justified to do so. So one thing I would is try to create a uniquely advantageous transportation infrastructure that links a dying city with a thriving one. Imagine: what if you could get from Pittsburgh to DC in 90 minutes via a high-speed train? How many DC area grunts would just up and head for the Alleghanies, where home prices are cheap, and happily use their 3hrs of total commuting time to type away at their laptops? (And yes, I know, for political reasons--perhaps good ones--this would never happen.)

Okay, so you thought that last one was pie in the sky, wait 'til you here this. How do you get people to go to ANY place given the obvious and immovable constraint that you can't force them? You make it a good deal. How do you make it such a good deal that people will go when their family is in Memphis or Dallas or Atlanta or Hartford? One word: Homesteading. Find a large tract of city-owned property that's either fallow or under-utilized. Fix it up and then give it away. Again, I realize that no one will go for this. But remember, homesteading turned the frontier from wilderness to western civilization.

Another proposal is to try to make the city more immigrant-friendly. I don't know how you'd do that but immigrants are great for a local economy (think Miami).

Finally, you could liberalize certain restrictive policies. Turn Pittsburgh into Vegas. Order cops to ignore indoor marijuana use. Create a red-light district where indoor prostitution is taxed, monitored by health board, etc. Legalize gambling.

What the hell else rescued Vegas from being just like some dusty shithole town in South Texas?
gancini | 02.11.07 - 4:59 pm | #

Gancini's got my vote
Area Man | 02.12.07 - 2:29 pm | #

Pittsburghers, or simply 'Burghers.
Merlyn | 02.12.07 - 4:51 pm | #

that's right leonardo...time to come to seattle! as for pittsburgh, fuck the steelers
Philip Dawdy | Homepage | 02.12.07 - 6:01 pm | #

hello,

i am a local Pittsburgher and I really think that your views of Pittsburgh are skewed.

yea, we lost alot of money and popularity after the steel industry collapsed, but that doesn't mean that we're without hope or depressed about it.

From what i have seen, nobody has more pride or love for their city than pittsburgh. It's true that once a pittsburgher, always a pittsburgher, and I've seen people throw down over disrespect for our city as far north as toronto!

Even though the steel is gone, we are still on top of the medical technology which has been a driving force now for a while.

I don't want to get into details because i honestly don't know to much about what is driving this city to remain on the map, but I do know that nobody who lives here feels "hopeless' or sad about where we stand.

We are all proud to live in a city built by the blue collar worker for the blue collar worker and wouldn't trade it for anything! Think about how many black and gold bars there are all over the US, at least one in every state, this pride goes way beyond our football team, it's the overall pride that we live in the best city on this earth and will stand up for it no matter what the cost.

Long live pittsburgh, go black and gold.

PS - phillip dawdy is just jealous that his city isnt worth dying for.
Drew | Homepage | 02.20.07 - 10:58 am | #