Variously described as the new Brooklyn, the new Austin or the new Portland, there can be no doubt that Pittsburgh is blossoming in ways not envisioned even a decade ago. Founded by the French in the 17th century with a log structure at the point “of the beautiful rivers,” Pittsburgh has evolved over the centuries from a pristine gateway to the West, to the engine of America, to the poster child of Rust Belt decline and, most recently, to a phoenix of reinvention. Accordingly, it’s time to pause and consider an important question: Is this just another chapter in the evolving story of Pittsburgh or a unique moment to impact our destiny?
The Buhl Foundation, Pittsburgh’s oldest multipurpose foundation, was created nearly 90 years ago when Pittsburgh was at its most powerful, its most populated and its most polluted. That juxtaposition of progress and challenge over the years has regularly produced tensions that have precipitated positive change. But now, more so than ever, there appears a window that, in this age of technology and information, can slam shut as quickly as it opened. To draw an analogy to “The Boys in the Boat,” the bestselling book about the U.S. rowing team in the 1936 Olympics, now is the time to synchronize our strokes, even to the point of exhaustion.
Since its founding in 1927, Buhl has helped birth an impressive array of regional efforts: Chatham Village, the Buhl Planetarium (now Carnegie Science Center), the Pittsburgh Foundation, the Pittsburgh Symphony, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the School of Social Work at Pitt and the Western Pennsylvania Economy League all got their start with Buhl funding. While such success depends on great ideas and the leaders to implement them, Buhl was also then in a unique position to respond to the occasion.
How dramatically things have changed. With the quickly rising tide of names such as Heinz, Mellon, Benedum, McCune, Grable, Scaife and so many more, Buhl’s endowment now holds only about 1.5 percent of regional foundation assets. Indeed, the Pittsburgh community now enjoys the largest per capita philanthropic giving of any city in the country.
Historically, however, that funding often has been dedicated to managing decline. In fact, since the 1940s and 1950s, when philanthropic assets in Pittsburgh truly began to balloon, the Pittsburgh region marched toward a steady and accelerating decline. Only recently has the momentum turned around. From its appearance at the top of virtually every metropolitan rating system to its changing national image, from the resurgence of its Downtown to the growth of the tech, meds and eds communities, Pittsburgh is now clearly on the rise.
In the philanthropic community, this change is evident as foundations seek to refocus their missions and priorities. At the Buhl Foundation, that revisioning — from managing decline to supporting growth — has resulted in a new focus on Pittsburgh’s North Side. Hundreds of North Side residents have participated in strategy sessions and thousands have responded to surveys as part of a community-driven visioning effort focused on living a dignified life in a vibrant community, fueled by quality education and dependent upon economic opportunity for all.
Similar revisioning is taking place across the philanthropic spectrum, from the Pittsburgh Foundation’s focus on “the forgotten Pittsburgh” to the Heinz Endowments’ recognition that unless we seize the opportunities of the next five to 10 years, we will have missed a generational moment to change the face of Pittsburgh.
When I began my tenure as president of the Buhl Foundation some 10 years ago, I interviewed more than 140 of Western Pennsylvania’s CEOs, university leaders, community activists and social-service providers. Two important concerns emerged: a lack of regional leadership and “our mass hysterical low self-esteem.”
How quickly things change. The G-20 Summit of world leaders held here in 2009 was clearly a turning point when Pittsburghers became confident that our incredible quality of life was not simply an impression but an objective reality. More recently, the partnership of Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, at a time when Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., are increasingly broken, has provided a steady drumbeat of forward movement unheard for at least 75 years.
As in “The Boys in the Boat,” however, the mayor and county executive can act only as coxswains who set a course and pace for regional improvement. Unless a broad contingent of leaders pulls in harmony, with a synchronized commitment to the common good and in fidelity to shared goals, we will not open a lead on the many regions with which we compete. If nothing else, Buhl’s refocusing on the North Side has shown us that progress is most easily achieved when a variety of players have the sustained ability to work together to build their own futures. And, more so now than ever, that shared destiny needs to be broad, inviting and inclusive.
Pittsburgh still has considerable challenges. At a time when more than 50 percent of individuals entering the workforce are minorities or people of color, Pittsburgh and its power structure remain far too white and, in many ways, uninviting.
At a time when the urban core is resurging, if we can’t find a place for mixed-income neighborhoods and affordable housing, we will fail not only in appealing to millennials (the workforce of the future), we also will lose the opportunity for economic revitalization, which is critically dependent on a diverse and prepared workforce.
At a time when mobility and multimodal transportation is essential to a thriving community, we must harness the innovation and visionary strength of our universities and tech community to make sure we are all connected.
We must competently manage our environmental resources to ensure that our air, water, parks and recreational amenities distinguish rather than denigrate our quality of life.
And, finally, as one of the safest major metro regions in the United States, we must restructure our dysfunctional criminal justice system to shut down the pipeline from school to prison while redeploying assets from an overutilized jail to prevention and education.
The good news is that the local drumbeat is getting louder and clearer. At no time in recent history have we had such a powerful collection of citizens working the oars. From our cultural organizations to our governmental departments, from our businesses to our nonprofits, we see a new and increasingly diverse world-class set of leaders attracted to Pittsburgh by the undeniable sense of progress and opportunity. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that we are simply approaching the starting line, that we have a long way to go, and that winning will require hard and unrelenting strokes to the point of exhaustion.
The course is set. The time is now. Pull.
Frederick W. Thieman, a former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, is president of The Buhl Foundation.
First Published: April 3, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
