We would like to respond to the two June 3 letters titled “Event Hurt Businesses” and “Yes, Poor Routing.”
OpenStreetsPGH was — by actual fact — a success for many restaurants and retailers in the area, including established, small, family-owned businesses like Wildcard in Lawrenceville, whose owner Rebecca Morris told us she “loved the first Open Streets PGH event!!” and “had lots of new customers come by.” Exclamation points are her own.
We estimate that more than 15,000 people attended the event between 8 a.m. and noon, thousands of them shopping and eating their way through our beloved neighborhoods. Many storeowners have told us they had great feedback from customers and multiple people asking about the dates for the next OpenStreets, which are Sunday, June 28, and Sunday, July 26 — for those wanting to know.
Bar Marco, Franktuary, La Prima Espresso and others participated in the event to rave reviews from the public, including one gentleman who tweeted: “Today’s @openstreetspgh was so successful that @Franktuary ran out of bacon. RAN OUT OF BACON.”
If an OpenStreets bacon shortage wasn’t enough, restaurants on Butler and Penn that were originally scheduled to be closed — you guessed it — opened early. Or, like many folks we’ve talked to, plan to open early for the next event.
So, please, come to Open-Streets in June or July and bolster your favorite businesses — including some that just added a new day to their schedules.
EVE PICKER
OpenStreetsPGH Chair
Downtown
The letter also was signed by the other OpenStreetsPGH chairs: Kim O’Dell, Mike Carroll and Gloria Blint.
First Published: June 11, 2015, 4:00 a.m.