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A dozen ideas for a better Pittsburgh

A dozen ideas for a better Pittsburgh


Stacy Innerst, Post-Gazette Illustration

Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor says he's looking for a 'wow!' why stop at one? Here's a dozen.

By the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Business Staff

In honor of the 2006 Winter Olympics, the Post-Gazette Business staff offers a dozen "Olympian" ideas to turn the region around and get it back on the national map. Some are shamelessly ripped off from others; some are our own. Some are perhaps pie-in-the-sky; others seem doable. Some may require some public funding; others should stand on their own. But all offer something this region can use -- an injection of fun, mixed with some risk-taking and topped off with some big thinking.

FOOTBALL MADNESS

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Outfit Heinz Field with a retractable dome so that Pittsburgh can be a Super Bowl destination instead of just the home of championship teams. And play off that to create a year-round Super Bowl Experience where fans can come and relive the past of all Super Bowls; as part of that, also acknowledge and create a place showcasing the region's rich broadcasting history by creating a sportscasters hall of fame.

DOWNTOWN FUN

Turn lower Forbes Avenue into a halfpipe, for snowboarding in the winter and skateboarding in the summer. It would run through Market Square, which is reborn as a place of cafes, sports shops, green grocers, an upscale grocery market and other amenities to serve younger -- and older -- sportsters as well as the growing number of Downtown residents. And it would end where Liberty, Stanwix and Forbes intersect, in the triangular area across from Fifth Avenue Place. Landscaping, seating, tables and such would create a new place to hang out, have fun and catch some sun -- when there is some.

DOWNTOWN FUN, PART 2

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Run an aerial tram from Mount Washington to the North Shore, linking the former with its fancy restaurants and views to the increasingly sports-and-entertainment-oriented area around the stadiums. Use the new T station and T (slated to run under the Allegheny River) to link to the Strip District, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the Cultural District and Station Square. And along the waterfront, create a new community built on the water, not the land -- a marina-area where year-round houseboats, using the latest designs, are docked and where people actually live, saving on taxes and paying only for services they receive, such as linking to the city's sewer and water systems and for leasing dock space. Finally, top off all the waterfront walkways with a Ferris wheel at the Point, replacing a fountain that works only sometimes and honoring Pittsburgh bridge builder George Ferris, who invented the Ferris wheel.

DOWNTOWN FUN, PART 3

Put an interactive steel-making, ketchup-making, coal-mining "amusement" center, with simulated and actual rides as well as historical video and images, in the lot across from the existing Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center. Have a separate area where customers can experience pieces of movies filmed locally, including "Night of the Living Dead," "Mrs. Soffel," "Inspector Gadget," "Wonder Boys," "Silence of the Lambs," "Hoffa," "Flashdance," "The Deer Hunter," and countless others.

THE TRUE IRONMAN TRIATHLON

Bring back the Pittsburgh Marathon, but expand it to the city's rivers, hills and bike paths, making it a triathlon that combines running, cycling and swimming. The winner gets ... a houseboat in the newest Downtown community.

SALK II

Push for another "Salk-like" breakthrough, possibly at the Hillman Cancer Center in Shadyside, as a way to showcase the region's growing biomedical might and lure other specialists to Pittsburgh.

MERGER DONE RIGHT

Go forward with a true Pittsburgh-Allegheny County merger, including the 130 or so municipalities, townships and the like, to create one huge city. Use the efficiencies gained from such a true merger to lower property and wage taxes, making the broader region more competitive.

URBAN GARDENER

Put a roof garden on every Downtown building, and possibly link buildings of similar size with enclosed walkways, to create a sort of rooftop urban garden-park in the Golden Triangle. And make all of Downtown and surrounding areas -- the North Shore, South Side, Strip District -- Wi-Fi capable.

COME, LEARN, SERVE, STAY

To encourage people to move here and college graduates to stay, form a Pittsburgh Service Corps, with high school graduates receiving tuition discounts to come to one of the region's colleges and universities as well as tax breaks and other incentives, perhaps loan forgiveness, if they stick around after graduating and work in the service corps. This service corps would be assigned a variety of tasks, from upgrading and improving the region's parks and trails to running the new free "Wi-Fi" network.

BIENVENIDOS

To become more "international," make foreign languages mandatory at all public elementary schools in the region.

CONNECT THE PLOTS

Maybe new Mayor Bob was right. A trolley or perhaps an elevated automatic people mover system such as the Skybus that was debated and dismissed years ago could be used to link the state's second- and third-largest centers of commerce (Downtown and Oakland), as well as the research center along the Monongahela River in Hazelwood. The activity would spill over into the Uptown neighborhood, whose development and improvement would be added by this new transit link.

BETTING ON AIR

Turn the roughly half of Pittsburgh International Airport that's little used into a full-fledged casino. This would appease some who fear the undesirable aspects may spill over into surrounding neighborhoods; boost air travel and AirMall shopping as gamblers from all over the world will make Pittsburgh International a key destination; create a huge new revenue stream that could be tapped to a) build a new Penguins arena and b) support bonds that would be used to construct a high-speed Maglev system linking the airport to Downtown.

A casino at Pittsburgh International Airport could make the site a key destination and create a new revenue stream.


Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette

First Published: February 19, 2006, 5:00 a.m.

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