South Side's Nighttime Economy Coordinator Addresses Concerns Of Residents, Business Owners
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- New plans on Pittsburgh's South Side are making a big impact on business and public safety.
The South Side is a vibrant city neighborhood with a lot going on, new plans and lots of changes, but the problem is - no one seems to know about them.
So the member organizations of the South Side Planning Forum had a lot of questions for Pittsburgh's new nighttime economy coordinator Tuesday evening.
They asked about everything from police to parking to a lack of communication.
"I'm always trying to get more police in this area to show presence," said Tom Barry, of the South Side Chamber of Commerce. "Is there any way you can get us more police?"
"I don't have an answer for that, but I certainly would be welcome to explore that and have a conversation with people about that," said Allison Harnden, the South Side's nighttime economy coordinator.
On the parking predicament, the new public pick-up zone between 17th and 18th Streets, off-limits on weekend nights. Well, there's also a new safety zone from 12th to 17th Streets, a parking lane dedicated to police only on certain weekend nights.
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"It's come and gone. I think it will come this weekend it sounds like, and we just found out about that today," said Jonathan Growall, the president of the South Side Chamber of Commerce. "Really it's just poor communication."
But Harnden stressed public safety is the top priority.
"We're trying to approach it from a lot of different angle, and this is just one angle," she said.
But residents and business owners want a clearer picture of their elected officials' plans.
"So we're stuck between worlds here, wondering what's next," said Growall.
