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Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership Looks To Grow City, Seeks Public Input On Future Plans

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Downtown Pittsburgh has seen businesses come and go in the last 15 months.

As vaccination rates increase, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is looking to grow the city and find out what will bring people back to the city center.

"Pre-pandemic, there was a vibrancy downtown. The only way we will bring the vibrancy back is to have people regionally come down to downtown and frequent the businesses," said Dana Garcia, the vice president of Corporate Real Estate for Highmark Health.

It's those people that the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is targeting.

"We want to understand the challenges that you are facing or anticipating and more importantly the vision on where things need improving," said Chris Watts, mobility director for the PDP.

After two years of researching and planning, the PDP unveiled the Downtown Mobility plan. It is a plan that aims to change infrastructure and the landscape to push the city into the future.

"Having sidewalks that work and beautiful streetscapes that have beautiful art and outdoor dining as appropriate, but also lighting to make things safe in different corridors," Watts said.

Some ideas may seem small or cosmetic, but Watts said a plan like this helps to drive investment opportunities to tackle the bigger projects like connecting the riverfronts to business districts with pedestrian walkways.

"At a high level, this really positions downtown to be more aggressive to improve upon what we already think is a great place and make it better," Watts said.

This plan won't be enacted overnight, but before it fully moves forward, the PDP wants your input over the next two months. You can find the survey here.

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