"The Politics of Pittsburgh"

[TheGerbil]

This article might be worth talking about: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19096133/site/newsweek/

I didn't read the whole thing because I couldn't quite stomach it past the second page. It's certainly interesting, but I feel like it's another one of those hyperbolic articles where opinions and assumptions pose as facts. It makes the city's situation sound dire. It's misleading about other things too. Well, the fact that he quotes Bill Steigerwald basically says it all.

What do you think of it? It's got some interesting points but the general tone irritates me.

[globalburgh]

My reaction is somewhat different. I read his article as another unabashed Pittsburgh booster who thinks that the situation should be so much better since the city is so great. The author's optimism about Mayor Luke isn't grounded in any facts (if anything, the deck seems stacked against the mayor) and the call for attracting more 20-somethings to the city is easier said than done.

On the whole, the article is positive publicity for Pittsburgh, but there isn't any substance to the argument. It comes across as another homer piece, which I doubt helps the city's national image.

[TheGerbil]

Interesting that you read it so much differently than me. I guess you were focusing on the stuff about the mayor, while I was focusing on the comments about the city. But it looks like we both agree that the article is generally not good for the city's image

Ever since the census estimates came out there's been so much speculation and negative commentary out there. It saddens me. For quite a while there, I felt the city was getting some great positive press and general respect. That kind of gets overshadowed, in my mind, by this population loss crap.

If nothing else, I want the population loss (however small) to reverse so that all this bad press will fade.

[globalburgh]

I think you overestimate the power of the negative press. Outsiders don't know enough about Pittsburgh to care either way. That said, I'm reading lots of positive takes about Pittsburgh with the coverage of the U.S. Open ramping up. This morning, I read an article from a Winnipeg journalist who wrote that he had no idea how "gorgeous" Pittsburgh actually is.

Concerning the shrinking population stuff, Pittsburghers are much more obsessed with that skewed story than the rest of the United States. At times, I think Pittsburghers have some odd (and misinformed) ideas about their city.

[urbanophile]

Interesting that you read it so much differently than me. I guess you were focusing on the stuff about the mayor, while I was focusing on the comments about the city. But it looks like we both agree that the article is generally not good for the city's image

Ever since the census estimates came out there's been so much speculation and negative commentary out there. It saddens me. For quite a while there, I felt the city was getting some great positive press and general respect. That kind of gets overshadowed, in my mind, by this population loss crap.

If nothing else, I want the population loss (however small) to reverse so that all this bad press will fade.

[TheGerbil]

Maybe I do overestimate the power of bad press. But I have met enough outsiders who were negatively influenced by such things, that I can't help it. But I suppose most of them were here for college, and thus paying more attention than some random person in Florida or whatever.