Pittsburgh’s legendary spirit of public-private partnership is being brought to bear to meet the needs and challenges facing post-pandemic downtown.
$2M
in additional support of stabilization and cleanup
84 planters
with regular maintenance added throughout downtown
88%
increase in Clean Team staff hours
74%
increase in Clean Team staff weekend hours
2
public restooms open and staffed daily
In addition to the significant resources already pledged to improve cleanliness, safety, and overall vitality, the Allegheny Conference has convened corporate and philanthropic partners to commit additional support of at least $2 million. This will advance stabilization efforts to address immediate challenges by increasing the number of street cleaners, outreach workers, and hospitality staff to improve the downtown experience for workers, visitors, and residents.
The enhanced approach complements and extends efforts already underway to:
- Clean up and address public safety concerns in the Golden Triangle.
- Provide temporary public restrooms
- Increase programming and maintenance within Mellon and Market Squares
- Enhance beautification and lighting within the public realm, including 84 new planters with dedicated annual maintenance.
- For several months Allegheny Conference CEO Stefani Pashman worked in close partnership with Mayor Gainey, County Executive Fitzgerald, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership CEO Jeremy Waldrup and other key stakeholders assessing, benchmarking, engaging national expertise and exploring possible solutions to revitalize downtown.
- “Like urban cores across the country, our downtown was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Pashman. “For those of us who spend time downtown, the change has at times been palpable."
- Challenges across many issues exist: real estate, employment, crime, and unhoused populations. While these struggles are very real, so are the efforts – often behind the scenes -- of public and private stakeholders to address them. Partnerships have been forged to drive toward a safe and thriving core. There is still work to be done in returning downtown to vibrancy, but we are seeing a positive shift and, I believe, we are gaining momentum.
- “In the short term,” Pashman continued, “we are focusing our efforts on cleaning up and stabilizing downtown with a commitment of at least $2 million from private and philanthropic sector partners to improve the cleanliness and vitality of downtown. In parallel, we are working with partners and stakeholders to develop a vision and longer-term strategy that reimagines downtown not as it was prior to the pandemic but as it needs to become to ensure a vibrant future for all who work, live and play here.”