3 days ago
Report on state of Downtown Pittsburgh focuses on revitalization
Is Downtown Pittsburgh growing? Is it dying? Does the outlook look good, or is it discouraging? Those questions and others were addressed Tuesday during a meeting with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and local leaders.
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is the group that puts on Picklesburgh, Light Up Night and other events. They're also the think tank and actors leading the charge to revitalize Downtown as a vibrant center for the entire region.
A few short decades ago, Downtown Pittsburgh was one of the most dynamic city centers in the country. Today, in 2025, some say it's a struggling space trying to redefine its identity. But there are people working to revitalize Downtown.
"We have a number of residential projects and conversions in the pipeline. There's currently 1,062 residential units in the pipeline for delivery to market over the next three years, and 79% of those are former office space," said Cate Irvin, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership's senior director of economic development.
Part of the strategy to grow Downtown is taking the ever-growing amount of empty office space and turning it into residential space. Another key factor is not only keeping businesses Downtown, but doing everything possible to attract new ones.
"Help address specific issues, whether that might be permitting, public safety, transit, workforce, really just about anything," Irvin said.
Safety is on the list. It comes after two people were shot in the Cultural District on Friday.
"There was the unfortunate incident this past week in the Cultural District. There's been a lot of discussion about what happened there and how to ensure it doesn't happen again. We continue to see a significant police presence in Downtown with the public safety center, but we know it's not enough," said Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership president and CEO Jeremy Waldrup.
Waldrup went on to say that more needs to be done.
And don't think this is a unique Pittsburgh problem. Many major cities throughout our nation are experiencing these same challenges.
