Growth Without Growth - Pittsburgh as a "wealth builder"

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

To stand up for tourism a bit, some of the jobs are decent, and many of the others are at least decent for entry-level work. Tourism can also help support amenities that in turn serve local populations--for example, residents Downtown will likely have better amenities available during evenings and weekends if those amenities are being cross-supported by tourists as well as office-workers.

I do think it can become a problem when tourism is your dominant industry. But I don't think Pittsburgh is in any danger of that. And although you can't base the whole case on this, I do think an urban gondola system in Pittsburgh would be a great attraction for tourists. Which, in fact, is another example along the lines above: tourists could help make such a system--which would also be of great use to residents and commuters--more economic by adding to and spreading out demand.

That's pretty much how I see it. Tourism is a useful niche industry to improve the general quality of life. If you can convince people to visit you can convince prospective high-value employees who have the choice to move here. And Pittsburgh's value for tourists should help in booking the Lawrence Convention Center.

I remember in the film "Apollo 13" a "reporter" quipped that NASA launches had become about as exciting as a trip to Pittsburgh....Ouch!!! And I heard that baseball announcers for competing teams listed Pittsburgh's as their least favorite away destination, but that has changed somewhat since.

[pman]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

To stand up for tourism a bit, some of the jobs are decent, and many of the others are at least decent for entry-level work. Tourism can also help support amenities that in turn serve local populations--for example, residents Downtown will likely have better amenities available during evenings and weekends if those amenities are being cross-supported by tourists as well as office-workers.

I do think it can become a problem when tourism is your dominant industry. But I don't think Pittsburgh is in any danger of that. And although you can't base the whole case on this, I do think an urban gondola system in Pittsburgh would be a great attraction for tourists. Which, in fact, is another example along the lines above: tourists could help make such a system--which would also be of great use to residents and commuters--more economic by adding to and spreading out demand.

it's not so much that tourism is bad, but a tourist based economy, particularly as a replacement for office work or manufacturing, is insufficient to produce income gains. tourism can only support so many people and wages are indeed lower than many other sectors. that isn't to say you shouldn't have any, but don't try to rely on it and expect to have the same kind of income. Pittsburgh as a whole is in no danger of this though the downtown numbers do indicate a shift to tourism which, if sustained, could lead to a decrease in downtown employee income. certainly, things like restaurants do best when serving a mix of locals and visitors. ..and tourism doesn't necessitate the loss of other jobs...other places simply may have pursued tourism to the detriment of other work which is better than nothing but not good enough.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

If you can convince people to visit you can convince prospective high-value employees who have the choice to move here. And Pittsburgh's value for tourists should help in booking the Lawrence Convention Center.

A very good point.

[gameguy56]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

If you can convince people to visit you can convince prospective high-value employees who have the choice to move here.

I don't know if Pittsburgh will ever be a place that's easy to convince early 20somethings to come to for nightlife and revelry if they didn't grow up around here. But I think Google and others realize that Pittsburgh can definitely fill a niche for mid-career 30somethings with families who don't want to move 30-40 miles away from a central city and deal with traffic in order to raise a family affordably. It certainly helps that Pittsburgh has comparably sized cultural institutions to much larger cities.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by gameguy56

I don't know if Pittsburgh will ever be a place that's easy to convince early 20somethings to come to for nightlife and revelry if they didn't grow up around here.

I disagree. Sorta lost in the G20 hoopla was the fact that the 2009 Netroots Nation convention of liberal/Democratic bloggers, and counter-event of conservative/Republican bloggers called RightOnline, was held in Pittsburgh. Out of an interest in what they thought of the city I tracked some of their blog posts and tweets. Overall I think Pittsburgh made a pretty good impression in terms of nightlife.

The thing is, there is plenty going on for 20somethings in places like the South Side, Shadyside, and other parts of the Greater Downtown/East End area. And even though these areas are in and around the two central business districts (Downtown and Oakland), it is possible to get decent, affordable housing in these areas.

So what's not to like if you are a 20something? Sure there are even bigger and even more active urban areas in the U.S., but often it isn't nearly so easy to afford to live in a decent place so close to the action, particularly on entry-level wages.

Of course people who didn't grow up here might not know about all that--yet. But that is kinda the point above: if more people visit Pittsburgh, and then share their impressions with others, more people will know about all that.