PITTSBURGH — As we celebrate the 250th birthday of our country next week, we’ve been looking back at how Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania shaped the nation, but Chief Investigator Rick Earle spoke with the mayor about his hopes for the city’s future.
Earle: What does the next 250 years look like?
Mayor Corey O’Connor: Well, will there be flying cars at that point? Hopefully, a couple Super Bowls and some World Series, some Stanley Cups. That would be great.
Walking through the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, Mayor Corey O’Connor expressed hopes and dreams for the future of Pittsburgh, as the country celebrates 250 years.
O’Connor: Planning the future, though, cleaning out sites so that they’re shovel-ready for new housing and new Pittsburgh residents. You know, investing in our parks and playgrounds, and in our youth. You know that’s really where the future is.
During the past two and a half centuries, Pittsburgh has evolved from the gateway to the West to the Steel City to “Eds and Meds” and now to AI and robotics.
O’Connor: Pittsburgh’s on the cutting edge on a lot of these things and I think that’s why we want to tell the story of the talent that’s here and what they’re producing, but what it’s also going to produce for our residents. Every time there’s a new robotics company...those companies open up opportunities for jobs for our residents.
Jobs and opportunities that the mayor says will ultimately improve the quality of life.
Earle: You just want to make this a better place for people to live and raise their families?
O’Connor: I mean, that’s what it’s all about. That’s the job of the mayor.
On Friday, in Squirrel Hill, O’Connor stopped to talk to the faces of the future. When he ran into a young boy, he asked:
“You want to say anything to TV? Come on, tell us about Pittsburgh.”
Earle: What do you think about Pittsburgh?
Boy: It’s fine.
O’Connor: It’s good! It’s good!
After a few minutes O’connor realized he knew their family.
“I grew up with their dad and played Little League with their uncles, and that’s the next generation of Pittsburghers, and we want them to be living in a walkable city where you can walk to the playgrounds, you can walk to school. You know all of those things build the next generation for Pittsburgh, and that’s our approach. It is what we are doing for families in Pittsburgh every day, because that’s how you grow and that’s how you tell the new Pittsburgh story 250 years from now,” O’Cononr said.
After the exposure from the NFL Draft and some other lofty national rankings, O’Connor, despite the city’s recent financial struggles, is optimistic about the future.
O’Connor: The whole world is looking at Pittsburgh after the NFL Draft. Then, you know, to be voted number one for July 4th by USA Today is amazing. Then you see every top ten list people are sending me, top ten places to raise a family. I mean, we got to continue to build off that momentum.
If that future includes flying cars, at least one thing is certain.
Earle: If we have flying cars, we don’t have to worry about potholes?
O’Connor: Oh, that would be a nice treat. I fully support flying cars because then there would be no potholes.
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