Workers, visitors have mixed reaction to Pittsburgh mayor's claim that Downtown is 'doing well'

Kevin Hu starts every day by cleaning up the area outside the Downtown Pittsburgh store where he’s worked since 2015.

“I love Pittsburgh,” he said Thursday while working at The Headgear, a hat shop on Forbes Avenue. “I love the city.”

But Hu said he’s sometimes frustrated by the cleanliness of Downtown.

“The city isn’t that clean,” he said, explaining that he tries to do his part by keeping the area around The Headgear clean. “I cannot clean the whole street.”

Customers have complained to him about the area being “dirty” and “dead,” Hu said.

“We need a beautiful place — a beautiful, clean space,” he said. “I hope Downtown will get clean.”

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey in a public forum this week said the city’s Downtown is “doing well.” He joined other local leaders in pushing back on the narrative that Downtown Pittsburgh has become unsafe or dirty.

Gainey said local businesses are doing “phenomenal” compared to pre-pandemic years.

Hu didn’t quite agree. He said he thinks there aren’t as many people in the area as there used to be before the covid-19 pandemic. He couldn’t say for certain whether cleanliness or other factors — like fewer people working from offices — were to blame, but he said he’s noticed the trend of fewer people out and about in the area in recent years.

“There are no people Downtown,” he said. “Sunday is quiet, even Saturday.”

Quay Jones said she doesn’t feel safe working at the Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream shop on Forbes Avenue, where she’s worked for about a year and a half.

“I do not feel safe down here,” she said, adding she also thinks it’s unclean. “During the day, it’s fine, but at night, I feel like a lot of shenanigans happen.”

Others, however, agree with Gainey’s assessment that Downtown is actually doing pretty well.

“Honestly, it’s pretty nice,” said Deamonte Bell, who works in Downtown Pittsburgh. “We have a good cultural district, good shops. I like it.”

Bell said he’d like to see more businesses open in the area, but he doesn’t have any problems with Downtown.

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Barb Myers, of Peters Township, was visiting Downtown’s Market Square on Thursday. She said she had a “good, positive” experience and didn’t see any noticeable garbage or litter.

“The media does a real good job of reporting all the bad stuff and none of the good,” she said, adding that she felt the concerns about Downtown weren’t warranted.

Myers said she didn’t feel unsafe Downtown, but acknowledged that people should “be aware” any time they’re in a crowded area, regardless of the town.

Hector Tirado, of Lancaster, was visiting the Downtown area for a couple of days while his wife attended a conference in the city. He said he hadn’t seen anything that appeared to be unclean or concerning.

“It’s nice and safe, nice stores to shop around,” he said. “People are nice.”

“I think it’s safe,” Nicole Olsen said as she participated in a farmers market event in Market Square.

She said she feels like the police presence Downtown and recent initiatives such as the new public bathrooms have helped.

But she said she also understands why some people are uncomfortable there. She said she watched a woman begin undressing in the middle of Market Square on Thursday morning, and acknowledged that incidents like that can be off-putting for people.

“People don’t want to walk past that,” she said.

Olsen urged local officials to do more to help people who are homeless or struggling in the city. Doing that, she said, would ensure people get the help they need and perhaps also make people feel more comfortable about visiting Downtown.

Em Collins, who was selling items from her Em Tree Bath & Body business in Market Square, said she’s had people come by and yell at her or other vendors a few times, but she generally thinks Downtown is “pretty good.”

She praised the Clean Team — an initiative led by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership to clean up the area — as being “very diligent” in their efforts.

But she said business and events in Downtown haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels.

“There are more people here than last year, but I don’t think it’s back to where it could’ve been if it wasn’t for the issues down here,” Collins said.