Joseph Sabino Mistick: A safer Pittsburgh needs more eyes on the street
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When the Allegheny Conference shared its ideas for a reimagined Downtown Pittsburgh this month, there were no actual proposals, just what were called “aspirational” and “visionary plans.”
Downtown tax revenue is tanking, and the city administration continues to discourage and block new development. If the Allegheny Conference is going to be an effective catalyst in this environment, we are going to need a lot more.
And any short-term hope that those ideas could be the start of a little momentum in Downtown development went down the drain later that day after a random act of violence on Smithfield Street. Sofia Mancing, an 18-year-old summer intern, was attacked from behind and beaten — her nose broken — as she was walking to her bus stop at 5 p.m.
That became the big story that Pittsburghers were talking about. Not the dreams for a better city. Only the random violent attack of someone’s daughter on a Downtown street in broad daylight.
The Gainey administration’s spokesperson responded with mind-numbing bureaucratese: “The Downtown Public Safety Center officers remain vigilant, and officers from the Violence Prevention Unit help patrol the Downtown area, as well.”
And “social workers … work directly with officers Downtown on a daily basis to assist with individuals who experience mental health or substance abuse problems that can sometimes lead to crime.”
The Gainey administration continues to try to sell the public the fable that everything that can be done is being done. That is not true. There is a simple solution — one that will guarantee a safer Downtown and one that the mayor has aggressively resisted, even though it is a proven principle of urban planning. It is this: Put more eyes on the street.
More police. There was a time when just the commotion caused by the attack on the young intern could have attracted enough nearby beat and patrol police officers to stop the worst from happening. Gainey knows that this works, because when he finally caved to public pressure and flooded the South Side with police on weekends, the violence dropped.
More city workers. Gainey should do what Mayor Cherelle Parker has done in Philadelphia, requiring all city employees to return to full-time in-office work. As Parker said, “Employee presence at the workplace” will create an “accessible city workforce that is best situated to serve the people of Philadelphia.”
More development. This is hard to believe, but developers in Pittsburgh, unlike other major cities, are not able to meet in person with the regulators who must approve their plans. Everything is online, and what should take a day or a week over the counter takes months. Final approvals take years. By then, the city has killed another project that would have increased the Downtown population, both residential and commercial.
More private employees. As Parker told the business community when she first took office, a cleaner and safer downtown area is “only sustainable if they come back to the office.” And she is leading by example.
The current street violence and harassment in the center of the city in broad daylight are relatively new to Pittsburgh. Many of us remember safer streets — more crowded streets — when Pittsburghers looked out for each other and there was safety in numbers.
The Gainey administration’s only option now is to reverse course and do everything that it can to put more eyes on the street. Without a mayor’s leadership, it may take Pittsburgh a generation to recover.