On Tuesday, March 3rd, Pittsburgh's City Council had its first public discussion of a plan that could turn Downtown Pittsburgh into a "24-hour city." The proposal, more than a year in the making, is entitled "The Pittsburgh Downtown Plan - A Blueprint for the 21st Century". Its intention is to revitalize the Golden Triangle and nearby areas such as the north and south shores of the Strip District.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the proposal's possibilities included:

  • Extending a tunnel from the Wood Street Station below existing building to the new Lazarus department store, which is to open this fall.
  • Creating "water trolleys" to link Downtown with the north and south shores.
  • Turning the Boulevard of the Allies into a true boulevard, presumably by using landscaping, trees, flowers and brick sidewalks, along with planters that possibly could be placed down the middle of the street, as was done when Grant Street was beautified in the late 1980s.
  • Luring specialty stores Downtown, such as clothing stores like The Gap and Banana Republic or high-end home furnishing/dishware/cookware stores like Crate and Barrel and Williams-Sonoma. A Chicago firm, Urban Retail Properties, is working with city officials to enliven the mix of retail stores along Fifth and Forbes avenues.
  • Correcting the problem of a lack of Downtown grocery stores by attracting "specialty grocers," smaller stores selling such things as fresh fruits and vegetables, organic foods or gourmet items, especially gourmet take-out foods.
  • Saving Downtown's "sliver buildings": tall narrow structures with one retail store on the ground floor and several upper stories that are usually empty.
  • Locating a multi-screen cinema, perhaps with 10 theaters, around the lower end of Fifth Avenue, near Liberty Avenue.
  • Increasing the use of the Sixth Street Bridge by pedestrians -- to make it easier to walk from Downtown to the North Side and back -- and closing it for special events.
  • Figuring out a way to reduce the traffic backup at Grant Street and Seventh Avenue.
  • Completing construction of the lower level of the Allegheny riverfront park by fall and working with PennDOT on the upper level of the park along Fort Duquesne Boulevard.
  • Beautifying the underpasses on the North Shore below the highways.
  • Working with Downtown stores and employers on programs to encourage their employees to use public transit.
  • Increasing shuttle bus service between Downtown and the Strip district.

Visit the OnTV Bulletin Archive.