Several groups already are at work. And PG Benchmarks will announce its further plans on the matter early next year. Included in this edition is a report by Dan Fitzpatrick walking through more than 100 years of Oakland dreams and developments, leading up to the city's current plans for improvement. The leaders of Pittsburgh's two most prominent universities, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon, contribute their views. The rest of the section contains entries only slightly less compelling than the two winners.
Several themes emerge.
Writers including Allegheny County Executive-elect Jim Roddey and Paul Skoutelas, Port Authority general manager and chief executive officer, argue on page 6 that such a link is overdue and should become a high priority. Another strong theme is creating an entrance to Oakland. One of grandeur and inspiration rather than one of rust and garbage. Many of those views appear on page 9. An issue that evoked a passionate response from many writers is the need to simply clean up the trash, fix what's broken, and generally dress up the gray and drab elements.