Mayor Ed Gainey promotes progress in Downtown Pittsburgh, but still says there's more to be done
A lot of Pittsburghers are asking the question - is it safe downtown?
In the past two years, Mayor Ed Gainey and Pittsburgh police say they've reclaimed the Golden Triangle from drug dealers while cleaning up the streets, and yet there was another shooting just this week.
A teenager was shot in the middle of the day on Wednesday on Smithfield Street as people were heading home from work, despite the mayor's efforts to decrease crime and clean up downtown, this and incidents like it continue to sow seeds of doubt among workers and visitors.
"We're not saying we are where we want to be, but we continue to see a decrease, that's progress," Mayor Gainey said. "That means we're growing, that means we're doing things that are correct."
The city said that arrests are way up thanks to beefed-up patrols and now the year-old Downtown Public Safety Center. Police said they've made scores of arrests of those possessing illegal guns and drug dealers suspected of preying on the homeless population.
After a spat of deadly shootings in recent years, there were none downtown last year and while there have been reports of random attacks on workers and the rape of a 93-year-old woman in December, Mayor Gainey said these incidents are becoming fewer and fewer.
"When you talk about decreasing then, we're getting to where we want to be," Gainey said. "At the end of the day, when you think about how many high-profile homicides we've had downtown, they haven't increased, they've decreased."
Together with the county, the city has taken down all the homeless encampments downtown and its cleaning efforts are most visible on Smithfield Street where two years ago, people camped out daily on the sidewalk.
Today, the street is empty and free of garbage which highlights another problem. Once the center of shopping downtown, Smithfield is mostly vacant stores and many office buildings are half-empty.
Mayor Gainey said that is also changing.
"We do have stores moving and you see the restaurants down there," he said. "They're packed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, you see the momentum down there."
Making downtown safe and the streets cleaner is essential for making a comeback and while the mayor said the city has come a long way, he concedes that making it a welcoming environment is a work in progress.
