A team of researchers at Brookings suggests ways for Pittsburgh to lock in its status as a hub of the next economy, leaving all talk of the "Rust Belt" behind.
In a report, a team of four researchers argue that "Today, the competitive advantage of the Pittsburgh region is no longer its rivers and raw materials but its high-skilled workers, world-class research institutions, and technology-intense advanced manufacturing."
Assembled via a collaboration between the Brookings Institution and Project for Public Spaces, the report discusses Pittsburgh's potential for an "innovation-based" economy. To get there, "greater investment and activity is needed in four broad areas: innovation clusters, the Oakland innovation district, high-growth entrepreneurs, and workforce development."
The report recommends close collaboration between the private sector and the city's universities, as well as the city itself. "Pittsburgh's broader economy will flourish when the lines between academic research and industry innovation are indistinguishable. [...] Well-resourced and coordinated education and workforce programs identify and attack unemployment in high poverty neighborhoods."
FULL STORY: Capturing the next economy: Pittsburgh’s rise as a global innovation city
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research