New initiatives to early childhood education, new bike lanes and making streets and social events cleaner and safer for the upcoming generation of Pittsburghers; these are a few of the proposals Mayor William Peduto has begun implementing in his term as Mayor of Pittsburgh. 

“He seems strong-headed and knows what he’s doing, and let’s face it, he probably can’t mess up more than the others,” said sophomore Kate Walker.

For students at Point Park, the Mayor’s new plans have them experiencing a whole new kind of Pittsburgh. 

“I’ve been in Pittsburgh for two years and I have definitely seen a change,” said sophomore Patrick Sisson. He feels as though Pittsburgh is becoming a whole new city. 

“I think Pittsburgh is changing for the better and I am all in favor for it,” Sisson said. 

Zane Kravec disagrees. 

“I really haven’t seen a huge difference in the city,” Kravec said.

The new bike lane project, started in July, is the only real change he has seen.

While students benefit from living on an urban campus, there are also a few drawbacks, such as pollution. However, students say they aren’t seeing those negative aspects of city life appear as much anymore. 

“Pittsburgh has definitely gotten a lot cleaner,” said junior Kelsey Wilkins.

Peduto has established a revamped volunteer litter program aiming to improve litter removal and lighten the work load for the Public works crew. 

He has been cutting the pothole response time in an attempt to cut down on problem areas and get them addressed within three days. With this, he hopes to make the city a friendlier place to all. 

While aestetic improvements are obvious to the public, students are unaware of how the impact in early level education benefits their own future. 

According to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Moriah Balingit, Peduto’s vision for Pittsburgh and its citizens is to grow through change and opportunity. 

His four step plan to create a better Pittsburgh includes neighborhood redevelopment and jobs, government reform and innovation, education and technology and a clean and safe city.

Through early childhood education, he hopes to inspire students to stay in primary and secondary education and fulfill their dreams at the university level. 

According to Peduto’s campaign website, “Pittsburgh must keep developing as a city of learning — a city committed to exemplary education of its citizens from birth to career and from career to lifelong learning — and providing early childhood education is essential to that development.”

“I think that his plans for education must be working well, I mean this year we have the largest freshman class so it must be working,” Wilkins said.