Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said young people are the key to the rebirth of Downtown at an event on Tuesday, September 26.

“You see so many young people… there’s a different vibe coming,” Gainey said. “It’s not the vibe of yesterday, but it’s attracting young people. There’s no reason young people wouldn’t come Downtown if they didn’t find it attractive.” 

Gainey and Fitzgerald spoke to more than 100 people – including business owners, workers, residents and students – at the University Center GRW Theater. They talked about lowering gun violence, challenges with dealing and using drugs, specifically on Smithfield Street, and bringing people back to work in the Downtown community after the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Gainey floated the idea of placing the District Magistrate’s office Downtown to address drug and addiction-related crimes. The city has arrested 51 people for drug-related crimes on Smithfield Street, the mayor said, but they were back on the street within days. 

“The homeless is not going nowhere the homeless was here before the pandemic,” Gainey said. “All the pandemic revealed is what we tried to keep under the rug.”

Gainey said he wants the people to judge his cabinet based based on what it said they would do, not on a “miracle.”

A line up of the county panelists who spoke on Tuesday (Photos by Cassandra Harris | For The Globe)

“Homeside Downtown is low again,” Gainey said. “Doing things that we’ve done to improve the quality of life admitting to you that we’re not there yet.”

Point Park University President Chris Brussalis acknowledged that there are challenges to overcome in the city.

Brussalis said. “I think it just demonstrates that we are all in, and we’re committed to this, and so we’re happy to host something like this.”