Pittsburgh: Finally Back to Normal

The G-20 is now history, and participants, political pundits, and members of the media are lauding Pittsburgh and everyone involved in organizing and coordinating the Summit itself. Luke Ravenstahl is going to throw out his back for all of the patting on the back he's given himself. But--the buzz around town is that we did such a good job that Pittsburgh is being considered for the 2012 G-20 as well as the 2012 Republican National Convention.

The latter, I am sorry to report (not), will likely not come to fruition, due to an insufficient number of hotel rooms in the downtown core, but we'll all have to wait and see if the G-20 returns in three years.

The e-magazine Pop City has a photo slideshow that contains--not to sound cheezy--really striking and dramatic images. Speaking of dramatic images, this blog's own Nut Bar got his 15 minutes of fame when a Post-Gazette photog snapped him marching in the Peoples Protest last Friday (see photo, right). All I can say is, I'm glad I'm on his good side, most of the time anyway, because he's looking pretty intense in this pic, staring down Officer Friendly in his patrol car.

All in all, I would agree with the experts and call the G-20, overall, a success. But where it failed was giving the G-20 attendees an abysmal view of the downtown core. By banning virtually everyone from that area and with vendors boarding up their storefronts, all you needed were a few tumbleweeds and it would look like a ghost town. I understand the need for security, but it's really unfortunate that G-20 delegation had to see the downtown in this manner.

I also realize that previous G-20 summits attracted tens of thousands of protesters, so initially it made sense for Pittsburgh to ramp up the police presence. But as far as protests go, it was pretty much a flat tire from a security perspective. The protest on Thursday was unpermitted (you need a permit from the city to have a march) but a group of self-proclaimed anarchists convened anyway at 40th Street (yep, that's four blocks from my house) and were stopped by the time they got to 32nd or so. Of this group of a few hundred, only 10 people or so were arrested.

The "main" protest occurred on Friday, which was permitted and organized by many groups, including the Thomas Merton Center. This event was organized, well run, and as the police put it "were policed by the protesters." None of the 8,000+ protesters were arrested, which I think is a great testament to the ones doing the protesting as well as the police for exercising good judgment.

What I don't understand is why, why, why, when the main protest concluded, they didn't ratchet down the number of police. At this point, having thousands of officers didn't make much sense: many came in to manage rowdy protesters, and there wasn't really anything for them to do. Why not send the out-of-town officers on their way?

A lot of people are speculating if hosting G-20 was worth the trouble and expense. I think it will certainly help the city in the long-term. Showcasing Pittsburgh on the national news in a positive light can only be a benefit and will help in what I would call the "branding" of the city. But like most branding, it's often hard to quantify the results.

However, in the meantime, the city has to deal with the short-term consequences. I have not heard the latest figures, but even with federal assistance, the city is going to be stuck with a multi-million dollar bill for security. What I want to know is where this money is going to come from. If it ends up coming from my wallet, I won't be too happy about it.

Also, in what I consider a major drop of the ball, downtown eateries and retailers suffered needlessly. The P-G reported that many restaurants, having been told by VisitPittsburgh to expect hordes of people in the week before and week of G-20, stocked up on food and liquor. Then these same restaurants saw the fencing go up, essentially shutting off their venue from anyone from the G-20. Since VisitPittsburgh was one of the major players in the planning of this event, I'd say they have a lot of 'splaining to do.

So one thing I'm going to do is make it a point to visit at as many downtown restaurants as I can. If they're hurting from the G-20, it will give me an excuse to call up a friend to meet for a cocktail. Dirty martini, anyone?

Welcome to the War Zone!

Many friends of mine know I'm a huge fan of end-of-the-world movies. If it's about the world's impending doom or after a handful of nuclear bombs have detonated, I'll be first in line at the theatre. My obsession is so bad that several months ago I had a vivid dream whose story mimicked the new show "Flashforward." But I'll save discussion of that dream--and end-of-the-world movies--for another post.

Because right now, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that Pittsburgh is preparing for the end of the world. My seven block walk from the bus stop to the Law & Finance Building this morning was spooky: lots of boarded up storefronts, street traffic reduced to next to nothing, and the handful of people on the sidewalks were all walking purposefully, eyes downcast. I also saw a lot of police officers: in squad cars, on motorcycles, and on foot with dogs.

This afternoon I'm perched in a downtown office building overlooking the courthouse. Car traffic has not increased, but the silence is pierced by the regular sound of sirens. I just saw a convoy of ten police vehicles gunning down Grant Street--two I noticed from Montgomery County (that's the Philadelphia area, for those unfamiliar with Pennsylvania) and for the last two hours, it's been nonstop beeping and sirens.

But this is the last "normal" day downtown: tonight the barricades go up to cordon off the G-20 zone from the rest of us (code for civilians and those mean, despicable protesters). From what I understand, unless you are involved with the G-20 (delegates, media, police, G-20 volunteers, etc.) or live downtown, no one gets in or out.

During the Summit, buses will be diverted, dropping off passengers on the other side of downtown, for those poor souls who have the misfortune of having to work downtown, outside of the G-20 zone.

For all of Obama's good intentions of letting Pittsburgh showcase all the wonderful things to do and see here, I'm not sure what the G-20 delegates are going to make of all of this. Opinions expressed in recent news articles feel that Pittsburgh will end up losing money rather than making money, based on the added costs for security.

As if this makes it all better, the Summit planning committee will be outfitting volunteers and other helpful individuals with this special pin (shown above). So welcome to Pittsburgh, G-20-ers! Don't mind all of the barbed wire and boarded up buildings--we're the most livable city in the country!