The New York Times Goes to the Provinces

The "Letter From Pittsburgh" in today's New York Times mostly gets it right: the city's fiscal crisis is due to near-term management short-sightedness and the long-term denial of the fact that this mid-size city is no longer large enough to support its current large-size public sector. As the Times points out, that large public sector is a hangover from Pittsburgh's Big Steel heyday. Where the Times goes wrong is in subtly giving support to the idea that Pittsburgh will come back when large-scale manufacturing returns to the region. Not going to happen. Ever. The good news, which the Times doesn't quite capture, is that there are young professionals in town, and moving to town, who see the region's potential. But PUMP (the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project), which the Times quotes for the "young" perspective, needs to recognize that there is more to being a constructive Yuppie in this town than organizing cocktail hours.