“Penn Ave is unique. It’s Pittsburgh. Please do not change. Thank you!”

“In my opinion, this plan will make Penn ave traffic HORRIBLE and will drive people away. I know I will not make my way to the Strip if this plan is implemented. Plus it just doesn’t seem to make sense. Find ways to ease traffic congestion, not create it.”

“I strongly oppose the plan to reduce Penn Avenue in the Strip District to a single lane. The groups behind the idea seem to have good intentions, but so did the city leaders who destroyed the East Liberty business district when creating Penn Circle in the 1960s. We, the people of Pittsburgh, cannot let history repeat itself. There are better ways to create safer streets for pedestrians, bikers, and motorists when data is used to inform change instead of misused to scare people. Consider the success of speed humps – they are very effective at reducing speed on highly traveled roadways around the city. Why not extend the existing bike lane on Smallman or make better use of Railroad Street? Or both? Imagine creating a better, broader Strip District rather than strangling the spirit and vitality enjoyed by residents and visitors to this city gem. Don’t wreck this unique area that so many travel reports and city guides recommend as a perfect “Day One” activity in Pittsburgh.”

“Thank you for organizing the efforts to protect the neighborhood!”

“Bike Lanes are the DUMBEST THING EVER!
Nobody bikes in Pittsburgh”

“Stop ruining the city”

“Please do not kill the strip.

“Coming to Strip quite often and parking is a mess. This plan will make it even worse. The City is known to put agenda before the people and the call it democracy, care for human life and well being, you name it.
I suggest Strip District businesses to on TV channels and ask other non-city municipalities may be they would provide land and buildings to have the ENTIRE Strip to relocate. You can call it "Strip. The New Beginning". Have City loose the businesses, loose the tax revenues from you. They don't care about you, but they surely want a portion of your income. May be look into Bridgeville, Ross TWP, etc, where they can provide nice safe locations in their busiest areas with plenty of parking for your customers so this will actually encourage people to come to you without the fear of "where would I park". Punish the City with your tax dollars – that is the only language they can understand.”

“Keep access and good traffic flow to the strip. Stop taking the charm away from this area. It used to be a fun, quirky place to shop. Not it looks like a suburban concrete jungle.”

“The strip has worked Fine for over 100 years why does everybody have to mess with everything? That’s already great the way it is quit doing this. The reason it’s beautiful and popular and quaint and historic is because it is the way it is that’s why people come here from all over the country to visit the strip, believe it or not. I lived out west for 20 years and everybody that I told I was from Pittsburgh mentioned the strip and how they heard they have to stop there.”

“You don’t care about the people and community if you go through with this.”

“If it becomes a hassle to visit the Strip due to increased traffic and limited access, visitors will fiind somewhere else to go.”

“30 Year Resident of the Northside – what craziness is this ! why ???? Everyone has been going to the strip and loving it for years. You jack it up by putting in "modern" apartments and increasing the density and then you want to pretend it's a neighborhood? what a stupid idea. No one wants to come to the City anymore because it is soooo difficult to get around. You can't drive down north ave without stopping at the corner of every single block. Used to have the lights timed so if you went the speed limit traffic moved at a reasonable pace, now its stop and stop, stop and stop. Horrible, thoughtless, terrible planning – what residents even asked mobility to get involved?”

“Removing a vital lane through the strip district will endanger lives. It’s hard enough now to get first responders through.”

“I have lived in Pittsburgh my whole life and love visiting the Strip District's many businesses and restaurants. It is a critical part of Pittsburgh's history. I do not support restricting Penn Ave to one lane. This will prevent many people from visiting local businesses. Personally, I am 29 years old, but have a disability that prevents me from walking far distances. This would make it even harder to find parking and to support local businesses. We also don't need another area in Pittsburgh with restricted traffic flow.”

“While increasing bike accessibility to the Penn Ave corridor is essential, there are other ways to do it rather than gutting access to business in the densest part of the Strip.”

“I have attended the Pittsburgh Winery for numerous music venues. Traffic in the strip district is busy enough as it is without impeding it further by restricting a main artery road into the strip district to a single lane. I don’t understand why a main artery road should restricted to a single lane . It is absurd when there are other roads less traveled that could quite easily be converted to single lanes. By restricting Penn Ave to a single lane you are deterring visitors from coming into your fine city as they will be frustrated with all the traffic….i know I will! Please reconsider restricting Penn ave into a single lane. “

“Over the past few years during the renovation of the Terminal properties, employers, employees, residents and visitors (as cattled in this prompt) witnessed repeated ignorance of stakeholders towards public feedback around prospective tenants, and broken promises to local vendors.

I do not have a comment so much as a question – why should any of the public, who utilize this space to an extent which facilitates the Strip District’s prominence in Pittsburgh culture and commerce, trust city officials or stakeholders to heed any received feedback that STRONGLY opposes this plan?”

“Any infrastructure that impedes access by emergency vehicles and destroys small businesses should never be a consideration. The Strip district changes have already changed some of the historic charm of the Strip as well as brought in competing corporate businesses creating an inequitable challenge to existing small businesses, (on top of many other challenges). These small businesses have a true uniqueness that underlies what makes Pittsburgh great and attracts tourism. There has been an outcry, but it appears that the leadership of the city is not listening to the people. This is not a sign of good leadership, and should this project go forward, the voters should let this be known on election day!”

“If it isn't broke don't fix it.”

“Reduced access does NOT add value! Leave the Strip alone. Small businesses are hard enough to sustain!”

“While I believe this proposed plan has good intentions, I think we need to listen to the business owners — many who have legacy businesses that make the Strip a destination for shopping, out of town visitors, quick errands, a colorful walk etc. Don't ruin the special sauce!”

“The Strip has always been one of the best places to hang out and visit local vendors, see shows, eat/drink etc. Don't do this and destroy it.”

“i’ve lived in pittsburgh for 21 years. the strip has always been a staple for me and my family and friends- whether it’s stopping by penzy’s and wholey’s for holiday grocery shopping or colangelos and la prima for a coffee and cannoli on a saturday morning. the first primantis and pamela’s… kelly-o’s too. as pittsburghers, its built into our brains to protect what we grew up with- that’s why we still call it heinz field and carnegie science center. we give directions by referencing businesses that were landmarks YEARS ago. don’t fuck with what we love.”

“Please do not implement this plan to restrict Penn Avenue to one lane.”

Finally, after years of stagnation the Strip has become a vibrant destination and an economical boost to the city. Makes sense to disrupt and destroy it

“I disagree with this plan as a lifelong resident of pittsburgh, busy musician, biking and pedestrian advocate, and regular strip consumer. Many changes have been implemented and will be to allow for safer travel in that regard. However, we need to retain a reliable two-way car route adjacent to classic small businesses or we will see them suffer.”

“I strongly oppose the city's proposed plans to decrease lanes on Penn Avenue. It will negatively impact businesses, cause congestion where not needed and hinder emergency vehicle access. Please use some common sense and don't do this!”

as a Pittsburgh resident, I am all for cycling and making Pittsburgh more bicycle friendly; but not at the possibility of business being adversely affected. The businesses are what attracts locals, and visitors.

“I strongly urge that this proposal does not happen. Way too many businesses are NOT in favor of it.”