Douglas Heuck, Founder & CEO, Pittsburgh Tomorrow

In an interview with Invest:, Douglas Heuck, founder and CEO of Pittsburgh Tomorrow, discussed the impact of population loss in Pittsburgh and how it has shaped the region’s economic and civic priorities. Heuck emphasized that Pittsburgh has the qualities and momentum needed to become one of the most livable cities in the country. “Pittsburgh has the desire and the ingredients to be the best place to live in America. It’s an unusual place with a tremendous history of succeeding against odds and coming back and recreating itself. That is the next step in that continuing process of renaissance and remaking,” Heuck said.

What is the story behind the founding of Pittsburgh Tomorrow?

I’ve been a journalist in Pittsburgh for 40 years. I created a project whose goal was to compare Pittsburgh with other metropolitan areas across the country, looking at 300 various qualities of life. This came about because the region underwent an anomalous circumstance in the mid-1980s with the unparalleled collapse of industry and we needed to chart a course into the future. The idea of this project was to provide reliable information about the area’s progress. I ran that for almost 30 years, first in the newspaper and then in a magazine. That gave me the opportunity to see how this area was doing compared to others across all sorts of measures. 

About five years ago, I wrote that we needed to make some changes to get on a more ascendent trajectory. That was right before COVID hit, but the piece that I wrote about it didn’t catalyze anything. So, I decided to launch something myself. We created Pittsburgh Tomorrow with the idea of really turning around the region’s demographic circumstance and aiming toward growth, really reinvigorating the economic and civic spirit of the area. 

How does Pittsburgh Tomorrow view the impact of population loss?

There are a couple of salient facts that serve as the backdrop and the impetus for Pittsburgh Tomorrow. One is that out of 387 metropolitan areas in the United States, we lead all of them in what’s called natural population loss: more deaths than births. That’s because of the massive exodus of 300,000 largely young people in the ‘80s. 

There are two ways to grow a region: one is to have more births than deaths and the other is to attract more people than the number of people who leave. Since we are not going to turn around and have more births than deaths anytime soon, we need to make the Pittsburgh region a more welcoming and attractive place. That’s not necessarily all that difficult in some ways because the area has so many strengths and attractive qualities. It routinely has the lowest crime rate of any major metro area in the country, it’s naturally quite beautiful, and it’s a very green place. We also have the highest philanthropic dollars per capita, we have enormous wealth and production here, we have terrific institutions related to the arts, education, and medicine, and geographically we are perfectly situated for the future in terms of climatic change and a great quality of life. It has never been a place where marketing mattered. 

What impact have you noticed from the message you are sharing?

We’ve created a kind of consortium of about 20 media organizations that have agreed to be part of a public messaging campaign, which is something that hasn’t happened anywhere in the country. The idea is to spread the word about Pittsburgh.

We are targeting four main areas. First, we’ve created Pittsburgh Tomorrow Leadership Core, where we’re targeting young people like high-school and college students to get them involved in this area. There is also an environmental aspect to it. We had a pilot project last fall that was very successful and we’re increasing that dramatically this year. We’re trying to build a bridge and an affinity between young people and their home town, so that they take pride in it and to get them involved in projects that physically beautify the area. Pittsburgh is a beautiful area but it’s also the place where the environmental movement and the Clean Air Act started because of its heavy industrial legacy. We’re building on that momentum of making it a garden of sustainability for the country.

The second point is that we believe that by being involved in their own town, they actually develop an identity and an affinity with it, where they can say, “I planted that tree; this is my home.”

Third is to gain national media attention, because there isn’t something like this anywhere else in the country, showing that Pittsburgh is a place that’s young and green instead of the image of being old and part of the Rust Belt.

Another project we are working on is a welcoming center for newcomers of all sorts, whether it’s foreign-born people or the so-called boomerangers, who are people who grew up here and are moving back because it’s such a desirable place to raise children. We also have a communications part, which is about messaging on a number of levels, both messaging in the community and messaging outside of it.

Lastly, the fourth element is building and augmenting more of an entrepreneurial culture. Pittsburgh was really the center of entrepreneurial activity in the world 100 years ago, and that’s what produced its unrivaled wealth during that time. Over time, that spirit got replaced by companies that were so successful they became enormous. We will be rekindling that whole aspect.

What obstacles are Pittsburgh Tomorrow and the city at large navigating?

There are two main obstacles. The most significant is the demographic obstacles: population. That is what we are attacking and what we are trying to solve. We are trying to reverse the population losses that the area has had for the last 40 years. It’s not an easy problem to solve, but we believe we can do it by rekindling a new civic spirit and by putting out the welcome banner and really making known the exciting things that are happening. Pittsburgh is a place where so many things have been created, from art to industrial technologies and innovations.

Another obstacle is, as with any human endeavor, whether people believe they can do it. When people believe they can do something there is nothing that can stop them. This is what we are working on: catalyzing the belief that Pittsburgh has all of the necessary ingredients to be the best place to live in the world.

What are your key goals and priorities for Pittsburgh Tomorrow over the next few years?

The key goals are to execute the four program areas that we have in front of us. We have a clear path to doing that and if we do that, we’re going to succeed in changing the perception of Pittsburgh and also the reality. We are in the mythmaking business, and by this I don’t mean something that is not true, I mean catalyzing belief in a new future. We believe we can do that and are on our way. What is life for but to try and leave things better than when you found them. 

Pittsburgh has the desire and the ingredients to be the best place to live in America. It’s an unusual place with a tremendous history of succeeding against odds and coming back and recreating itself. That is the next step in that continuing process of renaissance and remaking.