The interview covers what the plan hopes to achieve, how its being crafted, and what the city did for the 252 years before it had a comprehensive plan.
"Next American City: PLANPGH is Pittsburgh's first-ever comprehensive plan. What does this mean?
It is Pittsburgh's first comprehensive plan in several respects; it is the first such plan that meets the intentions of the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Code (PA MPC) enacted in 1968-though it should be noted that Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are exempted from the mandate to produce comprehensive plans in Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh has undertaken many neighborhood plans, project-based plans (redevelopment/renewal area plans), and the like over its history. Going further back in history, back to the formative years of city planning as a profession, Pittsburgh commissioned Frederick Law Olmstead to complete a comprehensive plan for the city. Political and personal battles intervened, and the plan was scaled back in scope from a comprehensive, citywide effort to a plan focused on the Central Business District and several main thoroughfares in the city. The Olmstead plan was completed and presented to the city in 1911. Following this, a number of efforts to complete a comprehensive plan were undertaken. Committees and commissions had been formed and undertook studies at various times, but none had been successful in pushing a true and complete comprehensive plan through an official process to completion and adoption."
