Here are some reactions to our Opinion 250 articles about the future of Pittsburgh, which we are publishing throughout the year to commemorate Pittsburgh's 250th birthday. These have been vetted for taste and appropriateness, but, unlike our letters to the editors, they have not been edited and the writers' names and addresses have not been verified.

Reflecting on the upcoming 250th birthday of our fair City, I am reminded of the many things that make me proud to be from Pittsburgh.

You see, I am of that generation of "boomerang" Pittsburghers who was born, raised and educated through high school in Pittsburgh, who left for some time to further an education and professional career, only to return home to raise a family.

I recall when just over 5 years ago, I announced to friends and co-workers in Boston that I was moving back to Pittsburgh. I was taking close to a 30 percent pay cut to move back, they asked? Was I crazy? Well, yes, maybe; but I explained that moving back to Pittsburgh was an investment in the future of my family. I tried to explain what makes Pittsburgh so special, and why it was the only place that my wife Erica and I would raise our children.

Of course, there are tangible things about Pittsburgh that make it special, like the beauty of our golden triangle, the cultural wealth of our many neighborhoods, the uniqueness of our terrain and rivers, and our affinity for fireworks. (To borrow from the Bible, Pittsburgh's official motto should be: "Where 2 or 3 Pittsburghers are gathered, there will be fireworks".) And, not the least, there's the pride of wearing the venerable Black and Gold to celebrate our storied sports franchises. But there is so much more than these tangible things that makes Pittsburgh special.

No matter where you go in the world, you're destined to meet someone from Pittsburgh. People come from various places, but there's something special when you meet a fellow Pittsburgher. Admit it, you get that inner sense of pride when you meet someone wearing that Steelers or Pirates cap on a street in some other town or country. Why is this? I don't think that people from New York City or Peoria, Illinois have the same reaction, do they? There is some underlying common theme that unites us as Pittsburghers. When you meet a Pittsburgher abroad, instantly you can assume that they're a good person, and that you'll have lots in common to talk about.

Pittsburgh is much less a place and much more a state of mind. Being a Pittsburgher is about fighting for the underdog, never backing down from a challenge, and defending our values and beliefs no matter what the consequences. Pittsburghers have character. We're tough people. We have grit. We persevere and battle when others would back down. We benefit from generations of Pittsburghers who came before us to struggle and claw their way to make a living for their families. We stand on the shoulders of our Pittsburgh ancestors, and we owe it to them and to our children to continue to build a better Pittsburgh.

In light of our City's 250th anniversary, let's challenge ourselves to live up to the duty and responsibility involved with being Pittsburghers. We are the caretakers of something special here, folks. We truly are at a crossroads, and the course of the next 250 years of Pittsburgh history is really in our hands. I can think of a few simple things for you to consider:

• We need to be a little more thoughtful about how we might change things around here to become competitive in an increasingly global economy, to bring more jobs here and to keep our best and brightest from leaving. This should be one of our higher, if not our highest, priority.

• We need to pay better attention to candidates who stand up to run for political office and ask whether they have the character, experience and progressive ideas that Pittsburgh deserves at this crucial time in our history. Let's do ourselves and our grandchildren a big favor and look beyond a familiar name to ask who really is the best person for the job.

• We need to be a little more welcoming to people who move here from other places, as, hey, they just want to be Pittsburghers too and contribute to our community. My ancestors came to this town from Ireland and elsewhere a century ago to find work in the mills, and yours likely did too. Let's put ourselves in their shoes, just for a moment.

My fellow Pittsburghers, as we approach the 250th birthday of our hometown, ask yourself what you can do to make a positive impact on the future of our City. Generations of Pittsburghers who came before us answered this call; now is our opportunity in history to do the same.

Kevin Acklin
Squirrel Hill

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I feel that it is necessary while we celebrate Pittsburgh's 250Th Anniversary that we also consider the "quiet majority" that is struggling to make ends meet in Pittsburgh. How many can't find jobs or don't have the transportation to get to them? How many don't have heat tonight or are struggling to survive in drafty old homes with heating bills that are so high they are financially buried.

We talk about Pittsburgh having a high standard of living but after job hunting for the last nine months I am starting to set my sites on other parts of the country where I can find gainful employment. There is an undercurrent of cronyism and ageism that exists in the city that no one wants to address. I am sure that the more than one hundred positions that I have applied for have been awarded to someone younger than I or someone with connections. I look at the future and it seems a little grim right now. My quandary is if I leave I drag my daughter who is a junior in high school and my very elderly parents to another part of the country. If I stay I will end up in a less than professional position with little ability to maintain a home for my daughter. I know that once my daughter leaves for college she will probably never be able to financially return to the are due to the lack of employment.

Pittsburgh needs to use this time to come up with a plan and quickly. The city is hemorrhaging professional people. Just look at the statistics.

Debbie Baird
Oakland

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The January 6th article by Frederick W. Thieman was one of the best of the many that are published about the conflicted psyche of Pittsburgh. Well done by someone on the job here only since September 2007.

It appears that most of his interviewees were educated, thoughtful and in some responsible or leadership position. These are the people who see the many assets of the region and are trying to push Pittsburgh forward, to change it for the better to meet the challenges of the future.

Unfortunately, this minority swims against current of collective reluctance. The majority of people who (still) live here have survived undeniably tough times. For these people, change has been a bad thing that meant loss of jobs, retrenchment, deterioration and the flight of the regions young, best and brightest. Many of those with some "Get up and go", "Got up and went". Many of those who are left have a survivor mentality and just get by with low paying jobs, living in ever older housing with crumbling infrastructure all around and an unspoken resentment that prosperity has bypassed them and their city. These people have learned to be fearful of change. They can barely cope with the concept of merging tiny police departments or school districts even though the costs of maintaining the old arrangements are becoming unsupportable. It just feels like a further loss of their identity.

How do you get these same people to see that their, and their children's, future progress is strongly linked to wholesale consolidation and streamlining of government and demanding effective service from that government? Pittsburgh desperately needs to create a 21st century government model, not preserve a 19th century model. Leadership from business, universities or the non-profits notwithstanding, the key to Pittsburgh's future is still in the hands of these "Yinzers", and their very local elected officials and public employees.

I was born and raised in a Pennsylvania coal town, and I too have seen economic collapse. It is traumatic; and I sympathize with those struggling with the long term effects of it. But, I have also since benefited from living in many different places and I have seen that government can be efficient, effective, uncorrupted and cost us less.

Pittsburgh should demand better and expect better of itself. It pains me to see locals squabbling among themselves over which community gets something built, the property tax fiasco, Penn DOT and the Turnpike Commission, the fighting over the cost and distribution of alcohol, abysmal operation of the Port Authority, downtown parking costs, etc, etc. Need I go on? Doesn't anyone realize that while Pittsburgh remains in small town competition with itself the region continues to fare poorly in its real competition with Philly, Baltimore, Columbus, Chicago, New York and the economic dynamo of greater Washington DC?

Where is that famous blue collar work ethic and can-do attitude that gets things done, that buiIt this city and contributed so much to the building of this nation? Are not the Yinzers tired of crying in their (cheap) beer? I thought they were stronger and smarter than that. Show me. Show yourselves. Enough crying about the Pittsburgh that was; its time to adapt to the new reality, unify and pull together.

Pittsburgh is a great city and its residents have every right be proud of its 250 year history, culture and even its unique local dialect. But please stop mentally wallowing in what happened during the past 25 years. Its past time to start creating the next 250 years of Pittsburgh history. A time that will be very different, but one that future Yinzers will be just as proud of.

Lawrence J. Pekot
Upper St. Clair

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Building on our past to make a better future.........the one thing we must have to honor the past is a REAL steel museum. Minneapolis has a wonderful "Mill City Museum" honoring their history of flour making, in an old mill, along the Mississippi (next to the new Gutherie Theater).

I realize there are attempts, but they seem feeble efforts to capture something so grand, dynamic and awe inspiring as the making and shaping of steel.

JB Weller
Oakland

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i was born in the city of pittsburgh 95 years ago and have lived in pittsburgh and suburbs for 90 years. because of the world depression, my father-who was in the clothing business-moved to detroit in hopes of having a more favorable economic situation there. that didn't work out so we moved back to pittsburgh.

i have always been happy to live in pittsburgh -peaceful-friendly-safe. during my many years of employment with the federal government, i had several lucrative offers of jobs in other cities. those were easy decisions-no sale. also my job required me to spend days-weeks-sometimes months in other large cities around the country. as a result, i did have a basis for comparing pittsburgh with these other cities. pittsburgh was always on top. also i have family who live in detroit. god help them.

because of my age-i am still active-i experience many, many cases where people offer to help me-even when i don't ask for help. you can't beat that.

Mitchell Namy
Oakland

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What made shopping downtown feasible in "the old days" was delivery service.

Let's say you take the street car downtown to spend the day doing your Christmas shopping. You make your first purchase, say "deliver it," and move on to the next department, or next store, unencumbered. You continue this until, mission accomplished, you take the street car home, without having to carry a single package. The next day, trucks from the stores -- each store had its own fleet of trucks -- deliver your swag to you.

Would you like to try that today? Would you like to go thru the day lugging a constantly expanding cargo of multisized packages? Where would you keep them safe when you went in to use the rest room? Of when you stopped for lunch? How would you like to ride the street car home holding 14 packages (including a 10-speed bike) on your lap?

Downtown is ok if you need to run out during your lunch hour to buy a shirt for yourself or a blow-up doll for grandpa but, other than stuff like that, it doesn't make sense.

Paul A. Alter
Pittsburgh

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