Changemaker: Pat Ford

Known for getting things done in his previous positions – he’s been Pittsburgh’s zoning administrator, planning director, and economic development czar -- new Urban Redevelopment Authority executive director Pat Ford tends to talk in entire mouthfuls, eager to discuss the sea changes in his adopted city – and his role in them.

“I was trained to think globally,” he offers, swiping time between meetings in his 12th floor office of the John P. Robin Building on Ross Street. “So I’m taking a holistic look at Pittsburgh. Whenever we spend money or create a deal, not only should property values rise, but also quality of life. Are we creating future investment opportunities? Are we helping to make Pittsburgh a place for people to raise a family, find jobs, and stay here? What opportunities do we want for individuals? What opportunities for their children?”

A native Jayhawk who came east to Virginia to play football and get a city planning degree, Ford worked for a Baltimore architectural and engineering firm until 2002, when, tired of billable hours, he took a 50 percent pay cut to become Mayor Tom Murphy’s zoning administrator. A man known for streamlining processes, two years later Ford went to work as the Pompano Beach planner director. Quickly souring on South Florida – he famously dubbed it “a melting pot on steroids” – Ford was yearnin’ to return to the ‘Burgh and its multiple, major-league delights.

After two years, Ford and his wife, former reporter Alecia Sirk who now serves as Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s communications director, had returned. Living in Lawrenceville, evincing a taste for strenuous work-outs and late-night suppers, good Scotch ‘n’ better stogies, Ford worked for Mayor Bob O’Connor, then got upped by successor Ravenstahl. Last September, Ford stepped into the URA top spot – giving him the potential to be among the city’s most powerful and impactful changemakers.

Now living in Lincoln Place, Ford heads an agency that handles some $100 million annually in housing, development, and community activities. Founded nearly six decades ago, at the height of Renaissance I, the URA is a quasi-independent civic entity which can buy and sell land, issue bonds, and direct public monies.

Often acting as a catalyst or enabler of change, the URA evinces vast powers, helping shape the city, shepherding Pittsburgh through its inevitable transitions. In the 1950s, for example, it helped create the J&L works spanning the Mon River; 40 years later, the URA helped take them down. Its early projects -- Gateway Center and Point State Park -- transformed the city, while PPG Place helped reshape Pittsburgh during Renaissance II.

For Ford, the question now, in vastly different times, is where the IRA goes from here.

The Future is Now
“First,” he says, “I’m focusing on operations. I want to improve accountability. Improve responsiveness. And be transparent in all our decisions. ACT. Accountability. Customer Service. Transparency.

“Second, strategic planning. We have none, and I want that to change. From a planning and development perspective, I want the city to make multiple gains in every market situation and development opportunity. I don’t want merely to drop money in a bucket and make an icon. I want to get the most out of every dollar we invest -- as opposed to being merely the City of Pittsburgh’s dealmaker. I want to develop opportunities for growth now – and in the future. I want to know where next 10 years of ribbon-cuttings will be.”

To begin the planning process, Ford has directed that the URA undertake a market value analysis of Pittsburgh, identifying where emerging URA efforts can make immediate differences. Such Sector Neighborhood Asset Profiles – SNAP plans, as he calls them – will result in a snapshot of each city neighborhood.  “We can begin intervening financially and technically,” he says, “and measure our success on the vitality index. We can truly be change agents in our strategies.”

While the crystal is still dark, and with some $6 billion in planned projects, developments, and improvements across the city, Ford looks at the probable hot spots. “We see big opportunities on the North Side,” he says, “especially the Garden Theater site, as well as scattered-site housing.

“There’s a great dynamic emerging in Oakland,” he adds, “especially in the Knowledge Triangle. How do we capitalize on that? How can we be catalytic in expanding it?

“In Lawrenceville, the new Children’s Hospital will bring enormous change,” he says, and not only along Penn Avenue and Butler Street.  “Largely overlooked,” Ford says, “and underdeveloped is the Riverfront – essentially from 16th to 62nd  Streets.  That’s a great asset.”

Even in places assumed to be finished – the Pittsburgh Technology Center, or the South Side Works – Ford sees opportunities, growth attracting growth. “We still have a few more ribbon-cuttings to go,” he predicts. (See Pop City dev news article on the Tech Center in this issue by clicking here).

One of Ford’s more public performances will be the upcoming Carnegie Mellon Cornerstone conference, Entrepreneurial Pittsburgh: Building Bridges to a City's New Future. On March 24, Ford, along with presenters from Spain, Qatar, Japan, and Pittsburgh, will tackle the topic of “Shaping the Future of the City: New Case Studies." For more information click here.

C’mon, Pat, give us a scoop. What are you going to say?

“I’m going to say that this city is one of the top places in the country to live,” Ford answers, “with an unparalleled quality of life. We have culture, sports, outdoors, neighborhoods. When top companies from American Eagle to Microsoft to Google come looking for resources, they find them readily accessible.”

“I’m going to say it’s a new time,” he adds, “a new era. The stars are aligned for us to re-brand ourselves. We need to capitalize on the quality-of-life issues we’ve known and cherished. When the rest of the world comes here, it finds that emerging technologies and lifestyle opportunities are growing exponentially. It’s what we’ve evolving into. That’s what we’re going to package, brand, and sell.

“I’m going to say, these are vey exciting times. I’m going to say, we’re open for business.I’m going to say, if it’s good for the City of Pittsburgh, make it happen!’”

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Abby Mendelson’s latest book, Ghost Dancer, a collection of short stories, is available at amazon and bn.com.

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Captions:

Pat Ford

New construction Downtown

Ford in His Office

URA

All photographs copyright Brian Cohen