Let’s look at why they leave after the holidays

I enjoyed Sally Kalson's Dec. 20 article "Home for the Holidays."

I am not a native Pittsburgher, but moved to the area four years ago. While my home state of Iowa does not have the depth of local food specialties that Pittsburgh has, I feel the same ties to my favorite pizza place "back home" and make it a scheduled stop on any trip to the Midwest.

However, what struck me as the most important element of the article was the overriding theme that people love coming back to "visit" despite the fact that they choose to "live" (and therefore, build a tax base) elsewhere.

Margaret Cassidy summed it up best, saying the things she loves and misses about Pittsburgh are the same things that drove her away. Her comment about lacking a desire to "redd up" and challenge itself is the reason I feel the city is losing young, enthusiastic, educated workers to areas with a stronger commitment to "selling their city."

I travel each week in/out of the Pittsburgh airport. It is depressing to see empty gates, uninspired signage and a stale environment. This is the first image visitors have of our city. It should be vibrant and electric.

However, the fact that so few flights now exist in and out of our airport makes it tough to lure businesses. I have to fight each and every year to stay living here, as my company would rather I live in Charlotte, N.C., just because of travel costs.

I feel Ms. Kalson's article - albeit about food - echoes that same fight.

I would encourage, and hope, this article finds its way onto the desk of every regional and city planner, councilman/woman and executive, including, and especially, County Executive Dan Onorato.

  

KRISTA VODA

Cranberry

The writer is pit reporter for NASCAR on Fox and host of The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Pre-Race Show and The Speed Report on Speed TV.