90.5 WESA is partnering with public radio stations throughout the state on Keystone Crossroads. It’s a new initiative exploring the challenges faced by Pennsylvania cities, and how they're being overcome.
Some of the segments will air on Essential Pittsburgh, including features and conversations with reporters such as Irina Zhorov, based here in Pittsburgh.
Zhorov recently covered historic preservation as an economic development tool for Pittsburgh, along with manufacturing in western PA and workforce development.
Zhorov said she's especially interested in how industry is changing in Western PA, new development projects and more broadly what the state is doing to stay solvent.Naomi Starobin, Keystone Crossroads editor said, “What’s going to be different about this look (because lots of people are looking at cities) is that we’re going to describe some problems, some limitations, some of the challenges that the cities face. But we’re going to be talking about solutions too. We’re going to be looking at what some cities are doing successfully to turn around the loss that they saw when the industrial era ended, when businesses left town, when young people stopped coming back after college.”
Zhorov added, “We’re looking at a lot of solutions. So if it’s not working, what are surrounding states doing, and maybe there are things that Pennsylvania can learn from them. But one of the things about this project too is that we’re going to have public forums. We really want to get the public’s input, the residents of the commonwealth involved. If there are things not being covered in your community, if there’s something that you want to pitch, we hope you get in touch.”
Follow Zhorov on Twitter at @zhorovir
