Amazon officially dumped Pittsburgh as a potential home for its second (and third) headquarters this week, opting instead to split its $5 billion in promised investment between Virginia and New York.
The choice led to as many questions as answers, including queries about how a long-term influx of up to 40,000 jobs each will affect the retail giants' two new neighborhoods.
A panel of guests explore the knowns and unknowns, and why Pittsburgh didn't make the cut. They include:
- Robert McCartney, senior regional correspondent at The Washington Post;
- Joshua McNichols, reporter at KUOW in Seattle and co-host of the podcast "Primed;"
- Chris Briem, region economist at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Social and Urban Research; and
- Margaret J. Krauss, development and transportation reporter at 90.5 WESA.
Elsewhere in the show, poet Julia Spicher Kasdorf and photographer Steven Rubin have been exploring how the Marcellus Shale industry affects land and people in Pennsylvania.
That work has resulted in Shale Play: Poems and Photographs from the Fracking Fields. The pair discuss their inspiration and collaboration with The Allegheny Front's Kara Holsopple.
And a South Side institution is closing its doors. The Beehive Coffeehouse has been a pillar of Pittsburgh's coffeehouse culture for almost 30 years. WESA's Bill O'Driscoll reports that the space has served as a refuge for artists, students and misfits alike.
The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s daily news program. Tune in weekdays at 9 a.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators join veteran journalist Kevin Gavin, taking an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here.
