\u201cIt has to be a sustained engagement with the community \u2014 a listening of what the community needs, creating a plan and benchmarks of execution over a three- to five-year period.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad Young, Steel City Squash<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the community, I\u2019d say anyone you talk to here would say they have no knowledge,\u201d Donna Jackson, executive director of the volunteer-led Larimer Consensus Group<\/a>, which represents residents in development decisions, told Technical.ly. \u201cWe can\u2019t assume people know what\u2019s going on just because it\u2019s happening in their neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the six neighborhood outreach organizations and small businesses Technical.ly spoke with, the consensus was that sustained engagement and a clear communication plan about what the groups behind the project \u2014 Walnut Capital<\/a> and the AI Strike Team<\/a> \u2014 hope to achieve would go a long way.<\/p>\n The joint redevelopment initiative has formed some community partnerships with Larimer schools and outlined plans for community-benefit projects, including a workforce development<\/a> hub and a soon-to-be-announced K-12 AI initiative, according to AI Strike Team Executive Director Joanna Doven<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s still early to measure AI Avenue\u2019s broader effect, though.<\/p>\n Todd Reidbord, founding partner and president of Walnut Capital touts AI Avenue as a way to create local hiring opportunities<\/a> and bring more workers and customers to the area. These changes often take time, sometimes decades<\/a>, to materialize.<\/p>\n \u201cIs it a plan? Is it something that we have written down? No,\u201d Reidbord said. \u201cBut I think organically, who\u2019s the best employee that we can hire? That\u2019s somebody that lives close by.\u201d<\/p>\n What is written down, in a 2024 blog post<\/a> on the Bakery Square website, is Walnut Capital\u2019s stated \u201cvision\u201d for community empowerment. The post highlighted potential benefits for East Liberty and Larimer residents, including workforce development and a Main Street revival.<\/p>\n Ben Ryan of Nova Design and Construction<\/a>, a construction and robotics company new to the area, believes the arrival of more tech workers on AI Avenue could boost his business.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople in tech, they are paid a better wage, and they\u2019re going to be the people that buy an older home in Pittsburgh, or need design services or the construction aspect,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cI think it\u2019s positive, personally.\u201d<\/p>\n Closing the gap between vision and action<\/p>\n A draft planning document from the AI Avenue Working Group, convened in mid-2024 by the AI Strike Team\u2019s Doven, outlines ideas to train residents and help small businesses adopt AI tools.<\/p>\n That plan included a Workforce Development Hub supported by Partner4Work<\/a>. The hub remains in the \u201cconcept\u201d stage and needs capital, according to CEO Rob Cherry, who said he consulted existing neighborhood partnerships to inform the project\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n Walnut Capital has a history of community benefit agreements and partnerships with nonprofits like The Kingsley Association<\/a>, but there don\u2019t yet appear to be any formal hiring mandates or CBAs surrounding AI Avenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead, Reidbord suggested, companies will intrinsically want to hire local people. He cited Walnut Capital\u2019s history of hiring nearby residents for concierge services and security positions.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe more in organic growth, and I think that\u2019s something that we can be proud of in the neighborhoods around East Liberty, Bakery Square, Larimer and those neighborhoods,\u201d Reidbord said.<\/p>\n Though AI Strike Team\u2019s draft planning document included some hyper-local benefits, the group sees itself as a regional connector rather than a neighborhood development organization, per Doven.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not the convener of economic development for small business,\u201d she said, explaining that the Strike Team launches broad programs, then relies on traditional economic entities with existing resources to execute them on the ground.<\/p>\n Still, the Strike Team has helped bring together Pittsburgh\u2019s first small business AI accelerator program<\/a> with Google<\/a> and advocate for the East Liberty Chamber of Commerce\u2019s<\/a> effort to place streetlights along the corridor.\u00a0<\/p>\n Asked whether Walnut Capital tracks main street rejuvenation, workforce development and other features of AI Avenue, Reidbord said those measures were outside his area of expertise. \u201cI\u2019m not sure we track that specific issue,\u201d he added, referencing community engagement goals.<\/p>\n As far as development gains spreading to local businesses, \u201ca rising tide lifts all boats,\u201d Reidbord said, \u201cand I truly believe that, particularly in the retail and office communities.\u201d<\/p>\n Business leaders near AI Avenue like Brad Young, executive director of local fitness and community center Steel City Squash<\/a>, agrees tech expansion can enrich the neighborhood, but only if corporate promises come with commitments.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has to be a sustained engagement with the community \u2014 a listening of what the community needs, creating a plan and benchmarks of execution over a three- to five-year period, and then being accountable to it,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/google-building-scaled.jpeg\")
Google\u2019s HQ at Bakery Square (Katie Malone\/Technical.ly)<\/p>\n