For years, we’ve debated affordability, housing policy, tax incentives, and workplace trends as if they exist independently. They don’t. They’re all connected by one simple reality: growth.
The most affordable cities are not the ones that regulate their way to prosperity. They’re the ones creating jobs, attracting talent, and generating the tax base necessary to invest in their future. That’s why I’ve often pointed to cities like Columbus. While Pittsburgh debates how to divide a limited pie, Columbus is focused on growing the pie itself. The result is more resources for infrastructure, housing, and economic development.
But growth doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from entrepreneurship, risk-taking, and people working together to build something that didn’t exist before.
I’ve spent much of my career in real estate development, and every project starts the same way—with an idea. A vacant warehouse becomes a robotics hub. An underutilized site becomes a neighborhood. A conversation becomes a company. None of that happens in isolation.
That’s one reason I remain optimistic about places like the Strip District. The Strip isn’t simply an office market, a residential neighborhood, or an entertainment destination. It’s all of those things at once. People live there, work there, meet there, and discover new ideas there. The boundaries between work, home, and community blur in a way that feels natural and productive.
For generations, Pittsburgh’s greatest successes have come when people gathered together to create, innovate, and compete. The future will be no different.
If we want more housing, stronger neighborhoods, and greater affordability, we should start with the same foundation that built Pittsburgh before: growth, entrepreneurship, and the places that bring people together.
Shawn Fox’s career spans a wide spectrum of professional engagements, including county-government policy work, investment banking, and 14 years in the real estate-development community. He currently is president & CEO of Strip District-based Oxford Development Company, is developer and manager of 3 Crossings, and serves on many local non-profit boards.