colin-mcnickle

COMMENTARY
A view of the Pittsburgh skyline.

Pgh’s worsening office vacancy rates are the wrong kind of growth | Opinion

BY: - May 26, 2023

“It doesn’t appear the upward trend is going to change anytime soon,” Frank Gamrat, the Pittsburgh think-tank's executive director, concluded

COMMENTARY

Here are three fixes for Pa.’s school funding dilemma | Opinion

BY: - March 27, 2023

Everyone might end up unhappy. Which means these solutions might actually work.

COMMENTARY

Want to retire the Pa. Turnpike Commission’s endless debt? Take these steps | Opinion

BY: - February 14, 2023

Fees for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are just part of the $17.2B funding puzzle.

COMMENTARY

Shale gas wells at Pittsburgh’s airport aren’t living up to the billing | Opinion

BY: - November 6, 2022

It looks increasingly likely that PIT’s natural gas revenues will not be a major source of revenue over the next 20 to 30 years.

COMMENTARY

Going into a new year, the Pittsburgh schools’ fiscal challenges are familiar | Opinion

BY: - January 11, 2021

The school district has a long way to go to address it high expenditures

COMMENTARY

With ticket sales plummeting during the pandemic, another reason why publicly financed stadiums are a bad idea | Opinion

BY: - September 15, 2020

What happens when, after tax dollars are dubiously conscripted for the benefit of private entities -- and at the expense of the public weal -- a pandemic hits?

COMMENTARY

Pa. casinos lost big in lockdown. Here’s how that happened | Opinion

BY: - August 9, 2020

A bright spot was the significant rise of online gambling in the period in which the coronavirus reared its ugly medical and economic head.

COMMENTARY

COVID-19 in W. Pa.: Pittsburgh’s office space vacancy problem complicated by pandemic | Opinion

BY: - April 12, 2020

The vacancy numbers already are striking – 15.9 percent, the highest in a decade, since the recession year of 2010. The pandemic could make it worse.

COMMENTARY

It’s time to take a second look at British Airways’ deal at Pittsburgh Airport | Opinion

BY: - March 9, 2020

At a cost of $1.5 million per year in airport subsidy to the carrier and the cessation of Delta summer flights to Europe, 2019 international travel at PIT was a huge disappointment.

COMMENTARY

Pa.’s state-owned universities need a radical overhaul to survive | Colin McNickle

BY: - February 16, 2020

The Legislature must address the surplus of state-supported university capacity in an increasingly competitive environment.

COMMENTARY

It’s long past time to fix Pa.’s property assessment/appeals mess | Colin McNickle

BY: - January 19, 2020

Pennsylvania’s public policy makers have failed their charge to come up with an assessment system that is transparent and equitable to the taxpayers.

COMMENTARY

Why is Pittsburgh still dogged by sluggish job growth? Take a closer look at the city’s economic policies | Opinion

BY: - December 19, 2019

The year-over-year loss – a decline of 0.3 percent – is the first since August 2016, when jobs dipped by 1,900 from August 2015. And it’s not as if Pittsburgh’s slide mirrors what is going on elsewhere