Reader mailbag: Sounding off on the NFL draft debate
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
We reported Monday that local leaders are urging residents to ditch the doom loop and embrace the NFL draft's free festivities.
Zoom in: We asked readers to share their reactions, and you delivered with thoughtful, candid responses.
What they're saying: "Half a million visitors flooding already tight infrastructure is not a minor inconvenience, it's a quality-of-life issue for people who live and work Downtown," said reader Jessie P.
- X user @ak47eating said the lack of early clarity that the 700,000 attendance figure was spread over three days — not all at once — fueled reasonable public concern.
- Reader Sinéad M. said Axios Pittsburgh doesn't "get to run a newsletter with the subject line 'Relax about the draft' after over a month and a half of sending stories to inboxes about how downtown is preparing and emergency rooms bracing for large crowds."
- "In regards to this quote from County Exec Innamorato: 'If you live in the suburbs and you're trying to get to the grocery store, it'll probably be fine,' is most of the concern coming from people who live in the suburbs or people who live in the city proper? Because that sounds like an implicit admission that people who do live in the cities and want to get groceries are going to have a problem," Sinéad M. continued.
The other side: "I get the anxiety, but I think some of the reactions are a little over the top," said Jason E. "Pittsburgh has always had a natural skepticism of outsiders coming in and judging us or a feeling that we don't need to do all this 'redding up' to prove ourselves. But there is something to be said for seeing your city through other people's eyes."
- "I'm out of town but have a buddy there that's excited for the whole event," said Bill W. "His solution? He lives in Green Tree and has a great scooter to get around all over town. Hoping he shares lots of great photos and videos. Some folks always hate on these kind of events but it does put a lot of extra welcomed $$ in many local businesses."
- "I can understand working from home the second half of this week, but the amount of people I've seen acting like it would be impossible to get around yesterday and today has been astounding," said X user Brad L.
Thanks for sharing! Keep it comin'.