It seems to me that those who are taking exception to the editorial are long on criticism and short on near term solutions. Let's say for starters, that we raise the minimum wage to $18 an hour within Allegheny County. How is that going to impact the drug trade, the violence culture, gun ownership and usage and the feeling that seems to be universal around downtown, that the city is my personal garbage can. I went downtown last fall and noticed that Fort Duquesne Blvd. looked like a garbage dump. The city has made an effort to make that area more hospitable but it seems to require a round the clock presence to stop the alcohol use, the trashing of the benches, sidewalks and greenery and general lack of healthy outdoor ambience. It is horrible. I called the city to report it and when I went back all the trash had been swept up into piles but not picked up and put into bins. Cans were full but I am sure the first good wind must have blown everything back where it was. One thing that can be done within the city is the adoption of some form of rent control. Pittsburgh is such a small city that when an area becomes popular and gentrified it has a huge impact all over. Now, they are planning new upper class housing on the Civic Arena site. Subsidized housing is an absolute necessity. Who would ever have thought the day would come when working people could not afford to live in Lawrenceville, the South Side or Mt. Washington. This has to be corrected.