Strolling through the future

The highlight of my day is listening to planes take off as I walk to class.

Every day I pass the Digital Plaza at the corner of Forbes Avenue and South Bouquet Street, and every day I am reminded of how technology can change our lives. Oakland’s Digital Plaza is the definitive symbol of innovation in our city. Its role in bringing people together is invaluable, and we must expand it to be the only plaza on campus in order to truly show our commitment to modernization.

As a first-year living in Tower C, I would look out the window at the T-Mobile castle and wonder why I couldn’t listen to Justin Bieber or white noise at the highest volume possible. Two years later, my dream has come true.

Throughout last fall, a massive LED screen that serves as the Plaza’s centerpiece featured a countdown clock with no explanation of what the payoff would be. On Nov. 16, hundreds of spectators watched as the Oakland Business Improvement District officially unveiled its 21st Century Digital Plaza. The reveal was worth the wait.

“It’s the center of Oakland, and it needs a Times Square,” Mayor Bill Peduto said at the event.

The Digital Plaza is exactly that — it offers a landmark for tourists to visit and get a snapshot of Pittsburgh culture and future.

It’s no secret that Pittsburgh is in the middle of a tech renaissance, but most people talking about the boom miss the big picture. Sure, Facebook is setting up an office here to design virtual reality headsets. Uber is headed to town to create a test track for self-driving cars. And admittedly, Google’s use of an old factory as an office is pretty symbolic.

But none of these things offer the charm of our Digital Plaza.

The Digital Plaza serves as an incredible meeting space for people from all over Oakland. I’ve seen the benches so full that people wander around, searching for an alternate location that’s even marginally as relaxing. Their search always ends in disappointment.

After all, few places perfectly combine pop music blasting from giant speakers, oldies blaring from Five Guys Burgers and Fries, helicopters heading to UPMC Presbyterian and traffic sounds.

Relaxation isn’t the only benefit of the Plaza, though.

It also offers a list of practical uses that rivals just about any other campus feature. I use the Plaza to walk through. People even use it as a place to wear their headphones through. There are so many more that I can’t even pick some to include — the quantity is truly too overwhelming. Just trust me, you can’t argue against how integral it is to how the area functions.

Our campus’ enthusiastic embrace of the Digital Plaza shows how badly we need to expand it. It is clearly the superior Oakland plaza. Schenley Plaza is simply too old-fashioned to realistically accommodate the needs of Pitt students, and we could use that space to better serve our community.

Where do countless students stretch out and soak up the sun on warm spring days? The Digital Plaza. All Schenley has to offer is dirt and bugs. I don’t know about you, but picking a place to spend my time is a no-brainer.

It is time for us to pour concrete across that decrepit acre of grass and commit fully to a futuristic vision of Pittsburgh. We need at least five more LED screens that are twice as large as the existing one. Ideally, each of these will screen different things at the same time so that people can absorb as much media as possible in the same place.

That’s the true reason to make the Digital Plaza our community’s crown jewel. If we all just started consuming more media, we’d be the smartest city in the world. Oakland is already the hub of intellectualism in Pittsburgh — there’s no better place to start these educational endeavors.

Professors can run HDMI cords from the Cathedral to the Plaza screens and screen lectures that help educate the masses. Guest speakers could make video calls instead of having to fly all the way here. Education can be so much more efficient, and the Digital Plaza is key to that.

My love of the Digital Plaza may seem odd to some, but it comes from a true devotion to this community. Every downside someone could point to is easily countered with a positive.

This isn’t a waste of power, it is a source of empowerment. The Digital Plaza should be the face of Oakland pride because it brings pleasure to so many. Seeing it lets pedestrians know that Pittsburgh is truly in touch with the latest technology.

We must invest in the future by building large LED screens and speakers wherever possible. The Digital Plaza needs to grow if Pittsburgh is to have a future.

Some of the sound effects may annoy people, but sacrifice is always part of progress. I, for one, can’t wait to hear tomorrow’s invisible flight as I cross Forbes.

Matt Moret is the Opinions Editor for The Pitt News. He primarily writes about politics and rhetoric.

Write to Matt at mdm123@pitt.edu 

This is a satirical story, part of The Pitt News’ annual April Fool’s edition.