A meeting of the minds for Pittsburgh’s bridge-builders
Last week, Pittsburgh Tomorrow hosted an inspiring and action-oriented Newcomer’s Experience Lab, bringing together a diverse group of community leaders united by a shared goal: to make Pittsburgh a more welcoming and inclusive place for newcomers.
Attendees included recruiters, realtors, relocation professionals, community leaders, university admissions staff, social club organizers, and others on the front lines of Pittsburgh’s newcomer experience. Together, they explored ways to better support people as they move to — and grow roots in — our city.
Mapping the newcomer journey
The Lab, designed and led by brand strategist Gauri Kapoor, kicked off with a deep dive into the newcomer journey, using detailed personas to chart experiences from the moment someone considers moving to Pittsburgh through to the point where they truly feel at home here.
The personas included:
- A multicultural family relocating for a new job opportunity
- A 30-something tech professional moving from the Bay Area
- A grad student staying in Pittsburgh to start her nonprofit career
Through each lens, participants explored the emotional landscape, mindset shifts, opportunities, and pain points that newcomers face in four key phases:
- Considering the Move
- Getting Settled
- Growing Roots
- Calling Pittsburgh Home
This insight-driven approach helped illuminate the unique challenges and needs newcomers encounter — and the opportunities Pittsburgh has to do better.
Turning insight into action
With empathy and understanding as the foundation, the group shifted gears to innovation. Armed with their insights, attendees brainstormed actionable ideas to improve the newcomer experience across sectors.
The group generated around 20 fresh ideas, focusing around topics like the first year experience, attracting boomerangers, day trips and excursions, concierge services to help demystify the city, and fresh takes on ways to help newcomers connect with people in the real world – from finding a friend group, to building a professional network, to meeting potential partners and sourcing childcare.
The group then voted on the most high-impact concepts, and then each team developed a more specific blueprint for one of the top three. These blueprints set the stage for the next phase: turning vision into reality. This work will help form the foundation of our evolving newcomer strategy, and we’re excited to collaborate with partners across the city to bring them to life.
The road ahead
The Newcomer’s Experience Lab reinforced what many of us already know: Pittsburgh has all the ingredients to be not just a place people move to, but a place people belong.
Now, it’s time to act — with empathy, intention, and creativity. We’re grateful to everyone who participated and can’t wait to share what’s next.
Stay tuned for updates on how we’re putting these ideas into motion — and if you’d like to help develop one of these initiatives, or attend a future workshop, we’d love to hear from you at hello@pittsburghtomorrow.org.
