First US Nighttime Economy Office

“We had growing nightlife that, like most cities, really had no plan. It just happened,” Allison Harnden is quoted as saying in a 2017 article from “Governing.”

“So suddenly you have neighbors feeling the noise or other kinds of disruption because systems haven’t been put in place.”

The European “night mayor” boom began in Amsterdam in 2012. Soon after, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania became the first city in America to retain a “nighttime economy coordinator.”

Harnden is a trailblazer. Spend 24 minutes with Pittburgh’s “night mayor” as we talk with Allison Harnden about how the Office of Nighttime Economy came to be and how having a nighttime manager has helped her city.

24 minutes from 24HourNation
Season 001, Episode 011

Topic: In this podcast, we talk with the manager of the first nighttime economy office in the US.
Guest: Allison Harnden, City of Pittsburgh, Office of Nighttime Economy
Host: Randall White, 24HourNation
Recorded: Jul 8, 2022
Mixed: Jul 9, 2022
Posted: Jul 10, 2022

Allison Harnden serves as Nighttime Economy Manager for the City of Pittsburgh.

In that capacity, she leads the Office of Nighttime Economy to promote resources, coordinate city departments and implement efforts to support safe, profitable and sustainable food, beverage and entertainment businesses.

Harnden is also board co-chair for the Responsible Hospitality Institute.