Ketchup Smoothies, Bills Going Up & Would You Live Downtown?

Downtown is in flux — a high and growing office vacancy rate, but also big goals for building conversions, more residential housing (market and affordable!!), and stunning new art. Your household bills like water and electricity are likely to rise soon, but it’s not too late to invest in solar. And a bunch of companies headquartered here in Pittsburgh have found themselves in the news, from THAT American Eagle Sydney Sweeney ad to PNC making Project Runway more “boring.” Plus, some celebrities were spotted at Kennywood! City Cast’s Megan Harris and Sophia Lo are talking about some of the biggest stories of the week. Can someone please get their hands on this Heinz x Smoothie King ketchup smoothie collab and tell us how it tastes??! Leave us a voicemail on the KETCHUP SMOOTHIE HOTLINE at 412-212-8893. Notes and references from today’s show: Best of Pgh 2025 [City Paper] Pittsburgh’s Downtown Office Vacancy Still High at More than 18% [Pittsburgh Magazine] Downtown offices continue to empty, but efforts to reimagine them take hold [WESA] First round of artists named for Pittsburgh civic space Arts Landing [WESA] Market Square businesses are stable three months into construction, but brace for winter [Next Pittsburgh] Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership details "encouraging shift" in downtown office market [Pittsburgh Business Times]  Barrage of weekend violence not a bellwether for Pittsburgh or region, officials say [TribLive] How Well Do You Know Pittsburgh? Take This Quiz! [City Cast Pittsburgh] Why Pennsylvanians may see higher electric bills this summer — and next [SpotlightPA] PA Power Switch  ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ casts shade over Pennsylvania’s solar boom [Allegheny Front] Public Input Meetings [Pittsburgh Water]  Health insurance in Pennsylvania may see biggest hike in years [WESA] Giant Eagle Pharmacy joins Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs discount program [WESA] Heinz Just Launched a Ketchup Smoothie and It Might Actually Be Good [Food & Wine] Pete Davidson spotted hitting the rides at Kennywood [TribLive] PNC's marketing strategy takes center stage on 'Project Runway' [Pittsburgh Business Times] American Eagle stock soars after Trump hails Sydney Sweeney ad [Axios] Learn more about the sponsors of this August 8th episode: Fulton Commons Overlook Maps Barrel & Flow Become a member of City Cast Pittsburgh at membership.citycast.fm. Want more Pittsburgh news? Sign up for our daily morning Hey Pittsburgh newsletter. We’re also on Instagram @CityCastPgh! Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info here.