About 30 community members joined a virtual community meeting on Sept. 29 to discuss Pittsburgh's Columbus Day Parade that is scheduled for Sat., Oct. 9, in the Bloomfield neighborhood. At the meetings hosted by the Bloomfield Development Corporation, four people were given the chance to address the group, and they shared opinions strongly for and against the continuation of the parade and Columbus Day that were rooted in their personal heritages.

“[The business district committee of BDC] realized pretty quickly that the conversation wasn't necessarily about having the parade at all — less about the road closures, more about the strong polarized feelings about this particular historical figure,” said BDC executive director Christina Howell after the meeting.