What Eyesores Near Downtown Hurt Pittsburgh's Looks The Worst? (Aspinwall: living, centers)

[ditchdigger]

Arrow and Bryan concrete depend on river access to get their sand and gravel. Why not complain about the asphalt plant right next to Arrow? It's just as ugly, and it smells too. And Metaltech, right next to that, with those awful 18 wheelers going in and out at all hours.

I just love it when people criticize parts of the ecomonic engine of a region because based on appearance. Industry has to be somewhere, and it can't all be pretty....

[gg]

Originally Posted by ditchdigger

I just love it when people criticize parts of the ecomonic engine of a region because based on appearance. Industry has to be somewhere, and it can't all be pretty....

Very true. Take a ride across the Highland Park Bridge and have a look to the right as you enter Aspinwall. There is a huge scrap yard there. Why is it there? They recycle old rail cars and barges. Will it every move from that location? Why would it? The owner is no doubt worth millions and millions from such a business. It is one ugly place, but it needs water and rail. It also is not a passible industry for cyclists. The trail that runs up the Allegheny will have to bypass it on the road or maybe some other idea. That rail is used a lot as well. Tons of trains running up the Allegheny all the time to take coal to the power plant in Springdale.

Eyesores are going to be part of the city area. How can you make a scrap yard look pretty? Not going to happen. I wish I owned that place. I can't imagine the money that place generates!

Of course calling something an eyesore isn't actually complaining. I am not complaining about that scrap yard, but know it is an eyesore. It is what it is and will be there forever. Too much money in that business and it has to be where it is.

[BrianTH]

My number-one eyesores by a long shot: the highways themselves (particularly along both sides of Downtown, Crosstown, and 65 through the North Side). I recognize their utility, but you could help by creating deckparks along both sides of Downtown and over part of Crosstown, and converting a good length of 65 into a street-level boulevard.

Number two (again at a distance from any possible number three) would be all the surface parking lots scattered around.

[pman]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

My number-one eyesores by a long shot: the highways themselves (particularly along both sides of Downtown, Crosstown, and 65 through the North Side). I recognize their utility, but you could help by creating deckparks along both sides of Downtown and over part of Crosstown, and converting a good length of 65 into a street-level boulevard.

Number two (again at a distance from any possible number three) would be all the surface parking lots scattered around.

1) I agree with brian's number 1, the mess of highways does more to block development than the atrocious allegheny center IMO. the two together form an impenetrable wall of eyesority.

after that
2)wyndham downtown, for such a prominent location, it's a pretty hideous building. selling off a piece of point park to build something nice in front of it would be an improvement.
3)the massive surface lots near the train station where the strip and downtown meet

[fleetiebelle]

Not really seen from downtown, but the Route 51 corridor from the South Hills, with seemingly mile after mile of vacant strip malls, used car lots, and weeds.

[SammyKhalifa]

My biggest pet peeve is right down the road from me, on Grandview Avenue of all places. Some great developer razed the block to build condos there, and then never did. Instead we get a beat up metal fence and dirt. Sometimes he uses it to store scrap metal and tool trailers, or maybe some concrete block.

grandview and bertha pittsburgh - Google Maps

Take a look at that incredible street view, then swivel the view 180 degrees to view the majesty of the (cleaned up a bit in this shot) empty lot. Note that the sign for the apartment still says that's it's "Coming in 2007."

On my walk yesterday evening, I overheard people speaking six different languages. Grandview is something that almost every visitor to the city visits at some point, and we treat them to that. Some impression.

That property he's sitting on has to be some of the most coveted in the entire state. Good job, there.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

Not really seen from downtown, but the Route 51 corridor from the South Hills, with seemingly mile after mile of vacant strip malls, used car lots, and weeds.

I don't know if that is within the scope of the OP, but that is indeed a depressing route.

[ferraris]

I actually think the mess of highways helps to create a good impression to visitors. Combined with the skyscrapers, bridges, rivers, and stadiums, It comes together to create the image of a big, bustling city.

[gg]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

I actually think the mess of highways helps to create a good impression to visitors. Combined with the skyscrapers, bridges, rivers, and stadiums, It comes together to create the image of a big, bustling city.

Yeah, highways are just part of city life. I don't think they are really an eyesore, just city living.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

I actually think the mess of highways helps to create a good impression to visitors. Combined with the skyscrapers, bridges, rivers, and stadiums, It comes together to create the image of a big, bustling city.

I don't think you specifically need the highways for that purpose--the bridges in particular should serve the same function, and therefore I think the highways themselves are unlikely adding much to the overall impression. In fact, I would suggest that bridges convey an impression of going to somewhere, but highways often convey the impression of going past somewhere, and the latter is not necessarily the impression you want to create.

And that is sort of the vision I sketched--the bridges would all still be there, but the long stretches of highway cutting through neighborhoods and along the riverfronts would be deemphasized.

Edit: Oh, and I think it is worth noting that highways are ugly, noisy, smelly, and generally blatantly hostile to all forms of life not protected by large steel cages. Those facts should be included in weighing their overall contribution to the look and feel of the Downtown area.