Happenings in Pittsburgh!! (Carnegie, Monongahela, Smithfield: buy, school districts, universities)

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The Smart Show came to Pittsburgh!! It's a short video about innovation that happens in Pittsburgh, it's pretty neat and amusing.

The host does talk about how Pittsburgh has more bridges than any other city in the world after Venice and has more green certified buildings than any other place in America.

The Smart Show: Pittsburgh

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The official opening of the first newly build condo complex in the Downtown area in decades launched today. This is one of dozens of buildings being built downtown and in many of the city neighborhoods to meet the strong demand. It is already at 80% capacity.

First new condo building in decades opens in Pittsburgh

John Miller is among a new breed of Downtown residents.

The 35-year-old attorney with the Jones Day law firm is one of 63 individuals who have purchased units at 151 First Side, a project billed the first new residential condominium built Downtown since 1968.

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Here is also a news feed on it from kdka: kdka.com - New Downtown Pittsburgh Condos Open Today (broken link)

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Here is more news on a truly fantastic project soon to be started in Friendship called The Glass Lofts. A must read. Picture included!

Pop City - Work set to start on $6.4M mixed-use Glass Lofts in Friendship

A new green condo project will soon be underway in the heart of the Penn Avenue Arts District.

Friendship Development Associates (FDA) has just secured construction financing for The Glass Lofts, which will feature 18 for-sale lofts, a 3,200-square-foot restaurant, artist studios, and 1,200 square feet of office space. Demolition of blighted properties located at the corner of Penn Ave. and N. Fairmount St. will begin within the next two weeks, with groundbreaking expected within 30 days.

The second phase of 3.2-acre project that includes the 60-unit Penn Fairmont, The Glass Lofts will include one- and two-story lofts ranging in size from 845 to 1,873 square feet. Amenities include concrete flooring, retractable glass garage doors, balconies, and skylights. Residents will have access to a common room, as well as private internal garages and rear parking areas. Featuring modern architecture designed by Arthur Lubetz Architects, the $6.4 million project will also include high-efficiency heating and cooling and environmentally low-impact materials. Contractor is Sota Construction Services, a leader in green building.

Affordable financing is available for qualified buyers; buyers will pay no local or state income or property taxes through 2010. Lofts, which will be a mix of market rate and affordable units, will sell for between $180,000 and $330,000. Three sales agreeements are already in place. The project is being marketed by FDA and We Do Property Management, Inc.

Located near the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Dance Alloy Theater, Quiet Storm Coffeehouse, and a variety of shops, schools and hospitals, The Glass Lofts is situated within a Pennsylvania KIZ zone. The result of a series of community input sessions, during which project planners discussed neighborhood needs, The Glass Lofts/Penn Fairmont project brings much-needed senior housing, restaurant, retail and office space, for-sale condos, green space, and adequate parking to Friendship.

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Another bakery complex is being converted into into living and retail space - not to be confused with the Bakery Project, which is the conversion of the old Nabisco Plant in East Liberty into lofts and retail!

Pop City - $4.7M mixed-use project to feature new lofts and commercial space in Homestead

A former bakery located in the 200 block of Homestead's 7th Ave. corrdidor is undergoing a historic renovation project.

Pittsburgh Steeler Charlie Batch, who purchased the 40,600-square-foot property, broke ground on the project with Allegheny County last week. Plans for the renovation call for creating a mixed-use project that will feature eight one-bedroom, five two-bedroom, and three affordable senior housing units, as well as six commercial spaces. Mr. Batch, who owns more than 70 properties in the Steel Valley, grew up in Homestead.

Constructed in 1885, the historic property will house lofts ranging in size from 750 to 1,400 square feet, an 8,000-square-foot restaurant, offices, and two additional commercial tenants. J.A. Kudravy and Associates is designing the $4.7 million project; contractor is Americo Construction.

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With news of the 151 First Side's opening, we'll dedicate a few more posts to the recent condo craze in the city.

Condo developer confident in market for Downtown living

With 75 percent of the condos in his 151 First Side building Downtown sold, Ralph Falbo is ready for an encore.

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I thought this was appropriate to post in honor of Halloween.

You have to click this link, the picture of the carved pumpkin is hilarious!

Pumpkin artists teach how to cut corners on 'Martha Stewart-ization' of Halloween

With all the pressures of modern life and modern Halloween, carving the once-lowly pumpkin can be a daunting task.

Everywhere you look, some clever mom, a copy of Martha Stewart Living in hand, is carving out some burnt-orange masterpiece with finely cut stencils and half-exposed pumpkin flesh, an eerie glow emanating from the inside.

Somehow your old standby -- the dopey-faced jack-o'-lantern with crudely cut triangle eyes -- looks like a kid's stick figure drawing in a fine art gallery.

What's a craft-impaired/time-pressed parent to do?

Try a clever but simple design, says Karen Quinn, master of the 10-minute pumpkin.

Mrs. Quinn, a muralist and talented gardener who lives in McMurray, makes wonderfully whimsical pumpkins quickly without stencils or fancy tools.

She is a pumpkin pragmatist.

"Who wants to spend hours on something that is going to rot in four days?" she says, shrugging.

The artist, who does pumpkin-carving demonstrations at Simmons Farm in McMurray every fall, combs through the cartoon pages to look for exaggerated pumpkin features.

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The Mellon's have been feeling particularly generous recently.

Pop City - Richard King Mellon Foundation gives $25M to CMU, largest gift in school history

Building on a powerful 40-year history of financial generosity, Carnegie Mellon University has received $25 million from the Richard King Mellon Foundation that will pave the way for the development of the life sciences industry in the region.
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Mellon Foundation: $23 million for child health institute

Two days after giving Carnegie Mellon University $25 million, the Richard King Mellon Foundation today announced a separate $23 million gift to the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
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[Katiana]

I liked the story about the pumpkins. We got ours last weekend.

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The word surplus tied to the word Pittsburgh is always a good thing. This is actually fantastic news!!

City's ballet, symphony, museums on firmer fiscal footing

It took a strong dose of tough love, but after six years of operating in the red, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre yesterday unveiled a financial surplus for the 2006-07 season, capping a good year for three of the region's major cultural institutions.
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Another good article about it.

Pittsburgh Ballet turns first profit in 6 years - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Appearing to regain its financial footing, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre said Wednesday it ended the year with its first surplus in six years and with a 26 percent jump in ticket sales, reversing an 11-year slide.
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Pittsburgh just ranked 47th out of 50 cities surveyed for risk of identity theft. That's good news, right? Of course, unless people just don't want our identities. *sniffle*

Survey: Pittsburgh ranks 47th for identity theft - Pittsburgh Business Times:

Pittsburgh ranked 47th of 50 cities when it comes to risk for identity theft, according to findings released Thursday by the Identity Theft Resource Center and Uni-ball pens.

In 2006, the Federal Trade Commission received 1,427 complaints regarding identity theft in the Pittsburgh area, ITRC and Uni-ball said.

The non-profit IRTC and Uni-ball reorganized the FTC complaints and factored in cities' populations for a top 50 list of areas where residents are most at risk of having their personal and sensitive information stolen.

According to the list, Phoenix is the No. 1 city most at risk for identity theft. Other areas rounding out the top 10 include Riverside, Calif., Las Vegas, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Dallas/Fort Worth, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston and San Antonio.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Uni-ball is partnering with ITRC as part of a "Secure Your Signature" program to educate people on identity theft prevention.