Happenings in Pittsburgh!! (Wilkinsburg, Swissvale, Edgewood: environment, realty, foreclosures)

[guylocke]

Here are the new renderings and plans for the casino on the north shore. You have to download the pdf file. Neat!

City Planning

[Elder18]

Slot machines!

*eyes glaze over*

[guylocke]

Slot machines!

*eyes glaze over*

Thank god you replied so I know some people are reading these things! I originally didn't think it would matter, but it makes it much more rewarding, LOL.

[guylocke]

Another article about how the current national housing slide and foreclosures has largely missed us.

Flood of foreclosures misses Pittsburgh area

The flood of foreclosures that has sucked the world's financial markets into its wake continues to crest, with nearly twice as many filings last month as there were in July 2006.

A total of 179,599 filings were reported during the month, up 93 percent from a year ago, according to Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. That number is the highest since the firm began tracking default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions in January 2005.

Despite their national and international impact, the foreclosure filings themselves are largely concentrated in a few areas -- and neither Pittsburgh nor Pennsylvania are among them.

"While 43 states experienced year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity," said RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer James J. Saccacio, "just five states -- California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia -- accounted for more than half of the nation's total foreclosure filings."

Pennsylvania recorded 2,990 foreclosures in July, up just one half of one percent from a year ago; its foreclosure rate of 1 in every 1,813 households was 24th among the states.

[TRO Z]

Good find boylocke..I just forwarded that article to a few of my associates.

The bad part about the foreclosures in the US...Is that we are still in the beginning phases of this fall out..The next 3 years are going to be brutal for alot of people..I wonder if our divorce rate is going to sky rocket during this period also..

[guylocke]

Low-cost carriers pull fares down to earth

Fares have plummeted. Local travelers are saving millions. And far fewer people are driving to other airports in search of bargains.

Nowhere is the evidence of change more dramatic than in fares. The average one-way fare out of Pittsburgh, which topped nearly $192 in 2000, making it one of the highest in the country, plunged 27 percent to $140 last year -- about $7 below the national average.

Average one-way fares to the top 15 destinations have dropped even more -- by 32 percent, to $120, according to the study. As for individual cities, fares to Chicago have plunged nearly 50 percent; to Orlando, Fla., 48 percent; to Las Vegas 42.2 percent; and to Philadelphia nearly 33 percent.

According to the study, the fare reductions saved leisure travelers $64.4 million and businesses nearly $110 million in 2006 alone.

The drop in fares has corresponded with the retrenchment of US Airways, the dominant airline at Pittsburgh International. It has slashed daily departures from a high of 510 to 126 over the last five years and eliminated Pittsburgh as a hub, cuts that have cost more than 10,000 US Airways employees their jobs.

But its actions also have opened the door for more competition and the emergence and growth of low-cost carriers like Southwest, USA 3000, JetBlue and AirTran, which launched service from Pittsburgh in 2000 at the height of the US Airways hub stranglehold.

The study, commissioned by the Allegheny County Airport Authority, was an attempt to quantify the impact of low-cost carriers on Pittsburgh.

County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said that while the airport still is in transition, it's a transition that "is going in the right direction."

[guylocke]

More flying news!!

Officials push for flights to Europe

Local politicians and airport officials are making another push to land flights to Europe from Pittsburgh International Airport.

Allegheny County Airport Authority Executive Director Kent George said yesterday that local officials are talking to at least three airlines about the possibility of service to Europe. He would not name the carriers.

Pittsburgh has been without nonstop European service since November 2004, when US Airways dropped flights to London and Frankfurt.

Airport Authority officials will travel to a conference in Stockholm this fall to meet with three airlines and possibly others to explore the potential for European service. Mr. George said some airlines have shown an active interest in such service.

Michael Langley, chief executive officer of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, has said a Pittsburgh-Amsterdam route may be the most likely option for European service.

[Geeo]

I think the airport has turned the corner, and the Business Times reports today that traffic at the airport has increased when compared to last year. Even without the hub, Pittsburgh is certainly large enough that it can support nonstop service to the 50 major cities it has now, really, just about anywhere you'd want to go. (Do you really need to go to Terra Haute, Indiana nonstop?) And I think international service would be viable here, too. Hartford, Connecticut just got service to Copehagen or Amsterdam, (forget which one) for heaven's sake. I like the variety of airlines, the lower fares, and the incredible airport we have. Too bad USAirways shifted a lot of flights to that outdated air base in Philadelphia, (which I refuse to fly into anymore), but I think we'll make out better in the long run.

[boardmanite]

A Pittsburgh-Amsterdam route?!?! That is the BEST news I've heard in a LONG time!!!

[guylocke]

Yet another aricle about Pittsburgh avoiding the current "housing market woes."

Pittsburgh avoiding housing market woes

Pittsburgh's housing market continues to avoid the nationwide housing drama with steady-but-not-exciting growth, according to two agencies that track local real estate data.

West Penn Multi-List, which tallies transactions in which area Realtors have played a part, said the average price for homes sold in Allegheny County in July was $169,383, up a respectable 6.3 percent from last July's $159,364. There were 1,432 Realtor-assisted closings last month, compared with 1,416 a year ago.

West Penn also includes Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette and Westmoreland counties in its tabulations. For the six-county area, the average sales price was $164,719, up from $157,780 last year, and the total of closed sales was 2,570, compared with 2,546 last July.