Happenings in Pittsburgh!! (Washington, Carnegie, Green Tree: luxury, condos, hotel)

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by guylocke

I wonder what these look like inside, I haven't even heard much about them! Yet they are at 90% occupancy already!

Pop City - $19.7M Fairfield opens 124 new units, reaches 90% occupancy in East Liberty

Just proves my earlier point (on another thread)

IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME

[guylocke]

That's fantastic! SOOOOOOOOOOOO good to hear!

Speaking of fantastic, the same firm that is building that technology building and adding up to 400 jobs is quoted here:

The Ferchill Group feels that the demand for quality lab space in locations near Pittsburgh’s academic and medical institutions will result in more than one-million square feet over the next three to five years.

Neat, huh?

[fleetiebelle]

This isn't so much of a happening, but if you live in the southern neighborhoods of the City of Pittsburgh (Beechview, Brookline, Banksville, Carrick, Overbrook,) there's now a blog for community issues: South Pittsburgh Neighborhoods

[guylocke]

In case you missed the thread :P Pittsburgh was just ranked by Business Journal as the 8th most fun place in America out of 50 cities!! That's impressive!! Go Pittsburgh!!

bizjournals: New York City tops list of America's fun places -- bizjournals.com

bizjournals: Rankings for 50 markets

Most markets on this list are unsurprising. They're large metros that are already renowned for the breadth of their entertainment and recreation offerings.

But skeptics might raise their eyebrows at the two smallest markets. No. 8 Pittsburgh and No. 10 Providence -- the only top-10 metros with populations below 3 million -- don't have the glittering images of their bigger counterparts, yet they definitely know how to have fun:

* No U.S. market, not even those in the Sunbelt, has a stronger concentration of golf courses than Pittsburgh's 4.19 per 100,000 residents. Pittsburgh's rates for retail centers, bars and bowling centers are among the six best in the nation.

PITTSBURGH
Why it's a fun place
Pittsburgh doesn't have a glittering image, to be sure, but its residents definitely know how to have fun. This is a great area for shopping; only Boston ranks higher in that category. And few places offer better options for golfers, bowlers, moviegoers or fans of live theater.
Category rankings (out of 50 markets)
Shopping: 2nd
Food and drink: 12th
Culture: 18th
Popular entertainment: 21st
Gambling: 21st
High-impact sports: 21st
Low-impact sports: 6th

Fun fact
The Pittsburgh area has 4.19 golf courses per 100,000 residents, the best ratio in the entire country.

[guylocke]

Gee, who woulda thunk it? Maybe after the holiday season, if the numbers support it, there will be some changes in how parking works and costs downtown. Could be a good thing!! I didn't even realize the city was offering free parking on Saturday (always on Sunday) for the holidays.

Free Downtown parking ploy appears to be working

No one knows for sure whether free Downtown parking on Saturdays during the run-up to Christmas is attracting more shoppers, but store owners and parking officials are happy with what they are seeing.

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On Dec. 1, there was an increase of 364 tickets over the same day in 2006.

[guylocke]

Here is a very pro-article about the mayor and what's been happening recently since he was re-elected. I do have to say, I'm impressed with several of the things in this article. I hope it continues.

Mayor looks back on banner week

A month after he was elected mayor of Pittsburgh, and two weeks before his inauguration, Luke Ravenstahl hit for the cycle.

On one day, Tuesday, City Council asked for an end to state fiscal oversight (a single); Don Barden said he'll break ground on his North Shore casino next week (double); and council and the mayor finalized an ordinance on police domestic violence (triple). Late that day, word leaked that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center will put as much as $100 million into the Pittsburgh Promise, a plan Mr. Ravenstahl and school Superintendent Mark Roosevelt hatched to ensure city high school graduates can afford college.

Homer.

Each hit puts a new challenge on deck, but as he prepared to travel to New York for the annual Pennsylvania Society meeting this weekend, the mayor seemed atop the world. "To have them all kind of reach that pinnacle on Tuesday was wonderful," he said Thursday.

[guylocke]

More good press for Pittsburgh. Apparently Pittsburgh is turning heads, we've been mentioned in a plethora of rankings and honors the past year.

City lands on top of travel ratings

The travel experts at Frommer's released their 13 top travel destinations for 2008 yesterday, and Pittsburgh was on the list.
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Here is a special quote that briefly outlines a few other things we've had press for in the last year.

Among them: Best arts destination for midsize cities by American Style magazine; in the top 10 of the world's cleanest cities by Forbes Magazine; and the top city for computer geeks by Wired magazine.

Their actual blurb about Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh turns 250 next year, and visitors during the 2008 semiquincentennial will discover that Steel City USA has swapped out its rusting blast furnaces for a modern cityscape with a thriving local and international arts scene. It retains its past glory in its universities, ethnic neighborhoods, and supremely engineered and iconic bridges that span the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers criss-crossing the city. And it offers up one of the country's most impressive cultural collections: the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Take your pick from dinosaur bones, at the Natural History Museum, to Pop Art, at the museum dedicated to Pittsburgh's native son Andy Warhol. Throughout the year, Pittsburgh will be offering up special events commemorating its 250-year history, including theatrical and balletic performances, sports events, the Pittsburgh Biennial and Carnegie International arts fairs, and more.

[guylocke]

Woah, all the rumors were true. I am sort of in shock. I'm sure it will do VERY well for itself, I have many friends who do a lot of online buying and now have a boutique of their own in Pittsburgh.

Tiffany to open store at Ross Park Mall - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Tiffany & Co., the upscale jewelry retailer, said today it will open a store in 2008 in Ross Park Mall, which would be its first store in the Pittsburgh area.

A 5,700-square-foot store is slated to open in October as part of 65,000 square feet of newly expanded space at the mall. The addition is meant for luxury retailers, such as Tiffany, as well as restaurants, said shopping center owner Simon Property Group Inc.

"Tiffany is a fabulous addition to Ross Park Mall," said Scott Richardson, senior development director for Simon. "We are pleased that their first store in Pittsburgh is at Ross Park Mall."

At 5,700-square-feet, it's not gonna be a little rinky-dink store, either. This was one hot rumor I had been hearing a lot about that proved to be true. The next rumor hopefully to be proved will be that the new Ross Park development will also have a Louie Vuitton boutique. Right now we only have a LV counter at one specific place.

[Geeo]

Wow, Ross Park Mall is really becoming a luxury destination! I assume that they are expanding the wing where Nordstrom will be and adding some of the new stores there. I'm waiting for a Crate & Barrel to open out there, that's what I want. I heard that they were looking at the old Weisshouse on Walnut St. in Shadyside a couple years ago, but it was too small.

[guylocke]

Wow, Ross Park Mall is really becoming a luxury destination!

It certainly is. That is what they've intended. The manager of Ross Park mall is a woman and she's a fireball. She's done a lot for the mall.

I'm waiting for a Crate & Barrel to open out there, that's what I want.

Whew, you and me both.