What's up with Homestead these days? (Pittsburgh, Penn Hills: section 8, how much, neighborhoods)

[BarqCider]

was at the waterfronts Fridays restaurant today. I liked it, but man a hike to there. atleast the pain of using murray that is.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by BarqCider

was at the waterfronts Fridays restaurant today. I liked it, but man a hike to there. atleast the pain of using murray that is.

Oh man, don't go down Murray through Sq Hill! Shady to Morrowfield to Murray (the Greenfield stretch) to Loretta to Beechwood to the bridge: sounds convoluted, but trust me, it's quicker.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Sealtite

Wha...? How do you figure? That's ironic that you said that, because until last year I'd never actually bothered with Kittanning, spare for driving through the outskirts. It always looked dumpy and reminded me of every other nappy river town around here. Last year however, I went to a festival in downtown Kittanning, and to my utter shock it was rather charming. Most (damn near all) of the houses in the downtown area are stunningly beautiful, well-maintained, and historical. Nice, clean streets, happy-go-lucky people, and I think I even spotted a few magical fairies mingling amongst the tree branches in the moonlight. I did take a few bong rips before I went though, so they might have just been fireflies.

I've been going to Kittanning since the 60's when I would stay there for a few weeks in the Summer with my cousins. Back then it was a jumping town with Armstrong Cork and PPG supplying good paying jobs. The downtown area has a lot of vacant stores, no doubt being the county seat has helped.

I have a buddy that lives there and he took me to the Moose or Elks or whatever one day. Women were not allowed to sit at the bar.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by zman63

It was the Alexander Graham Bell restaurant. I took a date there in 2002 or 03. It was a cool place with telephones on all of the tables. It did not last very long.

The suburbs of Pittsburgh are just on a downward swing with no end in sight. Old houses, aging population and not very diverse.

The original AGB restaurant was in Market Square back in the 80's, before cell phones.

As to the 'burbs being on a downward swing, cite some stats. New housing is all over the place in the Great White North along with other areas of the county.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by jimbopgh

oh man, don't go down murray through sq hill! Shady to morrowfield to murray (the greenfield stretch) to loretta to beechwood to the bridge: Sounds convoluted, but trust me, it's quicker.

+1

[speagles84]

Originally Posted by Copanut

The original AGB restaurant was in Market Square back in the 80's, before cell phones.

As to the 'burbs being on a downward swing, cite some stats. New housing is all over the place in the Great White North along with other areas of the county.

Cranberry is outright dangerous! I wouldn't drive through there even in the day with all those soccer moms n'at

[Geeo]

It's getting bad in McCandless and Pine, too.

[Sealtite]

Originally Posted by Copanut

I've been going to Kittanning since the 60's when I would stay there for a few weeks in the Summer with my cousins. Back then it was a jumping town with Armstrong Cork and PPG supplying good paying jobs. The downtown area has a lot of vacant stores, no doubt being the county seat has helped.

I have a buddy that lives there and he took me to the Moose or Elks or whatever one day. Women were not allowed to sit at the bar.

That's an Elks / Moose / Eagles / whatever thing. Not a Kittanning thing. All of those old man clubs have weird rules and customs. They all look the same inside with the same clientele no matter where you go in the country.

Unfortunately vacant storefronts in downtown regions are an area-wide problem. Especially in the larger towns / smaller cities. Kittanning is no different than Greensburg, Latrobe, or any other local town of it's size in this respect. It's because of the corporate chain big-box stores (Walmart, Lowe's and the like) and the crappy corporate restaurants (Applebee's Olive Garden, etc), and the apathy on behalf of local governments who allowed those places to come here in the first place. That **** started back in the late 70's and early 80's with Jamesway, Hills, and K-mart, and is nothing new. Lack of creativity and continued apathy on behalf of property owners of many of these abandoned storefronts are where the blame now lies for not adjusting to the times.

Things have gotten much more barren in these down town areas all over the region in the past 10 or 15 years. One in particular that comes to mind is Latrobe (though I'm sure the same thing can be said about Kittanning....I just didn't grow up near there). Latrobe used to have a few places for kids to go back in the 90's when I was growing up, but all that's gone now, and that's why you've got kids on heroin there. The old farts who run that town wouldn't have it any other way either, because their mentality is if you're under the age of 30 and you're not Johnny Football or Suzy Cheerleader, then you don't deserve to live.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Sealtite

That's an Elks / Moose / Eagles / whatever thing. Not a Kittanning thing. All of those old man clubs have weird rules and customs. They all look the same inside with the same clientele no matter where you go in the country.

Unfortunately vacant storefronts in downtown regions are an area-wide problem. Especially in the larger towns / smaller cities. Kittanning is no different than Greensburg, Latrobe, or any other local town of it's size in this respect. It's because of the corporate chain big-box stores (Walmart, Lowe's and the like) and the crappy corporate restaurants (Applebee's Olive Garden, etc), and the apathy on behalf of local governments who allowed those places to come here in the first place. That **** started back in the late 70's and early 80's with Jamesway, Hills, and K-mart, and is nothing new. Lack of creativity and continued apathy on behalf of property owners of many of these abandoned storefronts are where the blame now lies for not adjusting to the times.

Things have gotten much more barren in these down town areas all over the region in the past 10 or 15 years. One in particular that comes to mind is Latrobe (though I'm sure the same thing can be said about Kittanning....I just didn't grow up near there). Latrobe used to have a few places for kids to go back in the 90's when I was growing up, but all that's gone now, and that's why you've got kids on heroin there. The old farts who run that town wouldn't have it any other way either, because their mentality is if you're under the age of 30 and you're not Johnny Football or Suzy Cheerleader, then you don't deserve to live.

Ever been to Babe's? Think it's gone now.

[Sealtite]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Ever been to Babe's? Think it's gone now.

Not for years, but it's still there. I still know people who go there. They have pretty good pizza from what I hear.