What pieces of the puzzle does Pittsburgh lack to be a great city? (Wilkinsburg: subdivision, taxi)

[fat lou]

Originally Posted by jay5835

You know, Copanut, I think of you as one of the good guys here, but I can't fathom anyone decent wanting more Republicans in power in Pennsylvania. Given how Governor "Incest" recently topped (heh-heh) ex-senator "Frothy" in pure, unmitigated gayhate, I just can't get past the equation of:

PENNSYLVANIA POLITICIAN + REPUBLICAN = GAYHATE.

It's happened too many times.

Why, what's so wrong with what Corbett said?

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by jay5835

Yeah. As if that will happen in my lifetime.
I'm confused. You're always going on about the Democrats. Wasn't Onorato a Democrat?

Yeah, but I liked the guy. We need more politicians like him.

He had a vision for the City and the area, unlike the current Mayor and whoever is the head of the County.

[zman63]

Originally Posted by steindle

To say that the Pittsburgh metro is the "most conservative" bigger metro in the country is an absurd exaggeration. Here are a few metros that I would bet are easily more conservative: Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Detroit, Tampa, St. Louis, Charlotte, Orlando, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Columbus, Indianapolis, Nashville, Virginia Beach, Jacksonville, Memphis, Louisville, Oklahoma City, Richmond, New Orleans, Salt Lake City...



This is no longer entirely true. (Reference: Power Steering: New law governing PAT board makes it uncertain who'll be driving the bus | News | Pittsburgh City Paper)

Do you have proof of that? Allegheny County was the only county in southwestern pa to vote for president obama in 2012. The other counties voted overwhelmingly for Mitt Romney. President Obama won 75 percent of the vote in the city limits. Yet only won the county with 56 percent. It shows you how conservative and status quo people are outside of the city limits. Plus the vote in the inner city of pittsburgh wasnt enough to help onorato who lost allegheny county to tom corbett.

Yeah I read that. The governor and bloated legislature get to make the decisions. Still no power from the mayor of Pittsburgh.....

[fat lou]

Originally Posted by zman63

I rest my case with people like you, COPANUT.......

Here is some food for thought.... Pittsburgh is a diverse city and younger city with 300,000 residents and 57 square miles of boundary.

Allegheny County as some refer to as (Pittsburgh), is not very diverse, older in population, 1.2 million people and over 800 square miles.

The Metro area as some refer to as (Pittsburgh), is the least diverse, oldest and most conservative bigger metro in the country. Population is 2.5 million. I am not sure of the square miles, maybe 16,000?

We also want a better transportation system. It is named the Port Authority of Allegheny County and not Port authority of Pittsburgh. The allegheny county executive has the power to appoint to the board. The mayor of Pittsburgh has no power to appoint.

Pittsburgh International Airport is run by the Allegheny County Airport authority. The allegheny county executive has the power to appoint people to this board. The mayor of Pittsburgh has no power to appoint. The airport is not even located in the city limits. When the new terminal was open it was changed from Greater Pittsburgh International airport to make it feel like it was in the city.

The political power goes like this 1. Governor of PA, 2. Mayor of Philly (which is the entire county), 3. Allegheny County Chief Exec, 4. Montgomery County PA commissioners / chief exec..... and so on till you reach the first county smaller than pittsburgh's population.

This is what Pittsburgh is..... This is why growth will be limited in the 57 square mile pittsburgh. Then you have people like copanut having more power than the progressive city to make decisions for the future.

You seem to be suggesting that Democrats are the key to creating prosperity. Places like Detroit, Gary, Newark, Memphis, Birmingham, Jackson, Mississippi, etc., etc. etc. suggest otherwise. And your carrying on about "diverse" highlights a good reason to be turned off by the Democrat party and the political left: this ongoing obsession with race is more than a little unseemly.

[zman63]

Originally Posted by fat lou

You seem to be suggesting that Democrats are the key to creating prosperity. Places like Detroit, Gary, Newark, Memphis, Birmingham, Jackson, Mississippi, etc., etc. etc. suggest otherwise. And your carrying on about "diverse" highlights a good reason to be turned off by the Democrat party and the political left: this ongoing obsession with race is more than a little unseemly.

Democrats run the most economically prosperous cities in the country. You can look it up for your own reference. One of the biggest and prosperous cities in texas has an openly gay mayor.

[LIRefugee]

I hereby request that this thread not devolve into a political food fight (especially if you have nothing else to contribute). Thank you.

Perhaps if Pittsburgh built a Defining Structure, it could be seen as a World-Class city. Perhaps something like this.

[steindle]

Originally Posted by zman63

Do you have proof of that?

First off, the idea that voting for Democrats is some reliable indicator of people not being "status quo" doesn't really make sense. By that logic, Pittsburgh must have been wildly progressive and against the status quo in 1988, when virtually every county in Western PA voted for Dukakis (vs. only Philadelphia County in the east). (Link to those results: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...countymap2.PNG)

Secondly, sure. I'm not going to go through all of them, but some results:
- Cincinnati: Hamilton County went 51.8% for Obama vs. 46.9% for Romney. Results for the surrounding counties -- Butler: 62.% for Romney vs. 36.1 Obama; Warren County: 69.1% Romney vs. 29.5% Obama; Clermont County: 67% Romney, 31.4% Obama; Dearborn County: 68.9% Romney vs. 29.2% Obama; Kenton County: 61.2% Romney vs. 36.8% Obama.

Actually, that was already so boring to do that I don't really care to do it again, but I'm confident that at least 75% of the cities I listed are similar.

(P.S. Comparatively, Western PA goes from Beaver County: 52.6% Romney vs. 46.0% Obama; and Fayette County: 53.6% Romney vs. 45.3% Obama... to Armstrong County with 67.9% Romney and 30.7% Obama. And like six people live in Armstrong County.)

[zman63]

I think Pittsburgh is a great city for 300,000 people and 57 square miles. Again, it needs to concentrate on what it is right now to better itself. The unfortunate thing is while the city may be changing the other areas of the greater whole metro and county are not on the same path as the city. It is going to be a challenge to keep up with the progression.

I think a fitzgerald/peduto relationship will help make this happen.

[pman]

Originally Posted by zman63

I think Pittsburgh is a great city for 300,000 people and 57 square miles. Again, it needs to concentrate on what it is right now to better itself. The unfortunate thing is while the city may be changing the other areas of the greater whole metro and county are not on the same path as the city. It is going to be a challenge to keep up with the progression.

I think a fitzgerald/peduto relationship will help make this happen.

I think a relatively fast commuter rail connection with west moreland county would go a long way to restoring desirability to towns like latrobe and greensburg. there's no reason greensburg shouldn't be as attractive a town as media, pa or west chester, pa.

[zman63]

Originally Posted by pman

I think a relatively fast commuter rail connection with west moreland county would go a long way to restoring desirability to towns like latrobe and greensburg. there's no reason greensburg shouldn't be as attractive a town as media, pa or west chester, pa.

I agree. I talk to people from out near that way and they agree it would be nice. Are the leaders from that area on board with it and trying to make it happen? Thats wherein lies the problem if there is one. You need everybody to work together for the common good. Again I think fitzgerald/peduto will do wonders for the city. How will they be received to the leaders in the surrounding counties? That is the million dollar question.

People in the city would love light rail from downtown to the airport. The problem is the western suburbs did not want a rail line going through their township. At least this was their response back in the early 2000s. maybe it needs to be revisited again.