North Side = Pittsburgh's wild wild west (Washington, Dallas: condo, job, hospital)

[RockLobster]

The attempted gun down of a postal worker in the street at mid-day near the Mexican War Streets. The unloading of thirty rounds from the street into a Perrysville Avenue home with a mother and several children inside. The increasing theft on cars parked in the new development area between PNC Park and Heinz Field. Yes, it's open season on the North Side.
Wake up Mr Mayor ! Once you loose a neighborhood it's very tough to get it back. And given all the money about to go into residential and retail development along North Avenue I think this area is now at a cross road concerning it's future. A lame response by the Mayor's office will lead to one huge mess for any present or future development on the North Side.

[Bazzwell]

From a "southerner's" point of view in Washington County, the North Side seems to indeed be the current Dodge City section of Pittsburgh. Seems not a night goes by that one of the local channels doesn't have something on the NS and it usually isn't praise. The longer this perception continues, the harder it will be to clear the stigma.

[RockLobster]

Your so correct ! And what is really bad is areas such as the Mexican War Street section is a lively good neighborhood with private investment having been made to really bring the housing in line. And then you have this outbreak of violent crime that will just ruin any progress being made. Same with the upper areas of Perry Hill Top where some homes have recently sold for $ 400,000 and $ 500,000 and yet to get there from downtown you have to drive through a potential shoot out!

[pitt_transplant]

I wouldnt doubt the "mothers" were dealers or the kids were making problems.

The label child/mother doesnt = "innocent" at all.

heres the way it goes:
-let crap happen
-property values drop
-good people leave
-bad/hard-up people get stuck in crap places that get bought out or they get arrested/dead/moveon
-land bought out cheaply
-flatten and redevelop

The circle of lifeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[Tallysmom]

Don't forget -- in the gang world it seems if the gang has decided you need to pay with your life -- they will go after your family members to get to you. At least out here it's that way. A lot of our "innocents" really are -- but with gang members in the family.

I'm sorry Pittsburgh is going through what Oakland CA is going through. We've have 38 homicides so far and it's escalating. A friend has been working at the local hospital in the ER and she says it's like a war triage -- gunshot wounds after gunshot wounds. That's all she sees.

And they can't use names. Patients are referred to as Echo ## -- Echo being Emergency Room and the number is the patient count... just in case a rival gang member manages to get through security to finish the job.

And our mayor? Ron Dellums was once a respected elder statesman. Taking this job has blown that out of the water. He's come off as an ineffectual idiot doing a Nero impression -- you know -- fiddling while Rome burns? Our city council isn't much better.

Oh -- and the big news tonight -- it's the "Let's suspend our civil rights" death march -- Oakland cops want to be able to search homes with NO WARRANT. It sounds like you can make an appointment to have to OPD search your home -- why would anyone do this?

[By~Tor]

"Thug Life" is not a "North Side" or a "Pittsburgh" thing; it's a cancer which has been eating away at American socety for decades. The only way to stop the cycle, if for the current generation of parents (even if they themeselves were in gangs as kids) to drill into their kids' heads, over and over again, that gang life will only get them dead, or in jail... there are NEVER any winners coming out of that lifestyle... Sure, you may get a bit of money for a year or two (if you're lucky), but the end result is always the same.. dead or jail...

This subject is always a hot button issue for me, since I grew up near Jamaican gangs in Dallas (known, for their ruthlessness) back in the '80's, and saw firsthand, the damage gangs can cause to a community, within a short period of time.

There is an old saying, and although I cannot remember the purveyor of it, the words remain true:

"All that is required for evil to be triumphant is for good men to do nothing".

So, the time is nigh for good men (and women) on the North Side to start whippin' their kids' asses again, and teach them that being in a gang is unacceptable, under ANY circumstances... sure, there will be some initial stress, as the gangs fight back, but if enough people make solid resolve to defeat them, then they can and WILL be defeated. But, if no one has the chutzpah to discipline their kids and to stick with tough choices, then the cycle of violence and poverty will continue there, indefinitely.

[RockLobster]

Spent the night at a friends off Perrysville. He and his wife purchased the house 2 years ago for around $300.000. They did some fixing up but it was the incredible view of the entire city they were attracted to. A view greater than Mount Washington's Grand view!
And while his street is made up of young professionals with nice homes and condo's, gunshots are heard at any time both below and above their street. They claim the shootings are far more frequent then before.
Compelling the problem is the amount of abandoned or derelict homes all over the hill from just above the War Streets. From one of the homes we watched a stream of young adults and kids parade in and out of. The sign of drug and gang life is alive and well in this part of the city.
And as I continue to discuss this topic this very morning, I now hear on the news that right outside the corporate neighborhood of downtown's Grant Street a early morning shooting claims a life. The reaction of the Mayor's office and the Police will be interesting as the 'action' moves to downtown's corporate location.

[BrianTH]

By the way, people have done studies and figured out that the average person in a drug-selling gang is making less than minimum wage. Typically only the person at the very top does well, and for that reason the person at the top tends not to have a long life, provided they manage to avoid jail.

[RockLobster]

Think it was quiet day in the neighborhood on this Friday minus the explosion that damaged 24 homes and destroyed 2 vacant houses.

[zip95]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

By the way, people have done studies and figured out that the average person in a drug-selling gang is making less than minimum wage. Typically only the person at the very top does well, and for that reason the person at the top tends not to have a long life, provided they manage to avoid jail.

I also enjoyed Freakanomics? Is that your source???