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Location: Pittsburgh but I'm ready to relocate......
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Originally Posted by Awesomo.2000
^not downtown, I would say you have to go to Shadyside for high end shopping.
I love Philly's downtown. There is a perfect blend of bars, restaurants, stores, etc all around Center City. Also there are both high end and low end. You can go to a high end fish restaurant with clients or a shot and beer dive after work in center city. There is a perfect blend of people on the streets also. It is scattered throughout Center city and isn't like other cities where they concentrate all the shopping in one area.
Pittsburgh's downtown needs some more work to appeal to the 8pm-2am crowd, but seriously if you are in that crowd you are going to the south side anyways. Our downtown has a great feel with wonderful architecture, cool tight urban streets, and bums that arn't to agressive.
Agreed.....Man city council need to work on downtown businesses staying open longer!! Businesses close at 700pm on weekdays and 500pm on weekends.......its some type of wicked curfew!!! And what is a bum? .........Oh you mean homeless person?
Does Pittsburgh have a Barnes & Noble or Borders downtown? Wilkes-Barre has had a suburban Barnes & Noble since around 2000, but just a couple of years ago it welcomed a downtown Barnes & Noble as well with its own Starbucks, and that facility has done quite a bit to draw new business ventures and foot traffic to a once-blighted stretch of the city's core. In the case of Wilkes-Barre our downtown is book-ended by King's College on the north side and Wilkes University on the south side for a combined enrollment of nearly 6,000 students. The basement of the downtown Barnes & Noble serves as a joint college bookstore for both campuses, and live entertainment in the evenings has really brought a large amount of foot traffic, even on weekday nights. As recently as five years ago the downtown was dead. Now I was at a movie on a recent Friday night at the new downtown theater and there were groups of people all over the place enjoying the nightlife.
A large chain bookstore could serve as a good catalyst to draw people downtown, especially with proper advertising of live music, book clubs, poetry readings, book signings, etc. Does Downtown Pittsburgh have a Whole Foods? If there is some sort of large-scale grocery store downtown then it will be feasible to see a residential boom downtown, and an influx of downtown residents will make Pittsburgh a 24/7 city.
I think it has to do with the vast array of smaller scale shops, bars, restaurants, etc. that are all throughout Downtown. I think a busy, vibrant, bustling downtown needs to a huge number of small scale places to draw foot traffic. Pittsburgh still has many of the small places. I was there in September. I took the bus from the airport to 7th and Liberty, and then walked to the William Penn Hotel to wait for my ride. It was noonish, and there were tons of people all over. I loved it. Just so urban compared to Tampa where downtown is dead morning, noon and night. I mean, it's almost eerie, like where is everyone? But Pittsburgh is just full of people, and pretty diverse too. As I waited, I just soaked up the urban experience watching the parade of people going every which way - the corporate power brokers, dressed perfectly, passing the young, hip office workers, streety people wearing the latest cool street fashion, students, elderly people, delivery guys, on and on. I knw you may take it for granted there, but I just can't get there here in Tampa. We're so sterile and bland, and so god-damned boring compared to Pittsburgh.
Does Pittsburgh have a Barnes & Noble or Borders downtown? Wilkes-Barre has had a suburban Barnes & Noble since around 2000, but just a couple of years ago it welcomed a downtown Barnes & Noble as well with its own Starbucks, and that facility has done quite a bit to draw new business ventures and foot traffic to a once-blighted stretch of the city's core. In the case of Wilkes-Barre our downtown is book-ended by King's College on the north side and Wilkes University on the south side for a combined enrollment of nearly 6,000 students. The basement of the downtown Barnes & Noble serves as a joint college bookstore for both campuses, and live entertainment in the evenings has really brought a large amount of foot traffic, even on weekday nights. As recently as five years ago the downtown was dead. Now I was at a movie on a recent Friday night at the new downtown theater and there were groups of people all over the place enjoying the nightlife.
A large chain bookstore could serve as a good catalyst to draw people downtown, especially with proper advertising of live music, book clubs, poetry readings, book signings, etc. Does Downtown Pittsburgh have a Whole Foods? If there is some sort of large-scale grocery store downtown then it will be feasible to see a residential boom downtown, and an influx of downtown residents will make Pittsburgh a 24/7 city.
I remember there used to be B&N on Smithfield and 6th, dont know if its still there or not....
Not only does Pitt's downtown has the receipe for a 24/7 city, alot of the neighborhood I listed in my previous post could go 24/7, hell Oakland is a 24/7 neighborhood and the Strip and S. Side are damn near there....but E Liberty, Shadyside, Sq Hill and L'ville all have poential for 24/7....
I remember there used to be B&N on Smithfield and 6th, dont know if its still there or not....
Not only does Pitt's downtown has the receipe for a 24/7 city, alot of the neighborhood I listed in my previous post could go 24/7, hell Oakland is a 24/7 neighborhood and the Strip and S. Side are damn near there....but E Liberty, Shadyside, Sq Hill and L'ville all have poential for 24/7....
No more Barnes and Noble. It has been an Office Depot for about a year or so. Duquesne University supposedly has a Barnes & Noble type bookstore that opened in the spring rather than a traditional campus bookstore of just textbooks, notebooks, etc. Duquesne is a bit of a hike from the heart of Downtown, but worth it and good exercise if one has the time. The new bookstore is on Forbes Avenue, so there is no need to go up on the Bluff.
I think it has to do with the vast array of smaller scale shops, bars, restaurants, etc. that are all throughout Downtown. I think a busy, vibrant, bustling downtown needs to a huge number of small scale places to draw foot traffic. Pittsburgh still has many of the small places
Exactley! That is exatley what I was picking up on. Also things like an urban Home Depot and an urban Burlington Coat Factory (which I have never seen in a downtown before)...not that the stuff has to be upscale, but there is a lot of small scale places being supported by shoppers of various types. That really impresed me and gives Pbgh downtown a lot of life.
No more Barnes and Noble. It has been an Office Depot for about a year or so. Duquesne University supposedly has a Barnes & Noble type bookstore that opened in the spring rather than a traditional campus bookstore of just textbooks, notebooks, etc. Duquesne is a bit of a hike from the heart of Downtown, but worth it and good exercise if one has the time. The new bookstore is on Forbes Avenue, so there is no need to go up on the Bluff.
Yea but it is still way too far of a walk for most people who are in town to want to do. I heard Millcraft wants to put a Borders in Wood.
But on the Flipside - Outside of Center City Philadelphia, Philly is pretty Lame....Where as Pittsburgh is just bustling with activity......
...Philly's only neighborhood with activity on the level of Pittsburgh's is Manayunk. Everywhere else you have to go to Center City.
I take it that you haven't been to philly in some time. Chestnut Hill is, and always has been, that all small towns desire to be...nice leafy place with a bustling main st...except it's not a small town but a Philly neighborhood. It's neighbor, Mt. Airy has alwso come alive adding nightlife, shopping, and restaurants (as well as residents). Northern Liberties may have more bars and restaurants than actual residents...it's neighbor, fishtown, has also sprouted new places that attract both locals and people from other areas. the same goes for fairmount/spring garden, and the burgeoning east passyunk district. and nowhere in the city, except center city itself, have things come alive as much as university city (the area that includes penn and drexel universities). no longer a forlorn, dangerous place, it's packed with locals and students with new options for shopping, dining, movies, and bars. Then there's center city itself which is at the heart of the region's transportation network. Honestly, Philly is as comparable a city as you can get. It too is a city of neighborhoods. In 1992 it's downtown was dead after dark but that has changed completely and for a number of reasons...not least because of the mayor's (Rendell) cheerleading and a simple act of fixing bureaucracy...by allowing outdoor cafes. SEPTA recently added late night trains as well (on weekends). Philly used to be Delaware Ave , south st, and Manayunk..it's so much more now. but it largely started with on the fateful corner of 2nd and market when a young stephen starr bought an old diner and turned it into the continental...showing the potential for business downtown. with small business, the two most important things to do are to get potential owners to believe in the market (in this case downtown pittsburgh) and to make it easy for them to open businesses (something philly has NOT done, which partly accounts for the slow process of renewal). really, you need quality...something that's better than what people get in the burbs. Pitt does seem to have a lot of potential and is starting from a much better place than cleveland.
edit: I'd also add transportation. highways bring people but destroy the uniqueness and desirability of downtowns. Philly, in the past ten years, has added train service and lot of new flights, particularly internationally. Pittsburgh shoudl be very concerned about upgrading it's train system to link to, say, philly, nyc, and cleveland (although, in this respect, they would act as cheerleader/badgerer) and adding more international flights.
Location: Pittsburgh but I'm ready to relocate......
727 posts, read 1,890,624 times
Reputation: 403
Quote:
Originally Posted by JefferyT
Exactley! That is exatley what I was picking up on. Also things like an urban Home Depot and an urban Burlington Coat Factory (which I have never seen in a downtown before)...not that the stuff has to be upscale, but there is a lot of small scale places being supported by shoppers of various types. That really impresed me and gives Pbgh downtown a lot of life.
There IS a Burlington!! Thats about the only thing that stays open past 7pm.....oh it closes at 8pm.
I may be a little spoiled because I've lived in huge cities like NYC,DC that have businesses that stay open darn near 24/7. Pittsburgh is soooo behind times in everything though. Its such a frustrating city for me. Even like the diversity is behind times. I'm a person who when I lived in NYC and Dc had a diverse inner circle of friends. In Pittsburgh its like Highschool. Blacks are friends with Blacks,Whites are friends with only whites etc. And if you are seen fratenizing with a person of a different race than you your looked at weird. I have a host of problems with Pittsburgh. Its a cool place when it wants to be but its not a progressive city IMO....
Location: Pittsburgh but I'm ready to relocate......
727 posts, read 1,890,624 times
Reputation: 403
Quote:
Originally Posted by bradjl2009
Yea but it is still way too far of a walk for most people who are in town to want to do. I heard Millcraft wants to put a Borders in Wood.
Eh.....Barnes and Noble is in "Uptown"....on forbes. As soon as your leaving Downtown to go to Oakland or Squirrell Hill!!
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.........Oh you mean homeless person?
