In 2009...Pittsburgh has nothing to offer people aged 18-45 (Oakland: lofts, crime)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by nuwaver88

It is true. People just pull anything out of their behind and blame Pittsburgh. Then we are somehow "typical" for not understanding. This is their mind supposedly justifies their argument. Give me a frickin' break. To me, it is a non-issue because no city can specialize in everything. The best cities have a little bit of everything and a lot of many other things, good or bad. Pittsburgh would fall into that category.

The 'electronica' cities probably had visionaries who devoted their lives to promoting electronica. Denver probably didn't develop a strong electronica scene without the help of promoters who were passionate leaders. RedBall and ryanswindle are chosing to complain instead of being leaders of a movement.

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Several of the city's neighborhoods seem very neglected, though. And by that I mean neighborhoods with tons of potential within the city (Troy Hill, Spring Hill, East Allegheny, parts of the Strip, Uptown/Bluff, parts of Oakland, Manchester, etc.) are just blighted with abandoned buildings and neglected properties that I wish could be restored.

As I'm sure you are aware, restoration of neighborhoods comes from individual owners, not the government. If the government became involved in developing those areas, you'd end up with more North Shore and highways. As a matter of fact, development is what destroyed most of those neighborhoods. Over the past 50 years, I279 and North Shore Development completely tore out much of North Side. The Civic Arena development did the same to the Hill District. The government doesn't restore, it develops.

And owner driven restoration doesn't necessarily make a neighborhood become vibrant. Clearly you're unaware that Manchester is mostly restored. 30 years ago there was a community movement to restore Manchester. Those houses are beautiful inside and out. Unfortunately, Manchester is still too dangerous for most people.

The worse part of government stepping in is that the residents get displaced. The city's impoverished get pushed out into the suburbs where they have no support system for raising their children and taking care of their elderly because they don't live among one another due to being scattered into suburban homes. If they do get to live among one another, they've been pushed into a project in the middle of nowhere. They need to live near the city where they can walk to work, shopping and services. For some, the cost of public transportation is even too much. So what may appear to be best for the city isn't necessarily best for the citizens.

[bethany12]

Iheartrobots is dead on. The city is dying and the cheerleaders don't want to face it. Pittsburgh suffers from mismanagement. City leaders followed the trend of the past several years that if they built stadiums and bar crawls then people would flock to the inner city. I don't know why this lame idea has been so popular because it doesn't work. Now they are relying on a casino. It is so sad and pathetic.

[alleghenyangel]

I don't believe in suburban sprawl. I think there are large areas of the city with abandoned housing that could be rehabilitated and lived in, if people would only be urban pioneers in some less fashionable parts of the city.

Also, I agree that government is not the way to improve neighborhoods. I don't believe in tearing everything down and putting up new buildings. I believe in preservation. I just think we need to get people to move back to the city again. I don't mean places like Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, etc. which are already doing okay. I mean places like Uptown, Arlington, Spring Garden, places that need someone to move in and fix up a house. Just my two cents.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

I don't mean places like Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, etc. which are already doing okay. I mean places like Uptown, Arlington, Spring Garden, places that need someone to move in and fix up a house.

Many real estate investors have already fixed up houses in those areas, only for them to deteriorate within a couple of decades due to lack of interest in people buying or renting in those areas. I only see a large population boom or immigrant influx reviving the less desirable decaying city neighborhoods. Most americans don't want to be urban pioneers in dangerous neighborhoods that lack community amenities like stores and restaurants. The ones who do will go to the areas where the buildings have good bone structure, someting the frame houses often lack. A positive form of government involement through tax incentives and grants. That's the way to rehabilitate decaying neighborhoods. Other cities have been very successful by offering incentives.

[bethany12]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Most americans don't want to be urban pioneers in dangerous neighborhoods that lack community amenities like stores and restaurants.

Great post . Also the lack of good schools doesn't make an area very appealing. I know people who are now choosing an hour or more commute to get away from Pittsburgh area school districts.

[BrianTH]

A model which has worked in other places and to some extent in Pittsburgh is to have a combination of nonprofits, local community organizations, government entities, and for-profit firms work together on relatively focused projects, with this usually working best if you are moving out from more established neighborhoods and leveraging established amenities. As for whether there is a market for this in Pittsburgh, the preliminary indications are positive, which makes sense: in the nicer central neighborhoods there seems to be a bit of a supply constraint which has led to above-average home-price and rent appreciation (for Pittsburgh), so that implies there is a potential market out there. And I think it is a safe bet this market will continue to grow in response to things like energy prices, congestion, and demographic shifts, even assuming a fairly flat population in the region.

That said, I agree that schools can be an issue. Fortunately, I think the Pittsburgh School District in particular has been doing a lot of positive things lately, and the large Gates Foundation grant it is getting will probably help.

[IheartRobots]

Originally Posted by JoeP

Jesus, if Pittsburgh doesn't fit your narrow interests MOVE.

Everyone should move to different places anyway.

But starting ignorant threads demonstrates how immature you are and not much else.

This is a public forum right? Like it or not I have every right to put my "immature" threads up about my "narrow interests". You have every right to not click on it and not respond which obviously you couldn't do.

You're the immature and ignorant one for reducing yourself to personal attacks and falsifications based on no information about me at all. Not that I could care...it's the internet, you ain't special.

[IheartRobots]

Originally Posted by Hopes

RedBall and ryanswindle are chosing to complain instead of being leaders of a movement.

How can there be a movement when it's obvious (like a thread like this shows) that many people could care less? If it was the other way around, this thread would of never been made!

[JoeP]

This is a public forum right? Like it or not I have every right to put my "immature" threads up about my "narrow interests".

I NEVER STATED that someone could not post immature statements.

Please spare us the misguided, "how dare you attack free speech" BS when someone merely is calling out immaturity.

Clearly the city does not seem to offer what the original post wants, but the the comments are ignorant and just hyperbole.

[IheartRobots]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

I don't believe in suburban sprawl. I think there are large areas of the city with abandoned housing that could be rehabilitated and lived in, if people would only be urban pioneers in some less fashionable parts of the city.

Also, I agree that government is not the way to improve neighborhoods. I don't believe in tearing everything down and putting up new buildings. I believe in preservation. I just think we need to get people to move back to the city again. I mean places like Uptown, Arlington, Spring Garden, places that need someone to move in and fix up a house. Just my two cents.

I've been to these "less fashionable" parts of the city. No one wants to be urban pioneers in these areas because they are unsafe, have crime, have low quality schools or no schools, no shopping areas, and are surrounded by urban decay. Rather than spending money on stadiums, casinos, and bars, the city would of been better off spending it on schools, housing and apartment developments, fixing up roads and existing housing and city utitilities, which would create jobs and channel money that goes back into the city and not in the hands of outside interests.

More interests in small businesses too would be great and less interests in corporate retail would also help the city.

And from what I understand, because my folks grew up in the suburbs, it's easy to live and work there and not even have to go into metro Pittsburgh at all.

I worked with a community project which helped to give ex-cons jobs and help underpriveleged children in low income neighborhoods through art. The word was rewarding but I went into many areas of the city that I didn't know existed and barely any people other than those passing through see other than their residents. These areas are so disconnected from the main hubs of the city, that no one with any real education or income would want to live there.

It's funny too because in a short walking or driving distance from these areas are affluent areas like shadyside and squirrel hill...so the stratification from this short distance is not only mind boggling, but shows where the money goes in Pittsburgh.

In order for these parts of the city to be fashionable, it's almost as if they would have to be completely torn down and remodeled which definetely would not make the current batch of residents in these areas happy at all. and there really is no way these areas can be "revitalized" without residents being displaced through gentrification.