Pittsburgh: What's Your Perception of This City?

[TelecasterBlues]

Originally Posted by scottrpriester

I've lived in the city for nearly four years. I love living in the East End. I've lived in Shadyside and now Point Breeze. My wife has lived in the area for almost 8 years...most of those years living in Etna. We love being out on the town together. There are still a lot of areas of the city that we haven't experienced, but when we do, we always say that we are thankful for where we live. We recently drove up and around Mt Washington. Other than living directly on the edge overlooking the city, the rest of the neighborhood reminds me of some tiny little mountain community out in the middle of nowhere.

Everyone foams at the mouth over the South Side. I love the bike trail there and like the immediate South Side Works area, but as for the rest of it? I don't think it would be appealing to me even if I was back in my late teens-early 20's. A great place for young Yinzers to hang out, but that's not me.

I've never really been able to see the big deal about The South Side either and I'm 24. The South Side Works isn't anything that every other city already has; the center piece is The Cheesecake Factory which is just an upscale mega-chain restaurant, and it's still nothing more than mostly chain stores and just a handfull of clubs and other crap to get into. There's nothing in the way of a prominant music venue or anything really unique either that you can't find in other parts of Pittsburgh, it still feels very slapped together and scattered compared to what other cities have. If the city wanted to, they could develop another part of town into a proper entertainment district and easily wipe the floor with the South Side...I'd even argue that Carson Street is nearly the same thing as downtown Morgantown in terms of nightlife. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just not what some people proclaim it to be and incredibly overrated.

[JoeLeaphorn]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I know exactly what you are saying. Of course this scattershot pattern happened a bit in many older American cities as a result of suburbanization and white flight, but I think it happened a lot more so in Pittsburgh thanks to the steel bust, which put some distressed neighborhoods on a continuing downward spiral when in other cities equivalent neighborhoods were stabilizing or recovering.

IMHO, the root cause of much of this was the dismantling of the county's Planning Commission and folding it into Economic Development. At one time there was a master plan for the county which included preservation and restoration of waterfront green spaces (these weren't new ideas in spite of what the current crop of politicians would have you believe, designation of areas for re-development, with a focus on more "main street" types of developments.

But then large land speculators got into the mix and pressured the government to strip the planning commission of any real power in terms of regulating growth and development and then, as an ultimate slap in the face, moved planning into "Economic Development" which is an Allegheny County euphemism for using Tax Increment Financing and declaring woodlands "blight" in order to build big box shopping districts, which sap the lifeblood out of existing "main street" communities.

A friend of mind from Las Vegas commented to me, once, that the first thing that he noticed about Pittsburgh when he started flying into here in the 50s was the fact that there were so many trees you couldn't really get an idea of where you were relative to the neighborhoods. Now, he says, you can see exactly where you are because you can orient yourself to the shopping areas.

Copies of the Master Plan are still available from the Office of Economic Development for anyone interested.

[glassheart]

Originally Posted by TelecasterBlues

Doesn't matter if you're a local or have never even stepped foot within PA, I'm just curious to see what kind of oppinions and perceptions are out there from the general public accross the nation. Feel free to say whatever you want, just do me a favor and KEEP THIS CIVIL. If there's something overly negative that is said, just let it go...people are allowed to think with their own minds and have an oppinion. The only thing that I ask is that you tell us all where you're from before making a comment(if it's not already listed). I'm really interested in seeing how differing regions might come into play. Feel free to comment however you feel fit...tell a story, give a first hand account, leave a one liner, whatever you want to do.

It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. That's the comment I hear all the time. It just so happens I agree.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by TelecasterBlues

I've never really been able to see the big deal about The South Side either and I'm 24. The South Side Works isn't anything that every other city already has; the center piece is The Cheesecake Factory which is just an upscale mega-chain restaurant, and it's still nothing more than mostly chain stores and just a handfull of clubs and other crap to get into. There's nothing in the way of a prominant music venue or anything really unique either that you can't find in other parts of Pittsburgh, it still feels very slapped together and scattered compared to what other cities have. If the city wanted to, they could develop another part of town into a proper entertainment district and easily wipe the floor with the South Side...I'd even argue that Carson Street is nearly the same thing as downtown Morgantown in terms of nightlife. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just not what some people proclaim it to be and incredibly overrated.

I second the above. I was talking to a someone about the S. Side the other day. I said the stores at the S. Side works shopping area reminded me of FlatIron Crossing Mall in Broomfield, Colorado. Probably the only thing I could get there (S. Side) that I couldn't get at FlatIron would be Steelers attire.