Bistro for Market Square (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: crime, neighborhood, tenant)

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

These old Northeastern Cities outside of NYC have some very narrow sidewalks.

Yep--it is the same basic story in most of these cases, meaning you are looking at street grids that were laid out and developed before cars even existed.

[onwardandupward]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I wish all of downtown could have wider sidewalks. I don't think I've been to another US city whose CBD had such narrow sidewalks. Of course, I could be misremembering.

Go up to East Liberty. Penn Avenue between Penn Circle North and Penn Circle South Avenues has gorgeous wide sidewalks, absolutely perfect for sidewalk cafes and bistros. For some reason completely unknown to me, no restaurateur has yet taken advantage of them.

[Blackbeauty212]

Dont worry its coming they'll probably start from the North and work toward the South....since that seems to be way development progression along Penn seems to be taking place.

[SteelCityRising]

I actually prefer narrower streets in dense urban areas. Wider streets tend to promote speeding, making it more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists.

[pman]

narrow streets and sidewalks are very different things

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by pman

narrow streets and sidewalks are very different things

True, but you can't advocate widening streets without reducing the width of sidewalks. I'd rather see wider sidewalks and narrower streets. Pittsburgh is a VERY walkable city. Narrowing down the streets and making it a bigger pain to drive in might encourage more people to walk, bike, or take transit.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by onwardandupward

Go up to East Liberty. Penn Avenue between Penn Circle North and Penn Circle South Avenues has gorgeous wide sidewalks, absolutely perfect for sidewalk cafes and bistros. For some reason completely unknown to me, no restaurateur has yet taken advantage of them.

I live on Negley between Penn and Friendship. I was just out walking today on Penn.

There's a new restaurant opening (maybe it's open?) on the north side of Penn, west of Negley, IIRC. Some thought obviously went into designing the exterior sign, so it might be a nice place to eat. I hadn't thought about it (I hate sitting outside on main drags, sucking in car fumes), but I'll bet it could easily support some al fresco dining.

There are two cafes on Penn, Quiet Storm and one that seems more strictly a coffee coffee shop. Starts with a "V"?

Down the other end of Penn, east of Highland, an incense shop was closed in the middle of the day, a black magic marker on white paper sign in the window reading "Store closed. Son killed by cops."

[nuwaver88]

Would that be Salt of the Earth?

http://www.saltpgh.com/

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by nuwaver88

Would that be Salt of the Earth?

Salt of the Earth

Yes. This is the one. NACL.

[pman]

well, I can't say "exciting" is the right word for this but if it's not a sign of overburdening the square with chains, they could be a decent part of the square.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is the latest restaurant headed for Market Square, claiming about 2,300 square feet of space on the first floor of the former G.C. Murphy store..."We're very excited

curious as to what this means

"The to-be-named tenants will raise many eyebrows, given their quality," he said.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10285/1094421-28.stm#ixzz129fenmOh