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Old 05-13-2011, 05:27 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,003,811 times
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Seems like a lot is in the news these days, so again here is an omnibus thread:

Long article about all the riverfront activities:

Steel-town brownfields becoming waterside homes, offices - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

The big news to me was that Almono was suggesting they might begin construction in the Hazelwood LTV as soon as next year.

Staying on the subject of riverfronts, the new trail/plaza on the Allegheny around the Convention Center has opened:

New section of trail connects Strip District with Point State Park

I was watching them build this last year--I can't wait to see it in person.

Closer to the Point, the new owner of the former Hilton (how many decades do you think we will be calling it that?) has received approval from the bankruptcy judge for his plan. Work on the exterior addition could restart within ten days:

Former Hilton work to resume as bankruptcy plan approved

Some random news from other jurisdictions. First, NJ Transit is adding new dual-mode trains to its fleet, which can run on diesel then switch to overhead wires for direct service to underground train stations:

NJ Transit unveils first dual-mode locomotive in North America | NJ.com

This made me wonder if we could someday see commuter trains switching to run through the T system Downtown.

Construction has been halted on the casinos in Cleveland and Cincy as the owner tries to figure out where the state is heading with taxes and fees:

Developer halts construction of 2 Ohio casinos | The Columbus Dispatch

Rivers may not see as much competition in the near future as some had expected.

Finally, another day, another Top 10 list, but this one has some historical resonance:

Manufacturing Stages A Comeback | Newgeography.com

Pittsburgh was among the top 10 large cities for manufacturing job growth from 2009-2010. And Youngstown was on the top 10 list for cities of all sizes.
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Old 05-13-2011, 05:52 AM
gg
 
Location: Pittsburgh
26,137 posts, read 25,957,812 times
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The development in Oakmont is an interesting one to watch. I hope they do a class job. Traffic in Oakmont if you have to get out of there in the morning or back at night is horrible. You are pretty much stuck on the Hulton Bridge or trying to get through Verona down Allegheny River Blvd. Not a good place to live if you need to get to Pittsburgh or anywhere for that matter. The school district is not the best and probably is getting worse since Verona has been feeling the effects of East Liberty dumping out into surrounding neighborhoods. Lots of low income stuff in Verona and they share the Riverview School District.

No matter what the outcome, it is a vast improvement to Edgewater Steel who was there for a very long time dumping a ton of pollution over Oakmont for a long time. They used to fire that place up late at night and you would wake up to a pile of soot on your car. Glad those days are over.

I suspect that plan will sell very well. The retail space might be a harder sell. There is one primary commercial property owner in Oakmont that has pretty inexpensive rents because the family has owned the properties for a very long time. Makes it harder for the new places to charge enough money. Guess we will see if they can get the occupancies they need.
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Old 05-13-2011, 06:42 AM
 
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Oakmont would be a prime beneficiary if the AVR plans for commuter rail actually came to fruition.
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Old 05-13-2011, 07:18 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,579,178 times
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I suppose I'll buck the trend here, but I happen to really like Oakmont. I feel as if rental prices are a bit too steep for an area that is so far removed from the pulse of the city, which is why I'd never rent there, though.
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Old 05-13-2011, 07:32 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,579,178 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by h_curtis View Post
The school district is not the best and probably is getting worsesince Verona has been feeling the effects of East Liberty dumping out into surrounding neighborhoods. Lots of low income stuff in Verona and they share the Riverview School District.
Well, according to the Pittsburgh Business Times the Riverview School District has actually improved its statewide ranking from 140 in 2010 to 127 in 2011 in terms of overall student academic performance on standardized testing.

Statewide Ranking Information - Pittsburgh Business Times

Also interesting to note is that the Pittsburgh School District ranked 476 in 2011, which was down from 471 in 2010, but it's still better-performing than Woodland Hills, McKeesport Area, Sto-Rox, Clairton, Wilkinsburg, and Duquesne School Districts.

In addition, the rankings statewide seem to also be in descending order, more or less, from school districts with the highest percentage of students from affluent families on down to the most impoverished. This doesn't necessarily mean that a motivated student in a poverty-ravaged (and hence lower-ranking) school district can't succeed academically. This means that she or he will be surrounded by enough peers who are disadvantaged enough in their backgrounds to drag down the entire school district's average.

My school district, Pittston Area, was ranked 191 in 2010 and 200 in 2011. Nevertheless I turned out rather well in life. So many on this forum OBSESS over getting their child into the "best school possible" (regardless of paying inflated home prices and real estate taxes for that privilege) either just for bragging rights to their colleagues or for peace of mind in knowing that they can participate LESS in their academic lives of their children and let the schools do more.
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Old 05-13-2011, 07:48 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,003,811 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelCityRising View Post
I suppose I'll buck the trend here, but I happen to really like Oakmont.
I don't think that is bucking the general trend here--most of us have been pretty positive about Oakmont over the years, and it is one of the standard "walkable suburb" recommendations.

Edit: Oh, and I would suggest looking at their Overachiever rankings, which (somewhat crudely) try to assess how a school district is doing in light of the number of disadvantaged kids it is working with:

http://www2.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...rachivers.html

Riverview is #63 in the state, up from #107, which is quite good.
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Old 05-13-2011, 07:56 AM
gg
 
Location: Pittsburgh
26,137 posts, read 25,957,812 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelCityRising View Post
I suppose I'll buck the trend here, but I happen to really like Oakmont. I feel as if rental prices are a bit too steep for an area that is so far removed from the pulse of the city, which is why I'd never rent there, though.
I have lived there for years. I would never move back because it is just too far out and so hard to get out of there for anything. The downtown section is pretty nice. I liked Oakmont better in the '70's when they had nicer schools and not nearly as many apartments. It is really crowded there now in comparison. Soon it will be even more crowded with the Edgewater. Lots and lots of traffic, but it is what it is.
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Old 05-13-2011, 09:34 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 33,003,811 times
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Another building in the Cultural District is being redeveloped for residential:

Rehab planned for Penn Ave. building | Pittsburgh Business Times

I think it is the building on the corner across from Fifth Avenue Place (the Vocelli Pizza has the same address):

524 Penn Ave. - Google Maps

Edit: Yep:

http://www.showcase.com/property/524-Penn-Avenue/Pittsburgh/Pennsylvania/1438155 (broken link)

Edit #2: According to the sales materials, the building was vacant, and it was a bank sale.

Last edited by BrianTH; 05-13-2011 at 09:45 AM..
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Old 05-13-2011, 11:57 AM
 
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So the new area in front of the Convention Center is in fact quite nice. Lots of people were hanging out, and there were tourists/visitors taking pictures. The one thing I didn't realize in advance is exactly how much it feels like an extension of the Convention Center, which they accomplished with some interesting design elements. The sort of "flow" from the underground river thing in the Convention Center is particularly neat--that is where a lot of people were taking pictures.
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Old 05-13-2011, 12:33 PM
 
Location: Philly
10,227 posts, read 16,811,894 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianTH View Post
Another building in the Cultural District is being redeveloped for residential:

Rehab planned for Penn Ave. building | Pittsburgh Business Times

I think it is the building on the corner across from Fifth Avenue Place (the Vocelli Pizza has the same address):

524 Penn Ave. - Google Maps

Edit: Yep:

524 Penn Avenue (http://www.showcase.com/property/524-Penn-Avenue/Pittsburgh/Pennsylvania/1438155 - broken link)

Edit #2: According to the sales materials, the building was vacant, and it was a bank sale.
nice location
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