The 'burg has been jumping lately. (Pittsburgh, Penn: to live in, moving to, housing)

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Did you happen to notice where Google moved last year? Did they move to the 'burbs? No, they moved to East Liberty because a huge amount of the high-tech community lives in the east end near the universities.

Good point. Why would Google be the only one to choose to locate within city limits? They found reasons that being inside the city was attractive and I'm sure plenty of other companies do, too. I find it hard to believe that there are no job openings in Pittsburgh. What about Google? Or the hospital? Hospitals usually need accountants.

[BrianTH]

Lower-cost suburban office parks have existed for decades. If it made sense for all businesses to relocate to such office parks then central business districts would have emptied out in all U.S. cities long ago, not just Pittsburgh. And yet that hasn't happened--CBDs across the United States are booming, and rental rates remain at a premium. And in fact here in Pittsburgh, premium office space in Oakland is completely packed, and Downtown isn't far behind.

So it isn't a question of whether some businesses have economic reasons to prefer CBDs, it is merely a question of why. And if you think in theory there is no valid reason, you have to reconsider your theories, because the facts in the world disagree with your theories.

Again, though, that doesn't mean CBDs are right for ALL businesses either. Some businesses need to be in the core. Other businesses only need to be in the periphery. That concept explains what we actually see in the world.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

in Pittsburgh the burbs are king.

As a city dweller all of my life I have found this to be true. As much I personally love the city (as do quite a few others) the suburbs are the place to be if you have some money in your pocket. The numbers just speak for themselves, 330k live in the city limits while a total of 2.3 million live in the metro area. Let's be honest here, it is more desirable to Pennsylvanians to live in the suburbs than in the city itself.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

As a city dweller all of my life I have found this to be true. As much I personally love the city (as do quite a few others) the suburbs are the place to be if you have some money in your pocket. The numbers just speak for themselves, 330k live in the city limits while a total of 2.3 million live in the metro area. Let's be honest here, it is more desirable to Pennsylvanians to live in the areas suburbs than in the city itself.

Hard to argue against numbers. Hard to argue against school ratings that have margins as great as we read about. Hard to argue against the huge number of families that are living in poverty in the city limits.

I prefer the city myself, but I am not going to blindly argue against the suburbs. There are plenty of opportunities in the burbs. I prefer the city, but this isn't about personal preference, it is about logic and statistics.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Not many medium and small companies headquartered downtown. Just have a look at all the RIDC Parks and South Point and more that are around that are headquarters. Just the way it is Brian and many of these companies have been around a very long time, so they must have been pretty smart. Bottom line is, there isn't much in the way of advantages being downtown unless you are the likes of UPMC or PNC. Those are NO small to medium sized. Starting a company downtown would be tough. No thanks.

I don't know what posts you are reading on what thread, but BrianTH has already pretty much already discussed this. Sometimes reading your posts is an excruciating experience curtis.

[gg]

Originally Posted by airwave09

I don't know what posts you are reading on what thread, but BrianTH has already pretty much already discussed this. Sometimes reading your posts is an excruciating experience curtis.

I just don't agree. Just because someone says law firms are headquartered in the city, doesn't make me a believer. Just too many small companies in the burbs in the countless industrial parks and cheaper locations for me to be convinced that most companies are headquartered in the city proper and that is right for most businesses. Guess it is a point I just don't agree with. If you do, that is fine.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

All I know is what I heard straight from the horse's mouth at FedEx. They said they move to Robinson because it was cheaper than being in the city due to taxes. That doesn't change because someone on a message board has a hypothesis.

Pointless argument anyway.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

All I know is what I heard straight from the horse's mouth at FedEx. They said they move to Robinson because it was cheaper than being in the city due to taxes. That doesn't change because someone on a message board has a hypothesis.

Pointless argument anyway.

If there are people that don't think costs are a consideration of the location of a corporation, I really wouldn't even know what to say to that?

Yes, pointless argument. Who cares as long as people in our area are working. That is more important.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by jay5835

Maybe you should change your name to Burbgirl17.

Yeah seriously, hahaha.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

I think Westinghouse was always headquartered in the suburbs, though, wasn't it? I remember seeing historic markers when I lived in Forest Hills related to Westinghouse's facilities there. So it's not like Westinghouse moved out of the city to Cranberry. They moved from the eastern suburbs, right?

Depends upon what parts. Westinghouse Nuclear division, which is what moved to Cranberry (btw, subsidiary of Toshiba these days, as of several years ago, before that subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels, etc.) was pretty much always in Monroeville or nearby. Westinghouse is long associated with Wilmerding. But when Westinghouse was still a conglomerate, the corporate HQ was downtown. The building at 11 Stanwix St used to be the Westinghouse Building, and the reason the Brunner ad agency has that funny cube sign out front is because that used to have a W logo on it. That was probably just the most recent iteration of the Westinghouse Building, as I don't believe it's that old. It would have been built in the same time frame as the other Gateway Center buildings after the reconfiguration of stuff at the Point. In the late 1990s some parts of what were Westinghouse became CBS after Westinghouse purchased CBS. (Westinghouse was long involved in broadcasting, owning KDKA for example.) The rest of the industrial-type businesses were spun off and sold off, etc.

Westinghouse's original business and one of George Westinghouse's great inventions is the air brake for rail cars. One of the early buildings for this is in the Strip, now housing the Pittsburgh Opera. The former Westinghouse entity which makes rail car equipment still exists separately and locally (in Wilmerding) as Wabtec. If I have the history right, the Strip building is pre-Wilmerding. So even in the late 1800s, they were moving to the burbs.

Any consumer products you find these days with the Westinghouse name on it are, to my knowledge, just licensing arrangements. The logo belongs to Westinghouse Nuclear as far as I know, but they don't make any of that, erm, crap.