The 'burg has been jumping lately. (Pittsburgh: apartments, neighborhoods, high income)

[madg0at]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Yeah, Pittsburgh has been dead for many years. Kaufmann's helped back in the day and also Hornes, but now everyone goes to malls to shop and Pittsburgh is a ghost town. Hope someday it becomes vibrant, but it will be a long time from now. People don't live downtown much yet. Not sure if they ever will?

Downtown could use some good mixed-use developments to encourage folks to live down there. With people come the businesses. I understand its a chicken and egg question and those developments won't come without their own demand. PAT cutting back might be an unfortunate catalyst?

Downtown is accessible from all directions so even though there are jobs there, there's not a huge pressure for people to feel the need to live there.

[BrianTH]

Grille on Seventh is open to 7 on Sundays.

Habitat is open for both lunch and dinner on Sundays.

Sonoma Grill is open for Sunday brunch and dinner.

The Sharp Edge is open 11-midnight on Sunday.

I'm sure there are more.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by madg0at

Downtown could use some good mixed-use developments to encourage folks to live down there.

The Downtown residential population has been increasing rapidly, albeit from a low base. There are a bunch of projects in the pipeline (including lots of older office buildings being converted to residential).

[madg0at]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The Downtown residential population has been increasing rapidly, albeit from a low base. There are a bunch of projects in the pipeline (including lots of older office buildings being converted to residential).

Good to know! I hope they work out and encourage businesses downtown to stay open late and open on weekends. I can't get down there except evenings/weekends and unless I'm there for a show/game I feel that its the comparatively unvisited elephant in the room.

[Love2Golf09]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Downtown Pittsburgh is THE place to be nowadays---not some sterile cul-de-sac in Cranberry or some blase strip mall in Robinson.

What's your problem with Cranberry? There isn't a day that goes by without you bashing the place. You live in polish hill!!! You're here like 3 months and already you're bashing half of western pa because they're don't live in hip areas like the east end. Screw the east end, it sucks.

A lot of us greatly enjoy our cul de sacs and strip malls. You're vaguely even from Pittsburgh, so what gives you the right to criticise anyone? You weren't born here. You have no idea what this place and the people are all about. Your elitist attitude isn't going to win you any friends here....and from what I've read on the scranton board, you had a lot of complaints when you lived there too. What a surprise.

If you want to talk up downtown, fine. If you want to talk up the east end, fine. You don't have to trash other people in the process. Don't be a jerk.

[PreservationPioneer]

Cul de sacs and strip malls are the same everywhere. It's not like being from eastern or central PA makes you unable to understand the cul de sacs and strip malls of western PA.

[Azeez]

Originally Posted by Love2Golf09

What's your problem with Cranberry? There isn't a day that goes by without you bashing the place. You live in polish hill!!! You're here like 3 months and already you're bashing half of western pa because they're don't live in hip areas like the east end. Screw the east end, it sucks.

A lot of us greatly enjoy our cul de sacs and strip malls. You're vaguely even from Pittsburgh, so what gives you the right to criticise anyone? You weren't born here. You have no idea what this place and the people are all about. Your elitist attitude isn't going to win you any friends here....and from what I've read on the scranton board, you had a lot of complaints when you lived there too. What a surprise.

If you want to talk up downtown, fine. If you want to talk up the east end, fine. You don't have to trash other people in the process. Don't be a jerk.

I can't speak for SCR, so I'll speak for myself. I was born at Magee and raised in Forest Hills. Cranberry sucks.

[Burghgirl17]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Grille on Seventh is open to 7 on Sundays.

Habitat is open for both lunch and dinner on Sundays.

Sonoma Grill is open for Sunday brunch and dinner.

The Sharp Edge is open 11-midnight on Sunday.

I'm sure there are more.

Wish I would've known about the Grille on 7th being open. Habitat and Sonoma Grill aren't what I would call family-friendly (plus I don't pay that much for lunch unless I can expense it!). The Sharp Edge would've been great, but didn't know about it and it's so far away from where we were. Glad to see that a handful of places at least try for Sundays.

For those who say Downtown is dead every weekend, I wonder how often you're downtown on a weekend. Every time I've been downtown on a weekend for work or other wise, I am amazed and surprised by the number of people that are walking around versus what it was like a few years ago.

And as an aside, I echo the previous posters who called out SCR - why on earth do you feel the need to bring up areas that are irrelevant to the conversation and trash them? It adds nothing to the conversation and just makes you look judgmental and rude. You've mentioned a future in politics several times. This isn't good behavior for a politician (I realize that good behavior and politician don't belong in the same sentence as of late). But online comments live forever, and you've given plenty of identifying information about yourself on here that you wouldn't have the typical online anonymity.

[greg42]

I suppose it's not often, but I've been downtown a few times on the weekends this year and haven't noted it to be more populated than before, except for this Saturday when we needed to go back to the arts festival to pick something up. Arts festival is always a draw.

I admit it's not a regular occurrence for me to be there so I may have missed something. Still, even an uptick in people may not be enough for some of the more far-flung eateries (beyond the Cultural District) to be open. Plus, as I said, the small places could have staffing issues. I'm thinking of Winghart's in Market Square, a place that was mentioned in the thread. Always the same staff there every weekday including the owner. Even the owner of a little place needs at least a day off. Some restaurants take Monday as a day off, but anything with a weekday lunch crowd is still better off taking Sunday. And I'm sure a few places are strictly for weekdays. Hey, whatever works for them.

People can complain about places not being open, but they tend to do so without considering all the factors that could make it not worth it. Finding a way to be open during a significant event like the arts festival seems like a good idea, though, at least on a trial basis.

[ForYourLungsOnly]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I was downtown last night, walking down to the Point, then sitting in Market Square after a nice fish dinner with a friend. There were more people than I expected, what with the Art Festival and the Pride Festival, and it was awfully nice to be able to sit at tables in Market Square. I wish more places had been open, though. Winghart's was closed (we wanted to go there), and so were Moe's, Starbuck's, Dunkin' Donuts, and a coffee place I wanted to go to whose name I don't recall. Penn Ave Fish Co. was booming at least. We didn't have reservations, and had to sit at the counter, but that wasn't a problem, as I like to watch other people cook. I had mussels and then a curry-style salmon. My friend had cobia.

lol...not even Starbucks was open????

very typical of downtown, and something I will never really understand.