How to make downtown more vital? (Pittsburgh, Oxford: real estate, arena, estate)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Interestingly, this forum, and thread, are full of people that have been called "Pittsburgh cheerleaders" and the like, and it appears that none of us familiar with Philly are willing to agree that Downtown Pittsburgh has Center City beat.

You can be a "cheerleader" while simultaneously being a realist. This isn't another particular sub-forum where many of the regulars think the area has no flaws and anyone who does point out its flaws must be squashed. I love Pittsburgh dearly, but, alas, it DOES have its fair share of issues that really shouldn't be disavowed or ignored when broached.

[PreservationPioneer]

I do think Pittsburgh has an awesome downtown, and I think our downtown IS vibrant, especially compared to other downtowns in the midwest (Tulsa, anyone?) and rust belt. We've got a great downtown, but obviously it's not Chicago or Center City Philly -- it's too small! I think we should look at places like St. Louis and maybe Milwaukee to draw comparisons.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Even off beat places like Donnies or Pegasus couldn't cut it downtown. Might as well call it a day.

If he was homophobic, I don't think he would be so upset that these gay clubs moved from downtown...

Maybe he just thinks Pride marches are silly? I'm not condoning his sentiment (I was in the march!).

[greg42]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

You can be a "cheerleader" while simultaneously being a realist. This isn't another particular sub-forum where many of the regulars think the area has no flaws and anyone who does point out its flaws must be squashed. I love Pittsburgh dearly, but, alas, it DOES have its fair share of issues that really shouldn't be disavowed or ignored when broached.

Well, you get a lot of disagreement on what actually constitutes a flaw: weather, litter, stupid drivers, etc.

[gg]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

If he was homophobic, I don't think he would be so upset that these gay clubs moved from downtown...

Maybe he just thinks Pride marches are silly? I'm not condoning his sentiment (I was in the march!).

My point was, the cutting edge places like Pegasus and Donnies both are gone from downtown. The march comment was me messing with Steel a little. Guess he didn't find humor in it. I could care less about the march stuff and don't have an opinion on how people choose to live their lives. Means nothing and any type of couple should be able to be legally married. I mean how silly not to allow it. Geez Steel, I thought you would see the humor. Lighten up.

[nuwaver88]

This cheerleading actually was started to counter the negative perception many outsiders had of Pittsburgh. Sure, some of the bad press was legit. However, those who lived in the Burgh knew that smoke coming out of those mills meant prosperity. That smoke from the mills built institutions like Heinz Hall, Carnegie-Mellon, Cathedral of Learning and on and on. So outsider's perception was somewhat correct in that the city was indeed dirty. Where it was flawed was assuming that Pittsburgh was full of only a bunch of Yinzers with no culture. Pittsburgh has had a ton of culture almost as long as it has been making steel. When my parents would go Down the Jersey Shore in the 1950s, people from NYC area and Jersey would make fun of them for being from Pittsburgh because in those days Pittsburgh was always the butt of jokes. Now New Yorkers and Jerseyites want to move to Pittsburgh because we offer much of the same, just with a better quality if life. So the cheerleading is an age old tradition here for always being defensive about our city's great attributes that were never discovered by outsiders very much until recent decades. NYC never had to be defensive because it is the greatest city in the world.

[PreservationPioneer]

I also remember a couple years ago, when I first started coming to this board, there was a lot of negativity about the city. I remember there being more negativity among residents of the city, too. The cheer leading was definitely a response to that. I think attitudes toward the city have changed a lot in the last 2-3 years that I have lived here.

[BrianTH]

I still think the G20 was an important turning point with respect to tone. Tons of positive press coverage came out of the G20, and since then it has slowed but never ended. Strangely enough, we are an "it city" right now, and fewer and fewer people are scratching their heads each time we end up high on some ranking.

However, probably the biggest single factor is just Pittsburgh's ongoing relatively good performance during the recession and recovery (and I stress "relatively", since we didn't dodge it all). Doing this well, this long, relative to national averages hasn't happened for a very long time (if ever).

[Geeo]

It is nice to have good news about the city. I was here during the 80s when the botom fell out and nobody thought things would ever be the same again. It took several decades, but we've now reached the point where others are taking notice. It's turned into a really nice place that kept the best of the old building the new, and is attracting a wider array of people. Physically, its natural setting was always magnificent and now the quality of life is great. I agree that the turning point may have been the G20. Sure, it has problems and issues like everywhere else, and there are a lot of things I'd like to see improved upon, but I think we're making incredible progress.

[durf]

BlackBeauty212, Dt. Pittsburgh has a great arena. It has 3 river stadiums. Downtown has lots of natural settings. It's very well developed with no surface lots, which Philly's Center City has alot of. The cultural districty is outstanding. I can go on and on.