What Eyesores Near Downtown Hurt Pittsburgh's Looks The Worst? (Washington: house, neighborhood)

[gg]

Originally Posted by bbrian12

the UPMC logo on the u.s. steel bldg

True, or the biggest polluter around having a name on the new home of the Penguins. Yuck!

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Citypoot

Steel City,

I don't think their point really hinged on the word "moron".

I think their point hinged on the idiocy in 2011 of a city that still has 95% of
its power lines above ground, thus destroying the potential aesthetics of so many neighborhoods.

One of the dangers of that famous Pittsburgh Provincialism, is cherry-picking a careless stray word like "moron" to fit a script of "Pittsburgh hard working blue collar legacy under attack", when really all that was under attack is improving our city's looks.

And I suspect you know this too. I suspect you're well aware that the core of the poster's point wasn't that he/she fancied themselves "better than" an electrician cutting down tree limbs. The core of their point is how ridiculous it is in 2011 that we're still destroying trees and entire city blocks, when we CAN find the money and burden of closing down roads to widen travel lanes, put in water mains, etc...yet you could revolutionize the feel of Pittsburgh by biurying it's lines, and yet that won't happen "round these here parts" until about 2050...

...mainly because individuals such as yourself so willfully debase the entire purpose of someone's point while trying to carry the banner for your town.

We've all met parents whose kids can misbehave and act a fool ever 30 seconds, but they never reprimand them, because they think their child can do no wrong.

Don't become that type of parent to Pittsburgh, or there's no point to discussing the pros and cons of the city at all.

Drawing attention to the cons of a city is what improves it.

Retrofitting above-grade utility lines with subterraneans ones = many millions of dollars (resulting from tax increases, most likely). Telling most city residents that their taxes will be raised to improve aesthetics would be a tough sell.

[ditchdigger]

(resulting from tax increases, most likely).

Nope. Those overhead utilities are privately owned, by their respective companies. Any work done on them comes from private money.

[greg42]

Yeah, so instead it would be your Duquesne Light bill going up. Although, not sure, some of the poles may be owned by Verizon, but I think most of them are owned by DL. Although, this isn't to say there couldn't be some kind of public-private partnership to bury the lines for aesthetic reasons. But short of strong demand from property owners in the area, I don't think they'll be burying utilities anytime soon in areas where they aren't already underground.

What are the areas closest to downtown that have overhead lines though? I can't think of too many that are close.

[JockoJ]

Originally Posted by bbrian12

the UPMC logo on the u.s. steel bldg

You are just wrong here...UPMC is a symbol of the Burgh and looks great overlooking the city.

[gg]

Originally Posted by JockoJ

You are just wrong here...UPMC is a symbol of the Burgh and looks great overlooking the city.

To each their own, but that monopoly isn't exactly my favorite, considering the prices they charge the uninsured. Best to go elsewhere for healthcare if you live around here.

[ditchdigger]

What are the areas closest to downtown that have overhead lines though?

Thre are still overhead lines in downtown, although there are many that are already underground.

Yeah, so instead it would be your Duquesne Light bill going up.

Yeah, I know.

It was just the knee-jerk "It'll make our taxes go up!" whine that needed to be replied to. Whether it's taxes, or utility bills, or the price of goods and services, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Ultimately, it's "we the people" who foot the bill for everything.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by greg42

Yeah, so instead it would be your Duquesne Light bill going up. Although, not sure, some of the poles may be owned by Verizon, but I think most of them are owned by DL. Although, this isn't to say there couldn't be some kind of public-private partnership to bury the lines for aesthetic reasons. But short of strong demand from property owners in the area, I don't think they'll be burying utilities anytime soon in areas where they aren't already underground.

What are the areas closest to downtown that have overhead lines though? I can't think of too many that are close.

Squirrel Hill has them.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by ditchdigger

Thre are still overhead lines in downtown, although there are many that are already underground.

Really? I can't picture any places. Must be immune to it somehow. Oh, I know a few stupid streetlights that have a single overhead wire dangling between them, true. And I'm sure some of the traffic lights might have wires out. That's not what I'm thinking of though; I'm wondering where they actually have no underground utilities and thus have phone, cable and electric on fully loaded utility poles. Can't picture it downtown. Will have to look up more often.

[Citypoot]

The argument over whether burying Pittsburgh's utility lines will "make taxes go up" vs. "make utility bills go up" is entirely missing the point.

The point, is Pittsburgh could have used the same "will increase your taxes/bills" argument to...

- Never build paved roads.

- Never build tunnels.

- Never build bridges.

- Never institute environmental laws regarding plant emissions.

- Never have cops patrol streets.

- Never fund fire departments.

- Never build PNC Park.

- etc, etc etc.


Do you get it yet people?

The point, is gross, aesthetic killing utlity lines- which by the way are 10 times as suseptible to weather related failures- is simply the latest in a LONG LINE of human progress projects that have transformed Pittsburgh from a handful of revolutionaries and native americans around some campfires, to being the city it is today.

And just like in my examples, eventually, the investment pays off in terms of swaying people to live in and visit the city. Go up on Mt.Washington and listen to how many languages and look at how many cultures are represented on a typical weekend night on those overlooks. The money they are bringing in. The Philly/Boston/Chicago fans that take a roadtrip to Pittsburgh each summer because PNC Park is so renowned as a great park. Imagine if the road that goes up Mt.Washington, which was a pain in the butt to build on the knife edge of a cliff, had never been built?

Point is, sometimes Pittsburghers have to say "we are going to invest money to improve our city, or we are not".

Normally, we've decided to bite the bullet financially in the past to improve our city.

Detroit has not.

Cleveland has not.

...let me know how "let's not invest in improvement" is working out for them.