Lawrenceville through the Strip -- not all that great! (Pittsburgh: crime, live in)

[ForYourLungsOnly]

Originally Posted by CaptainPittsburgh

. Your vintage Alkaline Trio screen name.

FINALLY. Congrats on being the first

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

It's amazing to me how many of Pittsburgh's allegedly "nice" neighborhoods really are not in any better condition than the "undesirable" neighborhoods. People are paying a lot of money to live in places like Lawrenceville and the Strip, but they don't look a hell of a lot different than Homestead or Stowe Township to me... Just saying!

There are other issues. Even my cheapest friend, with whom I eat Italian food out fairly frequently (often with one of his coupons), wouldn't go to an Italian restaurant in McKees Rocks a couple of years ago even though we had a $25 coupon.

And this is a guy who lived in Millvale once, so he's not scared of un-pretty neighborhoods. He'll pay full price in Lawrenceville. But he won't even go to McKees Rocks with a $25 off coupon. Nuh-uh.

So I'm guessing the difference has to do with other factors than architecture.

[CaptainPittsburgh]

Originally Posted by ForYourLungsOnly

FINALLY. Congrats on being the first

Haha, I'll take it. I saw Dan Andriano play an acoustic set at the LV Moose Lodge, of all places, a few years back. The Lawrence Arms were there the following night. It was glorious.

[gg]

Originally Posted by PittsburghLlama

I really just cannot understand this thread at all. To each his own, but I'm sorry...you're just wrong, haha.

The reason is you are only considering the main streets. I already said Butler is pretty nice, but you get off Butler and go one block or two towards the river and it is very close to a slum. The riverfront is filled with industry and much of the industry is not very nice. Have a walk across the 31st St. Bridge and have a look around. Garbage trucks everywhere and wrecked police cars amongst other things all riverfront. Just industry. Then you have 43rd St. Concrete that is impassible on the riverfront, so there will never be a trail that can go by that.

If you go up on the hillside of Lawrenceville it is WAY nicer.

Transitioning to the Strip, is one big nasty mess. Scrap yard and everything as run down as it could be. Sidewalks are not maintained at all. Sure there are the bright spots, but that accounts for about 20%.

Smallman is almost impossible to navigate of foot. Even cycling is interesting because there are not real lane, just a total free for all. Not a good situation for those that walk or ride a bike around. Sure I do it all the time, but I have been riding in the city for many years and am used to it. What about someone new to cycling? Ouch!!

[irishvan]

What types of things could you put on the river front in Lawrenceville?? There is not much space, narrow streets, it's basically just residential and large warehouses which aren't moving because they are in use. I would love to see more there all the way from the strip into Larryville I just don't necessarily see how it's possible given space.

Also, i'll be checkin out Beer Hive later for a Pumpkin Ale i'll letcha know what I think.

[CaptainPittsburgh]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

The reason is you are only considering the main streets. I already said Butler is pretty nice, but you get off Butler and go one block or two towards the river and it is very close to a slum.

Slum (slm)
n.
A heavily populated urban area characterized by substandard housing and squalor.
intr.v. slummed, slum·ming, slums

This is what I mean when I say you're putting so much effort into being negative that it's absurd. Neither of these neighborhoods is in any way, shape or form even close to a slum. You're just sputtering out ignorant, polemical tirades that do little more than make our city look bad to people who may come to this forum to learn about it, some potentially considering a move.

I lived on a side street of Butler. I know two young couples and two singles that have purchased town homes off of the side streets of Butler within the last three years because it's a nice, safe city neighborhood that they could afford to buy in on modest salaries. The fact that you would refer to this as a slum because of a few abandoned warehouses (and a few others that are still in use) is offensive to me, especially when you admit that the business districts of both Lawrenceville and the Strip are flourishing.

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Transitioning to the Strip, is one big nasty mess. Scrap yard and everything as run down as it could be. Sidewalks are not maintained at all. Sure there are the bright spots, but that accounts for about 20%.

...And immediately up the street from this scrap yard is Bike PGH headquarters, an awesome and unique city resource that we are lucky to have; Greybox Theater, a great performance/gallery space; Tamari, an excellent, critically acclaimed Latin Fusion restaurant; Espresso A Mano, an extremely busy local coffee shop; Coca Cafe, one of the best breakfast spots in the entire city; Round Corner Cantina, a very heavily frequented bar; and so on.

Of course, these are the familiar attributes of your typical slum.

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Smallman is almost impossible to navigate of foot. Even cycling is interesting because there are not real lane, just a total free for all. Not a good situation for those that walk or ride a bike around. Sure I do it all the time, but I have been riding in the city for many years and am used to it. What about someone new to cycling? Ouch!!

Now we've arrived at the heart of the problem: the walkability of Smallman, a street which houses multiple restaurants, venues for shows/dancing and the city's only hydroponics shop. This is truly something worth griping about:

1. For the most part, the storefronts have a connecting sidewalk. Use it, and you'll probably be fine.

2. I cycled through there every day coming home from work, and it's no different from any other city road that you merge onto. It's not a free for all, hahaha, what are you even talking about? If anything it's easier than cycling on normal city streets because the cars are moving much, much more slowly. There's no white or yellow lines painted on it, that's it. Oh my god, what a war zone.

[irishvan]

Captain pgh for the win!!

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by irishvan

What types of things could you put on the river front in Lawrenceville?? There is not much space, narrow streets, it's basically just residential and large warehouses which aren't moving because they are in use.

Here you go:

City of Pittsburgh*·*Allegheny Riverfront Vision Plan

The basic idea is to have a more natural zone right along the river, with a trail and some recreational features. Along the AVRR path would be a new "green corridor", and in between would be a new development zone featuring residential, retail, and mixed use in different areas. "Green streets" would then be designated to connect to the riverfront areas. In Lawrenceville this plan would make use of some vacant lots and surface parking lots, plus the idea would also be to relocate some of the industrial users further up the riverfront.

Some relevant pages:

[gg]

...And immediately up the street from this scrap yard is Bike PGH headquarters, an awesome and unique city resource that we are lucky to have; Greybox Theater, a great performance/gallery space; Tamari, an excellent, critically acclaimed Latin Fusion restaurant; Espresso A Mano, an extremely busy local coffee shop; Coca Cafe, one of the best breakfast spots in the entire city; Round Corner Cantina, a very heavily frequented bar; and so on.

Of course, these are the familiar attributes of your typical slum.



Now we've arrived at the heart of the problem: the walkability of Smallman, a street which houses multiple restaurants, venues for shows/dancing and the city's only hydroponics shop. This is truly something worth griping about:

1. For the most part, the storefronts have a connecting sidewalk. Use it, and you'll probably be fine.

For the most part? The place is a free for all situation. You know it and I know it. It was never designed for people, it was designed for trucks to unload.

2. Oh my god, what a war zone.

True, it is a bit of a war zone.

[PittsburghLlama]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

For the most part? The place is a free for all situation. You know it and I know it. It was never designed for people, it was designed for trucks to unload.

Regardless of what it was designed for, it seems that the rest of us (cyclists [new and experienced], drivers and pedestrians) have all managed to commute that route every single day (whist, apparently, also dodging bullets and dilapidated buildings) without somehow erupting into a heap of chaotic self-induced genocide.

Sometimes, it's ok to admit when you're wrong. Just sayin'.