What are the city's shortcomings? How can we improve? (Pittsburgh: live, costs)

[Goinback2011]

I lived in Lousiville for a short time in the early 1980's. It was a short-time because, frankly, Louisville sucked. Outside of the Cherokee Park area, the place was hideous and peopled by extras from the film 'Deliverance'. There was NOTHING notable about the city at all. During my residence there, most of the streets surrounding the University of Louisville blew up when some chemical was released by the Ralston Purina plant into the storm sewers and was ignited. It was a war zone down there for the remainder of my stay. That didn't stop the plant from making that whole part of town smell like rotting pet food, though.

I seriously doubt some renaissance has taken place there since that time.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by GregHenry

If the Pilgrims were coming to America in 2012, with America being a new and virgin land, the settlers would have no need of making steel in this area, and Pittsburgh would be passed over as a major settlement.

Thats because the Pilgrims were a stuffy lot - you have to blame the free-love French for liking the area from the beginning (and then the Brits for envying it so much shortly thereafter)

[GregHenry]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

Quote:

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Yeah, that, or you might benefit from a shift in your thinking and a new perspective.

In the world market, it's change or die.

China to flatten 700 mountains for new metropolis in the desert | World news | guardian.co.uk

http://english.cntv.cn/program/newsh...7/104452.shtml

If China can improve its land, so can Pittsburgh. We can't allow America to fall farther behind. Notice China isn't saying "there's nothing wrong with hills." They rightly view them as an impediment to progress and obstacles to constructing a proper urban landscape. There will still be mountains outside the city for background and scenery, but the urban area will be free of these obstacles and burdens to commerce.

People will love that beautiful grid the video advertises.

It's worth noting that it's very common for my ideas to develop into actions.

[SteelCityRising]

You're kidding, right? One of the primary reasons many fall in love with Pittsburgh is its varied topography, its verdant surroundings, and, most importantly, the VIEWS! I live in a neighborhood that straddles a steep hillside between the Hill District and Strip District, and I wouldn't change that for anything. Running around this neighborhood is EXCELLENT exercise, and the aura of "nature in the city" that all of the undeveloped hillsides exudes is truly awe-inspiring.

We DO need to significantly increase density in the city; however, we can easily do so WITHOUT altering our existing geographic features.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

You're kidding, right? One of the primary reasons many fall in love with Pittsburgh is its varied topography, .........We DO need to significantly increase density in the city; however, we can easily do so WITHOUT altering our existing geographic features.

Actually, the idea of flattening out Pittsburgh is an old one from back in the 1970's. When the Bloomfield Bridge was rebuilt 30 years ago, Councilman Givens suggest that, as a long term plan and permanent fix to the problem, the city should fill in that gully and other like it with landfill to make Pittsburgh less reliant on bridges that the current terrain requires.


Over in Oakland, the city did exactly that and there is a bridge underneath the road between Carnegie Institute and where Forbes Field used to be.

[Fran66]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

If you do the arithmetic, the people who gain the most by living in the city are retirees. If they're not working, they aren't paying the wage tax, and pensions and interest income are exempt from taxation.

But who RETIRES to Pittsburgh from somewhere else? No one.

I don't live there (yet) -- just sticking my 2 cents in, for all it's worth.

From having been on this board (for six months now), it would seem that at least some people are retiring to Pittsburgh. And the news media, for the past year, has been naming Pittsburgh as one of the top ten places to retire.

And one thing hasn't been mentioned yet: Pittsburgh is not experiencing a drought nor is it forecasted to have one in the foreseeable future. 90% of my current home state is experiencing "severe drought", and all of the Southwest is in drought, a lot of it quite severe. As far as it can be known, the drought is not predicted to end in the foreseeable future, only get worse. Until you've lived in a state where enough water is a major issue, perhaps you can't understand how attractive Pittsburgh can seem. With all its problems, Pittsburgh is looking very good to me.

[GregHenry]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

We DO need to significantly increase density in the city; however, we can easily do so WITHOUT altering our existing geographic features.

I see geography as Pittsburgh's greatest problem. The geography impacts everything else. The tunnels, the bridges, the hills, the on-the-gas, on-the-brake driving, the engine pulling hard to make it up the hill, the lack of an intuitive grid, the narrow roads and narrow interstates, and the resultant traffic all make Pittsburgh a not fun place to drive and build.

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by GregHenry

I see geography as Pittsburgh's greatest problem. The geography impacts everything else. The tunnels, the bridges, the hills, the on-the-gas, on-the-brake driving, the engine pulling hard to make it up the hill, the lack of an intuitive grid, the narrow roads and narrow interstates, and the resultant traffic all make Pittsburgh a not fun place to drive and build.

Are you a native to this region?

The actual problem is the refusal of area drivers to adapt to the terrain and driving conditions. If you have lived here a year or more, driving on, in, or around any of the scenarios you mentioned should be second nature. If it's not, you're not spending enough time on the road. I am continually amazed at how people ride their brakes down the slightest grades or around the slightest bend in the road.

My saying is, you could blow the roof off the Squirrel Hill Tunnels, you could add ten lanes of traffic in each direction on 376, but until people get over their timidness, fear of driving, or whatever it is, nothing is going to change.

[Moby Hick]

Does "adapt" mean never miss the chance to accelerate even for ten seconds before you need to brake for a corner/light/jam-up? Because otherwise I think people have adapted well (leaving aside parking and other related tasks).

[TechieTransplant]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Does "adapt" mean never miss the chance to accelerate even for ten seconds before you need to brake for a corner/light/jam-up? Because otherwise I think people have adapted well (leaving aside parking and other related tasks).

Adapting to me means educating people to the fact that they don't have to use their brakes for 90 percent of the situations they currently use them for, and adapting means giving everyone in Allegheny county a practical driving retest