I think this Times article ticks me off!

[Caladium]

LOL, yeah that comment from the New York guy talking about "Pittsburgh Healers" was pretty affected.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Caladium

This demonstrates one of the reasons I participate in city-data and not NYT forums. It's pretty common for trolls to get their kicks out of writing inflammatory comments after an article like this. When I saw the guy identified himself as being "from northern VA" but didn't name a town he's from I figured his comment was going to be trollish.

For those who are wondering he said, here's a snip:

"Pittsburgh can't keep its college graduates. There are a few startups. But Google and some law firms opened offices there because wages are far cheaper in Pittsburgh than places like Boston or Silicon Valley. To be sure things are better than they were at the bottom, but the city and the region has suffered terribly in the loss of industrial jobs and the flight of corporate headquarters."

I don't personally agree that Pittsburgh can't keep its college graduates. In fact, IMO the many people on this forum who are college grads is evidence that indeed it can. Still, the funny thing to me is that SCR got so livid about such a remark, considering I've heard him say the same thing in this forum several times.

Please show me where I've said such things. I've often lamented the exodus of jobs from the CITY to the SUBURBS and EXURBS---not out of the region in its entirety---due to an array of reasons, most prominent of which being a diminished ability to service these new areas effectively via mass transit. We already have trouble getting people in and out of Oakland without their vehicles, which is evidenced by our worsening surface street congestion, and Oakland is the state's third-largest employment center (and second-largest in the city of Pittsburgh behind Downtown). While Virginia is progressively raising tolls on Route 267 to finance the construction of a new Metrorail line roughly paralelling it (with excellent plans for TOD near the stations) PA is doing just the opposite, readying its axe to destroy Pittsburgh's only passenger rail link to points east because it won't cough up a few million annually to subsidize an Amtrak route that is vital for those who wish to access Philadelphia or NYC without flying.

Burghgirl17 and I have butted heads in another thread and will continue to butt heads on this issue until she can show me how a bankrupt state that can't even pony up the money to salvage rail line between two large cities will be willing to provide funding for new dedicated transit lines linking U.S. Steel's potential new exurban campus with its scattered workforce. Right now the employees all live in a circular radius around Downtown of varying distances, with many (not all) ABLE to commute without a car if they so chose using the "T", a Busway, or a PAT bus. Relocating U.S. Steel's HQ out of the city and into Findlay Township would require 100% of employees to drive unless Burghgirl17 can show me her alternative plan where employees wouldn't be forced to drive there. How would our resident U.S. Steel employee who commutes to Downtown from Port Vue via mass transit access the new site in Findlay Township without driving? Encouraging more exurban sprawl in an area that is unlikely to see existing infrastructure and transit systems upgraded to meet current needs---let alone future ones---due to budget constraints is a recipe for disaster. Choking traffic CAN negatively impact a region's appeal. My egregiously-long (yet close as the crow flew) commute in Northern Virginia was one of many factors that made me want to leave. I wasn't willing to "suck it up" for the new Metrorail line to finally come in the future when it already should have been built years ago. I personally wouldn't be inclined to work for U.S. Steel if my commute shifted from a 5-minute bus ride to a 40-minute car ride in heavy traffic on the choked Parkway West.

For an area that is supposedly one of the nation's most "forward-thinking" we do a LOT of regressive long-range urban planning here in Greater Pittsburgh. There's a very interesting web site called Greater Greater Washington that focuses solely on transit issues in Metro DC. I really wish sub-forum transit/transportation gurus like BrianTH, Gnutella, Evergrey, eschaton, etc. could develop a "Greater Greater Pittsburgh".

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Gulf Oil DOES NOT EXIST ANYWHERE.

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Gulf was merged with Standard Oil of CA

Yes, Chevron (Standard of California) acquired the old Gulf Oil. That company as such doesn't exist anymore.

The Gulf brand however lives on in a newer company Gulf Oil LP, a subsidiary of Cumberland Farms which licensed then eventually acquired the name from Chevron. (There are more twists in the history than that, but as it stands now Cumbys completely owns the brand.) They run the whole lot out of the Cumbys headquarters in Mass. There are actually quite a number more Gulf stations now than there were, say, 15-20 years ago. They're mostly in New England but some are all over the place. I saw some in the South on my recent trip. The brand is in expansion it seems.

[Burghgirl17]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Please show me where I've said such things. I've often lamented the exodus of jobs from the CITY to the SUBURBS and EXURBS---not out of the region in its entirety---due to an array of reasons, most prominent of which being a diminished ability to service these new areas effectively via mass transit. We already have trouble getting people in and out of Oakland without their vehicles, which is evidenced by our worsening surface street congestion, and Oakland is the state's third-largest employment center (and second-largest in the city of Pittsburgh behind Downtown). While Virginia is progressively raising tolls on Route 267 to finance the construction of a new Metrorail line roughly paralelling it (with excellent plans for TOD near the stations) PA is doing just the opposite, readying its axe to destroy Pittsburgh's only passenger rail link to points east because it won't cough up a few million annually to subsidize an Amtrak route that is vital for those who wish to access Philadelphia or NYC without flying.

Burghgirl17 and I have butted heads in another thread and will continue to butt heads on this issue until she can show me how a bankrupt state that can't even pony up the money to salvage rail line between two large cities will be willing to provide funding for new dedicated transit lines linking U.S. Steel's potential new exurban campus with its scattered workforce. Right now the employees all live in a circular radius around Downtown of varying distances, with many (not all) ABLE to commute without a car if they so chose using the "T", a Busway, or a PAT bus. Relocating U.S. Steel's HQ out of the city and into Findlay Township would require 100% of employees to drive unless Burghgirl17 can show me her alternative plan where employees wouldn't be forced to drive there. How would our resident U.S. Steel employee who commutes to Downtown from Port Vue via mass transit access the new site in Findlay Township without driving? Encouraging more exurban sprawl in an area that is unlikely to see existing infrastructure and transit systems upgraded to meet current needs---let alone future ones---due to budget constraints is a recipe for disaster. Choking traffic CAN negatively impact a region's appeal. My egregiously-long (yet close as the crow flew) commute in Northern Virginia was one of many factors that made me want to leave. I wasn't willing to "suck it up" for the new Metrorail line to finally come in the future when it already should have been built years ago. I personally wouldn't be inclined to work for U.S. Steel if my commute shifted from a 5-minute bus ride to a 40-minute car ride in heavy traffic on the choked Parkway West.

For an area that is supposedly one of the nation's most "forward-thinking" we do a LOT of regressive long-range urban planning here in Greater Pittsburgh. There's a very interesting web site called Greater Greater Washington that focuses solely on transit issues in Metro DC. I really wish sub-forum transit/transportation gurus like BrianTH, Gnutella, Evergrey, eschaton, etc. could develop a "Greater Greater Pittsburgh".

WTF, leave me out of your ranting and raving in a thread I didn't even post in. I'm under no obligation to respond to your demands, particularly when you are so bull-headed on these issues that it would be impossible to have an adult conversation with you. The world is not comprised solely of people just like you with your same life situation and preferences. And if memory serves me, you totally and utterly avoided my questions and comments on the business reasons for moving out of the city.

[Evergrey]

This NYT article was quite complimentary of Pittsburgh. The NYT hopped on the Pittsburgh bandwagon several years prior to most media outlets... and this is yet another nuanced look at the region's economy and populace. I think the part about Heinz has already been leaving Pittsburgh for years is a bit alarmist and poorly worded... but the point remains that today's vibrant, creative Pittsburgh thrives despite the exodus of corporate titans of yesteryear. Our economy is much less relient on paternalist, vertically-integrated behemoths... and is much more nimble and diverse.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Please ....

Again I would like to point out that surmising where all of US Steel's current employees live & their thoughts on its relocation (which itself hasn't even been decided upon) is nothing but mere conjecture on your part.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Burghgirl17

WTF, leave me out of your ranting and raving in a thread I didn't even post in. I'm under no obligation to respond to your demands, particularly when you are so bull-headed on these issues that it would be impossible to have an adult conversation with you. The world is not comprised solely of people just like you with your same life situation and preferences. And if memory serves me, you totally and utterly avoided my questions and comments on the business reasons for moving out of the city.

Perhaps SteelCityRising is on to something... (unfortunately this article is behind a paywall)

Pittsburgh businesses keep eyes on downtown residential boom - Pittsburgh Business Times

While an increase in residential properties downtown is squeezing rental rates higher, it’s simultaneously making downtown a more attractive place for companies.

Dan Adamski, managing director of the Pittsburgh office of Jones Lang LaSalle, said a desire to live downtown is beginning to factor into the office location decisions of the corporate clients with which he works.

[sealie]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Again I would like to point out that surmising where all of US Steel's current employees live & their thoughts on its relocation (which itself hasn't even been decided upon) is nothing but mere conjecture on your part.

Yup. And there was an employee who already posted and said that they were asked what they would prefer.
I'm kind of impressed that there are even still people who stay with an employer for life now, especially the young ones. In the '90s in IT, two years at one shop pretty much made you one of the senior guys there.