Pittsburgh trending the wrong way? (Dormont, Bloomfield: rent, how much, neighborhoods)

[MathmanMathman]

This walkability report shows Pittsburgh is good at #9 but its projected future is to drop to #21

http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/do...ffic-ahead.pdf

Not sure if it is because of bad choices ahead or lack of action and other places will pass Pittsburgh by. Walkability has struck me as one of Pittsburgh's strengths and shouldn't be lost.

[Goinback2011]

The only areas of Pittsburgh that are truly 'walkable' are downtown and parts of the East End.

There used to be a hundred or more inclines to deal with getting people from hilltop to valley, but those are long gone.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

The only areas of Pittsburgh that are truly 'walkable' are downtown and parts of the East End.

There used to be a hundred or more inclines to deal with getting people from hilltop to valley, but those are long gone.

Maybe bringing back the trolleys would fix that. They could be a signature of Pittsburgh, sort of like they are for San Francisco.

[Pittsburghpride83]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

Maybe bringing back the trolleys would fix that. They could be a signature of Pittsburgh, sort of like they are for San Francisco.

I think it was a mistake to do away with the streetcars in pittsburgh. The old lines would go as far south as mckeesport, east to oakmont, north to sewickley, west to coraopolis and neville island. However, as much as I think it was a mistake, those lines disappeared with the steel industry in the 70s and early 80s. They probably did not have the money to maintain the track infrastructure. It was cheaper to pave over tracks and go to buses. A lot of pittsburgh's infrastrucure problems can be traced back to the 70s and 80s when things shouldve been redone or updated. The money wasnt there and now the utility lines and bridges are in crisis repair mode 30 to 40 years later. Still there is limited money to fix things.

[jea6321]

the walkability wont really change in pittsburgh. If you are ok with it now, you will be ok with it 10-20 years from now. If you hate it now, guess what? you will hate it in 10-20 years from now as well.

certain neighborhoods will get better and have more diverse business districts which will in turn make certain sections a little more walkable, but our overall topography and city layout wont be changing very much.

[bluecarebear]

Transportation is a dead issue. Highly disappointing. The mood of the city has changed in the last 2 years and the talk and funding is for highway extentions to other counties.

[SteelCityRising]

"Walkability" is difficult to define. I personally find Polish Hill to be walkable because I can (and have) walked from my front door to Oakland, Downtown, Station Square, the North Shore, Lawrenceville, Bloomfield, and Shadyside, yet most on here would NOT call Polish Hill "walkable" because of the rugged and hilly terrain. I'm the type of person who would probably move to similarly-hilly Beechview to save some money on rent and then proceed to walk to Brookline and Dormont on a regular basis whereas people would think I'd be "nuts" for doing so. It seems like many people in Pittsburgh have no idea how much ground you can cover in 30-45 minutes if you just applied yourself. Granted this isn't plausible for the elderly or those with physical impairments, but if you're a healthy younger or middle-aged person there's no reason why you couldn't live in many parts of the city currently NOT considered "walkable" and MAKE them "walkable".

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Pittsburghpride83

I think it was a mistake to do away with the streetcars in pittsburgh. The old lines would go as far south as mckeesport, east to oakmont, north to sewickley, west to coraopolis and neville island. However, as much as I think it was a mistake, those lines disappeared with the steel industry in the 70s and early 80s. They probably did not have the money to maintain the track infrastructure.

Pittsburgh's streetcars mostly disappeared in the 1960's (not the 70's and 80's). The cars from points west were replaced when the Point Bridge was closed about 1960, most of the rest were closed after PAT took over in 1964.

When I graduated high school in 1974, the only running streetcars were to the South Hills- they were the ones replaced by the LRT system. Initially, some of old streetcars ran in the downtown subway. The final old style streetcars were a short route from Shannon to Drake and were discontinued about 1998.

The problem was that Pittsburgh's population was shifting, and most of the population were moving far from the routes. It would have taken a lot of capital investment to extend the tracks, new buses provided a smoother ride and more flexibility.

[Pittsburghpride83]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Pittsburgh's streetcars mostly disappeared in the 1960's (not the 70's and 80's). The cars from points west were replaced when the Point Bridge was closed about 1960, most of the rest were closed after PAT took over in 1964.

When I graduated high school in 1974, the only running streetcars were to the South Hills- they were the ones replaced by the LRT system. Initially, some of old streetcars ran in the downtown subway. The final old style streetcars were a short route from Shannon to Drake and were discontinued about 1998.

The problem was that Pittsburgh's population was shifting, and most of the population were moving far from the routes. It would have taken a lot of capital investment to extend the tracks, new buses provided a smoother ride and more flexibility.

Pittsburgh is a heavily suburban driven metro. As long as costs remain reasonable, people with good jobs will choose to live in the suburbs. Another poster stated the public transportation issues have died out. I see the primary focus as well on new roads and highways for the suburban counties. The new 576 toll road will connect the fastest growing area of the region with office buildings (canonsburg/ southpointe) with the airport. It will almost completly circumvent allegeny county until 3 miles from the airport.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

The only areas of Pittsburgh that are truly 'walkable' are downtown and parts of the East End.

Originally Posted by Pittsburghpride83

I see the primary focus as well on new roads and highways for the suburban counties.

Yup.

A lot of people would like to see Pittsburgh be a vibrant city center with real walkability and transit that isn't a joke (including myself). But the reality is that for every city dweller there are roughly 8 suburbanites. The focus will continue to be on the suburbs whether we like it or not. It simply makes more sense to concentrate infrastructure outside the city because that's where the people are and where the jobs are.

Despite how frustrating it is to hear, "why don't yinz just drive over ehre?" again and again.... it honestly makes the most sense. I've pretty much given up any hope of living a walkable lifestyle in the interest of time. It's kinda sad.