SouthSide Works looks to new partner for rejuvenation (Washington, Emporium: apartment complexes, condo)

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by lprmesia

"
Maybe not all of those fit the Mad Mex bill - but they'd definitely have some stiff competition. Plus, I'm not sure that Mad Mex does well with the Lawrenceville/Downtown/South Side crowds. It's a pretty outdated theme even by Pittsburgh standards.

I dunno, we go to Mad Mex as a family for two reasons. One, it's vegetarian/vegan friendly. Two, they have a kids menu. There's also a semi-decent craft beer selection, though it's a bit too IPA heavy for me. I don't really expect it to be "authentic" or anything. I just like that it has tofu tacos and both my kids will eat there.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Faer

This exact detail is why my wife and I are likely selling our home soon. NIMBYs are driving these folks out over permit times they are maybe half using, while Bruce Kraus talks about his "dream" to have NO cars on residential streets (as if that doesn't display some horrifying ignorance about urban land use, etc.) There's basically an embargo on any kind of progress or transition now. I've had no quality of life complaints, don't want to move, but its clear we are now falling behind living here, for the sake of an overzealous permit plan I voted NO on. To anyone asking what advantage Lawrenceville has over South Side, its in the daytime. Its employees at Children's Hospital, UBER etc. Those are the clientele for the surface level restaurants and shops on Butler. In South Side, people seem helllbent on keeping those folks out.

I completely agree with all of this......the crazy part is that I have yet to meet one of these nimbys yet all neighborhood policy is to appease whoever those people are. Every 6 months they come up with a new 'enhancement' that is an absolute disaster when implemented.

All these crazy parking changes have done for me is make it a huge pain to have any guests visit anytime other than Sunday's.

Everyone on here is using the south side 'night rider' the city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a consultant to come up with right?

[svband76]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I dunno, we go to Mad Mex as a family for two reasons. One, it's vegetarian/vegan friendly. Two, they have a kids menu. There's also a semi-decent craft beer selection, though it's a bit too IPA heavy for me. I don't really expect it to be "authentic" or anything. I just like that it has tofu tacos and both my kids will eat there.

Southside already has two (I think) Mexican places. Emilio's being one.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by zalewskimm

Southside already has two (I think) Mexican places. Emilio's being one.

Emiliano's; La Palapa; Qdoba; Tres Rios; Doce taqueria; Steel Cactus

[Oakland21550]

The late 90s through the late 2000s the south side was in its most recent hey day. In 2005 I graduated college and wanted to live in the city badly. I was looking in 2006 and the south side was red hot. The hot metal area was new soffer buildings and residential near the river. The bars, restaurants and businesses were packed. The south side street spectacular was still going on. I couldn't afford the prices and ended up purchasing in the north side. From 2005 to 2013 I watched the south side peak and then begin to take on a steep decline. If you told me in 2006 that it would be a shell of itself in 2017 I wouldn't believe it. The paparazzi was my hangout of choice. Live music and good pizza. There was a stabbing in the rear stairwell in the late 2000s. It closed for good a few months later. Since then it has been 2 or3 restaurants that failed. When we came home to visit a year ago we walked east Carson and discovered it was still closed from the last restaurant it was

I think there are a few reasons for the fast decline of this area. The first is the closing of the clubs and bars in the strip district and the warehouse clubs at station square. Those areas contained the bad elements. The south side was the only remaining bar area. All of the problems migrated there. The neighborhood didn't catch on anymore with the current hipsters. The south side was a mixture of old and new chic retail establishments and housing. Another reason is the economy this is the lackluster job growth and population decline. Not enough money to go around. It shifted to east liberty and lawrenceville two places people would've laughed at you for buying there in 2009. Southside hospital closed. The new children's hospital opened in lawrenceville in 2009. Developers bought up cheap and renovated homes for hospital workers. Then the hipsters came in.

I left Pittsburgh in 2014 after selling my house in the north side. The south side was in a decline as was my once stable neighborhood of observatory hill. Pittsburgh has a current admin that only cares about the east end. As long as he is mayor the rest of the city will b forgotten. The southside is a former shell of what it was in 2016 when we last visited. Amazing the 180 it did from 2006 to 2016. It's like it no longer exists in some respects. Anyways, ravenshtahl had the right policy for the city. I think he tried to be fair and work for development across the city. Yes he did a bad thing with the police chief, but his policy was good for Pittsburgh. Peduto is good for the east end. His whole admin lives there and Fitzgerald lives in sq hill. If you don't live in the east end you will get nothing from this admin. Sad reallly.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by Oakland21550

The late 90s through the late 2000s the south side was in its most recent hey day. In 2005 I graduated college and wanted to live in the city badly. I was looking in 2006 and the south side was red hot. The hot metal area was new soffer buildings and residential near the river. The bars, restaurants and businesses were packed. The south side street spectacular was still going on...

I think there are a few reasons for the fast decline of this area. The first is the closing of the clubs and bars in the strip district and the warehouse clubs at station square. Those areas contained the bad elements. The south side was the only remaining bar area.. .The southside is a former shell of what it was in 2016 when we last visited. Amazing the 180 it did from 2006 to 2016. It's like it no longer exists in some respects. Anyways, ravenshtahl had the right policy for the city. I think he tried to be fair and work for development across the city. Yes he did a bad thing with the police chief, but his policy was good for Pittsburgh. Peduto is good for the east end. His whole admin lives there and Fitzgerald lives in sq hill. If you don't live in the east end you will get nothing from this admin. Sad reallly.

I think you are over-reacting. Your statement about the Peduto administration is unfair and has no backup. There is only so much the government of the city can do. Recent information shows the city has a surplus, actually, and zero population loss - this is success, and I do not think any mayor has enjoyed this since maybe Caliguiri (I'm guessing).

The South Side's decline is beyond anyone's control, isn't it? It has to do with a replacement generation that does not have the same trends, preferences, or desires as its predecessor. Or, and economy that changes or "flows" like lava. You may be disappointed with Carson Street NOW, but who knows - in 2 years we might get a new influx of entrepreneurship.

I will give you this - the western neighborhoods are neglected, but again, this isn't a city generally awash in money and energy. And East Liberty, Oakland, etc - they have the universities, busway, etc., plenty that was built upon to generate growth. If anything, it was the better quadrant of this town to start an overall revitalization.

And, there probably is a generation NOW whose time has come. They are out there, living their lives and do not share the same laments.

For what it's worth, the last time I was down on Carson, on a weekend, at night, was a Friday in January 2016 - it was PACKED.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Yeah, South Side has developed a semi-toxic culture, because to a large extent the business district doesn't primarily cater to the residents (who are homeowners anyway), meaning the NIMBYs do not believe it's in their interest to have the commercial area thrive.

Most of Lawrenceville still does not have permit parking. Several recent attempts to expand it (into Central Lawrenceville below Butler and Upper Lawrenceville) were defeated - in part because people have seen what this has done to South Side.

I live in Upper Lawrenceville up the hill somewhat far from Butler Street where they wanted to do the permit parking as well. The response here to it was overwhelmingly negative. On the streets this high up, we have no issues with getting parking so we basically saw it as nothing but an excuse to get money from us.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Everyone on here is using the south side 'night rider' the city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a consultant to come up with right?

What a joke that is. I am not parking that far away and taking a shuttle to get to a somewhere when there are spots right on the main drag to use.

[eschaton]

I think it's a mistake to argue that the South Side is in "fast decline." New construction infill houses are still filling in the few remaining scattered lots in the neighborhood. The low end of houses on the market are $150,000-$200,000 for a two bedroom, one bath house with no parking. Newer construction houses with off street parking still tend to sell for $400,000+. Three new apartment buildings with a total of 437 units have been built near South Side Works since 2014, with another on its way. Residentially, it's doing fine. It's just been eclipsed by other areas.

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by UKyank

Everyone on here is using the south side 'night rider' the city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a consultant to come up with right?

Hahaha

I'll park in an evil garage at SouthSide Works and then hike or Uber to wherever I'm going (generally only as far as 19th St / Pipers Pub - anything on a lowered number street than that on Carson is a little too much of a bro bar for my tastes)..

or if I'm heading to Pipers for a Premier League match (#ComeOnYouSpurs!), I'll just snag a metered spot on Saturday morning or park on Muriel St on a Sunday morning.