Anthony Bourdain comes to Pittsburgh (York, Avalon: rental market, homes, neighborhoods)

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

I guess I was just disappointed to with the casual rips on places like Brew Gentleman for serving $7 beers but then they spent 10 mins sitting in Superior Motors eating aged sun choke crisps. I understand that the residents of Braddock get a discount at Superior Motors and there are training programs, but what I don't believe is that anyone from Braddock or elsewhere thinks a discount on foie gras is really going to help those in the neighborhood who are struggling.

Yes, we noticed that too...but it just felt completely consistent with the essential contradiction of Pittsburgh itself, and something we deal with every day. It's similar to the conversation he was having with the chefs from Dinette and Cure...someone opens a small business, and the crowd that comes to spend money there isn't the old crowd that has been living here since the steel mill days, but at least the business is paying taxes and at least the old buildings aren't still sitting empty...so do we celebrate this as a "revival" of the city and the steel towns, or is this really wealthy people from bigger cities coming in and colonizing Pittsburgh? We got a laugh out of the way the chef from Dinette immediately started to talk about Pittsburgh by comparing it to San Francisco, but we probably do a version of that ourselves -- we like Pittsburgh because our money stretches further here than it did in Boston or DC or even Chicago.

So, yes, the older guy rolling his eyes at Brew Gentleman wasn't exactly pleasant, but we're aware that there are people doing that behind our backs every time we go to Grist House in Millvale, or Pear & the Pickle in Troy Hill, or Voodoo in Homestead, or any other "new" place in the area. We never really know what to do about it, because we can see how hard it must be to watch a bunch of outsiders coming in to these old neighborhoods, but we can't feel all that sad about seeing new families coming in to live in houses that were empty and boarded up just five years ago, and that's what is happening in these communities.

[fleetiebelle]

Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant

So, yes, the older guy rolling his eyes at Brew Gentleman wasn't exactly pleasant, but we're aware that there are people doing that behind our backs every time we go to Grist House in Millvale, or Pear & the Pickle in Troy Hill, or Voodoo in Homestead, or any other "new" place in the area. We never really know what to do about it, because we can see how hard it must be to watch a bunch of outsiders coming in to these old neighborhoods, but we can't feel all that sad about seeing new families coming in to live in houses that were empty and boarded up just five years ago, and that's what is happening in these communities.

Definitely. My neighborhood has a Facebook group, and there are often spats between the people who've grown up there and look at the good old days with rose colored glasses, and the new people who moved in for the "cheap" housing and talk about how great it would be to have a wine bar.

[RogersParkTransplant]

Originally Posted by Paul2421

honestly though, i think a good amount of Pittsburgh's resurgence is due to born and raised locals that have chosen to stay in the area or moved back. of course you have google and the like which bring in transplants, but people underestimate the amount of growth by hometown folks and companies. this kind of goes against the narrative that is pushed by the show.

You know, that's an interesting twist in Spring Garden/East Deutschtown. Most of the best renovation projects have been done by a local guy ("Mr Renovation") who is our neighbor on Spring Hill, and has family roots in the neighborhood that go back many generations. His family runs Kaffeehaus, which is the most obvious sign of gentrification around here, and they are really active in the local Civic League too. So yes, I absolutely give them credit as locals, and I think it's ultimately really important that these flips are being done by someone who is really from here. Still -- I think most of the people actually buying his homes are transplants. I'll be interested to see what happens to these homes long-term.

Here's a good example of his recent work -- he just sold a similar one for about the same price, over on Spring Garden Ave: https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...2_M39767-67413

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

Definitely. My neighborhood has a Facebook group, and there are often spats between the people who've grown up there and look at the good old days with rose colored glasses, and the new people who moved in for the "cheap" housing and talk about how great it would be to have a wine bar.

It will be really interesting to see what happens with the new Spring Hill Brewing in my neighborhood. There's already some grumbling about someone opening a "bar" in that location, but the reality is that the vision they have for the place is very close to what it actually was in the "good old days" fifty years ago, when it was a local social hall with a bowling alley. Do the people who are complaining really want a giant farmhouse adjacent to their property to sit empty and rot and eventually fall apart? Is an empty building with an overgrown lot actually safer or better than a successful local business? I can see where the new brewery will mostly appeal to the new people, but if the old-timers were really honest about the history of the site they might admit that having a place to go in the evenings is actually closer to how the neighborhood functioned when it was new.

[MountainDewGuy]

Originally Posted by sealie

I wish people wouldn't do that, they're not the enemy and haven't done anything to merit that kind of treatment, but I guess some people never got past the grade-school mentality of bullying the nerds.

I agree with your sentiment. There is plenty of hostility towards techie workers, most of it undeserved.

[Goinback2011]

"New Pittsburgh" is simply young people who haven't yet realized they and their fads will inevitably age and become passe.

[sealie]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

"New Pittsburgh" is simply young people who haven't yet realized they and their fads will inevitably age and become passe.

I thought we were talking about resurrecting a defunct bar, not inventing Yogadisco.

ETA: I thought I was kidding, but Google says it's an actual thing.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by sealie

I thought we were talking about resurrecting a defunct bar, not inventing Yogadisco.

ETA: I thought I was kidding, but Google says it's an actual thing.

What if they are resurrecting this defunct bar:



(sign was recently uncovered during a facade restoration in the south side - unfortunately the sign was taken down).

[TechCom]

Lady called in on the radio about it (100.7). DJ and her agreed that it was a poor representation of Pittsburgh and too depressing.

I didn't watch it because I don't like Bourdain at all.

[Wells5]

Bourdain is on an extended ego trip. Didn't see his Pittsburgh expose and don't intend to. Andrew Zimmern's "Bizarre Foods Delicious Destinations" program on Pittsburgh is worth seeing if you haven't. Zimmern's straight forward down to earth non judgmental style makes his shows a pleasure to watch. Question: Did the Travel Channel fire Bourdain?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by MountainDewGuy

I agree with your sentiment. There is plenty of hostility towards techie workers, most of it undeserved.

Not surprising that there’s a lack of empathy for struggling working-class renters in this city feeling squeezed by surging high-end rental demand from the “techies” in the same neighborhoods. Maybe some of we non-techie renters have seen what’s happened to the rental markets in San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, etc. and are worried about the same happening here?