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Old 10-23-2017, 06:20 PM
 
281 posts, read 338,605 times
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[quote=RogersParkTransplant;49905384]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


I noticed that house when I was over there the other day. Really wish that renovator/flipper hadn't built that 3rd story addition. It doesn't look right on that house, and detracts from the surroundings of adjoining historic homes as well.
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Old 10-23-2017, 07:13 PM
 
2,277 posts, read 3,941,994 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelCityRising View Post
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?
I guess I can empathize because I can’t afford the places I’d be most comfortable, but what do you want from this board, us to demand rent control for Pittsburgh, for a struggling city to create more disincentives to invest? I think we all want more jobs and good paying jobs for eveyone but those don’t just appear out of thin air. They have to be created by someone and that someone has to believe the city will help their business. I believe jobs of the future will require some form of education and people have to seek that out. If you love pittsburgh and want to get the most out it you have to strive beyond the day to day, take risks and look for the right networks. It’s just life.
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Old 10-23-2017, 08:09 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh's North Side
1,701 posts, read 1,587,748 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aw_now_what View Post
https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...2_M39767-67413

I noticed that house when I was over there the other day. Really wish that renovator/flipper hadn't built that 3rd story addition. It doesn't look right on that house, and detracts from the surroundings of adjoining historic homes as well.
I haven't talked to him about it directly, and when I first saw the addition going up I had some similar thoughts. I pass by there every day, however (you pretty much have to go down Chestnut to get to our house on Spring Hill), and it has really grown on me. I think the calculation is that the house was going to be a tougher sell than usual because it's next to that warehouse with all the soda machines that faces onto Chestnut:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/90...!4d-79.9944208

It's hard to argue that the third floor addition on 908 Peralta "detracts from the surroundings" when the immediate next door neighbor is an ugly warehouse. If adding the balcony makes it easier to sell the house to someone who will live there and take care of it, bless them. As with every structure in this neighborhood, my mantra is that anything is better than tearing it down, and (almost) anything is better than having it just sit empty with the window boarded up, which is what was going on before Mr Renovation decided to flip it.
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Old 10-23-2017, 08:54 PM
 
166 posts, read 324,809 times
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I didn't grow up in Pittsburgh but I moved here two months ago. I'm one of those out of towners that he's referring to (and there are a bunch more of us that I know of that have just moved here within the last 6 months).

Here is an honest take from someone who lacks bias of growing up here. This show is about "Parts Unknown" and honestly most of Pittsburgh is unknown to rest of the world except for the Steelers and the Pens. Also no one outside of Pittsburgh calls them the Pens so that is unknown.

When i moved here I was honestly pleasantly surprised and shocked at the beautiful old architecture, steep cliffs and green beauty and all the hills!. Just wonderful. The friendly people and family values and life over work. Just good wholesome people. I was also amazed at the art scene and culture here. The huge world class museums and the tech thing was totally foreign to me. The beautiful solid brick buildings all throughout Shadyside and Friendship and the blossoming brewery and distilling scene. So much cool stuff. No one knows that any of these things exist in Pittsburgh.

He missed the boat on this show by focusing on that wrestling and derby thing. Just bizarre.

One thing he did get right and this was a shock to me and still is sometimes. Honestly still not used to it but in New Jersey and New York, your waitress, bus boy/girl, cook, etc are all adult / middle aged hispanic or a non white person. In Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh suburbs it's your college or high school student which reminds me of New Jersey in the 80s. That is what it used to be like about 30 years ago there. New Jersey was all italians, irish and polish who are now the demographic minorities. Basically some 2nd or 3rd generation 17 year old kid making his minimum wage to make some gas money before college. That is what Pittsburgh feels like.

Other than that he missed the mark on a lot of Pittsburgh. Also no focus on Downtown. Love Tako and Butcher and the Rye and all of those restaurants. No strip district? I heard that downtown used to be a ghost town. Now there is a bunch of after work activity. Market Square is awesome. I heard that used to be nothing like it is now 10 years ago.
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Old 10-23-2017, 09:31 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
6,327 posts, read 9,101,134 times
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When driving into work this morning, they were discussing this on the radio show and a lot of the reaction to it seemed to be negative. I didn't watch it, and don't really have a desire to after what I've heard today.
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Old 10-23-2017, 09:50 PM
gg gg started this thread
 
Location: Pittsburgh
26,137 posts, read 25,783,846 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UKyank View Post
I normally love Bordain but the episode basically showed Pittsburgh as kind of a terrible place with some random wrestling & demolition derby action thrown in. Not sure what I was expecting though as most of his shows are pretty uninteresting when he’s covering a US city but entertaining when he’s not.
It was a crap episode. Seemed like a bunch of whiners that he had on there. Then of course the Civic Arena crap got on there. Talk about old, but of course they want to get their free housing.

All in all it was lousy and I can't relate to it much and have been here for over 50 years. What the heck where they doing all the way out in New Alexandria? Nothing about downtown or really any good areas, just gloom and doom and babies whining about change.

I don't care for Bourdain much overall unless he is in France. He seems to love it there and it shows. Watching him in Pittsburgh was a waste of time.
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Old 10-23-2017, 09:53 PM
gg gg started this thread
 
Location: Pittsburgh
26,137 posts, read 25,783,846 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bradjl2009 View Post
When driving into work this morning, they were discussing this on the radio show and a lot of the reaction to it seemed to be negative. I didn't watch it, and don't really have a desire to after what I've heard today.
Yeah, it was a pretty negative representation of Pittsburgh and really was dated to the point of ridiculous. Might as well just showed the movie "All the Right Moves" and be done with it.
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Old 10-23-2017, 10:50 PM
 
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You could tell by look on his face that he was disgusted that he had to visit Pittsburgh. The same look that Hillary gave when her campaign staff said that she should visit Michigan or Wisconsin.
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Old 10-24-2017, 02:26 AM
 
Location: SW Florida
5,586 posts, read 8,352,585 times
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It is the same story with every episode. He presents a balanced look at a city, but the locals complain that he didn't focus enough on the positives. The episode about Lagos, Nigeria, showed a positive message of how the people are hustlers, everybody figures out how to make a buck (and yes, even the Nigerian scammers). But the Nigerians complained that he only showed the poor parts of the city and made it look depressing. He did a show about Detroit, which IS a depressing story and he didn't try to sugar-coat it, but he still managed to find some positive things about the city.

It's not a travelogue, it's not a P.R. show for your city and it's not a food show. It's not going to show your standard tourist attractions. Mayor Fetterman of Braddock said Bourdain spent at least an hour after filming wrapped, just sitting and talking, so to portray him as just doing a fly-by is wrong. As a non-local, I thought he presented a very balanced look at the New Pittsburgh v. the Old. The city is clearly undergoing a renaissance and that came through, whether you think it did or not.
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Old 10-24-2017, 06:46 AM
gg gg started this thread
 
Location: Pittsburgh
26,137 posts, read 25,783,846 times
Reputation: 17378
Quote:
Originally Posted by Avalon08 View Post
He presents a balanced look at a city,
Um, a balanced look? Braddock? The Hill? New Alexandria at a derby with people wearing rebel flag hats and shirts? Yep, that is balanced alright. Some guy whining about a $7 beer when they drive by a nicer place. I guess you didn't see the episode. I sadly watched it and felt it was from the '70s. Don't tell me that was "balanced". It was a joke. He wasn't really in Pittsburgh's downtown because it wasn't gritty enough for his theme. Show Pittsburgh's old history and forget the new other than some interview with Cure and Dinette and both of them were told to mention the neighbors whining about THEM.

Balanced. ha, ha, ha Maybe you were just kidding us.
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