PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Wiz Khalifa]

Originally Posted by photoLith

[url=https://flic.kr/p/B4aKav]
Photo I recently took of downtown showing how nicely the new tower filled in a gap in the skyline, and you can also see the Gardens topped out.

I hope that lighting on the crown of PNC is just a remnant from the construction and isn't the final design. The building deserves a nice LED outline of the solar crown that can change colors, the opaque black material stands out too much from the translucent lit up glass on the rest of the tower at night.

[BrianTH]

It would be a bummer if this forum became a place for people to rant about politics and economics without any specific connection to Pittsburgh development issues.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

It would be a bummer if this forum became a place for people to rant about politics and economics without any specific connection to Pittsburgh development issues.

You should see what's happened to your old haunt. It's devolved into a group of suburbanites and city-dwellers constantly sniping at one another.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

You should see what's happened to your old haunt. It's devolved into a group of suburbanites and city-dwellers constantly sniping at one another.

I lurk there occasionally, and . . . yikes. That particular dysfunction is really unfortunate: back in the day, I thought it was great we had posters from all sorts of areas within the metro, since that way we had posters to answer relocation questions for all sorts of people.

[themaguffin]

Sadly, with liberals in charge, this country doesn't believe in any future involving good paying jobs that offer the PRIVILAGE of decent healthcare. Instead, they'd rather tax us into poverty while those IN poverty can have a free ride. Education? HA! Who needs that when you get a big welfare check every week!

Oh Jesus, take your empty AM radio 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 talking points somewhere else.

We don't need this uninformed immaturity here.

[photoLith]

Will there be lighting on the new PNC tower crown, anyone know?

[Muckk]

I would be surprised if there wasn't. The Gulf Tower has had some really cool light shows in the past couple years. Even the BNY Mellon sign does some cool stuff if you look closely. I would expect PNC's flagship tower to follow suit. I mean, I want there to be lighting but I also expect there to be lighting.

[photoLith]

It would be pretty ridiculous if there wasn't lighting of some sort.

[BrianTH]

Speaking of wealthy families relocating to the City, Christopher Heinz is looking for a home in the East End:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...l-Christopher-Heinz/stories/201511290063

Mr. Heinz, 42, his wife, Sasha, and their two children plan to relocate to the city sometime next year from their residence in New York’s Lower Manhattan “because I want a better life for my kids,” he said. Their move is targeted to occur by next fall at the latest so that his 5-year-old son can start kindergarten in Pittsburgh. His daughter is almost 2. The couple already bid on one house and has zeroed in on another house in Shadyside that “I think … is the one,” he said.

Of course Manhattan to Shadyside is not exactly an urbanization-increasing move, but still interesting that this particular young family, who obviously could afford to live anywhere, is not looking at a suburb like Fox Chapel where the Heinz estate is located.

[BrianTH]

Really cool article about the black bear population in Pennsylvania:

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/outdo...ation-not-a-problem/stories/201511290061

There are some downsides to the dynamic topography in our region, but one of the upsides is there are lots of wildlife habitats around, and it sounds like black bears are actually a relatively safe sort of wildlife:

In residential Westmoreland County there were “multiple reports of bears in each township throughout the summer months,” said Matt Lucas, Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife conservation officer for the region. In recent years, bears have taken up residence in Allegheny County. Nevertheless, the state wildlife agency does not consider black bears to be a problem. In fact, the shy animal’s proliferation in 55 of 67 counties is viewed as a significant achievement. Managing the animals, and the human conflicts that go with their proliferation, are just routine parts of doing business with bears. “Every day in Pennsylvania there’s a bear in somebody’s yard,” said Mark Ternent, a biologist and bear specialist with the state Game Commission. “But it’s just not that big of a deal.”

Not long ago, bears were mostly isolated in remote regions of the Appalachian Mountains. Science-based wildlife management has resulted in more than 18,000 bears now sharing the state with some 12 million human residents. Physical conflicts are rare and minimal. Once or twice a year someone is scratched in a brief bear incident, but no one has been killed by a bear in Pennsylvania since documentation began in 1900.

[BrianTH]

The feds may actually pass a multi-year transportation bill:

http://triblive.com/politics/politicalheadlines/9480703-74/shuster-bill-highway#axzz3stYijQvz

The nature of these things is no one gets everything they want, but just allowing planners to look ahead a few years would be a big improvement. And I have seen some positive reviews from bike and pedestrian advocates, although I think the details are still being worked out.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The feds may actually pass a multi-year transportation bill:

http://triblive.com/politics/politicalheadlines/9480703-74/shuster-bill-highway#axzz3stYijQvz

The nature of these things is no one gets everything they want, but just allowing planners to look ahead a few years would be a big improvement. And I have seen some positive reviews from bike and pedestrian advocates, although I think the details are still being worked out.

I guess this would produce more funds to fix/replace more of our bridges that are falling apart.

Also, when is this Mon-Fayette Southern Beltway project going to be finished? Aren't they supposed to be breaking ground on the next segment from US22 to I-79 near South Fayette?

Any chance on transit funding? I'd like to see our T system expanded even further. I still say that the best way to link Downtown, Oakland, and the East end/suburbs is with heavy rail/metro rail, but I guess improving BRT would suffice for now...

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

I guess this would produce more funds to fix/replace more of our bridges that are falling apart.

Yes, although I think that is still being negotiated. The basic issue is they don't want to increase the federal gas tax, so they have to come up with other ways of providing funding, and the exact length and funding levels in the deal will depend on what agreement they reach about those other measures.

Also, when is this Mon-Fayette Southern Beltway project going to be finished? Aren't they supposed to be breaking ground on the next segment from US22 to I-79 near South Fayette?

The MFE will likely never be completed as originally planned, because the leg into the City is almost surely dead. The leg into Monroeville is currently not funded but the PTC is still pushing it. It would cost about $2B and is a terrible idea, but that doesn't mean it won't happen some day.

The 22 to 79 portion of the Southern Beltway broke ground in 2014 and I believe is scheduled for completion in 2019. The 79 to 43 portion is also not yet fully funded--it would cost about $1B--and again would be a terrible waste of money, but is also still being pushed by the PTC.

Note there is no demonstrated need for these projects, and in fact every segment so far has fallen way, way short of the original usage estimates and therefore has constituted a huge waste of public funds. But when there are billions in construction contracts on the line, in this state it can be very hard to stop the bleeding until the victim is completely drained.

Any chance on transit funding? I'd like to see our T system expanded even further. I still say that the best way to link Downtown, Oakland, and the East end/suburbs is with heavy rail/metro rail, but I guess improving BRT would suffice for now...

I know there is transit funding in the bill, along with an increase in funding for things like the TIGER program that can be used for transit. I doubt it is enough to fund things like subways or new heavy rail lines, but the BRT plan might be able to advance.

[haimon]

I know there is transit funding in the bill, along with an increase in funding for things like the TIGER program that can be used for transit. I doubt it is enough to fund things like subways or new heavy rail lines, but the BRT plan might be able to advance.

I wish they could wiggle a way to increase funding for additional amtrak service. I travel to New York every few months for business, and find it so frustrating that other than driving, my only viable option is Megabus.
(begin rant) They have had continually increasing ridership over the last few years, yet totally disregard the fact that their antiquated infrastructure makes it a nonviable option for many who can't afford to sacrifice two days for train travel. If they would simply offer an overnight train, I could deal with the fact that it is super slow, have a drink or three, and wake up in new york in the morning (end rant).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by haimon

I wish they could wiggle a way to increase funding for additional amtrak service. I travel to New York every few months for business, and find it so frustrating that other than driving, my only viable option is Megabus.

As I recall the House bill actually cut Amtrak funding. I am not sure about the Senate bill, but that would imply just keeping steady would be about the best one could hope at this point.

We probably won't see decent intercity rail service in Pittsburgh for a while, meaning until we get an entirely new dynamic at the federal level. We really missed an opportunity during the recovery to invest in expanding higher-speed rail service.

[BrianTH]

Random post, but as I was reading around on the transportation bill, I came across this link to one prominent transit analyst who believes transit systems with multiple focus points are actually superior to systems with a singular "downtown" focus:

http://www.humantransit.org/2015/11/how-...Feed%3A+HumanTransit+%28Human+Transit%29

As cities grow, there is no correlation between the sustainability of a city and its single-centeredness. On the contrary, single-centered cities present huge problems for transportation, because they use capacity so inefficiently. New York, for example, is spending over $10 billion on a project to fit more Long Island commuter trains into Manhattan, and to put them closer to jobs there. The demand is mostly one-way, so this requires either storing trains all day on expensive Manhattan real estate, or running them all empty in the reverse-peak direction. It's very inefficient compared to the transit problem in a multi-centered place like Paris or Los Angeles, where demand is flowing two-way most of the time. So growing a single downtown isn't the key to becoming a great transit city. Quite the opposite, it's best to have a pattern of many centers, all generating high demand, and supporting balanced two-way flows between them that let us move more people on less infrastructure. This is the great advantage of Paris or Los Angeles or the Dutch Randstad over Chicago or Manhattan.

So remember: when it comes to the efficiency and abundance of transit -- or roads for that matter -- "downtown" isn't all it's cracked up to be. For transit, big clumps of density and walkability are great, but several are better than one.

If Pittsburgh continues to grow in coming decades, this multi-focus model will be more or less forced on us due to the topographic constraints on Downtown. But it turns out that is likely a good thing, at least provided we can provide decent transit links between our major focus points. Oakland currently stands out as lacking such links, but on the plus side the East Busway provides a usable backbone for the Penn Avenue corridor (including the Strip, Bloomfield/Shadyside, East Liberty/Larimer, and Wilkinsburg as potential focus points).

[JVC]

this is what PREDICTABLY happens when development goes horribly wrong,
when a developer completely deviates from a smart urban planning strategy of starting
at the perimeter of penn circle and slowly moving toward the center

the key to revitalization is making sure you don't expose newcomers to the areas
that haven't yet been revitalized - making sure you manage perceptions and expectations
and don't create unnecessary disappointment and negativity

hotel indigo east liberty review from yelp
http://www.yelp.com/biz/hotel-indigo-pittsburgh-east-liberty-pittsburgh

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by photoLith

DSC_1812
Photo I recently took of downtown showing how nicely the new tower filled in a gap in the skyline, and you can also see the Gardens topped out.

Gorgeous

[gg1]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Really cool article about the black bear population in Pennsylvania:

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/outdo...ation-not-a-problem/stories/201511290061

There are some downsides to the dynamic topography in our region, but one of the upsides is there are lots of wildlife habitats around, and it sounds like black bears are actually a relatively safe sort of wildlife:

We had a bear on our south terrace this spring. If I didn't see the paw marks and our hummingbird feeder laying on the ground I wouldn't have believed it myself, but there is no mistaking a bear's paw mark and sure enough, we got an alert from FC Borough there was a bear migrating through here and it moved north.

[gg1]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Gorgeous

That is an amazing photo and so clear. Really a great shot of our beautiful city. Doesn't get much better really.