Regarding the local Pittsburgh economy, it's important to remember that even if the regional economy isn't the most dynamic, the renaissance of the City isn't mainly due to local fortunes rising - it's due to the nationwide "great inversion" which is pushing more young professionals (and to a lesser extent jobs) into urban cores. The comeback of Pittsburgh isn't doing anything for Armstrong and Fayette Counties, or even the majority of Beaver, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties. Well over half of the suburban municipalities in Allegheny County are still in some sort of decline, even if it's only slow population decline due to falling household size. So we should not conflate statistics which look at the Pittsburgh MSA as a whole with the City of Pittsburgh in particular.
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Originally Posted by Austinlee
It's about time. I could see this being very important for the large open parking lots that will surely be built into large apartment developments or mixed use developments over the next couple of decades closest to downtown such as next to the Highmark soccer stadium and the other side of Station Square as well, the Northshore between the Alcoa HQ and the Heinz complex, the remainder of The Strip, Lawrenceville, ALMONO and others.
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I agree it's long overdue. I have boggled over the last few years that aside from the Cork Factory and Buncher's megasite, the entirety of the Strip is still zoned industrial. I think it's a given that not only the Strip and the remaining industrial portions of the South Side will be reexamined, but much of Lawrenceville towards the river. I wouldn't be surprised if the area around the Cork Factory is also, and I hope the city is forward-thinking enough to rezone Chateau for more mixed use as well. As it stands now, residential just isn't permitted in a General Industrial area at all. While it can be built in the more common Urban Industrial zone, only buildings with 4+ units are allowed, and they have to apply for a special exemption even then.
Personally though, I think the Pittsburgh zoning system is way too complicated as it is. The idea of creating yet more zoning overlays seems ridiculous to me. I realize going to a no zoning system isn't feasible, but I wish the City would start in that direction. Basically create "mixed use" areas where developers can build virtually anything. Fold most of the industrial zoned areas, all of the commercial zones, the useless NDO zone. and the various "public realms" and special planned zones in. This gives developers the freedom to build what they want in areas in areas which are currently largely non-residential, meaning it could be decades before we'd have to consider upzoning some of our historic housing stock into oblivion.
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