[hyperion1110]

:previous: I know I should be offended by that pic that calls Pittsburgh hometown of the dark lord Sauron...but it's actually kind of funny :)

By the way, does anyone think that PNC's little Triangle Park is a little disappointing? I know it's free to the city and all, which is great. But it's very uninspiring...kind of like a fancy bus stop.

[Evergrey]

Dave Crawley's trenchant insight on G-20 Pittsburgh
http://kdka.com/video/?id=62879@kdka.dayport.com

[Burgh15]

By the way, does anyone think that PNC's little Triangle Park is a little disappointing? I know it's free to the city and all, which is great. But it's very uninspiring...kind of like a fancy bus stop.

Now that you mention it, it does look like a fancy bus stop. More green would have been nice there.

[themaguffin]

Dave Crawley's trenchant insight on G-20 Pittsburgh
http://kdka.com/video/?id=62879@kdka.dayport.com

Of course the leaders and their significant aides will not see much, but the lower level folks and all of the media will.

And frankly it's the media that the city is really presenting to. I'm sure that the leaders will find the convention center hotel room and Warhol fine.

[dugdogmaster]

Ok guys, and any girls, lets here it!

http://townhall.com/columnists/BillSteigerwald/2009/09/21/sticking_pittsburgh_with_the_g-20 (http://townhall.com/columnists/BillSteigerwald/2009/09/21/sticking_pittsburgh_with_the_g-20)

Sticking Pittsburgh With the G-20

by Bill Steigerwald

Dear President Obama.

We Pittsburghers sincerely hope you enjoy your visit to our beautiful city later this week, when you'll be chairing the exciting G-20 Summit that you so thoughtfully chose our city to host without finding out whether we could handle it or afford it.

But please, Mr. President, don't think that the chaotic and barricaded and over-policed city you will see is anything like the real Pittsburgh we know and love.

The summit of finance ministers and central bankers from the world's top 20 economies will be held Thursday and Friday in downtown Pittsburgh's "Golden Triangle," the wedge of skyscrapers and priceless old office buildings that sits between the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers as they meet to form the Ohio River.

Usually, Mr. President, downtown Pittsburgh's streets and sidewalks are quiet and peaceful, as in almost dead and without life.

It's certainly not a regular tourist destination for protestors and anarchists from around the world like the ones who, thanks to you, are expected here in the tens of thousands to express their unhappiness with the global economy by disrupting our city and breaking as many windows as they can.

Usually our downtown is not sealed off from traffic and pedestrians like the Green Zone in Baghdad or guarded by 3,000 police in riot gear, as it will be Wednesday evening through Friday. And usually we don't have to show our ID at barricades when we go downtown to work.

We're grateful that federal taxpayers will pick up most of the $20 million-plus tab for extra security personnel. But we hope you didn't pick us to host the G-20 because you think we could afford it or because you really believe, as you recently said, that Pittsburgh is "a bold example of how to create new jobs and industries while transitioning to a 21st century economy."

That sounds sweet to local boosters' ears, Mr. President. But it's not really what Pittsburgh is. In the real world, Mr. President, this city is what urbanologists and economists technically refer to as "a basket case."

Its unemployment rate and housing foreclosures are lower than the national average, it's true. And its famously low-low housing prices are stable to slightly rising. But it's all relative.

Much of the rest of the country is in a deep recession after having a crazy housing-driven boom. Pittsburgh's "eds & meds" economy isn't booming or busting: it's stuck in the same stagnant-to-slowly-growing mini-recession we've been in since we pioneered deindustrialization in the 1970s.

The city you chose to host the G-20, Mr. President, is in fact bankrupt and in state receivership because of decades of chronic mismanagement, stupidity and generous pension deals that previous generations of political hacks promised their employees but couldn't pay for.

For at least the last 30 years, Pittsburgh's power brokers have wasted billions of federal and state tax money on a series of destructive urban renewal schemes, redevelopment boondoggles and wasteful mass-transit projects.

Almost everything new and shiny that you and Michelle will see in downtown Pittsburgh or on its riverbanks was built with government money or millions in taxpayer subsidies - whether it was PNC Financial Service's almost completed downtown skyscraper or the new homes of the Pirates, Steelers and (soon) the Penguins.

That kind of government intervention may not bother you and your crew of czars. But if you and Michelle get a chance to stroll around downtown this week, look for the big hole in the street in front of Fifth Avenue Place. You can hardly miss it.

That hole - part of a construction site that has ripped up parts of downtown for several years -- symbolizes everything that's wrong with Pittsburgh.

It is the downtown end of the infamous North Shore Connector, a 1.2-mile transit tunnel that was built under the Allegheny River to where the pro baseball and football palaces are. We un-affectionately call it our "Tunnel to Nowhere."

Our wise Democrat and Republican politicians, 1960's-era planners and mass-transit apologists thought the tunnel would be a swell way to waste at least $600 million in "free" federal and state money to carry fewer than 10,000 humans a day back and forth across (under) the river.

There is much more evidence of City Hall's clumsy handiwork around downtown, Mr. President, but it's time to end this note with a simple request. Next time you're looking to "honor" a city with a G-20 summit, pick Chicago.

[Evergrey]

Bill Steigerwald is probably the worst media personality in Pittsburgh... what a right-wing jagoff

[dugdogmaster]

Dave Crawley's trenchant insight on G-20 Pittsburgh
http://kdka.com/video/?id=62879@kdka.dayport.com

Hahaha, I love that man!:haha:

[Steel Boy]

Re Steigerwald's piece:

It's as if the Tribune-Review has a list of bullet points that all columnists must adhere to and comment on in everything they write. Very tired and lazy writing. They keep rehashing the same things over...and over..and over...and over. They never see one shred of good in anything if it's not private enterprise and tax cuts.

[themaguffin]

What an ass. Seriously the puke that these scum write daily got old decades ago.

[DBR96A]

Developers, officials share updates on Fifth Ave., Market Square projects at ULI meeting (http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2009/09/21/daily15.html?surround=lfn)

Amid exposed dry wall and unfinished office space, some of Downtown’s key developers and public officials held a show and tell panel discussion touting projects under development in the lower Fifth Avenue and Market Square area.

In an event sponsored by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Urban Land Institute Monday night, Arthur Ziegler, president and CEO of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which recently completed the historic restoration of a three-building project called Market at Fifth, expressed a build-it-and-they will come optimism that comes after his organization was able to lease out four of its seven apartments and attract two clothing retailers without marketing.

“As construction barriers come down, leasing gets easier,” he said. “I think it will lease.”

There was some progress to report.

Lucas Piatt, executive vice president for Millcraft Investments, said that 65 percent of the condos available in the company’s Piatt Place redevelopment of the former Lazarus department store are under agreement and that apartments at its Market Square Place project will start seeing residents move in in November.

He also expects Millcraft to begin to move forward next year on a mixed-use redevelopment of the former state office building the company bought last year. The project, which is projected to cost $50 million and generate $1.75 million in annual tax revenue, will include residential units, office and retail space.

All the projects showcased are within a short walk of one another and next to Market Square, which is currently being reconstructed as a European-style piazza that will feature more open space to encourage outdoor dining and a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere.

Mike Edwards, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, which has helped oversee the redevelopment of Market Square, sees the project as supporting the private development happening around it.

“There’s a responsibility for the public realm to look good and work well,” he said.

The forum had hoped to attract visiting media from out of town, but when Golomb asked if any were in attendance nobody raised their hand. The focus of the discussion mostly looked at residential development with less talk of the area’s retail prospects in a stretch of Downtown that still has plenty of empty storefronts.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who introduced the panel, saw great hope in seeing different developers succeeding in such a small area, despite Downtown’s remaining challenges.

“What’s seminal at this point in time is how many things are coming together,” he said.

[hyperion1110]

Bill Steigerwald is probably the worst media personality in Pittsburgh... what a right-wing jagoff

Haha...what a perfectly Pittsburgh way to express one's frustration...jagoff :) And it's true, too. Steigerwald is a jagoff. I mean, he couldn't find a single positive thing to say?!

[hyperion1110]

This is interesting news. Yet another reason why Pittsburgh is awesome :)

One thing that really gets me anymore is that all of these articles coming out in praise of this city have to always add the caveat: "...but the only reason it ranks so well is..." For goodness sake, why don't they just sum up these articles by saying, "Pittsburgh is awesome. But it's really not...it just looks that way because all of the hidden factors that make it suck are pretty well hidden." Also, when did it become a prerequisite for awesomeness that a city has to have a lot of hispanics/latinos? I truly mean no offence to those who consider themselves as such...but having a lot of mixed race folks that speak a little Spanish doesn't really make a city any more dynamical than one that doesn't have as many. The only thing that follows from Pittsburgh's low hispanic population is just that--we have a low hispanic population. If a lot of hispanics would like to move here, Pittsburgh would welcome them with open arms, as we have done immigrants for centuries. But, if not, that's cool, too.

Our worth as a city is not dependent on who is not here; it's solely a function of who IS here.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09265/999766-455.stm

Metro area ranks 2nd in health insurance

Tuesday, September 22, 2009
By Gary Rotstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The national debate over the plight of people without health insurance directly affects an unusually small portion of Pittsburgh's population, as new data show it is among the best-insured parts of the country.

Of the 25 largest metropolitan areas, Pittsburgh trails only Boston in its share of people with health insurance coverage. Nearly 92 percent of people of all ages in the seven-county region have public or private insurance, compared to less than 85 percent nationally, according to data released yesterday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The health insurance information is among wide-ranging topics covered by the bureau's 2008 American Community Survey, a sampling of 3 million households. The annual survey replaces the census long form that formerly accompanied the national head count every 10 years.

The survey provided insurance-coverage estimates for the first time for the nation's cities and counties above 65,000 in population. Analysts offered several reasons why Pittsburgh fares well in rankings:

• Nearly all people over 65 have Medicare coverage, and Pittsburgh has a larger proportion of that age group than elsewhere: 17.1 percent in the metropolitan area compared to 12.8 percent for the nation.

• Pennsylvania's CHIP program provides widespread insurance coverage for children who might not have it among low-to-moderate income households in other states. In the Pittsburgh region, all but 3.9 percent of those under age 18 are insured, compared to a national uninsurance rate of 9.9 percent for children.

• The Pittsburgh area's economy has endured the recession better than other parts of the country, and the strong history of industrial unionization and high percentage of jobs in education and health care all make it more likely that working people here are insured. Among those ages 18 to 64, 88.4 percent here are insured, compared to 80.2 percent nationally.

All of that means Pittsburgh is outpaced only by the largest city in Massachusetts, a state that has implemented its own form of universal health coverage. More than 95 percent of Bostonians are insured.

Cities ranking low in health insurance coverage, such as Houston, Dallas and Miami, have large immigrant populations in common, and those individuals are less likely to be covered.

"If you think about the populations who are likely to have coverage, and our high proportion of elderly, and the very high-risk populations we don't have, it makes sense that we would be at the top," said Judith Lave, a University of Pittsburgh professor of health economics, though she was surprised to learn that Pittsburgh trailed only Boston.

Meanwhile, those who work with low-income populations locally said the figures do not negate the growing number of people in need, due to job cutbacks.

"As more plants close, there's more people uninsured," said Tony Lodico, co-coordinator of the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee. "There's often middle-aged workers involved, and they greatly fear losing what they've been able to accumulate. ... You could lose it all in one illness."

Other than health insurance, the American Community Survey highlighted other ways in which the region differs from national norms:

• The Hispanic population continues to be estimated at just 1.1 percent in metropolitan Pittsburgh, while it grew nationally from 15.1 percent to 15.4 percent between 2007 and 2008.

• The percentage of U.S.-born population is estimated at 97 percent locally, compared to 87.5 percent nationally.

• Just 1.4 percent of the region's residents identify themselves as belonging to two or more races, while 2.3 percent do so nationally.

• The proportion of the population ages 85 or older around Pittsburgh is 2.8 percent, compared to just 1.8 percent nationally.

• The average household size fell slightly locally, from 2.34 to 2.31 between 2007 and 2008, while it grew nationally from 2.61 to 2.62.

• An estimated 8.5 percent of Pittsburgh-area men and 9.9 percent of women are presently divorced, significantly lower than national rates of 9.4 percent for men and 11.9 percent for women.

• The percentage of military veterans among both the local and national populations keeps declining, but they stand at 11.3 percent locally compared to 9.8 percent nationally.

More information is available at www.census.gov, by clicking on American Community Survey at the top of the page.

Gary Rotstein can be reached at grotstein@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1255.

[pj3000]

Bill Steigerwald is probably the worst media personality in Pittsburgh... what a right-wing jagoff

It's amazing that someone can be both so incredibly stupid and so damn ugly. It's no wonder the poor little bastard is such an unhappy retard.

http://www.laprogressive.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/billsteigerwald.jpg

[PA Pride]

Thanks for the pics Urbanidesdev. I think triangle park is a winner. It was such a small piece of land, i didn't think it would look like much. I guess that's the secret to optomism: Low expectations.

Heinz Healey looks great too. That section of downtown is really cleaning up.


Urbani: Post all those photos in the 3 PNC highrise thread. And i think we can close that one then since it's fully finished.

[AaronPGH]

I think triangle park actually has too many barriers. I think it looks good, but it seems like it will be hard to access.

One of my architect friends also complained that she thinks making it into one giant bus stop like this is going to litter it with homeless and loitering troublemakers, ruining that corner. I can see where she gets that happening as well, very much like the Wood St. T station.

[Evergrey]

One of my architect friends also complained that she thinks making it into one giant bus stop like this is going to litter it with homeless and loitering troublemakers, ruining that corner. I can see where she gets that happening as well, very much like the Wood St. T station.

sadly... I agree... it looks like another prime bum hangout... should create a lot of synergy with nearby Market Square

Heinz Healey looks fantastic though

[bradjl2009]

[I]
One thing that really gets me anymore is that all of these articles coming out in praise of this city have to always add the caveat: "...but the only reason it ranks so well is..." For goodness sake, why don't they just sum up these articles by saying, "Pittsburgh is awesome. But it's really not...it just looks that way because all of the hidden factors that make it suck are pretty well hidden." Also, when did it become a prerequisite for awesomeness that a city has to have a lot of hispanics/latinos? I truly mean no offence to those who consider themselves as such...but having a lot of mixed race folks that speak a little Spanish doesn't really make a city any more dynamical than one that doesn't have as many. The only thing that follows from Pittsburgh's low hispanic population is just that--we have a low hispanic population. If a lot of hispanics would like to move here, Pittsburgh would welcome them with open arms, as we have done immigrants for centuries. But, if not, that's cool, too.

I totally agree with you for everything you said. On the park, it really does look like an over-sized bus stop, but that is also a very small area for a park we need to remember. However, I said something similar to someone about the lack of Hispanics in Pittsburgh and was branded a racist:koko: :shrug: .

[hyperion1110]

I totally agree with you for everything you said. On the park, it really does look like an over-sized bus stop, but that is also a very small area for a park we need to remember. However, I said something similar to someone about the lack of Hispanics in Pittsburgh and was branded a racist:koko: :shrug: .

Haha...I was thinking I might be branded one myself for making the comment. Glad to know it's not just me, though... :cheers:

[Brandon716]

^^^^^^^^What a douchebag article. The guy has nothing positive to say for a city that is doing damn good given the history of what happened with the collapse of steel. The city is downright amazing given whats happened.

[Evergrey]

^^^^^^^^What a douchebag article. The guy has nothing positive to say for a city that is doing damn good given the history of what happened with the collapse of steel. The city is downright amazing given whats happened.

I wouldn't worry about it... that's how Bill Steigerwald gets his living... also... the link comes from Town Hall... a well-known hive of right-wing scum and villainy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townhall.com (features columnists like Ann Coulter, Dinesh D'Souza, Michelle Malkin, Cal Thomas, etc.)

It was previously owned by the Heritage Foundation... but is now owned by Salem Communications... a U.S. media company specializing in evangelical and conservative talk radio

[dugdogmaster]

Ya, Brandon, what Evergrey said. I only posted the article because I know 99% of the people here, including me, can't stand the guy. I just wanted a laugh, reading everyone tear the guy apart:D

And I too am in agreement with what Hyperion and Bradjl touched upon.

About the park: I just read the May article posted in the Highrise Construction Thread about this park, and other than it not really looking like a "jewel," it is what they said it would be.

[Wiz Khalifa]

Re Steigerwald's piece:

It's as if the Tribune-Review has a list of bullet points that all columnists must adhere to and comment on in everything they write. Very tired and lazy writing. They keep rehashing the same things over...and over..and over...and over. They never see one shred of good in anything if it's not private enterprise and tax cuts.

The telltale mark of a redneck, right-wing, bunch of blowhards running the place. Steigerwald reminds me of the cliched yinzer anyway, minus the mullet. I wouldn't take anything he says seriously.

But I will comment on it anyway. :hell:

I love how he basically cuts into the entire corrupt political system and blames them for everything that's wrong with the city, which I don't even really mind and to a point even agree with. But the fact that he makes no mention about the people of Pittsburgh and how they WOULD deserve such a summit regardless of the stupid politicos, is nothing more than hack journalism and political pandering.

It's such a stupid yinzer negative generalization to use the fact that local politics suck as the entire reasoning as to why the city should not deserve to host the G20. Would this article appear in any other city even if they had an even MORE inept local government, and actually wasn't deserving of hosting the event? Highly unlikely. However, like clockwork, the negative yinzer attitude surfaces right before something good happens in this city. We need to ship all of the yinzers like Steigerwald in barges up the mon back to West Virginia.

[Wiz Khalifa]

I wouldn't worry about it... that's how Bill Steigerwald gets his living... also... the link comes from Town Hall... a well-known hive of right-wing scum and villainy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townhall.com (features columnists like Ann Coulter, Dinesh D'Souza, Michelle Malkin, Cal Thomas, etc.)

It was previously owned by the Heritage Foundation... but is now owned by Salem Communications... a U.S. media company specializing in evangelical and conservative talk radio

Aka: broadcasting hypocritical self-righteous bullshit to be absorbed as if it's the Bible by brain-dead, high school dropouts across the country.

[bradjl2009]

Bill Steigerwald is one of the most irritating people I could ever imagine meeting. This man has no appreciation for anything that Pittsburgh (or the Northeast for that matter prob) have to offer. I can't believe a local newspaper would let someone who berates this region as much as he does have a job. This guy needs to do Pittsburgh a favor and move to the "utopia" he wishes Pittsburgh was such as Houston or Orlando. This is definitely one of the editorials he has written I find the most irritating: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/steigerwald/s_599595.html.

[George Woods]

I love all of the stuff you guys have said about Steigerwald. I actually know his daughter, and I've been to their house. It's like this right-wing fortress of solitude in the woods in Washington County. She told me it was built to be a "hunting cabin" or something. It was terrifying at night. All these windows, and just blackness outside. You had to drive on gravel through the woods to even get to it. And they're all "rugged individualists," and libertarians, and whatever. I remember her proudly quoting her dad once, calling buses "big transit." Then, when she would want to actually DO something other than wait to be abducted by aliens in her cabin, she would take a BUS from Washington County to South Hills Village, and get on the TROLLEY to come into the city, where you can actually find something to do. Hmmmmm. So, for me, the most infuriating thing about his bullshit article was all the talk of "our" city. I fucking hate it when people who do everything in their power to live as far away from the City of Pittsburgh as they possibly can, and then trash-talk it whenever possible, suddenly become representatives of the place when the Steelers win the Super Bowl, or when the G20 comes to town. And, as mentioned above, Scaiffe has specific talking points that all Trib employees must regurgitate ad infinitum, but at least Scaiffe lives in Shadyside. When Steigerwald bitches about the trolley, bear in mind that he not only lives outside of the city, he doesn't even live anywhere that is affected by the Port Authority of ALLEGHENY COUNTY, since he lives deep into Washington County! I'm sure his drive to work on the Northside is fantastic. He deserves it. I just wonder if he'll take a cue from his daughter, and secretly drive to South Hills Village and take the T to work once the project he's been so vociferously opposed to is complete.

[bradjl2009]

Speaking of Bill S., here's another article that relates to the city hosting the G-20. It's just as annoying as the other article from the previous page.

The link: http://www.newgeography.com/content/001052-pittsburgh-didnt-volunteer-g20

Pittsburgh Didn't Volunteer for G20
by Bill Steigerwald:yuck: 09/22/2009

As host of the G-20 summit, Pittsburgh briefly will sit in the global spotlight. With this article by longtime Pittsburgh resident and columnist Bill Steigerwald, New Geography opens a three part series looking at this intriguing metropolis from the point of view of planning, demography and economic performance.

Pittsburgh didn’t volunteer to host the G-20 Summit that is coming here next week to inflict so much civic pain and disruption.

It was entirely President Obama’s call. He apparently thought it would be a good idea to have the finance ministers and central bankers of the world’s top 20 economies hold one of their city-disrupting conferences in downtown Pittsburgh on Sept. 24-25.

Perhaps Mr. Obama, who will chair the G-20, thought he was doing the financially strapped city of Pittsburgh a favor by sending 4,000 foreign bureaucrats and media folk here to spend their Euros and Yen on Steelers T-shirts and game jerseys:rolleyes: .

Maybe he thought placing the G-20 meeting in Western Pennsylvania – a disproportionately Caucasian and socially conservative corner of America where his 2008 vote totals were disappointing – would pay him political dividends in the 2012 election.

In either case, the president was sadly mistaken.

Except for the local booster & tourism sector – who’d welcome a Category 8 hurricane to Pittsburgh as long as the international media covered it and said nice things about their no-longer smoky city – it’s safe to say everyone in this town who doesn’t work in the homeland security industry wishes they had never heard of the G-20.

As months of local media stories have made plain, the conference is not only going to be a huge public annoyance, it’s going to be a lose-lose situation for everyone – especially the city government.

Any economic benefits to the local GDP from the arrival of 4,000 visitors with fat expense accounts will be outweighed by the cost of protecting property from the tens of thousands of leftist protestors, angry anarchists and professional window-breakers who stalk G-20 meetings around the world.

To maximize security and minimize destruction, the Secret Service and local authorities will fortify most of the Golden Triangle, the photogenic downtown business district squeezed between the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers as they meet to create the Ohio River.

Barricades will be erected. Cars and mass transit will be diverted. Several major construction sites will be sealed off to deny protestors dangerous things to throw. Most downtown businesses probably will close. City schools and colleges will shut down.

The predicted cost to local public coffers for hiring, feeding and equipping additional police and paying overtime will be at least $20 million, most of which will be reimbursed by the federal government.

Whatever the final bill is, hosting the G-20 is an “honor” the city of Pittsburgh and its taxpayers didn’t need and can’t afford. The city is already bankrupt and in state receivership because of the generous pension deals it’s promised but won’t be able to pay for.

The city of Pittsburgh looks fabulous and robust when its skyline and riverbanks are shown on TV during Steelers home games. But it’s really the capital city of an economically stagnant, over-taxed, over-regulated, steadily depopulating metropolitan region that has been horribly governed for 60 years.

The private-public power-brokers who’ve run the city have wasted billions on a never-ending series of destructive urban renewal projects, redevelopment boondoggles and wasteful mass-transit projects.

Almost nothing has been built in downtown Pittsburgh or on its riverbanks in the last 20 years without being handed millions in public subsidies – whether it was PNC Financial Service’s almost completed downtown skyscraper, a gorgeous Lazarus department store that went bust in the ‘90s or the shiny new homes for the Pirates, Steelers and (soon) the Penguins.

If curious G-20 attendees have time to stroll around the city’s abandoned downtown streets on Thursday and Friday, they will have no trouble finding evidence of City Hall’s current crop of fiascoes-in-the making.

Right in front of fancy Fifth Avenue Place, for example, is a deep trench where busy Stanwix Street should be.

It’s not where a Scud missile hit during the first Gulf war. It’s the construction zone of one end of the local mass transit system’s infamous “Tunnel to Nowhere.”

The 1.2-mile light-rail extension goes from Gateway Center downtown under the Allegheny River to the North Shore, where its other end has been tearing asunder the wasteland of former parking lots between the subsidized new homes of the Steelers and Pirates for several years.

The twin light-rail tunnel – cleverly built under a river in the “City of Bridges” so as to maximize the cost and provide unions and construction companies with six or seven years of high-paid make-work – will allegedly carry 4.2 million riders a year in the distant transit future.

That impressive but fraudulent projection comes out to about 11,000 “riders” a day – which actually represents only 5,500 human commuters making a (two-ride) round trip commute. A large proportion of those annual riders, by the way, will be baseball or football fans.

All that socially correct “mass transit” will end up costing at least $650 million, with federal and state taxpayers picking up about 97 percent of the tab. Except for yours truly and the conservatives on the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s editorial page, virtually no one in local politics or the media questioned or challenged the lunacy of building the transit tunnel.

Another wasteland in the middle of downtown that G-20-goers might visit is the flattened construction site that used to be Market Square.

Once upon a time, before City Hall planners began demolishing and rebuilding huge chunks of downtown in the 1950s; it was what urbanists are supposed to encourage: an actual square with markets.

Then, in the 1960s, the city took it over and transformed it into a poorly designed, commerce-free urban park with trees, grass and heavy city bus traffic. The public space delighted crowds of lunching office workers at midday but the rest of the time it was a lawless playpen for about 100 homeless people, drunks and drug pushers.

Today the area around Market Square, last refurbished in the 1990s, hardly has a live store or restaurant left standing. It is waiting to be turned into its next reincarnation – a $5 million European-style piazza with no vehicles piercing its heart and no low walls and green spaces for social misfits to reside.

On one edge of battered Market Square is Fifth Avenue, which has been tortured constantly by City Hall for about 25 years.

In the early 1980s, its street surface was torn up for several years so the city’s rinky-dink light-rail subway could be built beneath it. Not long after that, Fifth Avenue was rendered virtually impassable to shoppers for a couple years while the city slowly redid its sidewalks and curbs.

Then, in the late 1990s, Fifth was targeted by City Hall for a preposterously stupid and destructive redevelopment scheme.

The crude 1960s-style renewal project would have misused eminent domain power to clear-cut Fifth Avenue and Forbes Avenue, wipe out nearly 100 businesses and build what amounted to an outdoor suburban mall anchored by a Nordstrom store.

Fortunately, that plan was miraculously stopped by an alliance of preservationists and property rights defenders. But is it any wonder that after a quarter century of torture by city planners Fifth Avenue became “dilapidated” and in need of serious redevelopment?

As G-20 attendees will learn if they bother to walk a few moments from their hotels, the nightmare on Fifth Avenue continues. Its northern end is currently being torn down, fixed up, blocked to pedestrians or under construction.

PNC Financial is putting the final touches on its new 23-story, $178 million headquarters – which received $48 million in state and local subsidies and wiped out half a block of retail storefronts. Meanwhile, up the street, the lovely stone tomb the city erected in the late 1990s for Lazarus has been all but given away to a local developer who’s converted it into a pricy condo and office space that still has 32 of its 65 units to sell.

Whenever the national media rediscover the glories of Pittsburgh’s clear skies and affordable livability, which they seem to do every four years, they never stick around long enough to note the failings of its governments and politicians.

Taxes on property and people and businesses are too high. The city schools are absurdly expensive and ineffective. The roads and 1950s parkways are old, narrow and crumbling. Public services are often poor or costly. Unions and Democrats wield the sort of uncontested political power that’s never good for a municipality.

Yes, it is still true, as the national media and local booster sector never tire of repeating, that the “City of Champions” and its suburbs are a great place in which to live, raise a family, grow old and die peacefully.

With its famous three rivers and hills and bridges and skyscrapers and hillside homes and urban neighborhoods and spectacular views and historic downtown buildings, Pittsburgh is rich in natural and man-made charm.

Toss in a cost of living 17 percent below the national average and low crime rates, lots of good affordable housing, major-league super-teams like the Steelers and Penguins, great museums like the Carnegie and top universities like Carnegie Mellon and Pitt – Pittsburgh does deserve to be ranked highly on those meaningless most-livable city lists.

It’s also true – as some in the national media latched on to earlier this year – that compared with many other parts of the country, Pittsburgh has not suffered greatly in the current recession.

Pittsburgh has an unemployment figure lower than the national average, a very low home-foreclosure rate and stable-to-slightly-rising housing prices.

But Pittsburgh’s good fortune was not, as out-of-town media claimed, because its wise leaders had figured out how to dodge a severe economic downturn. Or because – as President Obama has been led to believe – the region’s post-industrial “eds and meds” service economy is particularly healthy or even resilient.

Pittsburgh’s relatively impressive economic statistics are pretty much the 30-year norm for Pittsburgh – in times of national booms or busts. They probably won’t change for the better unless the spectacularly rich Marcellus shale natural gas deposits lying underneath western Pennsylvania are exploited, which may not happen for decades or ever happen at all.

There’s one thing about Pittsburgh’s future that is a near certainty: It’s going to have fewer residents next year than it has today.

Since the mid-1990s, Pittsburgh has had more deaths than births each year. Between 2000 and 2006, in fact, it had 21,045 more deaths than births, earning it the distinction of being the largest metropolitan area where deaths outnumber births.

That negative ratio wouldn’t be so bad if immigrants from anywhere else were flocking to Pittsburgh. But they aren’t. Metro Pittsburgh has the lowest percentage of foreign-born residents of any major city – 3 percent – compared to 12.5 percent nationally.

Pittsburgh has only about 7,000 immigrants from Latin America – second to the 7,800 who hail from India. Only 16,000 international immigrants arrived in metro Pittsburgh between 2000 and 2006, dead last among the 25 largest cities.

Post-industrial decline, out-migration, too many older people, more deaths than births, too few immigrants from Mexico and Georgia – they’ve all contributed to Pittsburgh’s incredible six-decade population decline.

In 1950, Pittsburgh was the country’s 12th biggest city. It had 676,806 citizens in a metropolitan area of about 2.5 million.

Today the metro population, ranked 22nd, is down to 2.35 million and Pittsburgh’s surviving population of 310,000 live in the country’s 59th biggest city – right behind Aurora, Colo., a growing municipality that will never have to worry about getting stuck with hosting a G-20 summit.


Bill Steigerwald, a free-lance libertarian writer who recently retired from daily newspaper journalism, loves his native Pittsburgh but hates the political and corporate power brokers who've been damaging the city for 60 years. His columns are archived at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and his 2000 article for Reason magazine on the city's abuse of eminent domain powers is here.

[hyperion1110]

:previous: That article should have given fair warning to it's readers: "This article was written by a bitter, ugly old man."

[Brandon716]

I don't see any reason to keep posting his drivel.

[hyperion1110]

Fascinating commentary over on Null Space about the oft misquoted Parton phrase, calling Pittsburgh "hell with the lid taken off." It's fascinating to see the context of the phrase. In fact, I think Pittsburgh should wear this phrase as a badge of honor.

http://nullspace2.blogspot.com/2009/09/not-dantes-pittsburgh.html

Not Dante's Pittsburgh
LA Times weighs in on the Pittsburgh story: With G-20, Pittsburgh gets its 15 minutes. Sounds a bit incredulous of the memo being given to all the visiting journalists when the arrive which is ok. These folks are being force fed the Pittsburgh story via the proverbial fire hose and I’d honestly take a lot of it with a grain of salt if I were in their place having parachuted into town.

But it reminds me of something I've been thinking of. This article and a lot of the other Pittsburgh transformation stories that are being written harken back to the apocryphal quote that Pittsburgh was once Hell with the lid off. By almost universal belief it describes an image of a dystopian Pittsburgh past. In the LAT article the quote is used explicitly to say Pittsburgh is "No longer called "hell with the lid off," as an early critic put it".

Critic? ...........Old Navy saying. Never assume.

What I learned once via Sam M. (where is Sam by the way?) who learned from an unnamed reader of his…. The quote was not meant as an insult! It was actually describing how amazing the view was on Mount Washington looking down on the urban scene that even back then was urban Pittsburgh. Imagine what they would think fo the view today?

Since it is said so well I will now quote a quote whose authorship I do not know, but the actual context for “Hell with the lid off” which was penned by one James Parton in a 1866 travelogue on Pittsburg(h) is not what it may appear. Again via one of Sam's past readers on Antirust:

In the oft-cited passage, he was talking about the view from what was then Coal Hill, and is now known as Mt. Washington:

"There is one evening scene in Pittsburg which no visitor should miss. Owing to the abruptness of the hill behind the town, there is a street along the edge of the bluff, from which you can look directly down upon the part of the city which lies low, near the level of the rivers. On the evening of this dark day, we were conducted to the edge of the abyss, and looked over the iron railing upon the most striking spectacle we ever beheld ... It is an unprofitable business, view-hunting; but if any one would enjoy a spectacle as striking as Niagara, he may do so by simply walking up a long hill to Cliff Street in Pittsburg, and looking over into -- hell with the lid taken off."

He's describing the view, molten wreaths of fire, as far as the eye can see; not the livability of the city, the cuisine, the people, or anything else. "Here," he wrote, "all is curious and wonderful; site, environs, history, geology, business, aspect, atmosphere, customs, everything ... To know Pittsburg thoroughly is a liberal education in the kind of culture demanded by modern times." It was practically a love letter to the city, yet that damned "hell with the lid taken off" line is all that survives.

So most of the positive press of late is a bit Back to the future-ish? Ironically not really including this recent piece, but we'll give the author a few more days in town to see if we can win him over a bit more.

and if anyone wants to take public credit for the expostion above just let me know... honor code rules.

[bruchaus]

I don't see any reason to keep posting his drivel.

I do. What fun is sitting around agreeing with each other all the time? I think the G-20 is a mixed blessing for Pittsburgh.

There is no reason to sit around congratulating ourselves for a job well done when there is still much work to be done in Pittsburgh. This city has had pitiful leadership for a long time and things have gotten done despite that fact.

He makes some good points in his article, and while I don't agree with everything he says, we should definitely take note. Things aren't perfect and we definitely need to be talking about the problems in the city.

Isn't this a message board for the discussion of ideas and such? There isn't much diversity if people agree with each other all the time.

[Evergrey]

I think most of us lament the deficiencies in local/regional/state political leadership... and recognize that must work remains to be done in Pittsburgh's decades-long process of economic and demographic transformation... however, most of us also know B. Steigerwald's agenda... therefore we cannot take his arguments seriously and are likely to dismiss his tired cliche-riddled rantings...

Actually, it's quite sad that what should be a moment for some truly excellent discussion on Pittsburgh has been diverted by this obsession of posting every self-loathing utterance of B. Steigerwald

[PA Pride]

I'm excited for the G20! There were police on every overpass and intersection out here in the west suburbs, indictating that dignitaries have arrived. I was able to see several foreign 747's parked at the private airport terminal.

If there was ever ONE single event that could help shake our decades long image of a dirty, uninhabitable city this is it!

[Burgh15]

I'm excited for the G20! There were police on every overpass and intersection out here in the west suburbs, indictating that dignitaries have arrived. I was able to see several foreign 747's parked at the private airport terminal.

If there was ever ONE single event that could help shake our decades long image of a dirty, uninhabitable city this is it!

Absolutely, it will be an exciting few days.

[Johnland]

I think most of us lament the deficiencies in local/regional/state political leadership... and recognize that must work remains to be done in Pittsburgh's decades-long process of economic and demographic transformation... however, most of us also know B. Steigerwald's agenda... therefore we cannot take his arguments seriously and are likely to dismiss his tired cliche-riddled rantings...



Lack of good, strong leadership is right up there among top problems. I would love to see Pittsburgh assert itself much more aggressively within PA. The pecking order seems to be 1) the State, 2) Philly metro and distant 3) Pittsburgh. Harrisburg has never seemed especially interested in improving Pittsburgh, or helping Pittsburgh improve itself. (I don't consider the casinos a real answer to fundamental economic problems.) And Philly, well, most people there are oriented more toward New Jersey and the East Coast. Actually, that just makes me enjoy Pittsburgh even more because it is so unique.

[hyperion1110]

Lack of good, strong leadership is right up there among top problems. I would love to see Pittsburgh assert itself much more aggressively within PA. The pecking order seems to be 1) the State, 2) Philly metro and distant 3) Pittsburgh. Harrisburg has never seemed especially interested in improving Pittsburgh, or helping Pittsburgh improve itself. (I don't consider the casinos a real answer to fundamental economic problems.) And Philly, well, most people there are oriented more toward New Jersey and the East Coast. Actually, that just makes me enjoy Pittsburgh even more because it is so unique.

Sadly, many of the problems begin and end right here in Pittsburgh. True, Philly seems to get it's way a lot. And there are so many hicks in the "T" of Pennsylvania that drain billions in state funds just to subsidize towns and counties less populous than many streets here. Heck, we have 14 universities in the State System of Higher Education. Of those 14, only 2, IUP and West Chester, are actual universities. The remaining 12 serve no purpose other than to provide jobs to rural PA. (If you don't believe me, check out the enrollment numbers at places like Lock Haven and Mansfield...IUP has more Criminology majors than those two places have total students!).

Pittsburgh is not a priority in Harrisburg because, until quite recently, each community thought all and only of itself, not as existing within the context of Greater Pittsburgh. Only now are folks around here starting to understand that Southwestern PA has more votes in the Legislature than Philly. I think we saw some of the muscle when Ravenstahl got his 2 year extension on the state pension takeover, despite a strong push by Philly to get the bill passed ASAP. With that realization, that Pittsburgh is the real first city of the Commonwealth, there is a lot that can be done for the city and for the region.

All that said, though...the one thing that will advance Pittsburgh more in the eyes of the state is when Fast Eddie, Mayor of Greater Philly, leaves office. That will be a good day, indeed!

[UrbaniDesDev]

By the way, does anyone think that PNC's little Triangle Park is a little disappointing? I know it's free to the city and all, which is great. But it's very uninspiring...kind of like a fancy bus stop.[/QUOTE]

it needs a fountain or something...
What, no water feature!

[UrbaniDesDev]

[QUOTE] One of my architect friends also complained that she thinks making it into one giant bus stop like this is going to litter it with homeless and loitering troublemakers, ruining that corner. I can see where she gets that happening as well, very much like the Wood St. T station. [QUOTE]

I believe it is considered private property, which means they have the right to keep bums off the benches, much like EQT Plaza (Dominion Tower). It is sort of a giant bus stop, but always was a main transfer stop. At least now there is room for a little green. There is a wall between the bus stop and the park that makes it appear as isolated but when approaching from Fifth, it doesn't give that impression.

[UrbaniDesDev]

http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu295/JacksPgh/g20.jpg
Let the Games begin!!!
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu295/JacksPgh/Greenpeace.jpg

http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu295/JacksPgh/Greenpeace2.jpg

http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu295/JacksPgh/g20f.jpg

http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu295/JacksPgh/g20d.jpg

http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu295/JacksPgh/g20c.jpg


This is pretty cool...
http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu295/JacksPgh/hiltonwestern_mesh_500.jpg

[3rd&Brown]

All that said, though...the one thing that will advance Pittsburgh more in the eyes of the state is when Fast Eddie, Mayor of Greater Philly, leaves office. That will be a good day, indeed!

it sort of amazes me that this is the attitude of a pittsburgher toward our current governor. this is probably the first pro-urban governor we've had in this state in my lifetime...who has done more for mass transit and education and health care than any other governor in recent modern history...issues of concern that disproportionately affect our big cities...and you can't wait to see him go?

seems to be the same sort of defeatist attitude that permeates the entire city. just b/c our governor is an eagles fan doesn't mean he's anti-pittsburgh. quite the opposite.

[themaguffin]

Jesus, do we have to go through this Rendell shit again.

[George Woods]

It's a good point, though. He has been way more concerned about urban issues than his predecessors. I voted for him for the same reason I voted for Obama. He actually mentioned cities a lot while running. And he hasn't really gone back on it.

[George Woods]

A couple pages back, Hyperion1110 said: "One thing that really gets me anymore is that all of these articles coming out in praise of this city have to always add the caveat: '...but the only reason it ranks so well is...' For goodness sake, why don't they just sum up these articles by saying, 'Pittsburgh is awesome. But it's really not...it just looks that way because all of the hidden factors that make it suck are pretty well hidden.'"


I thought this article touched on that same idea:



http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09264/999548-485.stm


Pittsburgh has arrived. Let's move on.
Monday, September 21, 2009
By Ruth Ann Dailey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Dear Pittsburgh: May I speak frankly?

I have to ask, because I've lived here for only 16 years, and this is a town where a political candidate (Jim Roddey) was once compared with his opponent (Cyril Wecht), in print, as "a relative newcomer" -- when he'd already been here for 20 years at the time.

Twenty years! That span of time and the word "new" don't even belong in the same sentence, if you ask me. But there's a certain defensive suspiciousness hereabouts. ...

On the other hand, you did elect that Roddey carpetbagger fella as county executive, kind of opening the door for other relative newcomers to approach you hopefully, if gingerly.

So here goes: Pittsburgh, this should be the week you finally get over yourself.

Journalists and other outsiders will understandably focus on the G-20 summit itself, with this gorgeous city simply serving as a backdrop to the main event -- all those heavyweights hobnobbing on the precipice of an international depression.

But for you Pittsburgh old-timers -- you survivors of earlier economic and industrial meltdowns -- this week is really about whether the world will acknowledge, however fleetingly, that you are -- once again and at long last -- ready for your close-up.

As a relative newcomer, I find you fascinating, richly rewarding, definitely worth the effort, but -- I'm just throwing out an idea here -- maybe you should try making it require a little less effort.

This would be the week to do that.

I don't know how else to tell you this, Pittsburgh, but you're a wee bit needy. That's what we relative newcomers say about you behind your back.

Well, actually, I've been saying it to your face for a few years now.

It started back in the early 1990s, when your memory of the previous two decades' travails was, I soon realized, still raw and painful. Being new, I didn't see what you'd lost, I only saw what you had. It was awesome, and I would say so.

But the typical native's disbelieving response was, "Really? You like it here?"

Then I'd launch into the long list of all the region has to offer -- the physical beauty, the cultural attractions, the rich history and the friendly, hard-working, unpretentious people.

Responses to this pro-Pittsburgh pitch would fall into one of two camps: Either way too much gratitude, or a whining disbelief.

Either response betrays deep insecurity, and both carry what one columnist called "an off-putting whiff of desperation."

OK, that was me -- I called it that, just a few years ago, when I decided it was time to stop enabling the self-pity and to start telling you, Pittsburgh, to move on. It's a new millennium. You're a new city -- or, better yet, an old city reborn.

We relative newcomers figured we'd know when you long-timers had recovered when we stopped hearing the disbelieving, "Really? You like it here?" -- when you could just smile and say thanks.

This is the week.

But you're not going to be able to acquit yourself with dignity on the international stage -- this week and thenceforth -- if your self-doubting attitude doesn't catch up with your lovely and healthy new reality.

Obviously the president of the United States thinks this city deserves its star turn -- and no, it doesn't matter whether other cities turned down the host's role first. There's no shame in thinking, after being out of the big leagues for a while, that you might need a powerful booster to put you back in the game.

There's no shame in weathering whatever traumas fate hands you and letting the world know, without bragging or whining, that you're back.

But once the summit begins, dear Pittsburgh, it's not your beauty that will be on display, it's your character. The big story will be whatever's happening in the streets.

Listen, Pittsburghers -- you've been up and down, on the world stage and off. When wars had to be won, and hard times endured, you Pittsburghers stepped up and paid the price. The free world is in your debt.

You also led the historical battle to secure fair wages and humane conditions for American workers, so you'll understand the protesters who want to make their voices heard this week -- and you won't take any crap from angry trust-fund babies and "V For Vendetta" romantics who simply want to wallow in their alienation by smashing windows and burning buildings.

You know the difference between real and fake. That's Pittsburgh -- all these positives, none of the posturing. That's the Pittsburgh I hope the world sees this week.

May I say "we"? It would be an honor: We are ready.

Ruth Ann Dailey can be reached at ruthanndailey@hotmail.com.
First published on September 21, 2009 at 12:00 am


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09264/999548-485.stm#ixzz0S0xh01Dm




I never know what to make of her. One day, she'll write some shrill column that sounds like something straight outta Fox News, and then, other times, she's this big Pittsburgh cheerleader, talking about how great it is to live on the Northside. I remember being so shocked to learn that she lived there after reading a few infuriating, ultra-conservative pieces. Weird.

[PA Pride]

The scale of global leaders and dignitaries in the Pittsburgh metro right now is staggering. In addition to the president and leaders of the 20 largest economies in the world + over 5,000 dignitaries & international journalists in the city right now, in the last two days we have Bill Gates in oakland dedicating his new CMU computer science building, The CEO of Google giving speeches in oakland & the north shore; Michelle Obama and Theresa Heinz Kerry (and presumable senator John Kerry) in Fox Chapel, Al Gore giving a speech in Point State Park. And something like 6,000-8,000 police; military & private security guards.


:stunned:

[hyperion1110]

it sort of amazes me that this is the attitude of a pittsburgher toward our current governor. this is probably the first pro-urban governor we've had in this state in my lifetime...who has done more for mass transit and education and health care than any other governor in recent modern history...issues of concern that disproportionately affect our big cities...and you can't wait to see him go?

seems to be the same sort of defeatist attitude that permeates the entire city. just b/c our governor is an eagles fan doesn't mean he's anti-pittsburgh. quite the opposite.


Just because he is pro-urban, or even better than some of those before him, doesn't make him good. And I'm not going to say that the governor has not done some things to help this city. However, you would have to be blind not to notice how incompetent this guy has been lately:

1) He put his weight behind the bill to take over over Pittsburgh's pension fund, a move that would have crippled the city (why? because Philly is bankrupt...make sense? didn't think so!);

2) His refusal to right-size the state budget; instead, he wants to raise taxes during a recession;

3) Because he did not have complete control of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education, he decided that the states largest research universities, Pitt among them, didn't deserve federal assistance...ever though the universities and the federal gov't thought he was gravely mistaken. As a consequence of this, and his refusal to adequately fund our critically important state universities, people like me who work for Pitt did not receive our raises this year.

I could go on about Fast Eddie. But, even considering just these three recent points, I can confidently say that the governor has not been good for me, or, from my perspective, for Pittsburgh.

[3rd&Brown]

You can't make everybody happy all of the time. Somebody has to make a friggin decision.

That being said...you seem to be talking out of both sides of your mouth. On one hand...you want the state to "right size it's budget". On the other...you're pissed you didn't get your raise.

Which is it? Maybe he should have just eliminated your job.

If it makes you feel any better...I got a raise this year. It was 1/3 of what it was last year. But my co-pays for health care doubled and my out of pocket expenses for health care went from $500 to $1500 before hitting my deductible.

You're not alone and it has nothing to do with Rendell and everything to do with the economy.

As far as tax increases go. Yeah. Join the crowd. Point to a state which hasn't raised some sort of levy this year. There has also been plenty of cutting (you provide one example and don't seem to approve of in that instance where it affects you). As far as pensions go...(though i could be wrong)...Pittsburgh's pension fund is even more underfunded than Philadelphia's. I don't follow politics out there but I recall reading that somewhere recently and it wasn't in some sort of city versus city flame war. It was simply an article in our local paper about how pensions across the state are seriously underfunded.

[3rd&Brown]

Jesus, do we have to go through this Rendell shit again.

Sorry. Don't follow the P-burgh thread normally b/c I apparently live over with the bad guys in the Eastern part of the state but came over to get updates on the G20 stuff. Didn't realize I was re-opening old wounds.

For what it's worth. I spent a summer in Pittsburgh about 15 years ago taking classes at Carnegie Mellon. I thought it was a great city and I'm sure it's even better now.

Personally...my angle is that for in order for Pennsylvania to break away from it's rust belt past/image...it needs both of its major metros to succeed...as they (despite what the typical suburbanite believes) generate the vast majority of economic vitality and growth in the state. Our 'burbs can't sustain themselves without strong central URBAN cores. Rendell recognizes that. He's also a hell of a cheerleader. I've never heard anything but positive things about Pittsburgh from him in the local (Philly) media. I just assumed forumers would have the affection we here in Philadelphia have for him. For many years...he was our cheer-leader in chief. During the statewide election...there were suburban towns outside of Philly that loved him so much (what he did for the city) that they voted for him by larger margins than even the city itself.

That's all. I apologize for being naive...but in many ways...what you are seeing today are the results of his cheerleading at the statewide level. I just want him to get recognized for that.

[dugdogmaster]

The scale of global leaders and dignitaries in the Pittsburgh metro right now is staggering. In addition to the president and leaders of the 20 largest economies in the world + over 5,000 dignitaries & international journalists in the city right now, in the last two days we have Bill Gates in oakland dedicating his new CMU computer science building, The CEO of Google giving speeches in oakland & the north shore; Michelle Obama and Theresa Heinz Kerry (and presumable senator John Kerry) in Fox Chapel, Al Gore giving a speech in Point State Park. And something like 6,000-8,000 police; military & private security guards.


:stunned:

Relax, it'll all be ok. Ya, it's a little mind boggling, but it'll be ok.

[Juicedog1313]

This G20 thing is alot calmer than I had originally expected.

Is it just me, or is Pittsburgh kind of like Darth Vader's Empire right now? with the Stormtroopers everywhere.

[philadelphiathrives]

Sorry. Don't follow the P-burgh thread normally b/c I apparently live over with the bad guys in the Eastern part of the state but came over to get updates on the G20 stuff. Didn't realize I was re-opening old wounds.

For what it's worth. I spent a summer in Pittsburgh about 15 years ago taking classes at Carnegie Mellon. I thought it was a great city and I'm sure it's even better now.

Personally...my angle is that for in order for Pennsylvania to break away from it's rust belt past/image...it needs both of its major metros to succeed...as they (despite what the typical suburbanite believes) generate the vast majority of economic vitality and growth in the state. Our 'burbs can't sustain themselves without strong central URBAN cores. Rendell recognizes that. He's also a hell of a cheerleader. I've never heard anything but positive things about Pittsburgh from him in the local (Philly) media. I just assumed forumers would have the affection we here in Philadelphia have for him. For many years...he was our cheer-leader in chief. During the statewide election...there were suburban towns outside of Philly that loved him so much (what he did for the city) that they voted for him by larger margins than even the city itself.

That's all. I apologize for being naive...but in many ways...what you are seeing today are the results of his cheerleading at the statewide level. I just want him to get recognized for that.

I guess Pittsburghers never saw the Pittsburgh tourist commercials Rendell did a few years ago. It was the first tourist commercials I ever saw for Pittsburgh, and they were great.



Yeesh, your city is experiencing its most momentous and positive event in decades, and all you can do is look for things to whine about! :( This summit is a turning point for Pittsburgh: clear and dramatic evidence that Pittsburgh is no longer a "rustbelt" city. The columnist is right, stop whining and accept that Pittsburgh is considered a world city again! :cheers: :tup:

[Wiz Khalifa]

This G20 thing is alot calmer than I had originally expected.

Is it just me, or is Pittsburgh kind of like Darth Vader's Empire right now? with the Stormtroopers everywhere.


Are you kidding? What about the riot in Oakland and numerous businesses vandalized there as well as the stuff that went down earlier in the day in L'ville and Shadyside? I have a feeling that we haven't seen anything yet compared to whats going to go down tomorrow.

[dugdogmaster]

Wiz Khalifa, you're not the Wiz Khalifa, are you?

[cdc]

As a consequence of this, and his refusal to adequately fund our critically important state universities, people like me who work for Pitt did not receive our raises this year.


But you can be thankful you are not getting forced to take unpaid
leave (i.e. furloughs) like they are doing at University of Maryland
and University of California... there was a protest at UC Berkeley
about this yesterday.

Not that I'm defending Rendell or any of the rest of our lame
government...

[hyperion1110]

You can't make everybody happy all of the time. Somebody has to make a friggin decision.

That being said...you seem to be talking out of both sides of your mouth. On one hand...you want the state to "right size it's budget". On the other...you're pissed you didn't get your raise.

Which is it? Maybe he should have just eliminated your job.

Haha...way to use those critical thinking skills. If you knew anything about academia, and, specifically, the state related universities in PA, then you would understand that they receive a chunk of money from the state each year to keep tuition low for instate students. However, under Rendell's admin, the amount of money received by the universities from the state has decreased, even during good economic times. This is why in the last ten years, in state tuition at Pitt (and the rest) has doubled.

Now, in terms of right sizing the budget, things might get a little confusing...so, I'll hold your hand through this one. Anticipating a revenue shortfall, Pitt was told they would not be receiving all of their state funds. This is problem number one. The four state-related universities receive only less than $1 billion a year in state aid. And for each dollar the state puts in, they get quite a few more out, since that money is reinvested back into the Commonwealth, creating new companies, jobs, and, ultimately, tax revenue. But when hard time are on the horizon, it's the universities that are told they won't be receiving the money they were budgeted...money they depended upon to make their budget projections for the year. The governor didn't cut useless road projects in the middle of nowhere, or any other bizarre program meant to satisfy the four people how live in some of these rural counties...he cut the money to the universities. Now, I understand that Temple is much smaller that Pitt, so let me put it into perspective for you: Pitt is the largest research university in the state by federal funding, research expenditure, and company spin-offs. It is a massive economic engine for this city, and, by extension, the state. Now, the federal gov't, understanding that universities were getting short-changed by states, provided money in the stimulus bill to plug the budget holes at state universities. But Mr. Rendell did not feel that Pitt, Penn State, Temple, and Lincoln were enough under his thumb, so he decided that our budgets can just absorb a few tens of millions of dollars missing. This resulted in legal action by both Penn State and Pitt, the result of which is that the federal gov't informed Rendell that he was in error, and directed him to restore the funding (the funds for which, I believe, have not been disbursed yet).

So, on that point, it really was all and only Rendell that contributed to the budget problems at Pitt. As he is the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth, it IS his responsibility. And he IS deserving of my criticism.

Now, that is unrelated to my comment on right sizing the budget. It's just plain stupid to spend more money than you can bring in. And it's even more stupid to raise taxes during a recession. Prudence dictates that the budget be limited to that amount which can be reasonably assured to be collected by the treasury. It's should NOT be $2 billion more.

If it makes you feel any better...I got a raise this year. It was 1/3 of what it was last year. But my co-pays for health care doubled and my out of pocket expenses for health care went from $500 to $1500 before hitting my deductible.

You're not alone and it has nothing to do with Rendell and everything to do with the economy.

I know a lot of people are suffering. But, as governor, he IS responsible for ameliorating the concerns of the Commonwealth. At present, he is an agent that promotes instability, at a time when government should be doing everything it can to bring aid TO its citizenry, not seek aid FROM them. To do anything otherwise, as Rendell is, is both poor leadership and immoral.

You may applaud the governor for his actions, as is your right. But I cannot.

As far as tax increases go. Yeah. Join the crowd. Point to a state which hasn't raised some sort of levy this year. There has also been plenty of cutting (you provide one example and don't seem to approve of in that instance where it affects you). As far as pensions go...(though i could be wrong)...Pittsburgh's pension fund is even more underfunded than Philadelphia's. I don't follow politics out there but I recall reading that somewhere recently and it wasn't in some sort of city versus city flame war. It was simply an article in our local paper about how pensions across the state are seriously underfunded.

Both pension plans are in big trouble. But here's where it becomes East vs. West. The pension bill as it was proposed was tied to two provisions. One, Philly needs a 1% increase in sales tax or it will have to lay off workers. And two, Pittsburgh's pension will be folded into the state pension system, the result of which would have been yearly payments by the city of over $100 million to the pension fund for a city with only about a ~$450 million budget. This would have been devastating to Pittsburgh. To prevent this, the mayor of Pittsburgh asked that the city be given 2 years to find another solution to the pension trouble. But Rendell is on record as saying, many times, that any amendment to the bill for Pittsburgh would have devastating effects for Philly...and so he put his weight behind the bill that would have devastated this city in favor of Philly (incidentally, Mayor Nutter also was insistent on not including the amendment for Pittsburgh...wonder where that city vs. city thing came from?!). But, the dirty little secret in Harrisburg is that Pittsburgh/Allegheny County has as much power in the Legislature as Philly, and, collectively, Southwestern PA has MORE power there than Southeastern. So, a coalition of goodly legislatures from the Pittsburgh area was able to get the amendment through, despite the objections of Nutter and Rendell.

Suffice it to say, Rendell has not been good to Pittsburgh as of late. Those are facts, and, as such, are beyond contestation. But, if you want to continue to support the governor, be my guest. It's your right.

I would appreciate it if, in the future, you would restrict your comments to facts and reasoned disagreement, not poorly structured ad hominem arguments.

[AaronPGH]

I really don't think Rendell is that terrible. He's done stuff I love, he's done stuff I disagree with. That's always going to happen. Do I think he could do more for Pittsburgh? Yes. Of course I'm going to say that. I don't think there's anyone that would be able to appease me on that front! I realize that you don't always get your way. This latest thing with Pittsburgh's pension plan made me angry, sure. But when you think about it, can you really blame him? The stakes for Philly were exponentially higher than they were in Pittsburgh (although they were certainly high for us as well). They were talking about far more jobs and services being lost than we would have. Did Rendell try to rush it too fast? Yes. But when I put myself in his shoes I can see why he tried to do what he did. It seemed to me like somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction driven by emotion. Push it through quickly to make sure that the crisis is averted for the hometown, and don't risk killing both cities by debating it into the ground completely. It sucks, but I bet a lot of others would have done the same.

Regardless, we got what we wanted and so did Philly - crisis averted for now.

[themaguffin]

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/107236/thumbs/r-IRAN-huge.jpg


:cheers:

[hyperion1110]

I really don't think Rendell is that terrible. He's done stuff I love, he's done stuff I disagree with. That's always going to happen. Do I think he could do more for Pittsburgh? Yes. Of course I'm going to say that. I don't think there's anyone that would be able to appease me on that front! I realize that you don't always get your way. This latest thing with Pittsburgh's pension plan made me angry, sure. But when you think about it, can you really blame him? The stakes for Philly were exponentially higher than they were in Pittsburgh (although they were certainly high for us as well). They were talking about far more jobs and services being lost than we would have. Did Rendell try to rush it too fast? Yes. But when I put myself in his shoes I can see why he tried to do what he did. It seemed to me like somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction driven by emotion. Push it through quickly to make sure that the crisis is averted for the hometown, and don't risk killing both cities by debating it into the ground completely. It sucks, but I bet a lot of others would have done the same.

Regardless, we got what we wanted and so did Philly - crisis averted for now.

Quite right, Aaron. I think that's an honest and measured assessment.

[Wiz Khalifa]

http://community.post-gazette.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.47.88/g20_5F00_portrait_5F00_500.JPG

[Brandon716]

The scale of global leaders and dignitaries in the Pittsburgh metro right now is staggering. In addition to the president and leaders of the 20 largest economies in the world + over 5,000 dignitaries & international journalists in the city right now, in the last two days we have Bill Gates in oakland dedicating his new CMU computer science building, The CEO of Google giving speeches in oakland & the north shore; Michelle Obama and Theresa Heinz Kerry (and presumable senator John Kerry) in Fox Chapel, Al Gore giving a speech in Point State Park. And something like 6,000-8,000 police; military & private security guards.


:stunned:

It should be told to people who think "Pittsburgh isn't a destination" ;)

[Juicedog1313]

The summit is over. Twas fun while it lasted.

[Juicedog1313]

Are you kidding? What about the riot in Oakland and numerous businesses vandalized there as well as the stuff that went down earlier in the day in L'ville and Shadyside? I have a feeling that we haven't seen anything yet compared to whats going to go down tomorrow.

Well, I live in in Lower Lawrenceville, near 36th and Penn, and I saw alot of the commotion unfold. From what I saw, there were a handful of rabble rousers, alot of on lookers, and an overwhelming number of Police.

Sure, the whole demonstration wasn't something that u would see on a typical day in Larryland, but since i was following all of the hype surrounding the g20, I was expectecting 50,000+ out of towners to be marching towards Downtown from all directions, with a small percentage of a bigger crowd to be giving the police a run for their money. But it turned out to be about 1,000 people in all. the crowd wasn't that much bigger than the crowds who protested the Iraq war in 2003.

The faces of the police had more of a look of boredom than anything. Because, I think, that there were just as many police as there were demonstrators.

Judging the videos of protests in other places, the last three days in pittsburgh were really quite tame.

I guess i was just expected something much bigger.

[pj3000]

These "anarchists" are really just black-clad, tattooed and pierced 18-25 year olds, who really have nothing to say, eh?

They're so different and outside of the mainstream, but they all conform to a certain dress code and like to break windows and other things just like a bunch of drunk jocks celebrating the Super Bowl. Also, are these supposed "anarchists" affiliated in some way with the Bloods or Crips?... considering the ridiculous bandannas they like to sport. If you're going to call yourselves anarchists, then you better either cause some real anarchy or be able to present an educated stance for your cause. I've seen neither, just some broken windows... but at least the Boston Market chickens have been liberated from capitalist pig greed, right?

[Juicedog1313]

These "anarchists" are really just black-clad, tattooed and pierced 18-25 year olds, who really have nothing to say, eh?

They're so different and outside of the mainstream, but they all conform to a certain dress code and like to break windows and other things just like a bunch of drunk jocks celebrating the Super Bowl. Also, are these supposed "anarchists" affiliated in some way with the Bloods or Crips?... considering the ridiculous bandannas they like to sport. If you're going to call yourselves anarchists, then you better either cause some real anarchy or be able to present an educated stance for your cause. I've seen neither, just some broken windows... but at least the Boston Market chickens have been liberated from capitalist pig greed, right?


Obviously.. what planet have you been living on.
This is the Pittsburgh section of Skyscraperpage.com.
We get it and we are moving on.

[pj3000]

Is it just me, or is Pittsburgh kind of like Darth Vader's Empire right now? with the Stormtroopers everywhere.

Obviously.. what planet have you been living on.
This is the Pittsburgh section of Skyscraperpage.com.
We get it and we are moving on.

Glad you get it and are moving on, Juicedog. Shit, thanks for putting me in my place. Didn't realize you were the spokesperson for everyone on here. From now on, I'll check with you before making a post. Actually, why don't you go back to your former frequency of posting? That way, "we" wouldn't have to "get" your incredibly insightful Star Wars comparisons...

[Juicedog1313]

Glad you get it and are moving on, Juicedog. Shit, thanks for putting me in my place. Didn't realize you were the spokesperson for everyone on here. From now on, I'll check with you before making a post. Actually, why don't you go back to your former frequency of posting? That way, "we" wouldn't have to "get" your incredibly insightful Star Wars comparisons...



The reason that i use the star wars analogy, is because it was all police and no actual life going on. To me, the last three days in Pittsburgh seemed like a dystopian science fiction novel. much like Vader's Empire in the original Star Wars trilogy.
best of luck, young grasshopper. (i like U already).

Sincerely,
The Juice.

[George Woods]

That's why I never like it when people argue via computer. You can never tell what someone's tone is. An unfortunate down-side to this convenient form of communication. I once knew two guys who ended their friendship after getting carried away in a back-and-forth email argument that escalated into some hurtful shit. If they'd just picked up the phone, it would've ended much differently. Okay, okay, it was me and Bill Steigerwald.

[dugdogmaster]

Evergrey, how's the hood?

[hyperion1110]

I really hope this isn't real. Cause if it is, this is really messed up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK2BRiGX6JQ

This one's pretty messed up to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NSsj4a6v5U&feature=player_embedded

[hyperion1110]

I'm generally pro-law enforcement, and definitely anti-anarchist. But it really seems like the police were just a little bit out of line in Oakland the last two days. I mean, why would they arrest a credentialed reporter?! And what exactly where the students doing that required 110 to be arrested? There's like 30000 people living in Oakland, and that doesn't include like 15000 students. So, a crowd of a thousand in Schenley Plaza is not a lot, or dangerous. The police should have known that.

What's more, there doesn't seem to have been very much press about the goings on in Oakland. In comparison, all the tv stations were fixated on that old guy, Albert Petrarca, and the weird dude with the Guy Faux mask in the Strip.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09269/1001054-100.stm

110 arrested in clash with police in Oakland

Saturday, September 26, 2009
By Moriah Balingit and Vivian Nereim, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In a repeat of a scene from Thursday night, police in riot gear confronted another crowd of more than 400 students and young people on the University of Pittsburgh campus last night.

An estimated 1100 protesters were arrested after hundreds of police arrived and dispersed the crowd with a show of force and clouds of OC gas. Those arrested were taken into custody on the lawn between Heinz Chapel and the Cathedral of Learning.

Among the arrested was Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Sadie Gurman who was taken into custody while filing reports for the Post-Gazette's web site and print edition. Ms. Gurman, who was wearing Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh summit media credentials around her neck when arrested before midnight, was released from jail shortly after 9 a.m. today.
The crowd began to form around 9 p.m. in Schenley Plaza.

Around 10:30, more than 400 people had gathered in the plaza, and police ordered the crowd to disperse. More and more police arrived on the scene and eventually encircled the crowd, which had spilled into Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard.

A flier circulated yesterday encouraging people to come to Schenley Plaza at 10 p.m.

Pitt students were advised to stay inside last night, and many have received alerts from the university via voicemail or text messages.

Junior Sean Malloy said he received a phone message saying, "conditions may be deteriorating in Oakland. Students are advised to remain near their residences."

[Minivan Werner]

I really hope this isn't real. Cause if it is, this is really messed up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK2BRiGX6JQ


The logical explanation is that the police were getting him off the street and into their control before anyone else from the crowd could jump in and cause a ruckus. Don't feel too bad for him, he was probably one of the vandalizers.

[pj3000]

That's why I never like it when people argue via computer. You can never tell what someone's tone is. An unfortunate down-side to this convenient form of communication. I once knew two guys who ended their friendship after getting carried away in a back-and-forth email argument that escalated into some hurtful shit. If they'd just picked up the phone, it would've ended much differently. Okay, okay, it was me and Bill Steigerwald.

Oh, it's all in good fun. I was just giving it right back to Juicedog. No offense taken at all by me, and I hope not by Juice either. Any "argument" I ever get into on here has a certain element of tongue-in-cheekiness to it; nothing is ever meant to be hurtful.

But, thank god you and Steigerwald severed ties, George Woods. :haha:

[dugdogmaster]

I really hope this isn't real. Cause if it is, this is really messed up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK2BRiGX6JQ

This one's pretty messed up to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NSsj4a6v5U&feature=player_embedded

This has been discussed to death on shittydata and has been disputed by many news agencies.

It apparently is out of town police swat(Which I seem to think is correct as well, as I'm former military and currently work with Police) members pulling an undercover out before the may lay started a little further down the street. Being undercover they had to make it look real. Police, and military alike, never put a real person arrested in the back of a cruiser like that without being secured in some way.

The military would never be out there like that! Especially with such little protective gear on. Oh, and their uniforms would match and look a bit sharper, haha.

[Wiz Khalifa]

I'm generally pro-law enforcement, and definitely anti-anarchist. But it really seems like the police were just a little bit out of line in Oakland the last two days. I mean, why would they arrest a credentialed reporter?! And what exactly where the students doing that required 110 to be arrested? There's like 30000 people living in Oakland, and that doesn't include like 15000 students. So, a crowd of a thousand in Schenley Plaza is not a lot, or dangerous. The police should have known that.

What's more, there doesn't seem to have been very much press about the goings on in Oakland. In comparison, all the tv stations were fixated on that old guy, Albert Petrarca, and the weird dude with the Guy Faux mask in the Strip.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09269/1001054-100.stm

110 arrested in clash with police in Oakland

Saturday, September 26, 2009
By Moriah Balingit and Vivian Nereim, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In a repeat of a scene from Thursday night, police in riot gear confronted another crowd of more than 400 students and young people on the University of Pittsburgh campus last night.

An estimated 1100 protesters were arrested after hundreds of police arrived and dispersed the crowd with a show of force and clouds of OC gas. Those arrested were taken into custody on the lawn between Heinz Chapel and the Cathedral of Learning.

Among the arrested was Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Sadie Gurman who was taken into custody while filing reports for the Post-Gazette's web site and print edition. Ms. Gurman, who was wearing Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh summit media credentials around her neck when arrested before midnight, was released from jail shortly after 9 a.m. today.
The crowd began to form around 9 p.m. in Schenley Plaza.

Around 10:30, more than 400 people had gathered in the plaza, and police ordered the crowd to disperse. More and more police arrived on the scene and eventually encircled the crowd, which had spilled into Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard.

A flier circulated yesterday encouraging people to come to Schenley Plaza at 10 p.m.

Pitt students were advised to stay inside last night, and many have received alerts from the university via voicemail or text messages.

Junior Sean Malloy said he received a phone message saying, "conditions may be deteriorating in Oakland. Students are advised to remain near their residences."


Last night the police completely overstepped their bounds. There was a free concert in Schenley Plaza that was mostly Pitt students and a small number of protesters. The crowd was doing nothing illegal whatsoever and yet the police decided to crush it along with anyone who happened to be an innocently standing around. Numerous reported cases of police brutality and tear gassing of students who were simply out to enjoy a Friday night on their own campus.

Major overreaction and probably illegal actions on the part of the police last night. The other night they at least had an actual riot and vandalism taking place in order to somewhat justify their show of force. But there is no excuse for their actions last night. 110 students arrested for simply attending a concert and standing on their own campus property. Stuff like this really proves people's point that most police are pigs that enjoy beating up on defenseless women and students to get their jollies off, nobody remembers what the law abiding cops do when surrounded by assholes like this.

[hyperion1110]

This has been discussed to death on shittydata and has been disputed by many news agencies.

It apparently is out of town police swat(Which I seem to think is correct as well, as I'm former military and currently work with Police) members pulling an undercover out before the may lay started a little further down the street. Being undercover they had to make it look real. Police, and military alike, never put a real person arrested in the back of a cruiser like that without being secured in some way.

The military would never be out there like that! Especially with such little protective gear on. Oh, and their uniforms would match and look a bit sharper, haha.

Yeah, the one with the person being put in the car seemed odd to me. I kind of thought it was faked, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for the insight.

[Wiz Khalifa]

In happier news, the G20 really seems to already be paying off in long term economic benefits:

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/money/21117733/detail.html

The first of what I am sure is a lot more to come. :cheers:

[Juicedog1313]

Did anybody else see the protests in person?
I saw some of the skirmish in Lawrenceville, and have to say that the Pro-Pens element of the crowd was the most entertaining. I couldn't help but laugh at the guy who, in the midst of the defiant crowd, was waving a giant replica of the Stanley Cup in the air while shouting "Let's Go Pens". Even some of the police got a giggle outta the guy.

Check it out:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=pens%20g20&hl=en&emb=0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#

[Evergrey]

I think the protests resulted in some really dramatic imagery of the urban environment of Lawrenceville and Bloomfield...

While there were some tense moments and a few broken windows... $50k in total damage is basically nothing... the anarchist marches did not devolve into violent chaos

I saw anarchists march through my neighborhood twice... I kinda dig the "anarchist chic" fashion... very evil and badass looking

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090924/capt.eadc883fb3f94948890d7090b451bf30.g20_summit_pajl110.jpg?x=400&y=294&q=85&sig=5ezc6LfoC78PSVwY5M9ysQ--
AP

[pj3000]

I saw anarchists march through my neighborhood twice... I kinda dig the "anarchist chic" fashion... very evil and badass looking


Yeah, a little like Cobra soldiers, but also kinda silly when you realize many of them are only like 16 years old and generally less than 140 pounds.

[Evergrey]

kinda silly when you realize many of them are ... less than 140 pounds.

:haha:


...


And yes... the Cobra soldiers thing came to mind for me too

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1099/1353073644_123c2a3660.jpg

[PA Pride]

Evergrey: Where's that picture of you from your winter Pgh photothread where you are wearing a facemask? That wouldn've definitely been appropriate for G20 festivities.

[George Woods]

Yeah, since they didn't really damage anything, it was just kinda neat to see the spectacle in our neighborhood. It was sort of surreal. I was sleeping, and that weird noise they use to disperse the crowd woke me up. So I go to the window, expecting one police car, and instead, there were 100 Cobra officers with their Humvee, and bomb squad car, and some black truck with flashing lights that looked so G.I. Joe. They were lined up right outside my door! I live in the very first block of Larryville, so we were like, the line in the sand. It was fun for the neighbors to just gawk at.

By the way, I'm glad all the foreign press left before this weather today. That would've been all we needed:

"Pittsburgh makes London look like the French Riviera;  more at eleven."




Juicedog: I live two blocks from you. I wonder if we'd recognize each other.



Evergrey: Where is that Cobra picture from? It's awesome.

Wiz Khalifa: You never answered when asked if you were really him. Only makes me more curious.

[George Woods]

How does one insert pictures into a post like you guys do? I see the button for inserting a link to a picture, but what about one I have on my hard drive? I tried copy and paste, but it didn't work.

[Evergrey]

Evergrey: Where's that picture of you from your winter Pgh photothread where you are wearing a facemask? That wouldn've definitely been appropriate for G20 festivities.

"Down with capitalism!"
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs253.snc1/10029_10100099814892044_9304853_62259600_455585_n.jpg

Yeah, since they didn't really damage anything, it was just kinda neat to see the spectacle in our neighborhood.

Agreed... very entertaining.


By the way, I'm glad all the foreign press left before this weather today. That would've been all we needed:

"Pittsburgh makes London look like the French Riviera; more at eleven.

I had the same thought today... what a wretched day.... days like today are probably the worst thing about Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, the weather during G-20 week was pretty mediocre... though the temperatures were pleasant. But most of the cityscape photos are under dreary skies. I was really hoping for some spectacular late Sept. sunny skies... but this has been the worst year for weather ever. I am really not looking forward to descending into 7 months of crappy non-summer weather. People around here always seem to claim they love October... but 2/3s of October is pretty much like today.



Evergrey: Where is that Cobra picture from? It's awesome.


randomly googled it

[Burgh15]

Did anybody else see the protests in person?
I saw some of the skirmish in Lawrenceville, and have to say that the Pro-Pens element of the crowd was the most entertaining. I couldn't help but laugh at the guy who, in the midst of the defiant crowd, was waving a giant replica of the Stanley Cup in the air while shouting "Let's Go Pens". Even some of the police got a giggle outta the guy.

Check it out:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=pens%20g20&hl=en&emb=0&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#

LOL, the news crew was begging for some action and a good sign there and they end up with some Let's Go Pens! fans.

[Juicedog1313]

Here is a funnier version of the penguins fans marching down the street with their banner. I can't find any video focusing on the guy who was waving the Stanley Cup around, though.
He was on the front line, too. getting in the faces of the riot police, letting them know that he was a pens fan. Can't even find a pic. Guess I should live in the 21st century, and buy a camera.


Anyway, here it be:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5abo9IAyts

[PA Pride]

Evergrey: LOL! That's the one.

By the way, here is the best sign out of the whole G20 event:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/7133_717790325413_14217779_41326624.jpg

[Wiz Khalifa]

I had the same thought today... what a wretched day.... days like today are probably the worst thing about Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, the weather during G-20 week was pretty mediocre... though the temperatures were pleasant. But most of the cityscape photos are under dreary skies. I was really hoping for some spectacular late Sept. sunny skies... but this has been the worst year for weather ever. I am really not looking forward to descending into 7 months of crappy non-summer weather. People around here always seem to claim they love October... but 2/3s of October is pretty much like today.




I love how people single out the weather here like we are in some sort of twilight zone of dreary days and bad weather. If anyone looked at the weather radar you would see that the entire Northeast/Midwest gets pretty much the same precipitation/dreary weather that we do here with a few exceptions.

[Minivan Werner]

Evergrey: LOL! That's the one.

By the way, here is the best sign out of the whole G20 event:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/7133_717790325413_14217779_41326624.jpg

That's been around a while.

[Juicedog1313]

Yeah, since they didn't really damage anything, it was just kinda neat to see the spectacle in our neighborhood. It was sort of surreal. I was sleeping, and that weird noise they use to disperse the crowd woke me up. So I go to the window, expecting one police car, and instead, there were 100 Cobra officers with their Humvee, and bomb squad car, and some black truck with flashing lights that looked so G.I. Joe. They were lined up right outside my door! I live in the very first block of Larryville, so we were like, the line in the sand. It was fun for the neighbors to just gawk at.

I was at work for most of the day, and only witnessed the last few moments of the event as I was walking home from work. My roommate, however, who works 3rd shift, was also sleeping and was awakened to the sound of a bunch of ruckus and that weird sounding police siren, said that when he ran downstairs to stop the kids who were kicking over the neighborhood trash cans, he saw a lockstep brigade of riot police headed towards the intersections of Penn Ave, Ligonier, and Denny streets. He said it was very Stormtrooper-ish.

By the way, the sound cannon that they were using, was the first time that it was ever used in the United States. It was loud and annoying, but I have been to Heavy Metal concerts that were more damaging and disorienting to the average persons senses.

I have heard that if the military was so inclined, they could produce soundwaves from that machine that would literally make a person shit in their pants.
Now that is a weapon of a different color.

[George Woods]

I took some good pictures of that lock-step brigade of riot police on the march, but I still don't know how to post them here. Can anyone instruct me?

[Ditchdigger]

Looks like its a done deal now, Denzel is now back on board for "Unstoppable".



http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09204/985936-455.stm (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09204/985936-455.stm)


Denzel Washington back in movie filming in Pittsburgh
Thursday, July 23, 2009
By Barbara Vancheri, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Unstoppable" is back on track, literally, with Denzel Washington and bound for Pittsburgh....


For those who are interested, here are some pictures of "Unstoppable" in production, (somewhere up north): http://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?p=185351#post185351

[Evergrey]

I love how people single out the weather here like we are in some sort of twilight zone of dreary days and bad weather. If anyone looked at the weather radar you would see that the entire Northeast/Midwest gets pretty much the same precipitation/dreary weather that we do here with a few exceptions.

I didn't say that Pittsburgh was the only city experiencing crappy weather... there are other regions of the country that have crappy weather too. My hometown in north-central PA has much worse weather than PGH (and probably the worst weather in the continental US). But the weather here sucks for most of the year. I can totally understand why somebody would want to flee the north for more pleasant climes. The fact that this was such a brief and mediocre summer... and that we already seem to be descending into the awful weather of the "other three seasons" of our "four season climate" ... has me dreaming about sunnier lands. We romanticize fall and spring... but most fall and spring weather is much like today... dreary, wet, miserable, depressing, suicide-inducing. And winter is never the snowy wonderland... it's just a mess... months of hopeless darkness. If the sunbelt actually had some decent cities... the north would have no competitive advantage left. There is no over-stating the effect weather has on a region... there is a very strong correlation between January temperatures and population growth of major American metros over the past 50 years.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/02/02/business/economy/glaesercities.jpg
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/revenge-of-the-rust-belt/

[Juicedog1313]

I took some good pictures of that lock-step brigade of riot police on the march, but I still don't know how to post them here. Can anyone instruct me?


I'm not positive, since i don't even own a camera, and have never posted a pic, but I think that you have to post them through a third-party photo sharing site, such as Flickr.com

Picture people, am I right?

[dugdogmaster]

I took some good pictures of that lock-step brigade of riot police on the march, but I still don't know how to post them here. Can anyone instruct me?

You can either upload a picture on a picture hosting site, like tinypic, photobucket or flickr., then once you've done that, right click and copy the "img code" and paste it in here. Or you can upload onto here directly from your computer, just hit the icon on here when posting a reply like you mentioned you realized, search the file you want to post. In the second instance though, the picture will show up as a small thumbnail instead of a full sized picture.

[Juicedog1313]

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/02/02/business/economy/glaesercities.jpg
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/revenge-of-the-rust-belt/

Damn. Pittsburgh is at the very bottom. It's the anti-Vegas.
I have some friends who left western PA for Vegas.
Just about everybody I know has moved, or is at least thinking of
moving to Vegas or Florida.
That chart is almost a decade old, I'd like to see some current data, to see
if the Sunbelt boom has slowed.

[dugdogmaster]

I'd like to see some current data, to see
if the Sunbelt boom has slowed.

Ya, it's definitely slowed. I read an article about a week ago about many people wanting to leave Florida. They also just recently had their first decline in population ever. I'll see if I can find it again.

[pj3000]

If anyone looked at the weather radar you would see that the entire Northeast/Midwest gets pretty much the same precipitation/dreary weather that we do here with a few exceptions.

The entire Northeast does NOT get pretty much the same precipitation/dreary weather that we do here in Pittsburgh. On the East coast, it is far sunnier on a daily basis throughout the winter than it is here, without question.

[IThinkNot]

So, first time posting here, long time lurker.

This story, however, merits posting. What a dick!


Police say Californian did most of damage at G-20
Friday, September 25, 2009
By Dan Majors, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Police have charged a 21-year-old California man with doing most of the damage that was done during the two-day G-20 summit in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper tonight said David Japenga was taken into custody shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday after police witnessed him breaking businesses' windows during a protest along Forbes Avenue in Oakland.

Chief Harper said Mr. Japenga, who at first refused to give his name, then gave the false name of Eric Blair, broke more than 20 storefront windows and glass doors, including $20,000 worth of windows at Citizens Bank on Craig Street in Oakland. He was single-handedly responsible, Chief Harper said, for most of the $50,000 in damage done during summit protests.

Mr. Japenga was charged with felony criminal mischief, instruments of a crime, and providing false identification. Chief Harper said Mr. Japenga was not living in Pittsburgh and had come into the city for the summit.

[pj3000]

^ Eric Blair... aka George Orwell.

A little jail time will give the guy time to actually read the writings of Orwell and understand that his approaches to social injustice did not consist of breaking windows.

[Evergrey]

The entire Northeast does NOT get pretty much the same precipitation/dreary weather that we do here in Pittsburgh. On the East coast, it is far sunnier on a daily basis throughout the winter than it is here, without question.

Right... just check out the dramatically more pleasant 5-day forecast for places like Boston, NYC, Phila, DC... and even Harrisburg! Pittsburgh is projected to have a week without sunlight... with persistent rain/drizzle and COLD temperatures.

I've never been one to complain about weather... but I've had it. As I'm living out that iconic Pittsburgh existence of yesteryear... unemployed and overeducated, I'm more than willing to cast my lot anywhere that has more sun and warmth.

And yes... I cringe everytime Dan Onorato or Dennis Yablonsky recite to the media cameras "We're hiring!" or "We have 25,000 job openings in Pittsburgh!".

[pj3000]

^ You're depressing the hell outta me, Evergrey.