PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Exactly. The building is one of the most unique buildings I've seen, it's length is what makes it so bad ass.

Uhh, that's what she said?

Aaron (Glowrock)

[photoLith]

Glowrocks dream, everything old torn down and a TGI Fridays with ample parking put in its place. I kid, I kid, or do I?

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Started this thread in the transportation section about the new "5 Ways" Strip District transit plan that was released today by the city. Lots of renderings and eye candy in the video!

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...21#post6146821

The plan: http://www.youtube.com/embed/tcGfVGaVYPs

Great video! Good calls on all 5 corridors. Smallman St. does make the most sense for a transit corridor, including a streetcar/light rail loop. Why not add an inbound set of tracks? I guess they intend to have one streetcar make a continuous loop on a single track?

With a second set of tracks, you could run 2 or more streetcars at a time and move more people...

Anyway, here is my compromise with the Strip. How about they level about 200 linear feet of the building -- enough so that you can have a widened 17th Street continue down to the river? With the Public Market about to depart, they could call this "Wholesalers' Row," and even have large signage posted to the buildings indicating such.

[photoLith]

I say they just tear down 30 ft of it or however much room is needed for a street with sidewalks to go through all the while keeping the linear look of the building intact. And that is all I would be willing to concede.

[MattofSloppyVariety]

I think it's totally a waste to demolish any part of the Produce Building. Especially at 17th St. That is one of the most narrow streets to want to use to connect to the riverfront.

[DBR96A]

There's a covered public market in Charleston, SC that has the street grid passing through it. I think the Produce Terminal should have a pass-through for traffic and pedestrians to get to the riverfront. Don't whack a third off the building; it's an awesome building.

[BrianTH]

This article actually uses the "b-word":

http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?p...3-2158826d8a7e

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

This article actually uses the "b-word":

http://money.msn.com/now/post.aspx?p...3-2158826d8a7e

they couldn't find a photo of Pittsburgh from the past 20 years?

[photoLith]

Where in the world is that church? I've never seen it.

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

they couldn't find a photo of Pittsburgh from the past 20 years?

I was thinking exactly the same thing!

Aaron (Glowrock)

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Where in the world is that church? I've never seen it.

[BrianTH]

http://www.stjohnspittsburgh.com/about.html


Domes of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, with Pittsburgh skyscrapers in the background by pdtoth, on Flickr

[Evergrey]

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburg...s-and-eds.html

May 31, 2013, 2:12pm EDT

New Greensburg economy: Meds and eds



Starting next week, community input will be solicited at meetings for a plan to turn health care and related services into an engine for economic growth in the heart of Westmoreland County.

The blue-collar town of Greensburg has a history of manufacturing, warehousing and other industrial uses. It’s also the county seat and a place that a lot of people call home.

Now, municipal planners want to capitalize on a medical school campus, universities and a hospital as a way to revitalize a town that could use a facelift, said Steve Gifford, executive director of the Greensburg Community Development Corp. After receiving public input, the proposal is expected to be delivered to the mayor and council for approval in December.

Improvements could begin as early as January 2014.

“It’s a big picture, a long-term project,” Gifford said. “But we think we have an opportunity to capitalize on what the Pittsburgh region has capitalized on – the meds and eds economy.”

Gifford compared the vision for Greensburg to Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood after the opening of UPMC’s Children’s Hospital, which drove up property values and sparked the opening of restaurants, banks and cafes. The neighborhood’s commercial renewal then spurred a renewed interest in housing rehabilitation.

Greensburg’s goal is to make it easier for businesses to move into the new health district by streamlining zoning requirements. Nearly 800 parcels comprise the proposed district, which is several football fields in size and encompasses most of the city’s 5th and 6th wards.

Here’s Greensburg’s new economic engine: branch campuses of the University of Pittsburgh and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Seton Hill University, and Excela Westmoreland Hospital, which itself draws 300 to 400 people per shift and up to 220,000 visitors a year, Gifford said. Excela has been a big supporter of the concept.

And businesses already have expressed an interest in better serving this group, Gifford said.

Kris Mamula covers health care, insurance and employee benefits for the Pittsburgh Business Times. Contact him at kmamula@bizjournals.com or 412-208-3825.

[BrianTH]

I'd love for Greensburg to become a thriving satellite city. But that story about Lawrenceville is really just wrong--it had started taking off as a residential and commercial area long before Children's moved in 2009. That in turn implies Children's is, at most, just one factor explaining Lawrenceville's continued redevelopment, which in turn makes me worry Greensburg's planners may be overrelying on just one particular sort of development factor. And in fact if done wrong, big eds and meds developments (particularly of the "campus" sort) can actually serve as an impediment to overall urban development.

[Wheelingman04]

Originally Posted by GeneW

I wouldn't be adverse to pass-thrus being cut in the building to allow cross streets to get built but Buncher seems to want to demolish a lot more than that.

I like your idea the best. Of course Buncher would complain about the cost.

[BrianTH]

Pfaffmann actually worked up some "tunnel"-type pass-throughs in 2006 (see page 13):

http://www.pfaffmann.com/documents/S...tNITS_2006.pdf

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I'd love for Greensburg to become a thriving satellite city. But that story about Lawrenceville is really just wrong--it had started taking off as a residential and commercial area long before Children's moved in 2009. That in turn implies Children's is, at most, just one factor explaining Lawrenceville's continued redevelopment, which in turn makes me worry Greensburg's planners may be overrelying on just one particular sort of development factor. And in fact if done wrong, big eds and meds developments (particularly of the "campus" sort) can actually serve as an impediment to overall urban development.

I too would love to see Greensburg become a thriving satellite city, but I also have to agree that focusing solely on meds and eds thinking that is primarily what is driving growth. As you said, Lawrenceville was growing before Children's set up shop there. I believe what happened with Children's was the result of some spill-over of development of the Strip -- at least partially.

Maybe what Greensburg should do is focus on revitalizing some neighborhoods (TND's, mixed-use developments, etc) while at the same time trying to establish an eds-meds engine.

What does Greensburg have going for it now that could entice business and economic growth? Does it have any historic districts or a defined commercial/central business district? What does the transportation system look like? Is there a central bus hub/terminal? Could one be established?

[BrianTH]

Greensburg does have a pretty nice downtown (in fact it is a historic district):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensb...,_Pennsylvania)



Their train station (currently Amtrak) is also quite nice, with what I understand is a good restaurant:

http://www.supperclubgreensburg.com/



One possible game-changer, frequently discussed, would be commuter rail to Pittsburgh.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Greensburg does have a pretty nice downtown (in fact it is a historic district):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensb...,_Pennsylvania)



Their train station (currently Amtrak) is also quite nice, with what I understand is a good restaurant:

http://www.supperclubgreensburg.com/



One possible game-changer, frequently discussed, would be commuter rail to Pittsburgh.

I mentioned this in my blog. Bring commuter rail to Pittsburgh-Greensburg, making this unique train station into an intermodal facility. For starters, the Westmoreland Transit Authority could restructure its route network to establish a hub either at or nearby the train station... I realize that heavy freight traffic is kinda a strong impediment, but can't this be rerouted over to another alignment, at least around Pittsburgh and Greensburg?

Still, with a CBD and historic district already in place, why doesn't the City use this to promote its own economic growth and development. West Chester has been doing so for quite a few years, and it is a major employment center for Chester County. Downingtown has updated its zoning map to include a CBD zoning overlay district to promote economic growth and development. Also, we're working on moving our train station to the site of an old mill and developing this mill site into a TOD/TND development...

[East Edge]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Pfaffmann actually worked up some "tunnel"-type pass-throughs in 2006 (see page 13):

http://www.pfaffmann.com/documents/S...tNITS_2006.pdf

Now this is cool...exactly what i was taking about. The integrity of the building is still preserved but allows for access to the RIVER...Hello...RIVER. Leave it to a design professional like Rob to solve the problem. I think a tunnel concept make the pass through more inviting anyway almost like an archway. I see that building broken down into small shops for vendors and this break through the middle makes it easier to navigate as a pedestrian and explore all around and inside the building. It was never designed with the pedestrian in mind and while its cool it is obsolete by todays new urbanist principles. Connecting the strip to the river and residential development is what is going to ensure optimal success for the neighborhood. Saving it just to save it and make a point is ridiculous. You will basically end up with a vacant building. How cool is that?!