PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Private Dick]

Likely a rather uninformative piece...

http://www.popcitymedia.com/features...300th+issue%21

City Vitals 2.0: How does Pittsburgh stack up?
TRACY CERTO | WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 2012

First some good news: Pittsburgh is ranked #8 against 50 other U.S. cities in the number of people 25 years and older with a college degree (40.5%), according to the City Vitals 2.0 report issued last week.

College attainment is one of the most important indicators when it comes to the economic success of a city. By comparison, while Pittsburgh ranks fairly high, Boston fares much better at #1 with 54.3% while Las Vegas clocks in last with only 20.1%.

This is just one category of more than two dozen presented in the City Vitals 2.0 report, a "signature research framework" from CEOs for Cities, a network of urban leaders from various sectors across the country. Their focus is working toward best practices, smart research and good ideas in making cities more economically successful.

While cities are viewed as the engines of the national economy, City Vitals is a benchmarking tool to take stock of city performance relative to other cities in the areas that matter the most: connections, innovation, talent and distinctiveness.

[BrianTH]

I can understand why someone would be more excited about towers that would challenge the current tallest structures in Downtown. Nonetheless, I think new towers specifically between Smithfield and Wood get some bonus points because of the way they fill the current gap in the skyline. In that sense I would use the Oliver Building (25 stories, 348') as a benchmark--anything significantly taller than that will have a notable impact.

Edit: The former ALCOA HQ (aka Regional Enterprise Tower) is 30 stories. That gives one some sense of scale.

[Private Dick]

According to the Cities 2.0 report, Pittsburgh is ranked 14th in terms of walkability and 9th in transit ( yeah right), yet is a lowly 41st in miles driven per day and 31st in GHG emissions. So, our two bright spots actually are debatable points, considering we've all discussed Pittsburgh's walkability/lack of, and I think we can all agree that transit is pretty woeful.

Unfortunately, it looks like Pittsburgh is pretty much in the middle or on the low end in most of the categories. It's especially low in International Talent, Foreign Travel, Entrepreneurship, Internet Connectivity, Restaurant Variety, and Community Involvement.

Not a glowing report about Pittsburgh in comparison to other cities, but these reports always leave so much up to not completely objective interpretation.

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I can understand why someone would be more excited about towers that would challenge the current tallest structures in Downtown. Nonetheless, I think new towers specifically between Smithfield and Wood get some bonus points because of the way they fill the current gap in the skyline. In that sense I would use the Oliver Building (25 stories, 348') as a benchmark--anything significantly taller than that will have a notable impact.

Oh yeah, definitely. I realize a 30 story building would make an impact on the Pittsburgh's skyline from just about any vantage point, and especially if they are located in the area you describe... filling that gap in the wedge that inclines to the Grant St towers.

Maybe I'm just getting greedy in anticipation of the new PNC tower and want something as tall or taller.

[Private Dick]

Pittsburgh's Parkway West most congested stretch outside NY, LA


http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...-ny-la-637081/

May 23, 2012 6:56 am
By Jon Schmitz / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This will be no surprise to the hardened souls who inch toward downtown Pittsburgh each day on the Parkway West: A new report calls the section from Green Tree to the Fort Pitt Tunnels the most congested in America outside of New York and Los Angeles.

INRIX, an international company that uses GPS technology to track and analyze the movements of millions of vehicles on 300,000 miles of roadway, rated the Parkway West during the morning rush as the ninth-worst traffic corridor in the U.S. The top eight spots went to highways in the Big Apple and City of Angels.

According to INRIX, it takes an average of 13 minutes -- nine more than it should -- to traverse that stretch. That doesn't count the time it takes to get there, as morning backups now routinely spill well down the back side of Green Tree Hill and sometimes past Carnegie.

At a delay of nine minutes a day, for a regular commuter that works out to about 36 hours a year down the rat hole, just for the morning rush. According to INRIX, drivers on the 10 worst U.S. corridors may squander up to 60 hours a year stuck in traffic.

[markson33]

One PNC and EQT are probably the most comparable to what we might see from Oxford. Both are roughly 30 stories and 424 feet.

PNC Tower is only supposed to be 33 floors, but will look significantly taller due to the large angled roofline - I wouldn't be surprised if Oxford's plan had something similar. Then again, Oxford has monetary constraints that PNC doesnt.

[Minivan Werner]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

Pittsburgh's Parkway West most congested stretch outside NY, LA


http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...-ny-la-637081/

May 23, 2012 6:56 am
By Jon Schmitz / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This will be no surprise to the hardened souls who inch toward downtown Pittsburgh each day on the Parkway West: A new report calls the section from Green Tree to the Fort Pitt Tunnels the most congested in America outside of New York and Los Angeles.

INRIX, an international company that uses GPS technology to track and analyze the movements of millions of vehicles on 300,000 miles of roadway, rated the Parkway West during the morning rush as the ninth-worst traffic corridor in the U.S. The top eight spots went to highways in the Big Apple and City of Angels.

According to INRIX, it takes an average of 13 minutes -- nine more than it should -- to traverse that stretch. That doesn't count the time it takes to get there, as morning backups now routinely spill well down the back side of Green Tree Hill and sometimes past Carnegie.

At a delay of nine minutes a day, for a regular commuter that works out to about 36 hours a year down the rat hole, just for the morning rush. According to INRIX, drivers on the 10 worst U.S. corridors may squander up to 60 hours a year stuck in traffic.

I think that an HOV lane (or two) that travels with the Parkway and connects to the Wabash tunnel (that, in turn, connects to downtown [possibly Stanwix St.] via a new bridge) would really help the congestion on the PW.

Although I'm not sure if the HOV lanes really do much good on the north side, at least it's not as congested, generally. And the money for a new bridge into downtown just ain't there.

[BrianTH]

Although this would not be a popular idea initially (after implementation it would likely get more popular), what I-376 really needs is congestion pricing, which in turn could be used to help fund expanded higher peak capacity alternatives (e.g., busways and commuter trains). Although politically challenging, that is the only sort of plan that could work at a reasonable cost to deal with the congestion conditions along these corridors.

[Evergrey]

Took a long look at the Frank and Seder building today. I shall shed no tears. Destroy it, Oxford, and bring on your skyscraper!

[markson33]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Took a long look at the Frank and Seder building today. I shall shed no tears. Destroy it, Oxford, and bring on your skyscraper!

I did the same thing and agree. There is some decent cornice work, but its not highly visible. Other than that it is a very bland building.

I also think it would be good to open up the site a little. It feels somewhat crowded and dark on Smithfield at that point. If they could somehow set the new building back it would could change the feel of the area.

[BrianTH]

I would note again that I believe looking at the Frank and Seder building in isolation is bound to undervalue its contributions to the local historic district.

To briefly review, if you are standing at the corner of Smithfield and Forbes, the other buildings on that corner are the Park Building, Kaufmann's (with the clock), and the Mellon Bank Branch (sadly destroyed on the inside, but still a landmark on the outside). That's quite the collection.

If you are, say, at the corner of Smithfield and Forbes, looking north along Smithfield, the Frank & Seder building lines up nicely with the Park Building, Oliver Building, and Heinz 57 Center (formerly Gimbel's). If you look east along Forbes, it lines up with Kaufmann's, the Allegheny Building, Frick Building, and Allegheny Courthouse & Jail. Again, these are very impressive lists of buildings.

In short, the Frank & Seder building is anchoring the corner of a very important historic district stretching out north along Smithfield and east along Forbes. And in fact except for the Warner Center, this district also used to continue west along Forbes all the way to Market Square, but of course that corridor recently lost more relatively modest but nonetheless historic facades to PNC Tower (needlessly, in my view).

And this is how historic districts get eroded over time, with each new destruction building on the last as the case for treating an area as a cohesive district is systematically undermined.

Again, there is a better way, a way to add needed new square-footage without destroying the historic character of the district. But it requires allowing that there are more options available than either not doing the project entirely, or destroying everything in its path.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by markson33

It feels somewhat crowded and dark on Smithfield at that point. If they could somehow set the new building back it would could change the feel of the area.

I very much disagree. I like Downtown's "canyon" streets, and setbacks generally lead to poor street-level experiences.

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I would note again that I believe looking at the Frank and Seder building in isolation is bound to undervalue its contributions to the local historic district.

To briefly review, if you are standing at the corner of Smithfield and Forbes, the other buildings on that corner are the Park Building, Kaufmann's (with the clock), and the Mellon Bank Branch (sadly destroyed on the inside, but still a landmark on the outside). That's quite the collection.

If you are, say, at the corner of Smithfield and Forbes, looking north along Smithfield, the Frank & Seder building lines up nicely with the Park Building, Oliver Building, and Heinz 57 Center (formerly Gimbel's). If you look east along Forbes, it lines up with Kaufmann's, the Allegheny Building, Frick Building, and Allegheny Courthouse & Jail. Again, these are very impressive lists of buildings.

In short, the Frank & Seder building is anchoring the corner of a very important historic district stretching out north along Smithfield and east along Forbes. And in fact except for the Warner Center, this district also used to continue west along Forbes all the way to Market Square, but of course that corridor recently lost more relatively modest but nonetheless historic facades to PNC Tower (needlessly, in my view).

And this is how historic districts get eroded over time, with each new destruction building on the last as the case for treating an area as a cohesive district is systematically undermined.

Again, there is a better way, a way to add needed new square-footage without destroying the historic character of the district. But it requires allowing that there are more options available than either not doing the project entirely, or destroying everything in its path.

Say that!

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I very much disagree. I like Downtown's "canyon" streets, and setbacks generally lead to poor street-level experiences.

Why? Setbacks can lead to the addition of a plaza as a building's main entry-way. How would that lead to a poor street-level experience? To me, that would be a good experience. Walk around for a little while and then sit by a nicely landscaped plaza beneath a 30-story behemoth.

If they do in fact demolish that building for a 30-story tower, it would be nice if they build the base in a way that pays homage to the historical past (some art deco or neo-classical construction for the base at least. The 53-story BNY Mellon Center in Philadelphia was built in 1990, but it has a very art-deco appearance...

And as for the Parkway West, some investment in transit is badly needed in this corridor! This needs to be a high-priority corridor for adding transit. Yeah, for a while I was saying Cranberry should be one, but I'd list this a priority 1, with number 2 being some link to Oakland. Granted, funding isn't there for transit projects, and given that, we need to look to other ways to fund these projects. They are needed NOW... Actually, they are needed like 15 years ago!

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

Why? Setbacks can lead to the addition of a plaza as a building's main entry-way. How would that lead to a poor street-level experience? To me, that would be a good experience. Walk around for a little while and then sit by a nicely landscaped plaza beneath a 30-story behemoth.

That's often the vision being sold, but the reality is that from a pedestrian's point of view, such set-back plazas are typically dead zones in the urban fabric, and usually are not designed at "human scale", which means they have an unnerving effect.

Of course it is entirely possible to design open spaces in an urban fabric that are pedestrian-friendly and abide by human-scale practices--the new Market Square, for example, does this very well, which is part of why it is such a hit. But usually Class A office-tower entry plazas are designed with contradictory purposes in mind--the plaza is there to showcase the building and make it seem monumental, even intimidating (that, after all, is part of why tenants pay a premium to be in Class A office towers--they want to impress visitors in just such a fashion). And that leads to doing virtually everything wrong from a streetscape perspective.

In contrast, the good old storefronts right along the sidewalk approach typically ends up working quite well. Again, it is not the only possible approach, but you are talking a great risk with your streetscape by encouraging alternatives.

[BrianTH]

Duplicate post.

[Private Dick]

Big skyscraper plazas in downtown areas undoubtedly take away from activity at street level. They are specifically constructed to provide a detachment from the street/sidewalk for the building.

[Jonboy1983]

I guess the plazas at PPG Place and in front of Comcast Center would be exceptions then, am I right? They both have fountains -- very close in design and function to one another, altho I think anal security guard pains in the ass actually monitor and prohibit people from running through the fountains at Comcast, from my experience anyway. They do have that ginormous TV screen in the lobby tho!

[BrianTH]

PPG Place tried to create more of a courtyard effect, and even so I think it has lots of problems--it is interesting from a sort of abstract aesthetic point of view, and the fountain/rink is a nice amenity, but it still breaks up the local urban fabric and can be unsettling (I personally think it is obvious people much prefer hanging out in Market Square).

I've only seen pictures of Comcast Center's plaza, but it looks to me to suffer from the typical defects:

[AaronPGH]

I personally wouldn't mind slightly wider sidewalks out front on Smithfield. There are times during the middle of the work week when you can barely fit through. I realize it would only help that one block, and it's also a good problem to have. Still though...