PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Yes, I believe you are describing something like this. The overlook/elevator structure at the Salvador Mercado Modelo Market in Brazil.

Perfect, yes.

And as that shows, do this right and it can become an attraction in its own right, creating a nice observation platform from which you could look around at the Strip, North Side, and Downtown.

[BrianTH]

The City police are in fact opening a Downtown substation in the Lantern Building:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/ci...s/201709250124

As I commented before, it is odd to think this doesn't exist already, but good that it is coming.

[photoLith]

^
Thats good, I constantly see people selling drugs and loafing about screaming at each other all day at the bus stop/park thing across from that building. Hopefully, a police station right across the street will clean up that parklet some.

[BrianTH]

PAT has a new toy coming in about 20 months--an electric bus:

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/tra...s/201709240043

The idea is to have one bus well in advance of opening up the planned Wilkinsburg-Oakland-Downtown BRT system, which will use many electric buses, to help PAT test out their exact capabilities and train maintenance staff.

[BrianTH]

The City is starting work on the bike lane/sharrows route which is going along Negley from Howe in Shadyside to Stanton (edit: article says Centre, but I am pretty sure that is wrong) in East Liberty:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/ci...s/201709220153

One nice thing about bike lanes is they are a cheap and quick form of infrastructure enhancement--the $387,870 cost is being covered by the Feds, and they should be done by November 1.

By the way, Pittsburgh is now a top-8 city for bike commuting, undoubtedly with more room for advancement:

https://www.bikepgh.org/2017/09/15/2...ike-commuters/

I think we could probably get into the same range as DC and Portland if we keep making these modest investment in bike infrastructure.

The same article notes we are also #8 for combined biking/walking/transit, but big improvements in that ranking will be tough as the cities ahead mostly have much larger transit percentages. Still, with more development in the right places we could potentially pass Philly and maybe Seattle, which would be pretty impressive.

[DKNewYork]

Not alot new but another positive piece. Plus it point out the region's chronic timidity and lack of appropriate ambition.

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2017/...MTkyMzI4ODY2S0

[BrianTH]

Really more for fun than anything else, here is a vision of Pittsburgh as thriving innovation city in ten years:

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/latest...re-pittsburgh/

Of course they had me at this:

If you remember the days when steel mills where shuttering all over Western PA — throwing tens of thousands of people out of work at a time — well, this is the opposite. Amazon’s second headquarters is still staffing up toward the anticipated and high-paying 50,000 jobs it expects to put on the banks of the Monongahela.

Since even the massive former Almono site (the city’s last abandoned steel mill property) couldn’t house the whole thing, a spiderweb of bike trails and aerial gondolas (already used in Portland, South America and Europe) connect Hazelwood to the South Side, Oakland and Downtown.

This isn't bad either:

And Pittsburgh International Airport is now truly international, with direct flights to London, Tokyo, Beijing, Frankfurt and Paris. The foundation was laid when the Airport Authority spent $1.1 billion on a new terminal, and imploded the old, obsolete landslide terminal. Instead of suiting the specifications of a long-defunct airline, now it’s an airport designed with Pittsburgh flyers in mind (including a direct flight to Seattle for all those Amazon conferences).

There is also a Hyperloop section, but obviously it remains to be seen if that will be a viable technology or not. Otherwise, all this is pretty doable.

[BrianTH]

Nice article on Cassotis:

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/latest...ional-airport/

That was a really great hire.

[BrianTH]

Looking at old maps for the win!

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/city-d...to-completion/

Historical research has led to what was thought to be a private railroad crossing in Etna being converted into a public crossing. In turn this means they can start developing a riverfront park without an expensive $3M flyover. All this is another step in creating a really amazing network of trails not just around the rivers, but ultimately to destinations like DC and Erie:

The reaffirmation of public crossing, which was decided last month, means that it’s back to the drawing board for Etna, but without a $3 million albatross to weigh them down. Current plans envision a passive, riverfront nature sanctuary with educational assets relating to local wildlife, and perhaps a pavilion in an old pump house — a remnant of the park’s industrial past. About half of the land was already owned by the borough and the other half was purchased by Friends of the Riverfront and transferred to the borough in 2015, in anticipation of a park. Ramage says that there’s no definitive timeline for completion of the park, but she hopes to have it open by summer 2019.

In July, Shaler, which sits between Etna and the trail’s current terminus in Millvale, received a $200,000 grant from Southwestern PA Commission’s Livability through Smart Transportation Program to design a trail connection from the Millvale Riverfront Park through their township and to the proposed Etna park. Darla J. Cravotta, Manager of Special Projects for Allegheny County, says that this Etna-to-Millvale section is “part of a system-wide strategy” of extending the Three Rivers Heritage Trail north as far as Freeport, at the northern end of Allegheny County, and could eventually be incorporated into a much larger trail that extends all the way to Erie.

[BrianTH]

Pittsburgh is crushing its peer cities when it comes to arts spending:

http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/art-a...s/201709260018

This is something some folks have been pointing out for a long time--despite our reputation as a sports town, we are even more of an arts town.

Speaking of which, East Liberty is getting some cool new public art, and an organization to promote more in the future:

http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/art-a...s/201709270007

The Kelly Strayhorn Theater has been a champion of original performative arts programming in East Liberty for a decade. Earlier this month, it added visual arts to the roster with the unveiling of two long-term temporary public artworks at 5606 Penn Ave., near the corner of Penn Avenue and Beatty Street.

“The Arms of East Liberty” is an 8- by- 16-foot ceramic tile and stainless steel work by Deavron Dailey that is mounted on the Penn Avenue side of the building.
Mr. Dailey, a Detroiter now living in Pittsburgh, wrote in his artist statement that he aimed to depict, through his rainbow-colored work, “the strength and energy that is created when all people are united towards the common goal of making East Liberty a better community.”

“15 Minutes” is a digital gallery of crowd-sourced artworks assembled by Pittsburgher Bob Ziller. Images are projected from dawn to dusk daily on the building’s Beatty Street side. They are renewed every 15 minutes and Mr. Ziller invites continuing submissions at www.15minutesart.com. . . .

To support this, and future iterations of the project, the East Liberty Community Arts Fund was established. It will be similar in structure and oversight to other Kelly Strayhorn funds like the World Stage Fund for international programming and the Strayhorn Legacy Fund for educational programming. Alphabet City has pledged an initial contribution to the arts fund but the amount is to-date unspecified. Ms. Solomon’s initial concern is to secure funding sufficient to keep the inaugural artworks for at least a year. Mr. Dailey’s work shouldn’t require maintenance unless something unforeseen, like a cracked tile, occurs. Funding will be required to maintain the server in Mr. Ziller’s work. An advisory board is being formed.

While a call date for a second round of artists hasn’t been decided, Ms. Solomon said she would love to support one or two projects inspired by the Kelly Strayhorn’s 10th anniversary season in 2018. Artists may submit ideas for such a project at any time. She said Community Arts Fund projects will continue to be temporary. “Some will be what people know as typical public art projects, like murals or photography. But some may be performative, lasting for a weekend or a month.”

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Pittsburgh is crushing its peer cities when it comes to arts spending:

http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/art-a...s/201709260018

This is something some folks have been pointing out for a long time--despite our reputation as a sports town, we are even more of an arts town.

Speaking of which, East Liberty is getting some cool new public art, and an organization to promote more in the future:

http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/art-a...s/201709270007

Professional sports teams only go so far in terms of city desirability to newcomers. I think the vibrant arts scene, celebrated restaurant scene and technology clusters show Pittsburgh moving into the future in a very desirable well-rounded way.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Really more for fun than anything else, here is a vision of Pittsburgh as thriving innovation city in ten years:

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/latest...re-pittsburgh/

Of course they had me at this:



This isn't bad either:



There is also a Hyperloop section, but obviously it remains to be seen if that will be a viable technology or not. Otherwise, all this is pretty doable.

The sci-fi skyline they show for that article looks like at least 100 years in the future not 10. lol

[BrianTH]

The Southwest Pennsylvania Commission, our regional planning authority, has added the Wilkinsburg-Oakland-Downtown BRT project to its long-range plan:

http://wesa.fm/post/bus-rapid-transi...pport#stream/0

This doesn't by itself provide funding, but it is a necessary step to getting certain sorts of funding.

By the way, some other regional planning commissions have a lot more discretion in terms of how they spend state and federal funding, and that helps explain why, say, the Portland, Oregon metro area has proven more nimble in funding a good balance of well-prioritized projects. To have something like that in our area, we'd need a real shift in thinking at the state level, which isn't likely to happen under the current political situation. But it is something to keep in the back of our minds.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Professional sports teams only go so far in terms of city desirability to newcomers. I think the vibrant arts scene, celebrated restaurant scene and technology clusters show Pittsburgh moving into the future in a very desirable well-rounded way.

Yeah, to listen to sports teams looking for massive public handouts, no city could possibly have any pride or attract any newcomers without a team in their particular professional league. Empirically, it has been shown that is complete nonsense. It is a form of entertainment which some people value, enough to make it quite lucrative for team owners, but it is not so special that the public needs to make those rich owners even richer with public dollars.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

The sci-fi skyline they show for that article looks like at least 100 years in the future not 10. lol

[Austinlee]

^Classic. One of my favorites shows. But I am thinking it resembled something a little more photo realistic. Like the city that is shown at the end of episode 12 of the newer series of Cosmos. There is an awesome scene where they pan over this futuristic sustainable city that is amazing to me everytime I see it. I took a couple screencaps but they barely do it justice.

[BrianTH]

Slows news day as we get a LONG article about efforts to brand the local technology sector with some catchy name:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business...s/201709220029

Long story short, obviously Roboburgh is the correct answer (although I would also accept Future Birthplace of Skynet).

[BrianTH]

Pittsburgh Flats in the South Side has gotten past the Planning Commission:

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...yplanning.html

People keep grumbling about its scale/length, but seriously that is just because the street grid widens out on that bend of the river. You could make it two smaller buildings with an alley in the middle, but that would be pointless since it would be an alley to nowhere.

[BrianTH]

Some interesting data in this roundup of highest home value increases by zipcode:

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...me-buying.html

Some of the usual suspects are high on the list, but I was interested to look at the difference between 1 year and 5 year percentages, to spot which places might be seeing accelerating interest. 15213 (Oakland), 15212 (North Side), and 15214 (Perry etc.) are all standouts by this analysis. Interestingly, so are 15112 (East Pittsburgh), 15045 (Glassport), 15207 (Hazelwood et al), 15110 (Duquesne), 15104 (Braddock), 15037 (Elizabeth), 15025 (Clairton), 15132 and 15135 (McKeesport), 15145 (Turtle Creek), 15137 (North Versailles), and 15148 (Wilmerding).

That is a whole lot of Mon Valley love, right there. Early days yet, but could be interesting if that trend continues.

Edit: By the way, with the notable exception of Mt. Lebanon, Pittsburgh's most expensive suburbs/exurbs are generally nowhere to be found on this list of the hottest 50 zipcodes in the area. Not that those folks are necessarily hurting, but it is interesting that if you are looking for the best financial return on your investment, those might not be the places to look these days.

[Don't Be That Guy]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Some interesting data in this roundup of highest home value increases by zipcode:

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...me-buying.html

Some of the usual suspects are high on the list, but I was interested to look at the difference between 1 year and 5 year percentages, to spot which places might be seeing accelerating interest. 15213 (Oakland), 15212 (North Side), and 15214 (Perry etc.) are all standouts by this analysis. Interestingly, so are 15112 (East Pittsburgh), 15045 (Glassport), 15207 (Hazelwood et al), 15110 (Duquesne), 15104 (Braddock), 15037 (Elizabeth), 15025 (Clairton), 15132 and 15135 (McKeesport), 15145 (Turtle Creek), 15137 (North Versailles), and 15148 (Wilmerding).

That is a whole lot of Mon Valley love, right there. Early days yet, but could be interesting if that trend continues.

Edit: By the way, with the notable exception of Mt. Lebanon, Pittsburgh's most expensive suburbs/exurbs are generally nowhere to be found on this list of the hottest 50 zipcodes in the area. Not that those folks are necessarily hurting, but it is interesting that if you are looking for the best financial return on your investment, those might not be the places to look these days.

I think the absence of Fox Chapel, Sewickley, and USC from that list has more to do with those places already being at the top of the market for this region, and from what I'm hearing anecdotally, the demand for 5,000sf million dollar suburban homes has really dropped. There are more baby boomers in Fox Chapel looking to downsize than millennials that can afford that kind of house, especially since it's probably still rocking 90's mauve wallpaper and pickled wood cabinets.

What struck me about the Mon Valley was the one year increase in Duquesne and the other Mon towns. There is very little happening down there, so even one real estate transaction that's significantly larger than the already extremely low norm could easily throw the statistics.

As for the usual suspects in the City, there is still enough housing in need of renovation to keep fueling these increases. North Point Breeze, southern Highland Park/East Liberty and sections of Morningside will continue to see these year over year increases until the existing stock of updated homes becomes constrained. There is definitely a price ceiling for move-in ready houses in each of those neighborhoods.