<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Apr 3, 2016 at 3:57 PM, Fred Schneider <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:fwschneider@comcast.net" target="_blank">fwschneider@comcast.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">Thank for sharing Ms. Brashear.<br>
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I love the proposal on page 18 for a light rail station in Wilkinsburg. I had to print it and file it because it reminded me of the past. It's got me on a roll.<br>
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I remember when Wilkinsburg was vibrant. It was where you went for Saturday night dinner in a restaurant when Mom didn't want to cook. Yes, it had stores and restaurants. The train station was also a great place to kill time with my father while mother was in the doctor's office in Swissvale with the baby sister. But the last time I drove through Wilkinsburg, it had boarded up buildings and parking lots. Wikipedia tells us they celebrated my birthday this year in Wilkinsburg by killing five people at a cookout. OMG. What used to be a nice working class town of maybe 32,000 right after World War II is now home to fewer than 16,000.<br>
<br></blockquote><div> <div><br></div><div>I biked through Wilkinsburg a half dozen times over
the last month, and will probably get in my first two rides through
tomorrow.<br></div><div>I used to bus through daily on the way to high
school. It's changed, some for the better, some for the worse in the
intervening just-under-30 years. A take I find to be particularly
believable, I include here. It's political. If you're not interested in
the politics of this, I understand. I'm happy to talk further off the
list about it, because honestly, the politics of such things are
probably off-topic, and hence my by-reference and not direct expounding.<br><br><a href="http://verysmartbrothas.com/wilkinsburg-the-side-of-americas-most-livable-city-pittsburgh-doesnt-want-you-to-see/">http://verysmartbrothas.com/wilkinsburg-the-side-of-americas-most-livable-city-pittsburgh-doesnt-want-you-to-see/</a><br></div><div><br></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
But then the WABCO proposal was written, it was still healthy … still had stores and restaurants and perhaps 28,000 people.<br>
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I also remember when East Liberty (or s'liberty) was where you went to the zoo</blockquote><div><br></div><div>It's been in Highland Park ~forever, hasn't it?<br> <br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"> (never did get to see those prairie dogs), to see a movie, to shop at Sears Roebuck, </blockquote><div><br></div><div>Oddly I was in Cambridge (Mass, not UK) a few weeks ago and observed a building and just thought "Sears"... yup. It was the Porter Square Sears. My friends and I went for dinner that night.<br><br></div><div>I barely remember the East Liberty Sears, but I do.<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
hour and West Penn 700s passing over the Turnpike (twice that happened).<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>They renumbered the turnpike mileposts, incidentally. I noticed that while driving back from DC earlier today.<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
But I am remember these areas when they were vibrant. When you had no fear walking down the streets after dark.<br>
</blockquote><div><br></div><div>I worry when I am alone on the streets; but I bicycled back to Squirrel Hill from my friend's place in Rosedale a few weeks ago, after midnight. Through Homewood. Plenty of folks out on a warm Friday evening. No big deal.<br> <br></div></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">Daria Phoebe Brashear<br></div><div>AuriStor, Inc<br></div><div><a href="http://dariaphoebe.com" target="_blank">dariaphoebe.com</a><br><br></div></div></div></div>
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