[PRCo] Re: Pittsburgh___Today

[Herb Brannon]

............I got on the express bus to downtown and home. We left the South Side and headed across the long, high steel bridge. It was just getting dark and the lights of the buildings downtown were shinning brightly. The river valley was dotted with hundreds of lights, many glistening off the water. Fire from the steel mills flared brightly along with some smoke and steam. That pungent, slightly sulphur smell of "mill" hung over the center of the valley. I could see two or three trolleys (lrv's) on the city side of the river. There was a ballgame and downtown was more alive than normal. The streets were packed. But then downtown was always crowded day and evening. Daytime commerce in the stores and office buildings and evening entertainment in the restaurants, bars, and theaters and sports venues. All in all it was a wonderful close to another wonderful day!
   
  Thirty years ago this would be me talking about Pittsburgh. But that was then and this is now. What I described above were my thoughts on a trip from work to home back in August here in Cleveland. It so reminded me of thirty years ago in Pittsburgh. 
   
  This is the main reason I moved back to my hometown.................Cleveland is everything a 'Steel City' should be. Something happened sometime after 1985 that changed Pittsburgh far too much. I concur with the comments of the writer.  
Jim Holland <prcopcc at p-r-co.com> wrote:
  The following is from a person in New York State who has strong ties to Pittsburgh and is looking for a retirement location; I have sent info from this individual before. This is dated -- Mellon comments reveal that:::::::

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Pittsburgh was always in a time warp as we know....
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Just read the news today that Mellon Bank is merging with Bank of New York and moving its headquarters to New York... I think this marks the end of Pittsburgh... I was back in the area last month and you could roll a bowling ball down 5th avenue and not hit a living soul in rush hour.... Downtown just seems empty.....
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The only thing which the city should do is build a subway between downtown and Oakland, and then operate several surface lines throughout those southeastern areas........
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If a large mall, perhaps with a theme, or some other attraction were built in downtown ,there would be some possibility of downtown revival.. Otherwise, downtown is completely dead, with a high office vacancy rate and Macy's.... The beautiful Lazarus dept store, built to replace Hornes and quickly shut within a few year period, is now being converted into offices and expensive apartments... Of course, if you bought an apartment here, where would you buy a groceries.? I thought it was the most beautiful store built in the country after WWII, with its art deco appearance and incredible interior.. I thought the civic leaders knew something might be happening for the city and were planning ahead.... It was always empty, unfortunately, as nobody shops in downtown any longer......
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the subway downtown feels like a big city, but when you start riding the line you realize how slow and basically non rapid it is once it reaches the tunnel.... After that, it can take up to an hour to reach the South Hills... Bus or car can do it in less than half the time.....
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However, with the population down to 350,000 now and the endless strip developments up in the north, the city in my opinion now is doomed.... High tech and robot technology, are the big things out in Oakland, but this is now the only area with any life in the city... Forbes and Murray is now downtown, but has no connection with the city.... Of course, nobody would ever build a subway out to Oakland, nor would they make proper use of the spine line to bring transit into Oakland the back way....
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When you live in another area so long it gets hard to come back and see what little has been accomplished... Pittsburgh really had a chance to do something with itself starting in the sixties, but chose to put its head into the ground and never looked up.... When the United Steel Workers Union heads were bought off and the unions and country allowed the steel industry to move to China rather than install costly anti pollution devices, Pittsburgh lost its role as a major industrial player...
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All the smaller cities died even faster.. Driving along the three river valleys you will see destruction akin to world war II in Belgium and France.... It unbelievable to see what has happened... Abandonment, destruction, litter everywhere, homeless people, old tired weary stragglers , young kids with no futures, etc...... Have you seen McKeesport in recent years? The entire downtown and hill areas to the east and south have been torn down, emptied and left sitting.... It is like an eroded hillside, except a city once existed here.....
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In Europe, most steel has remained in France and Germany, because these countries and their unions understood the consequences of movement of key industries abroad... Boston had a similar population and college orientation as did Pittsburgh at that time, and has thrived and become a world class city today, while Pittsburgh has become a "last one out, shut the light city"..... Sports stadiums do not make a city....
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Of course, if you want to retire here, there is no income tax and real estate is rock bottom..... Pennsylvania is so poor that it may have problems maintaining its pension systems for its retired government and local workers... Recently, the Philadelphia school district had to issue emergency bonds just to pay the pensions for retired teachers... California is in good shape financially when compared to Pennsylvania, however....








Herb Brannon