[PRCo] Re: will western PA survive?

[Schneider Fred]

Those genuinely friendly people in western Pennsylvania are why I  
have no qualms about driving for four hours to work at PTM.  They are  
the biggest asset that area has.

You are telling me that the highway system is a disaster, Dennis, but  
remember that the last comprehensive nationwide highway investment  
program is the one that Eisenhower signed in 1954 and which was  
enacted in the 1960s and 1970s.   While most cities are straining to  
cope with inadequate highways because traffic has increased three,  
four or five fold on those expressways, Pittsburgh really isn't all  
that bad because of the population declines.  Furthermore I-279 was  
done much more recently and so was the Allegheny Valley Expressway  
(in spite of the incompetent design of the off and on ramps).

The 67 miles from Lancaster to Philadelphia, because of the added  
congestion, can best be done by train now.   That is about 75 minutes  
in the peak with four or five intermediate stops.   If you drive in  
the rush hour ... well, it will take better than two hours now.    
Barb Ciccone came to visit us in Lancaster two years ago and was  
astonished at our traffic compared to Washington County.

Two summers ago I left San Jose, California about 3 in the afternoon  
and it took until 6 PM to get to my motel in Sacramento.   It's under  
150 miles and mostly expressway driving and I actually skirted the  
East Bay and drove through past Stockton to avoid the worst  
congestion.   Now you know why there are now commuter trains from San  
Jose to Stockton on the old Western Pacific over Altamont Pass.

And of course Dennis must remember how bad traffic was in Westchester  
County, New York, when he took that sabatical two years ago.   I can  
remember in the early 1970s driving from Port Washington, Long Island  
to Chatham, New Jersey.   I had dropped my buddy Bill Middleton at  
the Long Island station in Port Washington about 3 PM.   I had to  
drive in through Queens, across the Triborough Bridge, through The  
Bronx, across the upper end of Manhattan, out US 46 (before I-80 was  
finished) toward Morristown and then down to Chatham.   I had never  
left the New York metro area and it only took about four hours.

Of course it is always bad when you don't see who has it worse.   I  
remember the news stories in the Marietta [Ohio] Times complaining  
about how bad rush hour congestion was when the Putnam Street Bridge  
over the Muskingum River was because people were being forced to  
drive five blocks out of their way up to Washington Street cross.    
It was killing them in a town of 14,000 people!!!!!!!   I laughed  
when I saw those people complaining.

That was as bad as the gas station owner Ringling, Montana (1974) who  
had his mens room locked "because if he didn't the kids would burst  
water balloons in them."   I told him if he had a gas station in  
North Philadelphia the adults would take the toilet, the sink and all  
the copper pipe.




On Dec 18, 2008, at 5:36 PM, Dennis F. Cramer wrote:

> Butler will continue to show some growth with the new Westinghouse  
> facility
> going into Cranberry, but I agree with Fred that the area is going  
> through a
> slow drain that will not slow for quite a while.  The population  
> advances in
> certain areas is, for the most part, nothing more than persons  
> moving within
> the region.  There is no great influx of newbies.  There is a  
> reason why
> they built a new national cemetery along I 79.
>
> First time visitors are usually impressed because most people in  
> the nation
> still think Pittsburgh is a filthy, smoky factory town.  It is  
> cloudy a lot,
> the most cloudy days in the nation, but there are great museums, music
> organizations and some genuinely friendly people. There are still  
> thriving
> neighborhoods that give a unique flavor.  Unfortunately living off of
> hospitals and universities gives no local property tax into the  
> coffers.
>
> I highly doubt we will ever see any major improvements in mass  
> transit.
> People here do not get it and neither do the developers.  Many  
> politicos
> feel the answer to the traffic is to get all the busses out of  
> downtown
> (quoted to a PAT route manager several years ago by some folks from  
> city
> hall)  The highway system is a disaster and there is not much that  
> can be
> done to improve it and we certainly seem to fight forever before  
> anything
> gets done--remember the East Street?  How about 28?  They paid big  
> bucks to
> a traffic consultation firm to find out they need more lanes to and  
> from the
> airport.  DUH!
>
> It is going to be interesting to watch the traffic patterns when  
> the new
> casino opens on the Northshore.  Will people avoid it on game days  
> or will
> it cause even fewer people to go to a Pirate game?  Football should  
> not be a
> problem for them as there are only 20 or so events at Heinz Field a  
> year for
> the Steelers & Pitt.  They also are planning another outdoor music  
> venue
> over there.  Too bad they have not figured out that parking is  
> needed and
> easy access.  WE are supposed to park downtown and take the "T"  
> over.  Great
> idea, except they do not want to have any sort of yard on the  
> Northshore to
> have many vehicles ready for the mass exodus.  One car at a time  
> will not
> cut it.
>
> We love to complain, that is part of the western PA lifestyle.   
> Luckily I do
> not live in Allegheny County anymore, but have to deal with the  
> Point every
> time I travel to PTM.  As bad as 28 is, I can be out of town after  
> a concert
> and in my driveway in 45 minutes on a Sunday.  We choose when we go  
> to town
> to avoid the mess.  I go to PTM on weekends when I can get there in  
> 70 to 75
> minutes.  Not bad for a 68 mile trip.  The worst coming home has  
> never been
> over 2 hours.
>
>
>
> Dennis F. Cramer
>       Trombone
>
>
>
>