[PRCo] Re: living in PA

[Phillip Clark Campbell]

Home is where the heart is or where it was born; you sound like a realist Mr.Cramer as opposed to most of the rest of us.  The seeds of decline also contain elements for rebirth don't they; somewhere ahead is a turn around and new growth and vitality for the city.  It is just a matter of when; I hope you are able to participate in that.

Your observations about the radial transit alignment is also a big objection of Mr.Cox isn't it.  With an auto it is possible to take the most direct route between two points as opposed to transit.

It is also interesting to note that similar comments like below have been made on this list before haven't they; these were met with much negativity.  You receive accolades; interesting!


Phil



----- Original Message ----
> From: Dennis F. Cramer <dfc1 at windstream.net>
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
> Sent: Friday, June 13, 2008 6:21:05 AM
> Subject: [PRCo] living in PA
> 
> (note subject change)
> I am quite aware of the number of visitors who come to Pittsburgh and are 
> pleasantly surprised.  There is no better entrance in the country to a city than 
> coming through the Fort Pitt Tunnel at night.  But Pittsburgh has paid a price 
> for that view.  The smoke is gone and sometimes the haze & humidity leave.  Very 
> few people live "dahntawn" and so most evenings they roll up the sidewalks 
> before dark.  
> 
> People have moved to Butler and Washington Counties to avoid the taxes of 
> Allegheny County.  You do not want to look at Greene, Fayette, Westmoreland, 
> Indiana or Armstrong Counties due to lack of tax base.  Many of the corporate 
> jobs have also moved to subsidized industrial parks surrounding the city, but 
> you cannot get from one suburb to the other by transit without going into town 
> first.  Like most cities, transit is set up like the spokes of a wheel, all 
> heading to the city.  Consider the route numbers of PRCo, they went from 1 
> counterclockwise around the county feeding into downtown.  Many of the Port 
> Authority bus routes serve the same purpose as well as the parkways and routes 
> 65, 28 and 51. The Allegheny County colored (Blue, Red, Yellow, etc.) routes 
> circle the city on routes laid out over 50 years ago on many roads that have not 
> seen much improvement in those same years.  Pittsburgh has never had an 
> interstate beltway system.
> 
> The infrastructure in most of the of the city and the old mill towns in the 
> valleys is shot.  Water main breaks abound and forget about getting your street 
> plowed in winter if you live on a side street.  Visitors do not notice these 
> things, nor do they notice the aging and declining population.  
> 
> I, like many from western PA, are proud of where we live and enjoy showing off 
> the area.  I do not notice that as much in other cities.  Most of Pennsylvania 
> west of the Susquehanna is hurting due to a lack of meaningful employment.  
> Working in Wal Mart is considered to be a good job in rural PA.  The logging 
> industry is on the upswing as we are into the third cutting of our forests and 
> the coal industry is slowly making a rebound.  Thankfully there is a lot of coal 
> left and we will get some work as long as the NIMBYs do not get the way.  Our 
> state is one of the leaders in wind technology, but again, the NIMBYs are 
> complaining to Harrisburg.
> 
> We are losing Lancaster County to housing because that fantastic farmland is the 
> only large area in the state that will pass PERC tests on a regular basis.  A 
> percolation test determines how well your septic system will leach water into 
> the ground.  Most of the state does not have sewer systems, so your property 
> must pass a PERC test before you can build.  The farmland in the Lancaster 
> Valley is the best soil in the state and of course, we are using it to build 
> homes instead of insuring long term farm management.  Agriculture is the number 
> one job in PA right now, but it is losing ground very quickly according to 
> several professors from Penn State whom I heard speak last month at the 
> Pennsylvania Envirothon.  If we lose all of that farmland, we have lost our 
> number one employer.
> 
> We miss the trolleys running through Allegheny County, but I remember the 
> greater number of people who complained about the tracks throwing their 
> automobile around and destroying their suspension.  
> 
> A great quote from a few years ago while PennDot was rebuilding the Fort Pitt 
> bridge came from a route foreman of the Port Authority.  He was at a meeting in 
> the City County Building as a high level city executive looked out the window 
> and commented how much easier it would be to eliminate the gridlock if we just 
> got rid of all the buses!  People here do not understand mass transit like in 
> the east coast cities.  We were stupid enough to get rid of the vast majority of 
> the rail service we had too long ago.  It is tough to teach old dogs new tricks.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dennis F. Cramer
>       Trombone