Posted May 10, 201411 yr Here are a couple of Pittsburgh's little city-friends: Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania Say goodbye to the Penn Lincoln Hotel... _________________________________________ Braddock, Pennsylvania -Home of the first Carnegie library. -Across the river from Kennywood -Population has dropped from ~20,000 to ~2,000 since 1920
May 10, 201411 yr They are intact versions of East St. Louis and Gary. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 10, 201411 yr John Fetterman John Fetterman is an American politician who is mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania. Fetterman is a native of York, Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Albright College in 1991 and then attended Harvard University where he earned a master's degree in Public Policy. He moved to Braddock in 2001 to work for AmeriCorps, attracted by what he called the town's "malignant beauty." In 2005 Fetterman ran against the incumbent mayor in 2005 and won by a single vote. As mayor, Fetterman has drawn international attention in trying to revitalize the economy in Braddock. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fetterman_(politician)
May 10, 201411 yr The loss of jobs due to manufacturing sector decline dates much farther back than the 2007-8 Recession, but to decline in population from 20,000 to 2,000 puts Braddock in an unfortunate league with larger cities like Detroit, Gary, and Newark. It's of great concern to see once vibrant commercial districts as in Wilkinsburg and Braddock now faded and in such decline. Like Braddock's mayor, it makes me wonder what policy or strategy changes could produce a better outcome and improve future prospects? These towns are not isolated examples in the Pittsburgh area; McKeesport is arguably in a more advanced state of decline than the aforementioned communities. Something just doesn't seem right for a whole region to be on a path towards oblivion and obsolescence-surely some type of governmental policy needs to be created to provide a path to economic recovery. Perhaps enterprise zones, a favorable tax policy to entice new business to come into the region, or some other type of creative ideas to foster recovery need to be implemented and soon. There are billions of dollar of improvements being wasted in these communities and the on-going demolition efforts do not hide the problems. If anything, the increasing green spaces created from demolitions only reinforce evidence of the decline. It saddens me to see this process slowly unfolding and taking away what was once a vibrant economic sector of the American economy. Thanks for sharing the photos.
May 10, 201411 yr Fetterman's a hip dude; he's making inroads in Braddock ... Wilkinsburg is the East Cleveland of Pittsburgh; maybe not quite as decayed.
May 10, 201411 yr NY Times did a great story about Braddock three years ago-- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/magazine/13Fetterman-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
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