Posted February 20, 201510 yr My second day in Pittsburgh. Although it was only a partial day so there are a lot fewer pictures here than in the previous thread. Starting with Squirrel Hill The Friendship Circle by Eridony, on Flickr Murray Avenue by Eridony, on Flickr Squirrel Hill Citizens Bank Branch by Eridony, on Flickr Sixth Presbyterian Church & Cell Tower by Eridony, on Flickr Gaby et Jules by Eridony, on Flickr Care by Eridony, on Flickr Forbes & Shady Commons by Eridony, on Flickr Underneath by Eridony, on Flickr Squirrel Hill is the center of Pittsburgh's Jewish community Congregation Beth Shalom by Eridony, on Flickr Home of Judaism.com by Eridony, on Flickr Shaare Torah Congregation by Eridony, on Flickr Squirrel Hill South by Eridony, on Flickr Milky Way by Eridony, on Flickr New Dumpling House by Eridony, on Flickr Performique by Eridony, on Flickr Balloonatics! by Eridony, on Flickr Squirrel Hill by Eridony, on Flickr Lloyds Subway by Eridony, on Flickr 61c Cafe by Eridony, on Flickr The last neighborhood theater open in Squirrel Hill Manor Theatre by Eridony, on Flickr Calvary Episcopal Church in the Shadyside neighborhood Calvary Episcopal Church by Eridony, on Flickr Emerson Street Houses on Emerson Street by Eridony, on Flickr The South Highland Business District South Highland Avenue Business District by Eridony, on Flickr Shadyside Duplex by Eridony, on Flickr Bastone Auto Service by Eridony, on Flickr South Highland Avenue is one of those streets that used to be residential and became a commercial street by building storefronts in front of the old houses Behind by Eridony, on Flickr Rubicon by Eridony, on Flickr A TOD with a new transit center, residential, and retail space East Liberty Transit Center/Eastside Phase III by Eridony, on Flickr Eastside III by Eridony, on Flickr The Eastside development connects the Shadyside and East Liberty neighborhoods. It has brought several national retailers to the area. Coldwell Banker & Cathedral of Hope by Eridony, on Flickr East Liberty by Eridony, on Flickr Kelly's Sign by Eridony, on Flickr This Target, opened in 2011, is part of the Eastside development Urban Target by Eridony, on Flickr Some art deco in the East Liberty neighborhood East Liberty - Penn Avenue by Eridony, on Flickr This building along with two neighbors are being demolished for a new 6-story apartment building Chase The Money by Eridony, on Flickr Neighborhood of East Liberty by Eridony, on Flickr Anthon's by Eridony, on Flickr How Did It Know? by Eridony, on Flickr East Liberty is going through a rebirth Highland & Baum by Eridony, on Flickr The Werner Building by Eridony, on Flickr The massive Cathedral of Hope takes up an entire block in East Liberty Cathedral of Hope by Eridony, on Flickr Cathedral of Hope by Eridony, on Flickr East Liberty - Baum Boulevard by Eridony, on Flickr This old YMCA in East Liberty is becoming an Ace Hotel. Only the 8th in the world for this chain started in 1999 in Portland East Liberty's Ace Hotel by Eridony, on Flickr East Liberty YMCA by Eridony, on Flickr Future Ace Hotel by Eridony, on Flickr Kelly-Strayhorn Theater by Eridony, on Flickr Recently expanded library Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - East Liberty Branch by Eridony, on Flickr East Liberty Presbyterian Church by Eridony, on Flickr The Spinning Plate by Eridony, on Flickr More of the Eastside development Eastside by Eridony, on Flickr Eastside Whole Foods by Eridony, on Flickr Shadyside Pedestrian Bridge by Eridony, on Flickr The dome of what was originally a public market East Liberty Market Dome by Eridony, on Flickr Ellsworth Avenue by Eridony, on Flickr Sacred Heart Catholic Church by Eridony, on Flickr Back downtown Pittsburgh Renaissance Historic District by Eridony, on Flickr Gateway Center Fountain by Eridony, on Flickr Pittsburgh Central Business District by Eridony, on Flickr PNC Park PNC Park by Eridony, on Flickr Roberto Clemente Bridge by Eridony, on Flickr 2 Sisters by Eridony, on Flickr Allegheny Landing Park Allegheny Landing by Eridony, on Flickr The Boggs Building by Eridony, on Flickr Hyatt Place by Eridony, on Flickr StarKist Headquarters StarKist Headquarters by Eridony, on Flickr Del Monte Center by Eridony, on Flickr The Pitt by Eridony, on Flickr New development near the football stadium that replaces surface parking North Shore Place by Eridony, on Flickr North Shore Place by Eridony, on Flickr North Shore Place by Eridony, on Flickr Del Monte Foods by Eridony, on Flickr Heinz Field Heinz Field by Eridony, on Flickr Three Sisters by Eridony, on Flickr The Princess by Eridony, on Flickr Point State Park Fountain at the Point by Eridony, on Flickr Point State Park Fountain by Eridony, on Flickr Pittsburgh's Front Yard by Eridony, on Flickr Float On by Eridony, on Flickr The city's largest hotel Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown by Eridony, on Flickr That is all of Pittsburgh. I'll leave off with a picture of the a suburb called Bridgeville located south of the city. Bridgeville by Eridony, on Flickr
February 21, 201510 yr East Liberty has had one of the country's most dramatic changes for a neighborhood. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 22, 201510 yr Downtown Pittsburgh has so much potential but I was disappointed with how dead it was after hours and in the evenings. Cleveland and Cincinnati have so much more going on in their downtowns now.
February 22, 201510 yr Every now and then I visit Pittsburgh for their art walks. They hold them quarterly--roughly about once a season--in the downtown Cultural District. http://trustarts.culturaldistrict.org/event/2522/gallery-crawl-in-the-cultural-district Downtown certainly can be quite lively then, but that seems to be about the extent of it, short of maybe during a concert or major convention, or just game night for the Pirates with spill-over foot traffic finding its way back across the bridges from PNC Park. Regrettably, Pittsburgh's city center in general doesn't really have anything on par with Over-the-Rhine in Cincy or even E 4th or the Warehouse District in Cleveland. There are a handful of bars and restaurants scattered around, but nothing as of yet that has managed to achieve critical mass as a destination entertainment zone. For that, you have to look to East Carson Street in Southside.
February 22, 201510 yr Downtown Pittsburgh has so much potential but I was disappointed with how dead it was after hours and in the evenings. Cleveland and Cincinnati have so much more going on in their downtowns now. You say this in basically every post about Pittsburgh, and I don't think there is really any validity to it, no matter how many times you say it. Like Cincy and Cleve (and almost every other city, for that matter) downtown PGH has pockets of activity and pockets of dead zones scattered throughout the CBD. I'd estimate they have about the same amount of bars and restaurants downtown, and probably have more cultural institutions and almost certainly have a higher day time population in terms of office workers than any of the C's downtowns. They also have rail connections to other nearby hubs of activity such as Station Square and the stadiums and Warhol Museum. Having grown up visiting Pittsburgh multiple times a year, its renaissance is nothing short of incredible. Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are both phenomenal neighborhoods, and East Liberty is seeing the kind of investment that a neighborhood like Walnut Hills in Cincinnati (very comparable imo) could only dream of at the moment. I had no idea that they're getting an Ace Hotel, but that in itself is a huge deal. Urban Targets, TOD (surrounding a grade-separated BUS line nonetheless), Whole Foods, boutique hotels, etc. all moving into a neighborhood that isn't Downtown, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Southside or Oakland is pretty amazing, IMO. Pittsburgh is doing the damn thing right now, and each of the Ohio cities could and should learn from its success. I have distinct memories of PGH from the 90s and early 2000s, and much of the city used to be really bleak. Run down housing, abandoned steel mills, large vacant fields from mills that had been torn down, dive bars with bricked up windows, etc. There are still plenty of these type of areas around, but the transformation of the city in multiple neighborhoods around town (not just core neighborhoods like CBD/OTR) has been pretty awe inspiring. Keep up the good work Pittsburgh! (oh, and F*** the Steelers).
February 22, 201510 yr Downtown Pittsburgh has so much potential but I was disappointed with how dead it was after hours and in the evenings. Cleveland and Cincinnati have so much more going on in their downtowns now. You say this in basically every post about Pittsburgh, and I don't think there is really any validity to it, no matter how many times you say it. Like Cincy and Cleve (and almost every other city, for that matter) downtown PGH has pockets of activity and pockets of dead zones scattered throughout the CBD. I'd estimate they have about the same amount of bars and restaurants downtown, and probably have more cultural institutions and almost certainly have a higher day time population in terms of office workers than any of the C's downtowns. They also have rail connections to other nearby hubs of activity such as Station Square and the stadiums and Warhol Museum. Having grown up visiting Pittsburgh multiple times a year, its renaissance is nothing short of incredible. Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are both phenomenal neighborhoods, and East Liberty is seeing the kind of investment that a neighborhood like Walnut Hills in Cincinnati (very comparable imo) could only dream of at the moment. I had no idea that they're getting an Ace Hotel, but that in itself is a huge deal. Urban Targets, TOD (surrounding a grade-separated BUS line nonetheless), Whole Foods, boutique hotels, etc. all moving into a neighborhood that isn't Downtown, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Southside or Oakland is pretty amazing, IMO. Pittsburgh is doing the damn thing right now, and each of the Ohio cities could and should learn from its success. I have distinct memories of PGH from the 90s and early 2000s, and much of the city used to be really bleak. Run down housing, abandoned steel mills, large vacant fields from mills that had been torn down, dive bars with bricked up windows, etc. There are still plenty of these type of areas around, but the transformation of the city in multiple neighborhoods around town (not just core neighborhoods like CBD/OTR) has been pretty awe inspiring. Keep up the good work Pittsburgh! (oh, and F*** the Steelers). I live 45 mins from downtown Pittsburgh, and both sides of my family come from, and for the most part, still live in the city and surrounding suburbs. Most of these areas that you speak of are very close to downtown, and have experienced growth well before it started shifting to downtown. The East End has seen the most dramatic changes in my opinion (Oakland, Squirrel Hill, Bloomfield, and Shadyside). All these areas of growth have been pocketed for a while, but that growth is now shifting back to the CBD as connecting it all together. There is still a ways to go, though. Between downtown and Oakland you still have a massive eyesore that is the Hill District. We are talking plenty of abandonment and open lots. A lot of Pittsburgh's problem areas are hidden by the topography of the city. Remember, Pittsburgh lost over half of its population so there are lots of areas in the city that face immense challenges. These "islands" are quite apparent. The Southside Flats are a dense walkable neighborhood, but head up the hills or go to the east and you head into some not-so-attractive neighborhoods, and there is heavy poverty concentrated for miles and miles along the Monongahela. Heading west on Carson you have the south shore which is still mostly surface lots. The Strip District again is a dense neighborhood, but has several surface lots and an undeveloped riverfront. The North Shore has been a hotspot in recent years, but I have not been too impressed with the developments over there (architecturally) outside of around the Warhol Museum area, and again, surface parking dominates. Though, the T extension is a very nice touch they have added. Downtown Pittsburgh has to be dense because of the rivers, and the Triangle area is the hub of activity in all of Western PA. But there is still a lot of missing teeth to fill in. East Liberty is the new hot spot neighborhood in the east, but a lot of its commercial district has higher vacancy rates and looks like it belongs out in Cranberry or Robinson (new developments). I find downtown Cleveland to be more active and have more hubs of activity after work hours. Not to mention rail transportation in Cleveland is more diverse and goes in more directions than just the southern suburbs that the T offers. You can head to Shaker Square, Little Italy, University Circle to the east or you can head all the way out to the airport in the west. Pittsburgh you have to fight the traffic on the poorly designed parkway west from the airport into the city. I enjoy Playhouse Square far more than the Cultural District. So in terms of cultural institutions, downtown Cleveland wins out. Pittsburgh essentially was the Detroit of the 70s and 80s. It had to do something to turn its fortunes around. It was so solely dominated by one industry and lost so much that it hit rock bottom quick. In large part, I think its topography helped limit what you see in Detroit today, and neighborhoods like Oakland sparked that growth with its universities and cultural amenities. I do not know much about Cincinnati, but I fail to see how Cleveland can emulate Pittsburgh. It didn't fall like Pittsburgh did in the 70s, and it is a completely different city in terms of its layout and what made it tick. It's just a different city doing its own thing towards its rebirth, so it needs only to build off of its successes. Not only is downtown experiencing growth, but so are surrounding neighborhoods like Tremont, Ohio City, Detroit-Shoreway and out to the east University Circle/Little Italy, Buckeye-Shaker, and Collinwood/Waterloo area. Pittsburgh has received a lot of attention in the last decade because it realized it needed to do something quickly when the steel industry collapsed. I think it is time for Cleveland (Cincinnati too?) to showcase their comebacks, and they are starting to get that attention. I mean look at OTR, that has to be one of the most successful comeback stories of a neighborhood in the entire country over the last decade. Eridony, the quality of your pictures are terrific. I look forward to your photo threads because I know they will not disappoint. Thanks for posting!
February 22, 201510 yr Not to get into a point by point discussion, but I think Pittsburgh is far more advanced in its redevelopment than either Cincy or Cleveland. While there might not be a single block that is as packed with restaurants and entertainment as E. 4th in Cleveland, I've found that Downtown Pittsburgh has a couple of areas that are pretty vibrant at night as well. Market Square and the Cultural District both have lots of restaurants and bars, and both seem more organic than a hyper focused area like E. 4th. However, I think the area where Pgh beats the 2 C's is that development has spread outside of the core, and is happening pretty strongly in lots of places around the city. From the Southside (say what you will about the hillside neighborhoods or further east, the Southside area centered on Carson St. is unlike anything in Ohio except for maybe High St. in C-bus for continuous commercial districts) to the North Shore, to Homestead to East Liberty and the CBD, Pittsburgh is seeing the simultaneous redevelopment of multiple neighborhoods at once. Cincinnati and Cleveland both seem to be primarily revitalizing in their core neighborhoods, with limited development slowly spreading to other neighborhoods. The pace and geographical range of neighborhoods that are being revitalized in Pittsburgh just seems to be at a level that our cities are trying to get to, and hopefully eventually will. You're right that not all of the neighborhoods I mentioned are newly redeveloped or desirable, and I think that is a big strength of Pittsburgh. Like Hyde Park and Mt. Lookout in Cincinnati, these neighborhoods have always been strong outposts of wealth and are desirable neighborhoods in the city of Pittsburgh. Unlike Cleveland which has less of these type of neighborhoods within its municipal boundaries, Pittsburgh was able to build off these neighborhoods and their proximity to Oakland and Downtown to spread development to areas that might have otherwise stood neglected for a longer time. The reason East Liberty is popping off now is because of not just its proximity to downtown, but also the proximity to these other desirable neighborhoods and the transit way. I see a lot of similarities between both Cincy and Cleve to Pittsburgh. University Circle and Oakland seem like pretty comparable neighborhoods as cultural and educational districts both separated from downtown by less than desirable areas. Our cities are making great strides, but there's no reason that we can't learn from our regional peers. For one thing, CMU and Pitt seem to have a much, much larger impact than the Case in Cle or Xavier and UC in Cincy. Their presence, especially CMU, has helped Pgh get companies like Google to open up offices, which can lead to a snowball effect in business attraction. Each of our cities are great in their own ways, but there are definitely lessons to be learned from Pittsburgh.
February 22, 201510 yr For what it is worth, my old next door neighbor was from Pittsburgh. Very urban kind of guy...lived in downtown Chicago when he had a job there...Cleveland Hts here in Cleveland. Moved back to Pittsburgh about 5 years ago and bought a house in Squirrel Hill. When I was visiting recently he was lamenting how dead downtown Pittsburgh was after five. I have no first hand experience as I have only been 4-5 times (day trips) for a game or for court. Any way, that is one resident's opinion who has been around (is a consultant and travels a lot for his job).
February 22, 201510 yr Eridony, the quality of your pictures are terrific. I look forward to your photo threads because I know they will not disappoint. Thanks for posting! I appreciate that! Mostly I attribute it to the good weather I had. I always try to take pictures when the weather is nice, but I had truly exceptional weather for this trip. As for the conversation about downtown Pittsburgh being dead in comparison to places like Cleveland I have only been to both of those cities once, but the Downtown Pittsburgh was busier on the Sunday I was there than the Saturday I spent in Cleveland. That's really anecdotal though and I enjoyed both cities.
February 22, 201510 yr Not to get into a point by point discussion, but I think Pittsburgh is far more advanced in its redevelopment than either Cincy or Cleveland. While there might not be a single block that is as packed with restaurants and entertainment as E. 4th in Cleveland, I've found that Downtown Pittsburgh has a couple of areas that are pretty vibrant at night as well. Market Square and the Cultural District both have lots of restaurants and bars, and both seem more organic than a hyper focused area like E. 4th. However, I think the area where Pgh beats the 2 C's is that development has spread outside of the core, and is happening pretty strongly in lots of places around the city. From the Southside (say what you will about the hillside neighborhoods or further east, the Southside area centered on Carson St. is unlike anything in Ohio except for maybe High St. in C-bus for continuous commercial districts) to the North Shore, to Homestead to East Liberty and the CBD, Pittsburgh is seeing the simultaneous redevelopment of multiple neighborhoods at once. Cincinnati and Cleveland both seem to be primarily revitalizing in their core neighborhoods, with limited development slowly spreading to other neighborhoods. The pace and geographical range of neighborhoods that are being revitalized in Pittsburgh just seems to be at a level that our cities are trying to get to, and hopefully eventually will. You're right that not all of the neighborhoods I mentioned are newly redeveloped or desirable, and I think that is a big strength of Pittsburgh. Like Hyde Park and Mt. Lookout in Cincinnati, these neighborhoods have always been strong outposts of wealth and are desirable neighborhoods in the city of Pittsburgh. Unlike Cleveland which has less of these type of neighborhoods within its municipal boundaries, Pittsburgh was able to build off these neighborhoods and their proximity to Oakland and Downtown to spread development to areas that might have otherwise stood neglected for a longer time. The reason East Liberty is popping off now is because of not just its proximity to downtown, but also the proximity to these other desirable neighborhoods and the transit way. I see a lot of similarities between both Cincy and Cleve to Pittsburgh. University Circle and Oakland seem like pretty comparable neighborhoods as cultural and educational districts both separated from downtown by less than desirable areas. Our cities are making great strides, but there's no reason that we can't learn from our regional peers. For one thing, CMU and Pitt seem to have a much, much larger impact than the Case in Cle or Xavier and UC in Cincy. Their presence, especially CMU, has helped Pgh get companies like Google to open up offices, which can lead to a snowball effect in business attraction. Each of our cities are great in their own ways, but there are definitely lessons to be learned from Pittsburgh. You don't seem to know Cleveland very well. I don't think that Pittsburgh is far more advanced in its development versus Cleveland, maybe so with Cincinnati where the majority of the development in that city is centered around the CBD and OTR. You call Pittsburgh a "peer" city, but to me its seems like you think it is astronomically better than Cleveland or Cincinnati, but that's just my perspective. Pittsburgh really began to ramp up urban development in the late 90s and early 2000s, and Cleveland is quickly gaining its stride. I know downtown Cleveland has received a lot of attention nationally for its development in downtown and University Circle, but you're seeing many westside neighborhoods boom right now not only with typical restaurants and entertainment venues, but residential construction. The development in Ohio City, Tremont, and Detroit-Shoreway are feeding off of eachother and spreading. East 4th has a dense cluster of restaurants/clubs, but that is not the only vibrant area downtown. Take the two theatre districts, I think the vitality and overall feel is better in Playhouse Square versus the Cultural District. In downtown Cleveland you also have the Gateway District and the Warehouse District with more options available in downtown Cleveland. From what I have seen, Cleveland seems to have more people out on the streets after office hours in more areas downtown than Pittsburgh. Have you been to many of the neighborhoods just south of Southside Flats or Mount Washington? Many of them have little to be desired, and do not stand out architecturally or have vibrant business districts. I have family in Munhall, Homestead is really just the Waterfront and nothing else. It has a high vacancy rate in its little business district. It is in better shape than neighboring Braddock. Oakland really has helped spur development in Shadyside and Bloomfield because Squirrel Hill was already an established residential neighborhood. And just like Oakland, UC is spreading its development into surrounding neighborhoods (Midtown along the Healthline and projects like Upper Chester), so again, development is not just centered in downtown core neighborhoods. East Liberty is really picking up steam, but a lot is still needed to be done there. I see it a lot like the Waterloo District or Detroit-Shoreway in Cleveland where development is pushing in and creating positive impacts. But again, most surrounding eastern neighborhoods around East Liberty suffer from blight and population decline like Waterloo/Collinwood. I think with the development happening in more neighborhoods throughout the city and that development spreading around, you will see much more positives stories outside of westside neighborhoods, downtown, and University Circle. Cleveland benefits having more diverse rail options than Pittsburgh, and I think this is something that is really going to hurt Cincinnati going into the future, unfortunately. But because of the time Pittsburgh really began to heavily invest in urban development, I don't think it is far and above Cleveland.
February 22, 201510 yr I mean, in general, Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh have the same general activity in their downtown areas around the same time on the same days. Events, festivals, or a snowstorm could give a different perspective but overall, they are the same activity. Better activity than, say, downtown Buffalo, but less than Portland or Minneapolis. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
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