PGH is a City

On Blogging

2011-08-03T15:18:00.002-04:00

When I first moved to Pittsburgh in 2006, I knew almost no one that lived here. I read all the news I could about my new city, and what I learned made me excited, angry, and enthusiastic. In 2007, I started blogging. By nature, blogging is a great outlet for frustration. It also ended up introducing me to many great Pittsburghers through Podcamp and Blogfest.

But nowadays, when I'm angry or excited, I'm more likely to turn to twitter, or to rant it out over a beer with a friend on the South Side.

I will continue to blog here once in a while, and I will leave the blog up indefinitely. This isn't my joyous return to regular blogging. Instead, it's my public admission that I do not blog regularly anymore.

Thanks for reading!

Blog for Equality Redux

2011-05-10T15:32:00.003-04:00

Last year, I participated in "Blog for Equality Day" on this blog. While I have been blogging less regularly this year, equality is still near and dear to my heart.

Once again, the Pennsylvania State House is wasting time and taxpayer money on ridiculous pet projects. The state of Pennsylvania has repeatedly voted against re-defining marriage as between one man and one woman in a special constitutional amendment, but repeatedly our pathetic sniveling hypocritical house members keep leading the charge against equality.

House Bill 1434 is the latest iteration and was introduced on May 3, 2011 by Representative Darryl Metcalfe, a Republican from Butler county. He is also responsible for House Bill 934 which would require everyone to show a government-issued ID to vote and House Bill 2479, an Arizona-style immigration law, because Butler County and Pittsburgh are simply overrun by immigrants. If you live in Butler, please vote this clown out of office, so he is forced to stop merely pandering to his conservative constituents instead of fixing our broken legislature and economy.

Honestly, this bill has a long ways to go before it can do any damage. There are 3 steps to amending the state Constitution:
1) Pass the bill in House and Senate in year 1.
2) Publish it in newspapers around the state, then pass the bill in House and Senate in year 2.
3) Finally, there would be a statewide referendum.

The likelihood of all that happening is slim to none as cooler heads will prevail. But that doesn't mean that it's not a hateful joke of a bill. Read more outraged opinions here.

2011 Primaries - Allgheny County Controller Edition

2011-05-06T09:03:00.004-04:00

There are 3 varied and qualified Democratic candidates running for the illustrious position of Allegheny County Controller. The incumbent (Mark Patrick Flaherty) has tossed his hat into the County Executive position leaving the job of Controller up for grabs.

Valerie McDonald Roberts - She has a long history of public office in Allegheny County from Pittsburgh School Board President to City Council member to her current position as Recorder of Deeds. This woman is a spitfire who is hell bent on equal rights for women and minorities in public office. Hearing her speak is a pleasure. Infusing more of that passion into County government could only be a boon for us all as Pennsylvania lags behind the rest of the country's not-so-great gender wage gap. Let's see an audit on that!

Chelsa Wagner - This motivated woman is currently serving Pittsburgh in Harrisburg as a State Representative. You could say that auditing runs in her blood; she's the niece of State Auditor General Jack Wagner. I can't blame her for wanting to get the hell out of Harrisburg in spite of a potential pay cut. She's the youngest candidate by 20 years and would certainly shake things up in the county.

George Matta - George is running based on his years of experience as Controller and Mayor of the city of Duquesne. Though if you ask me, it's a stretch to call Duquesne a city with its population of 7,332. Additionally, Duquesne has seen better days. Its only high school closed down in 2007. It was designated a financially distresses municipality by the state back in 1991 - a status that's never been rescinded. And lastly, 35% of its residents live below the poverty line. Maybe he should be running for mayor of Pittsburgh with all that experience. For the past 10 years, George has been the Allegheny County Clerk of Courts.

Historically, the position of Controller has been a stepping stone for running for Allegheny County Executive. Honestly, I have nothing against any of these candidates, so at this point, I'm going with my gut. Valerie and a representative of Chelsa both attended the South Side Slopes "Meet the Candidates" meeting. George was absent. Valerie showed her passion and dedication through strong words and by virtue of showing up. She won my vote.

2011 Primaries - Allegheny County Executive Edition

2011-04-15T11:04:00.004-04:00

Just like death and taxes, elections are an inevitable life event. In Pittsburgh, primaries will be held on May 17. As a registered Democrat, I will attempt to share my opinions and some facts about the Democratic candidates for office.

This is a special year for the county. Why? After his drubbing in the state governor's race, Dan Onorato, our beloved County Executive, has decided against running for the esteemed office.

As an especially informed voter this year, I had the pleasure of listening to the canned speeches of 2 of Dan's potential successors. Unfortunately, they both seem about the same to me - going on and on about their grand plan to subvert the court's fair decision to re-assess property in Allegheny County and praising themselves and the county for avoiding property tax increases over the past 10 years while back-handedly calling our unfair tax paying residents suckers under their breath.

Both of the candidates seem to be riding the coattails of Dan Onorato's successful avoidance of property tax reassessments, their untarnished names, and pretty much nothing else, but they both showed up to my neighborhood association to campaign and give their spiel, so I have to give them credit where credit is due.

Mark Patrick Flaherty - Allegheny County Controller. Lives in Mt Lebanon with his wife and 1 daughter. Wants to study Marcellus Shale drilling further and then profit from it. Will go along with the court's wishes (against his wishes) to reassess property and attempt to insure it is done in a transparent easy-to-appeal manner. Wants light rail to the airport and all suburbs, doesn't think that the drink tax was the right solution for funding Port Authority, but says: "we have to go back to the drawing board and find a solution, because the town cannot function without public transit."

Rich Fitzgerald - Allegheny County Council President. Lives in Squirrel Hill with his wife and 8 children. Wants responsible taxed Marcellus Shale Drilling. He "opposes any effort to implement the court ordered tax reassessments." No mention of Port Authority on his election issues page.

Of these 2 candidates, I'm leaning toward Mr Flaherty. His highlighting of Port Authority on his campaign website and his willingness to follow the court's orders endear him to me.

On the Republican side, Raja, the Mt Lebanon commissioner, appears to be the favorite, which should shape up for a competitive election come the fall. Raja's running against the scoundrel we all love to hate, County Councilor Chuck McCullough.

All Hail Lenzner

2011-03-17T09:32:00.008-04:00

On March 27, Port Authority of Allegheny County will cut routes, frequencies, buses, and drivers from their payroll in an effort to survive.

Private bus company Lenzner Coach Lines is taking up the slack for one route. They are paying Port Authority for the ability to offer reduced service. There will be no free senior and student rides. There will be no discounted disability service. There will only be 4 roundtrips per week day with no weekend trips. You will have to reserve an entire month's worth of trips to step on the bus. If Port Authority offered that service for the bargain-basement price of $3.25 each way, there would be riots in the street. But Lenzner will be charging $5.00 each way and make a profit. Yes, Port Authority, people would rather pay higher fares than not take the bus.

Of course, the Port Authority brought in only $93 Million in operating revenue (i.e. fares) in 2010. They had $397 Million in expenses. Employee wages and salaries alone accounted for $143 Million. Yes, current fares don't even cover current employee wages. That doesn't include employee benefits (like the costly pension system) which were an additional $126 Million in 2010. These are astounding numbers which actually tell you that fares mean very little in the grand scheme of things.

The state helped out significantly by dropping $184 Million in the bucket last year. The county offered a relatively piddling $27 Million on top of that. With the cost of pensions continuing to explode (a $13 Million increase just last year), reading these numbers seems pretty bleak. Port Authority is not sustainable even if it could triple its fares and not lose any riders. State government led by Governor Corbett would rather just shut their eyes, plug their ears, and ignore the problem.

It's easy to blame Port Authority's runaway expenses. But if you think Port Authority's expenses are ridiculous, keep this in mind:
PennDOT alone has a budget of $3.8 Billion, which is completely independent from the Turnpike budget, and the thousands of Pennsylvania county municipality road budgets.

So in short, Port Authority needs to make these cuts. There is no knight in shining armor stepping in to pony up 10% more in funding every year just to cover increased pension obligations. And in 10 years, I won't be too surprised to learn that Lenzner is operating more and more of our bus lines and light rail. We've brought this on ourselves by blaming Port Authority and shutting our eyes. I just feel bad for Grandma.

My advice to Lenzner? Don't start offering any of those pesky pensions.

The City That Banned Gas Drilling

2011-03-07T09:50:00.004-05:00

Anecdotal impressions of Pittsburgh may be changing, and we have City Council to thank for that.

I was in Buffalo, New York over the weekend where most people I talked to hadn't been to Pittsburgh yet and didn't seem to have many impressions of this city 3 1/2 hours South.

Yet shopping in a local fashion store, I heard something new to me. "You're the city that banned gas drilling." Well, yeah, back in November, the city of Pittsburgh did ban gas drilling within the city limits, dismissed as a token effort by most around these parts. But up in Buffalo, one business proprietor says that inspired other cities to realize they could do the same thing. Buffalo enacted their ban last month after Pittsburgh paved the way.

Now that's a legacy we can be proud of.

Allegheny River Week

2011-02-17T10:47:00.000-05:00

It's 55 degrees in February, and Spring is in the air in Pittsburgh. The final stage of the Great Allegheny Passage has received funding for its last segment along the Monongahela river and will be finished by January 2012. It's only natural that the-powers-that-be should move along to the amenities along the Allegheny River.

Allegheny Riverfront Vision Plan

This $350,000 study paid for by the city of Pittsburgh and the URA outlines how to improve and capitalize on this under-utilized riverfront. The ambitious 20-year plan involves property from the Strip District all the way through Lawrenceville. Features like a commuter rail, circulator trolley, and a bike-walk green boulevard make this plan exciting. But forcing the wholesale distributors that are the heart and soul of the Strip district move up to 62nd Street definitely makes me cringe.

Active Allegheny

Not to be out-done, the Allegheny County also published its $300,000 study this week with the goal of making county residents more active and safe. Highlights of this study include the areas with the most pedestrian and bicycle accidents. Penn Ave which parallels the Allegheny River features prominently in the study with that thoroughfare ranking top on the list of priorities for infrastructure improvements and tops in terms of accidents. Hopefully, the city and the county can work together to accomplish some of their shared goals in less than 20 years!

Biking Bonus
Port Authority announced a timeline for equipping its entire bus fleet with bicycle racks thanks to a grant the authority received last year. By July, you won't have to fret about whether the next bus arriving will have a bike rack. Though with a 200% increase in Pittsburgh bike ridership in the last decade, you may have to worry about whether the bike rack is already filled.

Happy Biking!

PLCB Compromise Proposal

2011-02-10T16:05:00.003-05:00

We get it. Lots of workers are going to lose their jobs if the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) is abolished and there are lots of arguments for the state control of liquor.

But what about wine?
Only 3 other states (New Hampshire, Utah, and Wyoming) control the sale of wine (as opposed to the 18 states that control liquor). In New Hampshire, you can buy wine at grocery stores, but the state is wholesaler of wine. If the state were to sell wine licenses, they would still make a windfall profit as many entrepreneurs entered this new market. The state liquor stores could continue to sell wine and not waste the time and effort that they've spent on forging relationships with wineries.

In terms of annual profits, liquor sales account for more than 60% of the annual retail sales income which would maintain a steady supply of dough to the state coffers. The 6% State and Local sales tax would still bring $112 Million dollars to the state's coffers. And the 18% State Liquor tax would still bring $271 Million to the state's coffers.

So how about we exercise some bi-partisanship and compromise on this issue? Let's keep union jobs, expand options for entrepreneurs, make a windfall of profit, and maintain a fat revenue stream while still excessively monitoring the sale of liquor.

And maybe while we're at it, we can get a refund on the pathetic, malfunctioning waste of millions of dollars that are the wine kiosks? For those keeping track at home, the wine kiosks are back in action after over a month of being out of service.

Social Media & The Super Bowl

2011-02-03T10:36:00.002-05:00

Every year, there is a media circus surrounding the Super Bowl along with inane bets by mayors and Governors of the involved teams. There is also always a viable economic benefit for restaurants, hotels, and stores in the host town as well as the home teams cities.

This year, however, social media has extended the reach of Super Bowl fever.

Ways for the lay-person to get involved!

1) Help out local Boys & Girls Clubs and get a sneak peek of the Coke ad airing during the Super Bowl. If 10,000 people cheer on Pittsburgh through Coke's site, then the soda magnate will donate $25,000 in addition to $1 per each "cheer".

2) If you donate to Penn Future, you are joining the EnviroBowl 2011 helping to improve Pittsburgh's air quality. That's a little more important than the Bud Bowl of past years.

3) If the Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super Bowl, head on over to the Carnegie Museum of Art to see Boating on the Yerres by Gustave Caillebotte which will be temporarily loaned by the Milwaukee Museum of Art.

4) And before the Super Bowl on Sunday night, why not stop by WYEP's annual Alternative Souper Bowl to enjoy some local music and help out a local homeless shelter by donating non-perishable goods?

If we as a city are going to spend so much time and effort cheering on a football team, we might as well do some good while we're at it and show off our philanthropic side.

Pro-Choice and Pro-Safety

2011-01-27T09:18:00.004-05:00

I make no secret on this blog or in real life that I am pro-choice. I despise the weekly protests at Planned Parenthood downtown which mostly serve to deter women without health insurance from getting birth control and reasonable gynecological services.

But being pro-choice does not mean that I want a free-for-all for abortion clinics. It means I want no woman to be forced to use unsafe practices to make her choice. It means I want an end to shoddy back-door clinics. But here in Pennsylvania, state health officials overlooked this task for the last 15 years. 15 years!!! Luckily, here in Pittsburgh, when inspections resumed in 2010, no grave dangers were discovered. Unfortunately, for women in Philadelphia, that was not the case. Two women are dead, and hundreds of babies were aborted in ghastly ways.

Shame on a former pro-choice governor for neglecting safety at the expense of choice. Shame on Pennsylvania's state health officials for sitting idly by at the expense of our women and children. Shame on the reactionary politics for only resuming inspections after the Philadelphia clinic owner was brought to trial. Shame on the residents of Pennsylvania for not demanding better service from our state officials. Shame on us all if this happens again.

Onorato's Last Stand On Property Tax

2011-01-20T08:40:00.008-05:00

Dan Onorato is in his final year of office as Allegheny County Executive. He has stated that 1 of his top 3 goals in this final year is to stop court-ordered property tax reassessment. Gas drilling on airport land and increasing flight traffic round out the list. Securing funding for Port Authority didn't make the cut.

Allegheny County Council President is also begging the state to hold off on property tax reassessment.

Mr. Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill, proposed a resolution that urges the Legislature to adopt a statewide moratorium on court-ordered reassessments and calls on new Gov. Tom Corbett, a Shaler homeowner, to support it.

So what are their arguments against reassessing?

1. Other counties don't have to reassess regularly, so why should Allegheny County? The State Supreme Court has come down in favor of regular reassessments as being the only fair method to calculate property tax. It's only a matter of time until fairness becomes the standard across the state. Why fight a losing battle? Why aren't our Legislators standing up and insisting that instead of a moratorium, the state forces regular reassessments for ALL counties? Then we wouldn't have to worry about unscrupulous folks fleeing the county for lower taxes, and we would be complying with the law.

2. Property re-assessments simply generate a windfall for local governments as property values overall tend to increase over time. Another bullshit argument. County Council member/scofflaw Chuck McCullough has introduced legislation to "soften the blow" of Property Tax reassessments by generating a "bill of rights" for property owners which would prevent egregious assessment appeals and phase in any tax increases. I say take it a step further and force municipalities to lower their millage rates to keep the total revenue stream consistent over time. It's very simple math.

3. And the most ridiculous?

As Mr. Onorato did last week, Mr. Fitzgerald said he doubted that a reassessment would bring tax relief to homeowners in struggling communities. If property values go down in a neighborhood, he said, a school district may have to raise millage to compensate.

Perhaps it's true that some struggling communities like Wilkinsburg and McKeesport wouldn't significantly benefit from a reassessment. But they also wouldn't be harmed! And more often you have struggling neighborhoods or corridors within a municipality, especially the city of Pittsburgh where the poorer neighborhoods of Homewood and Allentown (amongst many others) would clearly benefit over those more affluent neighborhoods such as the South Side and Squirrel Hill.

Why all this anger about property reassessments?

Because people who live in expensive houses in this county are being systematically under-taxed. Find me one house in Allegheny County that costs more than $200,000 and is being assessed for anywhere near its value, and I will be shocked. Yet every single house on the City of Pittsburgh chopping block is being sold at significantly less than its assessed value (often about 10% of its assessed value). All of these houses are in "struggling" neighborhoods. As a matter of disclosure, I am in the former group; though my house cost significantly less than $200,000, it has a street value of significantly more than my assessed value.

So why do I care?

Because the success of the city relies on the success of all its neighborhoods. As long as the status quo remains, then our poorer neighborhoods will continue their everlasting decline and the schism between the haves and the have-nots will only increase in the city creating more and more friction and violence. Let's put a halt to widening the schism based on unfair practices. Let's vote for people who stand up for equal rights even when their pocketbooks are on the line.

New Years Resolutions

2011-01-12T17:43:00.004-05:00

While most of us make New Year's resolutions to lose weight or save money, some folks in our community decide to run for office.

Of note:

All of the odd-numbered Pittsburgh City Council seats are up for grabs this year, so expect to see more announcements soon.

And if you're fed up with the way things are going? Maybe your New Year's Resolution should be to run for office, too. If so, check out the "How to Run for Public Office" workshop on Saturday February 5. Or next year, check out Coro's annual 12-week course called "Running for Public Office."

Dedicated Funding Streams 101

2010-12-30T11:19:00.006-05:00

You may (like me) have spent the last week gorging on Christmas treats and entertaining travelers stranded in Pittsburgh because of the crippling East Coast snowstorm. However, Pittsburgh City Council has been spending their holidays coming up with last-minute solutions to avoid a potentially disastrous state take-over of the city's pensions at the end of the year.

The latest political buzzword is "Dedicated Funding Stream." The idea is as old as dirt, though. Many of us set aside money every paycheck to contribute to our 401Ks. That's a simple dedicated funding stream. Instead of getting your whole paycheck, plopping it into one big checking account, then deciding how to divvy things up, you set aside a fixed percentage every month to your future retirement that you can't change without lots of annoying paperwork.

Allegheny County's Drink Tax
Back in 2007, County Executive Dan Onorato and his council passed the extraordinarily controversial Drink tax, dedicating 10% of every tipple consumed in the county to pay for the County's share of Port Authority expenses. Now, when it's time to pay Port Authority, the Council doesn't have to slice a piece of the budget pie - that money is already set aside.

City Council's Proposal?
Pittsburgh City Council wants to dedicate future parking rate increase profits to funding the Pittsburgh pensions. I, for one, am a fan of this method. Much like we don't sell our house and put the profits in our 401K and hope for the best, just to get all our savings wiped out in a bad market downturn, we regularly contribute to our future, exercising "Dollar Cost Averaging." If you need an extra reminder why plopping a giant wad of cash onto the problem doesn't fix the problem, you need to only look back to the year 1998 in Pittsburgh. That's when then-Mayor Murphy sold over $250 Million in bonds to shore up the pension fund. All that money has since disappeared in stock market dive after stock market dive while the city continued to contribute the minimum amount possible each year.

What's Next? Will Harrisburg also jump on the dedicated funding stream bandwagon? One can only hope. As it stands now, the Pennsylvania state legislature can barely pass budgets on time while it attempts to divvy up its giant general fund. Most of the time, Port Authority gets the shaft. Let's take the control out of the hands of selfish state legislators and add some transparency to the budgeting process instead of last-minute shady deals to pass the budget. Heck, maybe the Federal government could even learn some lessons here? If I can manage my own budget, surely our governments with their teams of Ph.D. degree-holders and economists should be able to as well.

Downtown Parking Thanksgiving

2010-12-15T11:03:00.005-05:00

Mr Benter of the Benter Foundation got fed up with searching for parking downtown, so he directed his foundation to spend $175,000 to develop ParkPGH. Currently, the application-website tells users the availability of parking at 8 downtown garages in the Cultural District.

In January, ParkPGH will add a ninth location, the parking authority garage at Ninth Street and Penn Avenue. At that point, the system will encompass 5,300 spaces -- 25 percent of Downtown garage capacity.

If I'm doing the math correctly, that means there are 21,200 parking spaces available in downtown parking garages.

The system potentially benefits 2 million annual Cultural District visitors and about 150,000 daily Downtown commuters.

So we have 21,2000 parking spaces available downtown for 150,000 daily commuters. That means the vast majority of downtown workers park elsewhere and walk or take public transportation downtown.

On Tuesday night, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission narrowly voted to bail out Port Authority with an extra $45 Million they had lying around - on the condition that Port Authority still implements some cuts in March. When Port Authority enacts its slightly less catastrophic 15% compromise service cuts in March, at least all those stranded downtown workers will be able to watch the parking garages fill in real-time on their iPhone.

And to make it a parking trifecta this week, Pittsburgh City Council is fast-tracking a plan to lease our parking garages and bail out the city's own pension fund. The good news? The garages will only be leased for 40 years (instead of 50) and the city will be eligible for profit-sharing from the garages. The bad news? They're still leasing the parking meters and giving up control over parking throughout the city and not ultimately solving the city's long-term pension woes.

So in summary, thanks to Mr Benter for actually getting something done. Thanks to the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission for stepping in where the state repeatedly refuses to tread - even if the money comes with strings attached. And thanks that I'm not a Pittsburgh City Councilor stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Happy Hanukkah from Governor Rendell!

2010-12-02T10:44:00.002-05:00

Governor Rendell has put me in the holiday spirit! He just announced funding for averting catastrophic Port Authority service cuts in March.

Once again, a one-time emergency fix has bailed out the long-suffering public transportation agency. Once again, the ball is back in the State's court to come up with a dedicated funding stream for transit. Perhaps Governor Corbett can rename the Johnstown Flood Tax, which has been making a mockery of that catastrophe for decades in the name of slush funding, to the Public Transportation tax, making a strong stand in this state that if you buy liquor you're funding the drunk buses. Perhaps, they can also start issuing busperks for each case of beer you buy?

Honestly, not only did Rendell save my bus line (and dozens of others) with his dogged attempts to not give up on public transportation even in his final days of office, he also saved this blog. There's only so much defeat this blogger can overcome. So you have one more year of decent bus service, and one more year of me blogging.

Happy holidays!

Bye-Bye Buses, Hello Bikes

2010-11-17T09:59:00.004-05:00

Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAAC) is planning record cuts in bus service largely due to a reduction in state funding this year and going forward. With a new conservative Governor-elect, Port Authority funding is likely to only continue its decline at the state level and our illustrious local officials seem perfectly content to face the demise of public transportation while claiming it's not their problem.

But all is not lost. There's no time like the present to start biking in Pittsburgh. Next Fall, thanks to a final grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, all Port Authority buses will be equipped with bike racks. Currently, about 80% of the buses have bike racks. While your local bus stop (and entire line) may be cut, at least you can reliably bike between home and a further away bus stop. Perhaps it's Allegheny County's long-term plan to reduce its obesity rate which is sitting significantly higher than the national average? Personally, I'd prefer a tax on sugary drinks. A Carnegie Mellon University study last spring showed that a 1% county tax on the drinks would cut usage by 8% and generate $54 Million annually. If we can put the alcoholic drink tax toward Port Authority, why not share the burden with our sugar-guzzling friends? After all, obesity causes more deaths than just drinking alcohol.

But it's not too late for the state to at least restore some of its previous funding and stop shirking its responsibility. Go to keeppghmoving.com and make your voice heard.

CMU Capitalizing on India's Youth

2010-11-12T08:51:00.006-05:00

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is expanding its educational programs in Chennai, India. The university's forays with Chennai date back to 2007 when they partnered with a small private college to offer a graduate degree in Engineering. Back then, it was estimated that 160,000 Indians were studying abroad spending $4 Billion annually. Fast forward to 2010 and that estimate has jumped to $7.5 Billion per year spent on foreign institutions abroad. Not a bad 3 year return. Not only are Indians spending their money abroad, but they are also donating it abroad. Just last month, Harvard received a $50 Million donation from the Indian business group, Tata - their largest foreign donation in history.

India's Minister of Education's goal is to increase the rate of higher education enrollment from its current 12.4% to 30% in 2020. With 400,000,000 people in India under the age of 18, that will create a huge need for more institutions. Currently, foreign universities are not allowed to operate independently in India, but legislation which has been in the process to change that for years seems to be gaining ground. That's what universities like CMU, Ohio State University, and Virginia Tech are betting on.

For Pittsburgh, a city that has reformed itself on the basis of "Eds & Meds," a new opportunity to rapidly expand and monetize the education market can only mean good things for the local economy. I'm happy to see CMU at the forefront on this opportunity. Will CMU become the UPMC of education? Will the University of Pittsburgh or our other local universities join the bandwagon? It's hard to think of a better potential investment.

The Polls Are Open

2010-11-02T07:22:00.004-04:00

It's a happy coincidence that I'm back in the country for election day. It's jet lag though not excitement that has me blogging this early in the morning.

Your Western Pennsylvania Election Run Down:

Governor

It's a toss-up for which is the most important election this year. Since I'm a proponent of all things local, I'm going to say the race for governor is the most important. Harrisburg once again recently showed that they are completely inept by failing to pass a Marcellus Shale drilling tax. Here in Pittsburgh, our pension crisis is coming to a head because of Harrisburg's inaction. Let's put someone in the governor's chair who actually has a chance of addressing those issues.

Tom Corbett:

"Tom Corbett may not be in a hurry to enact a severance tax on natural gas drillers, but if elected Pennsylvania’s next governor, the current attorney general will begin immediately to reform state government."

Do you really trust that he's going to change his tune after he's elected and in power? Judge the man on what he's actually done - not on his promises. Judge him on what he has done, such as joining the health care suit to overturn much needed health care reform in this country.

Dan Onorato:

I'll admit it that I flip-flop on Dan Onorato. He has certainly made choices locally that I disapprove of, but that will be the case with any candidate that you have detailed knowledge of. There is no perfect candidate, but there is a "best" candidate in this election. That is Dan Onorato. He has accomplished a lot (controversially) in his time as County Executive of Allegheny County. He's making the county more energy efficient, investing in our green space, and recently announced a major breakthrough of the Allegheny trail. As governor, he will be in the position to fix the property tax miasma throughout the state and maintain his hard line on limited tax increases.

Senator

Toomey:
From his site: "Throughout his time in Congress, Pat voted for legislation to protect innocent life, strengthen marriage, and protect the traditional values upon which this country was founded."
Would those be the same values that made black men slaves and denied women the right to vote? No thank you.

Toomey's cure for the economy: "cutting taxes and decreasing regulation." Really? Really? Haven't we had enough of short-term fixes that screw us in the end?

Sestak:
His grassroots campaign upset surprised us all in the Spring when he emerged victorious over Arlen Spector. He needs your help to do it again. For information on why you should vote for Sestak, see the Post-Gazette's endorsement of Sestak.

Get out and vote!

Tea Time

2010-10-26T14:24:00.001-04:00

Çay, originally uploaded by cjette.

Be back next week.

National Do-Not-Flyer List

2010-10-13T17:16:00.005-04:00

Throughout the country, we are giving folks more rights in preventing blatant abuses of privacy. Since 2004, you have been able to sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry - preventing telemarketers from bothering you. We have laws for Junk mail - where unless you are a paying customer of a company, you have the right to remove yourself from their mailing list. The Can-Spam Act of 2003 attempts to prevent spam from flooding our email inboxes (though it has some implementation issues.)

However, spammers and their ilk will continue attempting to flood us with unwanted garbage in every avenue possible. The latest attempt in Pittsburgh? Two anti-abortion activists have sued the city in an attempt to overthrow the anti-flyer law enacted to reduce litter. Where are they getting the money for this lawsuit? Pat Robertson.

"Kathleen A. Ramsey of Ross and Albert A. Brunn of Pittsburgh want to distribute leaflets they think will influence the results of the election. They are represented by the American Center for Law & Justice, an organization founded by evangelical preacher Pat Robertson."

Prepare for pictures of dead fetuses (preview if you have the stomach) to flood your car windshields in the coming months. It's not enough that abortion protesters feel the need to harass women seeking affordable health care at Planned Parenthood. (See some horror stories from last year's 40 days for Life.) For the next month, they will also have the legal right to leave garbage on your car. I recommend that you find the anti-abortion van and plaster it with pro-Sestak flyers.

I want to put my car on the Do-Not-Flyer List. Maybe in another few years?

Step Trek 10

2010-10-08T09:22:00.002-04:00

Pittsburgh Steps, originally uploaded by cjette.

This Sunday, head on down to the South Side Slopes for some stair walking good times. With multiple routes around the South Side Slopes, you'll get some exercise, sneak peaks into some gorgeous churches, and fantastic views of the city. This is the 10th Anniversary of Step Trek and promises to be the best one yet. For more information, see the official Step Trek website!

Full of Gas in Harrisburg

2010-09-29T11:28:00.003-04:00

If there's one thing I've learned in my time in Pennsylvania, it's that you can rely on our State Legislators in Harrisburg to drag their feet. This is the same Legislature which in 2009 didn't pass its annual budget until almost 3 months after it was due.

Marcellus Shale (the huge rock formation containing huge amounts of hard-to-extract natural gas covering most of Western Pennsylvania) has been in the news for years. Companies have been ramping up operations to build wells and extract the lucrative gas since 2008. Now in the middle of a budget crisis in 2010 where our roads and public transportation options are facing severe cuts, the Legislators are finally proposing a tax on this process which is harmful to the environment and has already put billions of dollars in the pockets of investors.

Today, the State House is finally voting on a bill to tax the shale deposits. The only questions are: how much and how? Do you tax on the quantity of the gas as it is extracted from the ground or on the market value once the gas is sold or a combination of the two (as Governor Rendell supports). The current bill will only tax the gas as it is extracted, but it is set to be one of the highest rates in the nation. Of course, this is in front of the House. Once (and if) the bill reaches the Republican-controlled Senate, they will inevitably compromise and lower the rate and/or change the methodology.

Finally, once they can agree on the tax, they need to agree where the money should go - a combination of State general fund and an environmental fund to counteract the damages imposed by drilling.

Needless to say the drilling companies have predicted doom and gloom if the bill is passed in Pennsylvania. And Legislators are hesitant to pass a law so close to an important mid-term election. Will they pass the law before they leave for campaigning break in mid-October? I'll wager my bus fare because if they don't pass the law, I won't be taking the bus anymore anyways.

As a note, all other 24 Marcellus Shale states have already passed a tax. Pennsylvania is dead last.

$452 Million is TOO Much Money

2010-09-22T09:23:00.003-04:00

After weeks of waiting, the final tally has come in. The city needed a minimum of a $300 Million bid for the parking assets in order to pay off the existing parking authority debt and boost the pension fund up to 50% funding.

The city got an offer of $452 Million.

For weeks, city residents were told that these over-arching changes were required. There was no way to separate the parking garages from the parking meters. Every adjustment the administration made to the proposal would highly risk our ability to be competitive. We needed to "keep the deal attactive to potential bidders."

And then what happens??? We end up with way too much money.

So what do I say? Put the project back out to bid for just the parking garages. Give the 7 pre-picked firms the option of re-submitting bids for just the garages. After all, the Metered Parking System Agreement is already separate from the Parking Facilities Agreement. I'm willing to bet that we can get $300 Million for the facilities alone.

Leasing our parking meters for 50 years is simply ridiculous. Letting someone else control where and how much our parking meters cost will be deadly to local businesses and future development. There is free-market competition for the parking garages and the ability for 3rd parties to build more. When it comes to parking meters, there is no such thing.

What about Port Authority's quest for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) which would greatly improve our transportation options in certain corridors but could require elimination of some parking meters? If the parking meters are leased, that becomes an added expense to the project. The city should control its roads. Lease some profitable parking garages downtown, but don't sell out our roads.

Or do you really trust City Council and the Mayor's office with a $150 Million bonus?

Or we can wait until Friday when City Council's study of the parking situation comes to light.

Whatever the case, we know now that either the Mayor had no idea what the parking garages are worth (and still doesn't) or his office was perfectly willing to bully the city into giving away way too much power. Seriously, it's going to cost $2 per hour to park in the struggling neighborhood of Brookline but we're supposed to be happy that the Mayor saved our free Sundays?

3 Important Announcements for this Week in Pittsburgh

2010-09-15T08:48:00.007-04:00

1) Today (Tuesday), the parking lease proposals are due. 7 Firms were given the opportunity to submit their bids by 4PM today. Run on over to nullspace to make your proposal guesses now!

2) Thursday, we learn once and for all whether the Civic Arena will be imploded. Who am I kidding? They'll decide to implode it, and then we'll be in for another round of appeals from the "Re-Use the Igloo" folks. Perhaps their best argument so far has been this image:

3) Podcamp Pittsburgh is this weekend. To sweeten the pot, buildasign.com has given me 50 bumper stickers to dole out to my Pittsburgh-crazed groupies. Since I don't have groupies, anyone I see at Podcamp will be eligible for a PghIsACity-themed bumper sticker (while supplies last.)

Made my signs

The Steelers Are Coming

2010-09-08T09:35:00.005-04:00

A new CMU Miller Gallery exhibit, "Whatever it takes", hopes to gain new insight on the Steelers phenomenon highlighting outlandish fans near and far. The exhibit opens this weekend. If you've always been looking for a good excuse to check out this gallery, now is the time. Also, if you have a Steelers tattoo or a special game-day ritual, they want you to become part of the exhibit.

Like most fans, I wear my jersey on game day, and I strive to watch every game, from walking through a snow storm to watch the game at a Steelers bar in Massachusetts to catching snippits of a game in a bar in Argentina with "buffalo wings" that resembled chicken cacciatore. This Sunday, I'll be heading down to the South Side stopping in wherever there's a good crowd, but I can still get a seat. And this Friday, I'm hoping to check out the Immaculate Reception, the CMU gallery's cleverly titled opening reception.

If you've managed to miss it, check out "Yinz Luv da Stillers" below whose work will be featured at the Miller Gallery.

How Many More Hospital Visits?

2010-09-02T09:49:00.009-04:00

Why did the chicken cross the road?
Or why did Justin McFadden cross West Carson Street around 2AM 6 days ago?

To get to the other side.

What happened to Justin McFadden? An off-duty, impaired (read: drunk) Kennedy police officer hit him. Remember kids, buzzed driving is drunk driving.

Justin McFadden is now in the hospital with 6 broken ribs, a neck fracture, and a spleen injury. He had blood clots in his brain and collapsed lungs. This was no mere brush with a vehicle. This was a serious collision.

What does the un-biased Tribune-Review have to say about this? They quote a random passerby:

"That's the worst place on that road to cross because the jersey barrier blocks everything, and you wouldn't see anyone until the last second"

And you know what a sober, alert driver does, when they see someone in the road at the last second? They swerve out of the way and crash into a jersey barrier rather than slamming into the pedestrian. By quoting this garbage in the paper, the Trib is almost justifying this near-murder by a drunk-driver saying that the young man shouldn't have been in the street. Yeah, there'd be no drunk-driving accidents if folks just stuck to crosswalks.

And the police officer that hit him and may or may not have left the scene and not reported the crime? He's sitting off-duty receiving pay yet to face any charges. We can only hope that next time he's out drinking, he calls BeMyDD.

Justin's father says:

"I just feel like if I was the one who hit someone, I'd be in jail right now"

And I can't help but agree.

Councilman Kraus versus the South Side

2010-09-01T18:08:00.004-04:00

Love him or hate him, Pittsburgh City Councilman Bruce Kraus cares about his South Side constituents. Since he was elected, he has made it his crusade to stem the tide of violence, disrespect, and litter in the South Side. Earlier this summer, he organized the "Sociable City Forum" bringing local leaders and bar owners together. Last year, his intern created the following document: "INVITING, SAFE, AND COHESIVE: A PROPOSAL FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE SOUTH SIDE USING RESPONSIBLE HOSPITALITY PRACTICES" This proposal outlines the many ways the South Side could be better handled. But unfortunately funding is an ever-present issue in the city, and none of these recommendations have been implemented.

This past weekend, we had a stark reminder of why it's so important to make changes on the South Side. After getting into a fight with a bouncer, a bar patron opened fire wounding the bouncer and two bystanders. This is unacceptable. Stories like this are why I try to leave the South Side craziness before all hell breaks loose at closing time. Every Friday and Saturday night I've been on the South Side, I've experienced drunken belligerence and fights - though thankfully no gunshots yet. This behavior is unacceptable. Are we going to wait until 4 people get killed?

But our Mayor keeps pushing this off on Councilman Kraus as a minor district problem. Moreover, it seems the Mayor's office is turning a blind eye to Kraus's efforts.

Ms. Doven [Mayoral Spokeswoman] said Mr. Kraus "hasn't brought us anything by way of recommendations, solutions, a white paper" and questioned his willingness to work with the mayor's office. She said previous enforcement blitzes on the South Side yielded only temporary improvements.

Mr Mayor, perhaps if you read your mail, you would have opened your personal invitation to the South Side Sociable City Forum. Or perhaps you could go to Councilman Kraus's web-page on the city website where he outlines the above goals. Or maybe once a week, you could read the newspaper which regularly highlights Kraus's attempts at legislation and change in the South Side. Since being elected, Kraus has managed to get laws passed to increase fines for open alcohol containers and created a fine for public urination.

Perhaps money collected from these fines could be funneled directly back into the South Side police presence? Whatever the case, you can disagree with his tactics, but you can not disagree that Councilman Kraus is willing to work on this vital issue.

Designated Drivers to the Rescue

2010-08-26T08:56:00.005-04:00

Anecdotal evidence walking in the South Side on a Friday night says that people in Pittsburgh have a major drunk-driving problem. But what do you do when you're drunk and you're out with your car? A new company aims to take away one pathetic excuse for the drunk drivers. You (or your concerned friend) call 1-877-U-BMYDD. For a reasonable fee, they will drive you and your car home. You can also reserve their driving services ahead of time on their website. But if you are the type of person to get smashed with your car, you're probably not planning ahead, are you?

Now, we just have to convince Pittsburgh drivers that they shouldn't be driving drunk. This week, there is a state-wide push to crack down on drunk drivers.

"Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials said drunken driving increases as the summer comes to an end. According to records, last year there were more than 450 alcohol related crashes in Pennsylvania on the weekends surrounding Labor Day."

How about they "crack down" every weekend on the South Side? Of course, it's hard to have effective checkpoints when even the cops drive under the influence. But it's promising that BeMyDD is expanding to Pittsburgh after successfully launching in 3 Ohio cities. According to Men's Health, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus are all doing better than us at addressing drinking with ranks of 73, 72, and 83 respectively, but Pittsburgh's ranking of 59th means there are a lot of cities with a lot more work to do. This is one list that I'm glad we're not topping.

Dear American Women

2010-08-18T14:36:00.005-04:00

90 years ago today, your foremothers and forefathers were celebrating the passing of the 19th Amendment and your right to vote. The passing was the result of a multi-year effort fraught with ups and downs. Of the 36 required states, Pennsylvania was the 7th state to ratify the amendment. Many states voted against women's suffrage in 1920 including Mississippi who did not jump on board until 1984.

Don't waste your rights and the efforts of your foremothers. And don't forget that with enough effort, you can change the status quo.

Sincerely,

pghisacity

Who Respects Freedom of Religion?

2010-08-17T15:10:00.004-04:00

It's the dog days of summer in Pittsburgh, and elections are starting to heat up in Pennsylvania. Voting day in this mid-term election is Tuesday November 2. Joe Sestak is fighting it out with Pat Toomey to take Arlen Specter's space. Joe made waves earlier this year when he pulled off a Democratic Primary upset against Specter. In the meantime, he's gained some major support from the party with New York City Mayor Bloomberg endorsing Sestak this week in light of his pro-Constitution stance in light of the effort to build a mosque in Lower Manhattan.

"Joe believes there is a Constitutional right to religious freedom and separation of church and state that applies equally to all Americans," Sestak spokesman Jonathon Dworkin said. "But he is not looking to say what is best for New York - as long as that right is respected - he is focused on Pennsylvania."

Meanwhile, Toomey has spoken out against the building of a mosque in Lower Manhattan.

"It is provocative in the extreme to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero," said Toomey spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik. "Islamic leaders should be encouraged to move the mosque elsewhere."

A recent poll shows Toomey has pulling ahead in the Senate race with a 9-point advantage. Public Policy Polling finds that in spite of an advantage in registered Democrats, Democrats are less likely to vote in this election. I, for one, will be trying to prove them wrong on November 2. I hope that the Republican party pulls more stunts like trying to limit freedom of religion in the run-up to these mid-term elections because I think they will find that us Democrats do get riled up about more than "change." As soon as we start limiting freedom of religion, we stop being a free democracy and start on the path to a religious state. No thank you.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Wine Kiosks

2010-08-11T10:54:00.004-04:00

In the past, I have lambasted the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's newest project: wine kiosks. However, now that the wine kiosks are rapidly expanding and making their way to 14 Western Pennsylvania Giant Eagles by September, I'm starting to embrace the idea.

How they work? You're allowed to buy wine from a sophisticated vending machine.

A customer must first scan his driver's license by inserting it into a slot on the kiosk, then peer into a camera so that an LCB employee working at an office in Harrisburg can determine that the customer is the same person pictured on the license.

So what's the next step? Why not have independent stores with the same "safeguards"? Why not have Giant Eagle employ sommeliers next to their wine kiosk who can answer questions and determine which wines fill up the kiosk? Why not let Dreadnought Wines in the Strip District have their own kiosk filled with their own chosen wines?

Who's complaining? The Independent State Store Union. Members of this union know their jobs are at risk. It's unfortunate for the folks who work at the state stores. They have a pretty swell gig with a guaranteed pension in a market that has been ever-increasing for as far back as anyone can remember. But change is inevitable and cushy state pensions are on the chopping block. Ultimately, more options for buying wine will mean more jobs. So I say: Bring on the wine kiosks and may more change keep coming.

Ridgemont Rejects New Residents

2010-08-03T09:57:00.006-04:00

I'm going to preface this post by saying I know nothing about this City Vista development other than today's news snippet in the Post-Gazette.

"The project initially involved nearly 500 residential units and 26 acres -- 10 of those in the City of Pittsburgh. After complaints from the city's Ridgemont residents, the plans were revamped to include only Green Tree at this time. Developers may revisit plans to expand City Vista into Pittsburgh"

But let me get this straight. A developer wanted to build a cross-city-border development in 10 acres of the city and one neighborhood turned it down. How about we raise taxes on Ridgemont residents since they clearly don't want an influx of property taxes and new resident wage taxes into the city coffers. Maybe they're not being taxed enough?

Let's look at the census assessment of Ridgemont:

Its population as of the 2000 census was 530 people. Down from 590 in 1990 and 884 in 1940. Of its 223 housing units, only 2 units were vacant which is an impressive statistic. Of those units a mere 26 (or 11%) are renters. Sounds to me like Ridgemont is fine with the status quo. They don't want any renters invading their peaceful neighborhood.

I understand that not every development is worthwhile, but when your neighborhood is losing population and your city is struggling, it is the time to welcome new housing stock. Let's hope when the developer comes back and wants to expand again, Ridgemont has the common sense to work with the developer.

Pittsburgh Council Wants You

2010-07-31T14:40:00.001-04:00

Last week, Pittsburgh City Council wandered around to Downtown, South Side, and Oakland for public hearings. Monday night, they will visit the North Side to share their side of the pension woes and the mayor's attempt at a stop-gap fix at the expense of the citizens.

As it currently stands, Mayor Ravenstahl is ready to give away the bank to the highest bidder. That means tripling most parking meter rates over the next 4 years, meter enforcement till 10PM everyday including Sundays. That means no more free ride in city downtown parking garages.

I attended last week's South Side hearing to voice my opinion and listen to others. The resounding responses? 50 years (the intended lease agreement length) is a very long time. One of the plan stipulations is that the City of Pittsburgh will pay the lessee if a parking space is out of commission for 22 days in a year. One speaker aptly asked "What if we had locked into a plan 50 years ago?" We'd be paying some company a fee for not using those covered-up trolley lines if you ask me.

Residents also fervently proclaimed that leasing the parking garages is bad business. The city is selling low right now because the city is at a disadvantage. And what is the lessee going to do? Make a steep profit off of higher rates that we've been too afraid to implement ourselves for fear of driving away business. Why not raise the rates, put the profit towards the pensions, and cut out the middle man? Pittsburgh City Council is leaning towards a plan that will issue a bond to increase the contents of the pension fund and retain control over the parking situation. They would continue to raise rates, but since the city would still ultimately be in control, they could respond to suffering businesses and residents if the rates became too unwieldy. That sounds like good business to me.

So why am I telling you this? In order to pull off this coup, 5 city council members need to stand up to pressure from Mayor Ravenstahl and our Harrisburg Legislators. City council is only willing to do this if we insist on this plan. So let your city councilors know that you support them standing up to Harrisburg and Mayor Ravenstahl. Let them know that it's bad business to hand away our assets and lose control of our streets. Will this still mean increased parking rates? Yes. But it also means that the increases will be with the success of the city in mind - instead of a big conglomerate that just wants to profit off of our residents in a time of need.

Pittsburgh is Farming

2010-07-26T17:13:00.003-04:00

Pittsburgh is a city, but almost as soon as you leave the city limits, the area becomes farmland. This is one of the unsung wonders of our city, supplying our farmer's markets with plentiful and reasonable fruits and vegetables all summer long. This weekend as part of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) annual farm tour, over 20 farm opened their doors to visitors. I managed to visit 5 of those farms.

At Shenot Farm on a quintessential hay ride, I learned they are collaborating with Penn State to practice mating disruption throughout their farm. This is a method of reducing insects without pesticides. They hang little pheromone tags on peach trees and apple trees to confuse the insects while saving money and our fragile environment at the same time. Soergel's mega-orchard is also using this method.

At Pound's Turkey Farm, I was surprised to learn that not only do they raise turkeys and cows, but they also grow most of the feed that these animals consume. I learned first-hand that turkeys are curious creatures that follow people around and like to play with toys, and I even got to hold a baby turkey in my hand. Maybe it will be my Thanksgiving dinner?

Over at Jamison Farms, I was transported to Ireland. Sheep roam the hillsides, and John Jamison will talk your ear off about his lamb and why Americans tend to reject this delicious meat. He's convinced many chefs of the greatness of his lamb including the ones at Legume and Sonoma Grille locally. You can also buy direct from the source and try your hand at cooking this delectable lamb at home.

All of these farms are less than an hour from downtown. Of course, you don't need to leave Pittsburgh's urban environment to see agriculture in action in Pittsburgh. Burgh Bees is a pioneer in urban community apiaries with a test site in progress in Homewood. Recently, Dan Onorato announced "Allegheny Grows," a plan to turn county land into urban farms and community gardens. Even the Pittsburgh Pirates have caught the farming bug. Their Pepsi Refresh Project is to create yet another urban community garden - in Homewood.

You can talk about a lot of great things in Pittsburgh, but this summer, the thing I'm most thankful for is our connection to the earth. Pittsburgh's next #1 ranking should be city with the most opportunity for sustainable urban living.

Steve Bland Not So Reluctant

2010-07-21T11:18:00.002-04:00

On June 14, I blogged that Steve Bland CEO of Port Authority, was "reluctant to raise the $2 base fare for Zone 1 because that would hurt its lowest-income customers and affect routes that are the most cost-effective." Instead, he threatened to raise suburban bus fares upwards of $7 one-way.

Who protested? The lowest-income customers who are busy putting food on their table? Or the downtown workers from the suburbs who can afford an increase the most? The results are pretty clear. Both zone 1 and zone 2 fares are going to raise by a whopping $0.25. In case you're not keeping track at home, that's a 12.5% increase in fare for the lowest-income customers who were already paying their way. The customers out in the suburbs will only see a 9% increase.

Not that the suburbanites are getting off easy in this highly probable round of cuts.

Among the 50-plus communities that would be left with no service are East McKeesport, Franklin Park, Glassport, Hampton, Indiana Township, Liberty, Marshall, North Versailles, Pennsbury Village, Port Vue, South Park and Wall, and the city neighborhoods of Banksville and Spring Garden. Service to the Edgewood Towne Centre and Robinson Town Centre shopping complexes would be abolished, the agency said.

But honestly, why does the Port Authority continue to subsidize suburban living when city dwellers are over-paying their fare share (and then some)? This is yet another case of poor judgment for the Port Authority. If the Port Authority unveiled a plan to charge the actual cost for each bus route (since they now have that data), people would be unhappy but they would understand the logic. Instead, we have unfair, illogical bus fare increases and radical service cuts insuring that everyone is unhappy.

Obviously, Port Authority wants us all to be angry and yell at our state legislators to restore funding for public transportation (which you should). But if Steve Bland is just playing a massive chess game with the state legislature, I'm afraid he's going to lose, and the lowest-income customers will be the biggest losers. So go contact your state legislators, and while you're at it, give Port Authority a piece of your mind.

Sandcastle and the Great Allegheny Passage

2010-07-13T08:55:00.006-04:00

When Kennywood and its sister park, Sandcastle were purchased by a European amusement park conglomerate, there was outrage and fear. What would become of Pittsburgh's beloved park? Happily, two years later, not much has changed on the park operations to the outsider.

For the bike community, the sale of the amusement parks may have been the best thing that could have happened. For years, the old local park owners had refused to allow the Great Allegheny Passage, the bike trail that starts in Pittsburgh and ultimately connects to Washington, DC by way of Sandcastle, through their property.

Today, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and James Judy, vice president of operations for Palace Entertainment, who manages the park, have both been quoted that they're shortly announcing an agreement to allow the trail through Sandcastle. This isn't the first time close talks between the park and the county have been announced. Back in 2008 when Pittsburgh was celebrating its 250th anniversary and clamoring for the completion of the trail as a birthday present, there were similar talks which fell flat after the celebration. Now, however, with new international management the trail issue has become more than a provincial argument. Even Newsweek took up the case of the trail, and helped apply the pressure to this decades old effort.

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh bike community and Dan Onorato for not giving up on this project. With this latest almost-announcement, I fully expect to see the trail completed by the new goal: 11/11/2011. See you in Washington, DC!

The Libraries versus the Cigars - or Money Talks

2010-07-06T16:14:00.004-04:00

The Pennsylvania State Legislature pulled a marathon session last week to pass the state budget on time. They deserved to go out and celebrate this weekend. Maybe they smoked some cigars - the typical celebratory tobacco product? It would be especially fitting as once again, the State Legislature opted against taxing cigars.

Cigars are addictive and cause cancer. Cigars are an expensive, luxury product costing up to and over $1,000 each. Yet, we don't tax cigars. Cigar bars are exempt from the smoking ban. Why do we as a state continually choose to reward cigar smokers while having a hefty cigarette tax?

"Altria and Cigars International, also hired Harrisburg lobbyists to help them bring their message directly to policy-makers."

How much do you want to bet those lobbyists handed out cigars to lawmakers for the holiday weekend? Maybe if the Carnegie libraries wanted to avoid the 8.4% cut in library funding that also passed in this budget they should have created some hybrid cigar bar libraries.

The State Liquor Store Hoax

2010-06-22T09:20:00.003-04:00

Once again, the subject of privatizing the state liquor stores has been raised, and once again we hear the alarmist cry.

Rebecca Shaver, state executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said she supports the current state system and is particularly concerned about an increase in the number of liquor stores."If there is a larger number of licenses being issued, which leads to more availability, which leads to more consumption, we prefer that the system that we have in place remains in place," she said.

But is it true that more liquor stores leads to more drinking and drunk driving? Yet 17.6% of our population admits to binge drinking (7th in the nation). In sheer numbers, Pennsylvania ranked 4th in the nation for number of alcohol related fatalities (which is partly reflected by our #6 population rank). When it comes to underage drinking, we fall in the list to #22 with 30% of our minors drinking. Though 20% of them binge drink (which puts us at #18). There's only one other state in the nation (New Hampshire) which has a state run liquor store. Shouldn't we be tied for last with them in all these statistics if state run liquor stores can prevent drinking and drunk driving?

The farce of the matter is that our politicians hide behind our well-meaning alarmists in order to keep the profits from the state liquor stores headed into the general fund. We do not maintain state liquor stores for safety or to prevent underage drinking. We maintain these stores because they bring in record profits every year. The state has no business in running liquor stores. It's a bloated business that sends out glossy advertisements in the newspaper every week, and severely limits entrepreneurship in the state. The 621 state-run liquor stores could be small businesses that pay taxes and contribute to our society. Instead, we have a monopoly which does not adapt to the individual needs of each region. Instead of attempting to limit alcohol consumption and educate consumers about the dangers of alcohol, the PLCB (Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board) is planning self-serve kiosks and wants to re-brand itself with a new name, such as "Table Leaf."

Customers spend an average of three minutes in a liquor store, PLCB Chairman Patrick J. Stapleton told a state House-Senate committee recently. He called that “unacceptable.”

Officials said the renovations and new focus could generate more money for the state. The PLCB provided the state with more than $518 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Rebecca Shaver, do you really want the PLCB chairman plotting on how to get customers to spend more time in the liquor store?

Do Bicyclists Deserve to be Attacked?

2010-06-18T10:31:00.003-04:00

Many folks have noticed a rash of recent attacks on bike riders. From the South Side to the East End, these attacks are troubling. Yesterday, Mike Pintek, radio announcer for KDKA, interviewed Bill Nesper of the League of American Bicyclists who recently awarded Pittsburgh a bronze medal bike-friendly status.

Mike said: "There are some bicyclists who are just these arrogant little dorks that think that they can do anything they want because they're on a bicycle and we're being green and environmentally friendly."

Mike Pintek wonders if the recent rash of attack on cyclists is because of their "arrogance." He cites the fact that a robbery didn't occur during any of the attacks implies that the bikers somehow caused the attacks. Last November, someone threw an empty bottle of Captain Morgan rum through the rear windshield of my parked car in the middle of the night. They didn't bother stealing the CDs, radio, or other valuable items in the car. Perhaps my car was being "arrogant" and the vigilantes wanted to teach it a lesson? Or maybe more likely, they were drunk kids who didn't think there would be any ramifications for their actions, and my car was an easy target.

We need to view these attacks with some perspective. It's easy to jump to the conclusion that there is an underlying anti-bike sentiment or that this is new. Back in 2007, the City Paper published an article about a string of attacks on bicyclists back then. Now, we have more extensive reporting and blogging about them. Also, these same gangs of roving juveniles tend to target pedestrians and smash car windows as well.

Let's take this opportunity to nip this recent rash of bicyclist attacks in the bud by showing a strong police and public response that this will not be tolerated. Let's certainly not excuse the attacks because some bicyclists may be "arrogant." To me, this logic is akin to suggesting that women who wear short skirts are asking for rape. Or that men walking down the street deserve to be beat up if they flick their wrists. There is no excuse for this violence. Mike Pintek and others clearly feel threatened by the increase in bicyclists on our streets. They need to learn to live with it, and we need to show them that their behavior is unacceptable.

Raising Bus Fares and other Taxes

2010-06-14T10:47:00.004-04:00

Steve Bland, Port Authority's CEO, is facing some tough choices. An unexpected cut in state funding (due to the state's moronic dependence on inappropriately tolling Interstate 80) is forcing Port Authority to face $25 Million in less funding. The authority is pondering cutting routes, cutting service (including eliminating nights & weekends), and increasing fares.

Mr. Bland said the authority is reluctant to raise the $2 base fare for Zone 1 because that would hurt its lowest-income customers and affect routes that are the most cost-effective.

On some urban routes, the authority's cost per passenger is less than the $2 fare, he said. Meanwhile, on routes that serve outlying suburbs, the per-passenger cost is $7 or more and the fare just $2.75.

So what Mr Bland is saying is that lowest-income customers are actually helping to subsidize the outer zone customers? Sure, raise those outer zone fares. But keep in mind that if you make a round-trip bus fare on par with parking downtown, more people will drive and park downtown. Of course, if the state can get its act together and find some funding, most of these threats can be eliminated. From Marcellus Shale to chewing tobacco, there are lots of untapped revenue sources in this state. Unfortunately, legislators are afraid they'll lose their jobs if they raise the gas tax or find other tax sources. It's up to you to tell your legislator he or she will lose their job if they allow these massive public transportation cuts to happen.

Immigration Laws in Pennsylvania

2010-06-09T09:47:00.005-04:00

One thing always strike me about anti-immigration rhetoric and laws. Laws tend to target the immigrant and not the folks employing illegal immigrants. Case in point, the recent controversial Arizona law which makes it possible for the police to essentially harass anyone who's not lily white. This method of targeting the immigrant ends up dividing families and encourages a police state. Immigrants don't come to America because they like the weather. They come to escape hardship and get jobs. If the jobs don't exist, they won't flood our gates. In Connecticut they have scheduled immigrant pick-up stops where you can get a laborer for the day. They also have plans to build full-fledged shelters at the stops. The residents of Connecticut don't care because they get cheap labor without thinking of the long-term health care, schooling, and judicial costs. This is repeated in Home Depots across the country. If someone gets in trouble, it won't be the day employer, it will be the laborer, who will get kicked out of the country and replaced by yet another cheap immigrant laborer. It's a vicious cycle and ultimately the people who get the most hurt are the immigrants.

However, Pennsylvania's latest laws actually aim to target those employers who get cheap immigrant labor, then undercut responsible employers in state bids.

House Bills 1502 and 1503 require employers to verify the social security numbers of their employees if they are going to bid on state projects. These house bills (which you can read in their entirety and discuss at the new site Mygov365.com if you're so inclined) target the employers instead of the employees. Of course, they're still not perfect. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is quick to point out that the methods for determining whether someone has a valid social security number are flawed. However, these house bills also have overwhelming bi-partisan support. I'll be watching these closely as they goes through the State Senate.

Grand Jury has Grand Goals

2010-05-27T09:05:00.003-04:00

Until yesterday, the sole job of 35 Salaried PennDOT employees was to handle legislative requests - to the tune of 246,000 requests per year. On the Democratic side of the state house, there are at least 10 "PennDOT Specialists" who submit those requests.

The House Republican spokesman, Steve Miskin is livid about the changes. The Tribune-Review quoted the following:

"You're saying the legislator, the vocal representative for that community, can't help their constituents out? That is their job. That is what they're supposed to do."

Steve, your job is to enable constituents to get what they need. It's not to bloat our government beyond repair. What's next? Does the state legislature have special PLCB (Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board) specialists that will place special orders for you when you can't figure out how to do it yourself? Honestly, if you can't figure out how to register your car or get a driver's license, you probably shouldn't be driving.

The grand jury investigated the entire state house and identified these easy pickings as the first steps in attempting to reform Harrisburg. The grand jury is also recommending reducing the size of the legislature, implementing term limits, eliminating per diem supplements, and increasing the term length from 2 years to 4 years. Those changes are pretty radical and will require a constitutional convention in Pennsylvania. These changes will only happen when pigs fly unless we put pressure on the state government. This is an election year for governor, so us voters have some sway this year. Both Onorato and Corbett claim that they want state-wide reform. Let's push our candidates to implement real reform this year and start to chip away at the country club that is our state Legislature.

Why Should We Care about the Igloo?

2010-05-26T08:56:00.004-04:00

When Rob Pfaffman, a Pittsburgh architect, shows up to champion the reuse of Mellon Arena, he has two problems. First, he has to convince folks that the building is worth saving. Second, he has to convince folks to care.

Up until now, he has largely focused his public awareness meetings in the Hill District, where he has found, mostly, that folks don't care. Now, he is expanding his radius to the whole of Pittsburgh, hoping that we will fall in love with the idea that the Igloo is to Pittsburgh as the Eye is to Seattle.

They have a very comprehensive website where you can read for yourself and decide if you think the building is worth saving.

I think that Pittsblog captures the general public sentiment:

"The Igloo should go. It is not the Pantheon; it is not Penn Station. It is an eyesore. The space occupied by that building represents an opportunity to re-create and re-invent a big slice of Pittsburgh's urban fabric. (Of course, given Pittsburgh's history with redevelopment over the last 50 years, the city might well blow its big chance.) But that's just me."

But there are some, like me, who have drunk the Kool-Aid. Personally, I find the building to be an icon. Looking out from my deck, I can see the ~~US Steel~~ UPMC building, the Cathedral of Learning, the Igloo, and many other buildings. But it's those first 3 that really stand out, and that I always point out to friends. I will miss it if it's gone. From above, the new arena is another bland block in the landscape.

But mostly, Mr Pfaffman is selling the building and not a vision. One of the foremost plans I've heard for reuse is turning the decrepit arena into a boutique hotel. He says this is not about "nostalgia," but I have to say that the only ones wanting to stay in an over-priced arena boutique hotel are those overcome by nostalgia. For the residents of the Hill District, this would not be an amenity, just yet another reason for rich folks to stop through. Another reuse idea I hear floated about is as a non-professional sporting arena. Folks have championed ideas from a hockey rink to a velodrome. Once again, this is meant to appeal to general area dwellers and is not marketed at the Hill District. These plans will not generate any more or less jobs for Hill District residents than the Penguins plan.

Throwing a bone to Hill District residents, Pfaffman has plans for a walk with interpretive signs.

Needless to say, another multi-multi-million dollar project with some spare change thrown into interpretive signs, doesn't get Hill District residents involved and interested. If Rob Pfaffman and his crew really want to save the arena, they will find a vision for the new site that appeals to Hill District residents. Historians and those stepped-on by history have a chance of creating the momentum that will be needed to sway the Penguins management. How about a Hill District charter school on the site? Or a museum dedicated to the area?

Lastly, may I suggest a compromise? Incorporating architectural elements of the old building into the new development would act as a reminder and a teaching point for years to come. At the Waterfront, we have relic smoke stacks. At Station Square, there is an old train car. While these are not perfect examples, at least it's something. Clearly, it's too early for either side to give in to compromise, but I hope that in the end they find some middle ground.

Thanks to Eve Picker for putting together an informative panel and generating a lively discussion on the future of the Igloo at the monthly CityLive! event. If you haven't been to a CityLive! event and you care about issues in the city, you're really missing out on a great time. Next up, on June 29, Eve and her crew are tackling the issue of water in the city. RSVP today. Bonus? The events are free.

Pay Your Parking Meter

2010-05-20T09:13:00.003-04:00

I've gotten one parking ticket in Pittsburgh (for an expired meter) and I was shocked at how low the fee was - $16 in Oakland. It's the same in Downtown and Uptown. Outside of those neighborhoods, you currently pay a measly $11. Most parking enforcement fees settle at $15. Considering you'd be lucky to find parking in a garage in Oakland or Downtown for that price, I'm betting most people find it worth the parking ticket risk, especially when they're running late for a $100 per ticket Penguins game. (But whatever you do, don't park in a handicapped space or you'll be facing fines of $200 and lots of bad karma.)

The city of Pittsburgh has noticed this discrepancy and in the latest round of "what-can-we-tax-next" has settled on parking enforcement fees. So far, they're not seeing much push back, and the preliminary vote is today. Personally, I think Pittsburgh has dropped the ball on this one. The rates haven't been raised since they were decided upon in 1988. Has anything else in this country stayed the same price in those intervening 22 years? Certainly, our meter maids salaries have risen in the meantime putting a crunch on the city's budget. I implore the city to research and find other oversights and to put into place a reasonable plan for increasing general fees with inflation and stay away from silly, divisive taxes on pop. Nobody likes to pay more for services, but unfortunately that's the nature of money.

Perhaps this move will also take some pressure off the leasing of the parking garages fear. If the city is willing to raise rates involving parking and the sky doesn't fall, maybe we will survive a lease of the parking garages.

Happy Primary Day

2010-05-18T09:47:00.003-04:00

If you're registered for the Republican or Democratic party, today is the day to get out and vote. Read up on the issues including my run-down of the Governor and Senator candidates. Then make your own decision.

If you're not registered for a party, but you live in Pennsylvania's 12th District (Murtha's former district), then get out and vote because they are having a special election to replace the late Representative Murtha.

Then we can all breathe a sigh of relief as we get a short break from being bombarded with awful election commercials like this one.

Thanks to 2 political junkies for sharing this one.

Allentown is on Fire

2010-05-16T18:15:00.007-04:00

Saturday, Popup Pittsburgh held an event highlighting the progress of Pittsburgh's Southern hills centered in the neighborhood of Allentown. According to their twitter feeds, City Council members Natalia Rudiak and Bill Peduto made appearances. When I showed up at 4PM, I was delighted to see more people than I'd ever seen trolling for parking and wandering the streets. Thanks to the folks at the Leadership Pittsburgh Inc that made this event happen.

During the event, Hilltop Alliance members were attempting to spread the word vacant lots in the hilltop. This area of Pittsburgh has 300 city-owned vacant lots. If one of these lots is adjacent to your home, you can buy it for a measly $200 through the city's side lot program.

Less than 24 hours after this lively, family-friendly event, Allentown residents saw first-hand one of the unfortunate consequences of these abandoned houses. At 3:30AM, a fire started in a vacant house in the 900 block of East Warrington Ave and spread to a neighboring house where 2 adults and 2 children resided. Looking on the Allegheny County Property Assessment page, I find that there are a number of addresses in the 900 block that are city-owned. But there are also signs of potential speculators including Venture III, Inc, Gulli Construction Corp, and Greenvue Development LP. Pittsburgh has a rental registration program in place intended to try to address the problem of absentee landlords. The registration program is currently on hold pending a lawsuit resolution. But what have they proposed to deal with absentee owners? It's just as serious a problem to be a slumlord who doesn't rent their properties as one that does. I propose an anti-homestead rule. If no one is living in your property then, you have to foot extra property tax for the extra burden you're placing on your neighbors. National studies have shown that these vacant properties cause 12,000 fires per year and have greatly increased likelihood of crime taking place in and near them. We need to kick these vacant property owners to the curb, aggressively pursue the side lot program and demolish or renovate these eyesores.

Senate Candidate Rundown

2010-05-06T18:06:00.002-04:00

The most exciting race in the upcoming Democratic primary has to be the battle for the Senate.

Everybody that discusses the Senate race refers to Specter's fame. Everyone is supposed to know Specter inside and out because of his long history in the senate. However, if you've moved to Pennsylvania since the last time he was up for election, maybe you (like me) don't know much about him.

Arlen Specter

Arlen Specter is the incumbent and the longest serving Senator in Pennsylvania. He made waves last year when he switched parties from Republican to Democrat after his vote on the Stimulus bill made him a pariah. Not many politicians have the guts to do that, and it's earned him quite a bit of friends at the top-level of the Democratic party. Most notably President Obama is a staunch supporter of Specter. Since his party switch, he has voted with the Democratic party 95% of the time, but he also has a history of taking a stance against Republicans, criticizing President Clinton's impeachment and President Bush's wiretapping of US citizens. He supports a woman's right to choose, gay rights, and has other liberal leanings. However, he historically voted with the Republican party including voting for the Iraq war (along with 29 of the 50 Democratic Senators that were in office at the time).

Joe Sestak

Honestly, Joe Sestak strikes me as a bit smarmy. He's a little too-polished for my liking. I like that he has a history of being a democrat, and his platform is clearly resonating in Pennsylvania as he is jumping leaps and bounds in the polls. Sestak is currently a Congressman from the Eastern part of the state looking to move up the ladder. Politically, he supports Roe v. Wade, received an F from the National Rifle Association, and has voted with the Democratic majority on the Stimulus Act and Health Care Reform amongst many others.

Either way, the winner will ultimately face off against the Republican, Pat Toomey. Much of the fear and hoopla about this senate race involves who will be the better Toomey opponent. This smacks to me a lot of old politics. When Hillary Clinton was facing Barack Obama, I heard a lot of the same rhetoric. That they shouldn't slash each other, that Clinton would make a better McCain opponent, but happily, we all know how that turned out. So I'm not going to let that influence my decision.

But honestly, I'm torn. I admire Specter's long history as an independent thinker in the Senate, and given his senior status he holds many choice committee positions. I also like listening to him talk. But Sestak is obviously the classic Democrat who in general lines up with my ideals more closely. However, Sestak is a current Congressman who can continue to serve the party admirably in that capacity.

Whoever wins the Democratic primary election, I will gladly vote for him in the November election against the slime-ball Pat Toomey who wants to amend the US Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, disagrees with Roe V Wade, and much more.

How are you voting?

Time To Get Serious About our Bridges

2010-05-03T08:55:00.005-04:00

Fact: Pennsylvania bridges are in horrible shape.

"Pennsylvania leads the nation in the number of structurally deficient bridges, with 5,646," the governor said. That is more than the deficient bridges in the New England states, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia combined.

Fact: Pennsylvania legislators are idiots. After the Bush administration rejected tolling of interstate 80 on the grounds that the tolls were going to spent on other roads besides 80, Pennsylvania legislators decided to ask the same exact question of the Obama administration. Needless to say, the "ask mommy" approach didn't work. Only now are they considering asking for the right to toll and repair those particular roads. But this time, it's an emergency and their casting their net as wide as interstates 95, 81, and 79.

Fact: Pennsylvania legislators are cowards. Legislators are afraid to raise taxes this year to solve this emergency problem because it's an election year. Of course, this isn't a unique problem to Pennsylvania. To them I say, it's a lot worse to have a bridge collapse on your watch than to raise taxes. Ask Minnesota. The I-35W Mississippi River bridge in Minneapolis was rated "structurally deficient" for years before this heavily used bridge's 2007 collapse. PennDOT has started to make progress on repairing the thousands of structurally deficient bridges in Pennsylvania, but the progress is slow and steady. With a lack of funding we will again lose ground.

Minnesota learned their lesson the hard way. After the bridge's collapse, the state legislature passed a $0.055 per gallon fuel tax. Let's take our lessons from them and save our bridges before its too late. Of course, the best way to save our bridges from further deterioration is to decrease their usage. According to Port Authority of Allegheny County, one bus can take up to 60 cars off the road. One light rail vehicle can take up to 125 cars off the road. A double-pronged approach of repairing bridges and increasing funding to public transportation will go a long way towards solving our problems in Pennsylvania.

Green Spring

2010-04-29T09:45:00.004-04:00

If you think it's been quiet in this neck of the woods, you're right. But it's not because I haven't been blogging. Between Earth Day, Pittsburgh hosting World Environment Day, and general Spring feelings, I've been focusing my efforts on "Green is Good."

Check out the recent posts on Pittsburgh's air quality (bad but getting better if we keep fighting) and the state of rail in Pennsylvania.

Now go plant a tree.

Pennsylvania Governor Candidate Rundown

2010-04-22T09:45:00.004-04:00

Since I'm officially registered as a democrat in Pennsylvania, I get the dubious honor of voting in the May 18 Democratic primary for Governor.

The Candidates:

1. Dan Onorato. Our very own chief executive is running for governor. Love him or hate him, he is a controversial fellow. Recently, Chris Potter has reported some highly questionable behavior in Dan's courting of both the pro-life and pro-choice constituents. Dan has accumulated a sizable war chest, so expect to see lots of him on TV in the near future.

2. Joe Hoeffel. Montgomery County Commissioner. Progressive. Joe has really reached out to everyone in the state during this race. I had the opportunity to meet him in Pittsburgh last Fall before I even knew who he was.

3. Jack Wagner. State Auditor General. This is a local boy from Beechview who's gone on to have a long career in state politics including stints as Pittsburgh Council president and State Senator.

4. Anthony "Tony" Williams. A State Senator. This businessman grew up in urban Philadelphia and turned to politics to save his community.

The Issues

In fact, it seems like the candidates agree on most issues. They all want to fight corruption in Harrisburg. During a debate last month, they were cordial and found little to disagree on. Today, in honor of Earth Day, the candidates released a joint statement agreeing on taxing the Marcellus Shale natural gas, renewing Rendell's green programs, and enforcing clean-air regulations.

Honestly, I'd like these candidates to try to differentiate themselves more from each other. At this point, it seems like a popularity contest. According to a recent poll, Dan Onorato has the lead with 20%, but Joe Hoeffel and Jack Wagner are not far behind with 15% and 13% respectively. However, there are still a whopping 47% undecided.

Personally, I'm leaning towards Joe Hoeffel. His outreach campaign has impressed me, and he isn't afraid to speak strongly and clearly about his socially progressive leanings from health care to his pro-choice stance to the environment.

If you're registered as a Democrat, don't forget to vote on May 18.

Pittsburgh Springs Open

2010-04-15T08:43:00.003-04:00

It's springtime in Pittsburgh. The flowers are booming, and we're surrounded by news of new developments, plans, and openings.

Here's just a smattering of the new businesses popping up I've noticed in the past month:

The Sharp Edge is opening a new location downtown. This is really a coup for downtown as the Belgian Beer mecca has opened many suburban locations and only has one city location. As this new business will be just down the street from Seviche, Sonoma Grille, and August Henry's Saloon, I'm looking to this section of Penn Ave to become a downtown nightlife haven, just as Fifth Avenue is becoming a retail haven.

The Fairmont hotel has opened with a LOT of fanfare. They are courting the Pittsburgh community with special party after gala-event after special party. China Millman, the Post-Gazette's super-critical food reviewer even seems to have fallen in love with them and their new restaurant, Habitat. For more restaurant opening information, check out Ms Millman's timely blog, "First Bites." I'm looking forward to Kevin Sousa's new venture, Salt Of the Earth.

The biggest opening of the year will inevitably be the Penguin's new home, the Consol Energy Center. The new arena has already attracted concerts such as Lady Gaga, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, and Rush.

Of course, the city isn't the only one gathering up the openings. Ross Park Mall is booming with recent announcements of an Apple Store, California Pizza Kitchen, and (the most buzz-worthy) Crate and Barrel.

If all this news doesn't make you think the recession is passing and everything is rosy in the Pittsburgh area, I don't know what will.

Of course, not everything is staying. While Mellon Arena's fate may be up in the air, UPMC Braddock is ready to be razed. Robert Morris University announced today that they are contracting their efforts to the suburbs and leaving their landmark downtown building. But I'm guessing some developer out there sees that as another downtown opportunity.

Luck and Parking

2010-04-12T10:51:00.006-04:00

Over a year ago, back in the heart of the recession, when the Pittsburgh parking garages were added to the chopping block, I begged the powers-that-be to hold off instead of risking a fire sale in light of the poor economy. However, it turns out I was wrong. The snail's pace of government has brought us full circle to the tail-end of the recession. Combined with the Pittsburgh's international exposure during the G20, we have managed to wrangle up 7 solvent international companies to bid on lease of the garages. Impressive timing or good luck? I don't know. But full steam ahead to see what the bidders have to offer.

As to whether leasing the garages is a good idea? I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. And with a variety of folks interested, I'd say the odds are pretty good that we can strike a bargain that doesn't immediately screw downtown commuters while giving a much-needed infusion to the pension fund. If Mayor Ravenstahl and Pittsburgh City Council can continue the good cop/bad cop routine for this whole process, we may even come out ahead. How about for a few extra million we let them install those fancy credit-card accepting parking meters like they have in Mt Lebanon? Then no one will have to carry any quarters around unless they're headed to the casino.

Homeless Follow-Up

2010-04-08T09:56:00.004-04:00

Less than a week after my blog post on homeless people in Pittsburgh, one of those unfortunate souls met with his death in a South Side "camp." The Post-Gazette points out that the victim, Dennis Farley, a US Navy veteran and father, was not actually homeless, but often spent time at the camp near Giant Eagle. I'm happy to report that the Pittsburgh police thoroughly investigated this homicide and have already arrested the alleged killer. While his life may have slipped through the cracks, at least his death was resolved quickly. However, I'm guessing any new million dollar security cameras will not be recording this section of Pittsburgh.

On Cameras and Crime

2010-04-02T12:02:00.003-04:00

Do cameras deter crime? Do cameras help solve crimes?

I breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when I learned that the police had arrested the alleged shooters of the retired fireman who was killed and left on the street with his dog guarding over him. The police credited these arrests with the use of surveillance cameras in the area. Without the cameras guidance, the police may never have discovered the perpetrators of this crime.

It's not too surprising that in light of this news and the recent rash of homicides in the city (including the innocent bystander that got killed by a stray bullet in Homewood last week) that Mayor Ravenstahl is renewing the charge for more cameras on our streets. With federal stimulus money still up for grabs it should be a no-brainer to put in a request for more funding. Of course, given the city administration's track record for incomplete and late stimulus requests, it's lucky for them that Carnegie Mellon has joined forces in the city's request. After last week, when a student was pepper-sprayed and robbed on Ellsworth Avenue, the pricey university has plenty of reason to be step up security.

Some may express concern that more cameras are an invasion of our privacy. I agree, which is why I favor strong regulations on the storage of any footage. But when teenagers are killing people in our streets, strong measures need to be taken. It's up to the judges and our laws to make sure that the information stored on our cameras isn't abused.

Pittsburgh: Land of the Pessimistic Library

2010-03-31T09:00:00.005-04:00

Some people look at a glass as half-full, and some people look at it as half-empty. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is the pessimist, while RADs auditors tend to look on the bright side. The difference? Millions of dollars. Where as the library was fearing a $1.46 Million dollar deficit for 2010, RAD found a surplus of $235,071. Likewise the 4-year projected deficit dropped from $4.39 million to just $300,074.

While I'm sure, the Carnegie Library is being realistic in its expectations after this down-market and years of cuts in library funding, I have some advice for them: Count your eggs until they're broken. And don't close any libraries because you're scared of the future.

Scrounging up an extra $100,000 per year in permanent funding is a lot easier and more likely than $1 Million per year. And while the $190,000 salary package of Ms Mistick, the library director may be "in the range" of other library directors, we should really re-consider whether a library director in Pittsburgh who's willing to close libraries in the poorer neighborhoods needs to be paid at "the high end of the range."

Do You Know Where the Homeless People Sleep?

2010-03-29T10:21:00.004-04:00

This weekend I participated in the "Reclaim and Revitalize South Side Park" event. Lots of trash was collected and many trees were saved from the grasp of strangling vines. In addition to neighborhood members, we were lucky enough to have about 100 volunteers from Carnegie Mellon University helping out in the park crusade.

At the wrap-up, the students volunteered what they learned from the experience of getting out into the city park. One young woman popped up this doozie: "From cleaning up blankets and mattresses, I learned where homeless people actually sleep."

I personally view it as a failure of her upbringing that this was the first time she was exposed to some of America's underbelly, our unfortunate members of society who are too often swept under the rug and ignored.

However, maybe I had a harsh upbringing. Do you know where the homeless people sleep in your neighborhood? If you open your eyes, you see signs of homelessness throughout Pittsburgh (and most cities in the country) from the beggars in the streets to the blankets and newspapers hidden in various cubbyholes and parks. That knowledge is just as valuable as any class you can take at Carnegie Mellon.

If you want a first-hand experience of how homeless people sleep, check out the annual "Sleep-in For the Homeless" where dozens of people camp out on the steps of the City-County Building downtown with nothing but a sleeping bag to raise awareness of and funds for Allegheny County's homeless population. As of January 2009, Allegheny County counted 1,418 homeless "residents." 17% of them had been in the military service. 14% were victims of domestic violence. 18% of them reported serious mental illnesses. 23% of them were children.

Raising awareness and funds is the only way these numbers will decrease.

Pittsburgh Snow Task Force Needs You

2010-03-25T09:40:00.003-04:00

One of the greatest fears of anti-health care reform folks is that Doctor's will no longer be paid an exorbitant salary and we will lose great doctors who they presume are only in it for the money. (As an aside, this argument is bogus based on the fact that we have thousands of incredible teachers working throughout this country at sub-par pay.)

According to acting paramedic crew chief Josie Dimon, those pay cuts are already in effect.

"He ain't (expletive) comin' down, and I ain't waitin' all day for him," she [Ms. Dimon] told a colleague, crew chief Kim Long, at the dispatch center. "I mean, what the (expletive), this ain't no cab service."

Is she under the impression that ambulances are cheaper than taxis? For anyone who's ever ridden in an ambulance and paid for it out of pocket, if they had the choice, they would have much preferred to pay the taxi bill. Through Ms Dimon's and her colleagues lack of effort, Curtis Mitchell died on Sunday February 7. This is the worst example of the tragedy of the city's handling of the February snow storms. But it is not the only example. If you have more examples, please contribute to the snow task force site.

Ms Dimon is facing a 5-day unpaid suspension. Some of her colleagues are facing a 3-day unpaid suspension. City paramedics consider themselves scapegoats in this scenario. So tell your snow stories, and let's see some more deserved punishment spread out through other city departments. Pittsburgh deserves better.

Phew

2010-03-22T14:22:00.004-04:00

This morning I breathed a giant sigh of relief. The Democrats have managed to cobble together a health care plan that passed the House. To see how this plan affects you, check out this handy-dandy health care tool from the Washington Post.

Also, the folks that hired a plane to fly around Pittsburgh this weekend informing voters to tell Representative Altmire to say "No" on abortion funding missed the memo that Rep. Altmire had already announced on Friday that he would be voting "No" on the health care vote. But they've convinced me to vote "No" on gratuitous plane flights causing extra pollution in the air.

Representative Altmire may believe that a majority of his constituents opposed the health care reform bill but judging from the vigil outside his home this weekend and the sit-in staged by Steel Union workers, he has lost some votes.

Representative Mike Doyle (mine) voted for the health care reform. For more information on the bill including local effects, see Rep. Doyle's website.

Blog For Equality

2010-03-15T10:49:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow, with very little fanfare, the Pennsylvania State Senate Judiciary Committee is voting on Senate Bill 707:

A Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, providing for marriage between one man and one woman.

Area State Senators Jane Orie, Wayne D. Fontana, and Jay Costa are on the Judiciary Committee. Please contact them and spread the word that this amendment is a pathetic waste of time and discriminatory to our fellow GLBT Pennsylvania residents.

As Philly.com says:

How about a constitutional amendment to require lawmakers to pass a budget on time? Or to shrink the size and cost of the Legislature? How about updating the state's antiquated tax code or campaign finance reform? All of these would be better than a constitutional amendment about gay marriage.

3 New Things To Love About the Strip

2010-03-11T18:15:00.005-05:00

When I first moved to Pittsburgh, the Strip District was my instant favorite neighborhood. I immediately became a regular shopper there enjoying all of its eateries and ethnic stores. However, I never expected that in a few short years this awesome place would continue to grow and evolve into an even better destination.

Coming soon, there are 3 new ways I can't wait to enjoy the Strip.

1. Pittsburgh Public Market - Before I moved to Pittsburgh three years ago, I'd never seen a traditional market house. Then I visited Cleveland (Ohio), Frankfurt (Germany), and most recently Harrisburg. Wow. Market houses are awesome. According to the Strip District web site, the Pittsburgh Public Market will be opening in Spring 2010. They are currently accepting applications for this Thursday to Sunday gig.

2. Strip District Flea Market - A Sunday flea market in the Strip is coming starting April 18. How cool is that. Pittsburgh likes to think of itself as being the Paris of Appalachia. One of my favorite parts of Paris are the wide variety of antique/flea markets. This Strip District Flea Market will bring us one step closer. Hopefully, we'll see a "Mining Sunday" from andreadisaster in honor of this event.

3. Development of the land behind the produce terminal. I was utterly amazed the day I kept riding on my bike from the Point downtown and ended up at a gravel parking lot behind the produce terminal. More signage and a nicer entrance-way connecting the riverfront trail to the actual shops of the Strip District will help everybody have that epiphany.

It's really no surprise that the Strip District is becoming one of the most happening places to live in the city with brand-new options like The Cork Factory, Otto Milk Condos, and 31st Street Lofts.

What's next? I'd like a once-a-week late-night at the Strip where regular 9-5 working folks can do some shopping and mingle without the Saturday crush. What would you like to see? Maybe it'll happen.

Check Your Water Bills

2010-03-11T12:38:00.004-05:00

It seems like every month lately, there are new shenanigans from PWSA.

In January, we had the mistaken decimal point water bills where consumers ended up with bills up to 100 times what they owed. The entirety of PWSA's customers also were notified that they were signed up for Utility Line Security.

Now, it's March. The latest twist? Probably due to the previous month's snafus, the billing period has been adjusted every month. I received my January bill on February 18. I paid it before its due date of March 10, but February's bills were sent out a scant 11 days later on March 1 and included a convenient late fee for my on-time payment. This late fee was 27 cents and was not actually itemized on my bill. You may say: Why quibble over 27 cents? I say at 83,000 customers, that's a nice $22,000 bonus for the PWSA for their poor service. If you think the PWSA deserves that extra bonus, feel free to do nothing. Or, like me, you can call (412) 255-2423 and give them a piece of your mind.

Or maybe that extra money is going to the out-sourced Malaysian company that is managing our water bills???

The $12 rain barrels at Construction Junction are starting to look mighty fine.

Flood-pocalypse?

2010-03-09T13:22:00.002-05:00

Flooded Fifth & Liberty St. intersection, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1907, originally uploaded by trialsanderrors.

The picture above is from downtown Pittsburgh in 1907.

Rain and mild temperatures are predicted for the rest of the week. Will we get new opportunities to take pictures of a flooded downtown?

"The National Weather Service forecast calls for rain and highs approaching 60 degrees from Wednesday through Saturday. Snow in the Laurel Highlands, more than 4 feet deep in spots, has not begun to melt appreciably, but will on Wednesday, said hydrologist Bill Drzal. Rainfall from Thursday through Saturday could be as much as 1.5 inches."

"This does not look like a good situation," he said.

Let's just say I'm glad I live on a hill.

West Carson Street and Beyond

2010-03-03T12:53:00.004-05:00

West Carson Street has been in the news a lot lately. Last week, community groups were protesting the site of a proposed Strip Club on West Carson Street. They object to its location directly adjacent to the Onala Club, an alcohol and drug recovery center.

Early Tuesday morning, a mere 0.3 miles away along Carson Street, a warehouse suspicously caught fire.

Arson investigators were trying to determine the fire's cause, terming it "suspicious," but unsafe conditions kept them from examining where it started. Fire officials said interior floors collapsed. The building, thought to be empty for 20 years, had no electricity.

Anyone else wonder if protesters got the wrong address? That would certainly send a stern message to developers from a potential renegade community group. The more likely scenario?

The Forza Group which bought the company as an investment decided to expedite the demolition process of their property. (Or as the Angry Drunk Bureaucrat suspects another renegade community group decided to expedite the process for them.) According to Greg Erosenko, a spokesman for the Forza Group, "The company is considering building a hotel there someday."

This of course brings to mind dozens of other abandoned warehouses and houses in the Pittsburgh area that are owned as "investment" opportunities. In the meantime, they are dangerous eyesores for the rest of us. They are dangerous because desperate people like to squat in abandoned buildings increasing area crime, and kids like to play in these very same areas.

My request to the city? Let's stop letting developers leave these dangerous eyesores speckled throughout the city in the hopes of profiting off of these properties when yet another Pittsburgh neighborhood "reawakens."

Regularly, send your building inspectors to these sites and fine the hell out of them for being out-of-code, having unkempt landscaping, lack of proper snow removal, and anything else that's legal. This West Carson Street warehouse should have been demolished (or remodeled) long ago. The only people that pay the price for this developer dragging-of-the-heels are Pittsburgh residents. If we hassle the developers, they'll either do something with the property or pass it on to someone who will.

Snow Shoveling is Not a Minor Thing

2010-03-02T08:07:00.003-05:00

While most of us rejoiced when the city announced that after 3 weeks it was resuming its enforcement of the snow shoveling ordinance, Public Works Director Rob Kaczorowski has this to say:

"It's a minor thing to me," he said.

I wonder if that's what Mr Kaczorowski would say to Ernestine Ross who as of last week remained in a coma because she was walking in the street due to un-shoveled sidewalks and got hit by a car. This has been a tough couple years for Ms Ross whose husband was killed in late 2008 on the North Side while working in his store. I think the city owes it to her family and the rest of us to keep major sidewalks shoveled.

Mr Kaczorowski, I'm not asking for bike trails, senior-citizen-owned-sidewalks on minor streets, or city steps to be shoveled. I'm asking for major thoroughfares (with speedy drivers) like Arlington Avenue, Brosville Avenue, and Bennett Street to be safe for our pedestrians. And in the meantime, I'm praying that there are no more victims from being forced to walk in the street.

Shovel Like Your Life Depends on It

2010-02-24T09:46:00.003-05:00

Like most people, I let out a sigh of relief when the city publicized a post-snowmageddon reprieve for parking tickets and shoveling fines. There was just too much snow too quickly for most of us to keep up with it.

After two weeks of reprieve, this Monday February 22, meter maids were back out in full force. Of course, it's going to take a lot more time to get fully up-to-speed in areas like Allegheny Center where many meters have fallen over victims of over-ambitious snow plows.

I can't find official word on the shoveling fines being re-instated.

On Sunday, Ernestine Ross was walking in the streets of Homewood because the sidewalks were not cleared. She was hit by a car and is in critical condition. Last week, as I was walking down Arlington Avenue in the street, I turned around every few feet with every intention of jumping into a snowbank if a car came too close. I had a few close calls as it were.

If you're driving, pay special attention to folks that may be in the street.

If you work in the city, please for the sake of people like Ernestine Ross, start fining folks who aren't shoveling their sidewalks (and clear the city sidewalks like most of Arlington Avenue.) I've already submitted my 311 request to clear the sidewalks on Arlington Avenue.

If you haven't yet, shovel your sidewalk like your life (or the life of your neighbor) depends on it. Because it does. 2 weeks is at least too much time for a reprieve, especially in the case of Ernestine Ross.

Profiting on the Troubled

2010-02-23T10:29:00.003-05:00

When I read about a Strip club opening up next to a space for recovering addicts, I can't help but think about how "economizing" on space wound up with a mental health, drug and alcohol treatment center, which introduced mentally disabled Jennifer Daugherty to her killers.

Maybe we'll have public outrage spreading beyond 30 neighbors against the impending West Carson Street strip club when a woman is murdered there. Until then, "sex sells" as the protest signs say.

In the meantime, Rivers Casino is looking for dealers. With the introduction of table games at Pennsylvania casinos, the Rivers Casino is planning to hire 300 to 350 new employees.

"Mr. Barnabei [the casino's vice president of human resources] said the casino had seen a lot of interest from dealers at casinos in West Virginia or other areas who are from Pittsburgh and who want to work closer to home or their hometown."

Welcome to the city, roofers and gamblers. Get here quick and fill out your 2010 census forms.

Beer Revolutions

2010-02-17T08:44:00.002-05:00

I'm all for relaxing liquor laws and restricting the PLCB, so at first glance State Sen. John Rafferty's proposed new bill to expand beer sales sounds great. But even I have to blink an eye and hold on a minute when I read this:

'A crowd of about 150 people, many from the Sheetz store chain, held signs calling for a "Beer Revolution" in Pennsylvania, with others reading "I Drink and I Vote," "Free My Beer" and "Get Your Hands Off My 6 Pack."'

Sheetz is involved in this proposed beer legislation in a very heavy-handed way. And this multi-state chain is involved because they see a lot of dollar bills in their future, not because they truly believe in the freedom of beer sales.

When Sheetz is the business writing the bill, the beer distributors are going to be hurt. According to the Post-Gazette:

Currently, most beer is sold by state-licensed beer distributors, and only by the case or keg; under the new bill, they also would be able to sell one or two six-packs.

At least this is a start, but to get the beer distributors on board, a crucial piece of any beer law change puzzle, ~~Sheetz~~ Senator Rafferty is going to have to offer them a lot more.

And this "revolutionary" new law doesn't actually fundamentally change our antiquated system of limited beer licenses, it merely changes which business entities can buy which licenses.

Pennsylvania, it's time for a real beer revolution by the people and for the people - not a Sheetz gas station revolution. If Sheetz can be the motivator that's great, but let's have our state legislators actually tackle this issue in a fair and balanced way.

Long Live Blogging

2010-02-16T09:42:00.003-05:00

Way back in 2006, a new study finds blogging was more popular. Do I need to remind the study-makers that: "Facebook was then opened on September 26, 2006 to everyone of ages 13 and older with a valid e-mail address."

People used to blog more because it was the medium. In the advanced age of 2010, when people want to write a restaurant review, they go to yelp or urbanspoon. If people want to micro-blog, they go to twitter. If people want to find out what their Mom ate for dinner, they go to facebook.

And as for the crisis that only 14% of teens blog and 10% of adults blog, that still gives us over 200,000 blogs to peruse from the metro-Pittsburgh region alone. I think that's enough. Dare I say the ones that we lost were (in general) worse? To see a sampling of the many blogs that are left, head to pgh bloggers.

As for blogs, these findings beg a question: If their writers are more likely to be older, why aren't their musings characterized by more maturity?

You know what? When I blog, I'm immature. I call names. I don't research all the facts before spouting out an opinion. You know why? I don't get paid to blog. I blog for fun, and I clearly don't have an editor breathing over my shoulder. Chris Potter, over at the City Paper, has some interesting perspective on whether our esteemed newspaper journalists are also immature.

And some day, when Matt H is Mayor of Pittsburgh and Bram Reichbaum of the former Pgh Comet is the lead news anchor on KDKA, I'll be reminiscing of when I used to read their immature blogs.

Two Snow Stories

2010-02-11T10:24:00.003-05:00

What do people respond to? News and information.

Given the age of Facebook, Twitter, and Blogging, people expect information to be flowing constantly. As long as you have electricity and an internet connection, you can send out information on all these mediums and more.

Throughout snowmageddon, the Port Authority operated a twitter feed under the name @pghtransit. This user often gave updates people didn't like. The news was for a a few days really shitty with only a small fraction of Port Authority buses running. But @pghtransit continuously responded to folks, gave updates, and referred unknown questions to someone who might know the answers. When the Port Authority website was buckling under the weight of thousands of extra users, @pghtransit replicated service updates to the Port Authority blog. Port Authority gained countless amounts of goodwill through this storm.

On the other hand, the city of Pittsburgh claimed the city was plowing at full capacity and shut the hell up. The one access point users had to the city? 311 (when the line was open) which is by its nature a one-way street. There are no personal follow-ups from 311. The one response format? Press conferences from Luke Ravenstahl who assured us that he was doing better.

Why not have someone in the storm center sending out updates on Twitter? So simple. So cheap. Even Port Authority could do it. People don't need to just hear good news, they need all the news. To be fair, @nataliarudiak and @billpeduto did an admirable job of sharing their knowledge and complaining about the city services on twitter this weekend, but unfortunately, they didn't have enough information to actually be helpful to us folks trapped at home.

If you want Port Authority updates, go to twitter, their blog, or their website. If you want to know when your street will finally be plowed, I have no idea. But if you find out, please let me know.

Yet Another Snow Day

2010-02-10T09:13:00.003-05:00

On Monday, I thanked professionals and neighbors alike for their hard work during this storm.

But not everything was hunky-dory in Pittsburgh during this storm.

Businesses are suffering because people can't drive or ride to them. Schools are going to be extending their school year and/or eliminating holidays after 3 days of cancellations. Those who showed up at their office jobs spent hours in the car or on a bus to get there. My neighbors shoveled out 2/3rds of my street realizing that a plow would never appear, and there are countless other stories like this.

Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak of the South Hills (the hardest hit and probably least-plowed area) will be heading up a task force on the handling of this storm.

What will she discover?

That even when this storm showed itself to be the big ugly monster it is, our esteemed officials continued to treat it like an average storm. They did not pull out all the stops until well into Monday, and by then it was too late. Saturday morning, the state of Pennsylvania declared a state of emergency, but the city of Pittsburgh didn't declare an official state of emergency until more than 48 hours later. Pittsburgh's utter lack of strong leadership made itself apparent this weekend. We will survive this storm, but its poor handling is making it all that much harder for our businesses to stay in business, for our students to learn, and for our workers to work.

Snow Thanks

2010-02-08T10:16:00.006-05:00

Thank you to all the good Samaritans who helped their neighbors shovel.
Thank you to the plow drivers who worked ridiculous shifts to bring the roads to the almost-passable states they're at now.
Thank you to the Port Authority bus drivers braving the roads so the rest of us don't have to. Check out @pghtransit for service updates.
Thank you to the Duquesne Light electricians who restored my electricity in 24 hours or so.
Most importantly, thank you to the many restaurants and bars that managed to open, so I had someplace warm and fun to go while waiting for power to be restored.
Lastly, thank you to the Trib and Post-Gazette for finally picking up on the ridiculous water authority stunt I complained about 3 weeks ago.

The Mass-transit-acre Volume 2

2010-02-03T12:43:00.004-05:00

It's been over 6 months since my last installment of the mass-transit-acre. That's not to say there haven't been accidents in the meantime, but this week's accidents were especially avoidable and/or destructive. Luckily, no one was killed.

Feb 2: Port Authority bus drives into a parked PennDOT salt truck. The driver received severe leg injuries.

Feb 3: This morning a crash involving a Port Authority bus and a car at CCAC in West Mifflin left the driver of the car with serious injuries.

To keep us all a little safer, the US Department of Transportation outlawed truck drivers and bus drivers from texting while driving their vehicles.

Now, if we can only get them to outlaw reading the newspaper...

Looking Ahead in Pittsburgh

2010-02-02T17:36:00.006-05:00

One door closes, another door opens and all that.

UPMC Braddock officially closed on Sunday, but today County Executive Onorato announced plans to demolish the former hospital and build office-space in its stead.

Mayor Ravenstahl vetoed prevailing wage legislation on New Year's Eve, but the new crop of City Council has once again unanimously passed prevailing wage legislation.

I watched Flashdance last night, and can't help but appreciate the work that the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has done in minimizing the city's strip clubs. 25 Years from now, will I be praising them for ridding the city of casinos? Or cursing the overwhelming amount of art galleries, theaters, and music venues?

Pittsburgh Comet has closed its doors. Who will fill the void? Time will tell.

A Difficult Lesson in this UPMC Minute

2010-01-29T14:29:00.003-05:00

Allegheny County and Braddock learned a difficult lesson in today's UPMC minute. Judge Eugene Strassburger decided that despite much paperwork passed between the county and UPMC, UPMC has no legal obligation to keep the Braddock hospital open. The lesson? When the county enters into an agreement with UPMC, make damned sure there's wording in the piles of contractual paperwork that insists UPMC not close local hospitals.

Say your good-byes. The hospital will be closing on Sunday January 31.

As a side note, once again, County Councilman Chuck McCullough has stepped up to the plate to represent the disenfranchised. He really is a guy you hate to hate.

Let's Say No More to the Abuse

2010-01-28T08:25:00.005-05:00

Obviously, I'm upset about the alleged beating of a high school student (Jordan Miles) by 3 undercover cops in Homewood. I'm upset that the Fraternal Order of Police doesn't see anything wrong with the "aggressive" arrest of a boy with a bottle of pop. It's especially trying to believe that the boy deserved this treatment when he's a senior at one of the best city schools, CAPA (Pittsburgh's Creative And Performing Arts High School).

The Fraternal Order of Police on Tuesday praised the officers for their efforts at removing guns from the streets and said their actions in arresting Mr. Miles were "correct and law-abiding."

But what's surprising to me is that my dental hygienist is also upset. She talked my ear off during my appointment yesterday about how awful the pictures were of the boy's pummeled face on KDKA the night before. This is an issue that has touched the city. This must be handled well and respectfully. I'm personally sick of hearing about all the abuses of city police (which I'm sure are caused by a few bad eggs) that never get properly resolved. This time, the FBI is stepping in. Let's say "No More" to the domestic abuse, drunken attacks, and violent beatings performed by certain officers. They shame their upstanding brethren and all of Pittsburgh. Unless the city takes strong and firm action this behavior will continue unchecked.

Pittsburgh Wages Need Some Redding Up

2010-01-21T09:11:00.006-05:00

From the Post-Gazette (via the PGH Comet):

In 2001, council approved legislation mandating a $9.12 an hour wage plus health insurance, or $10.62 without, for virtually every worker whose job was paid, supported or subsidized with city money. "Everywhere that our shadow falls, we will ensure that workers receive a living wage," Mr. Burgess said yesterday.

But City Council then added a caveat that the rule would only take effect after Allegheny County adopted similar rules. County Council narrowly rejected an ordinance, rendering the city legislation dormant.

Back to the present:

All nine city council members are sponsoring a prevailing wage bill, backed by unions and community groups, that would compel employers at future, large, city-backed development sites to pay hotel, grocery, janitorial and cafeteria workers wages that match the averages of their peers in the city. It will get a public hearing at 10 a.m. Monday, and maybe a tentative vote Wednesday.

A competing bill backed by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl would apply a prevailing wage to the same workers, but at fewer projects, and only if the county passed similar rules. It also could get a first vote Wednesday.

I understand the desire to hitch the city buggy to County Council. We are, after all, in the process of consolidating city-county operations. But the interests of County Council are not the same as those of City Council. More importantly, the interests and needs of the county residents are not the same as the city residents.

To wit:

Data Sources: Allegheny County, P ittsburgh

Feel Good Post

2010-01-19T12:52:00.002-05:00

There are times when it seems bloggers are just a bunch of whiners. Then there are times when bloggers accomplish something great. Special thanks and shout-out to That's Church and PGH Comet for their hard work. Welcome to the USA to the 53 Haitian children who arrived this morning at the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital.

Increased PWSA Smarminess In the New Year

2010-01-15T10:02:00.005-05:00

Maybe you, like I was, were busy around the holidays. Maybe you, like I did, let this little snippet of PWSA (Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority) news slip by:

Board member Patrick Dowd said better news is the introduction of optional insurance that will be added to customer bills as of Jan. 1.
"It's the best news of the day, of the year, perhaps of the decade," said Mr. Dowd, chairman of the authority's finance committee and a Pittsburgh city councilman.

So the best news of the decade may be that Dowd and the rest of the PWSA board gave some crafty insurance company a whole slew of free customers with no work on the private company's part? Every year, Dominion People's Plus sends me paperwork on their extra gas-line insurance plan, and every year, I throw away the paperwork. That's my choice. This time, I have to go to a website and click a link to opt-out. Not cool. If people want insurance, they will opt-in. In good news, you still have the next 6 months to opt-out and receive a refund on any insurance payments you've made.

The real questions? How much of that $5 goes to the PWSA bottom line? Who has a nice cushiony job lined up after his board tenure? When can I expect an audit of this insurance company from Michael Lamb that discovers that this plan is making money hand over fist?

And most importantly, what was wrong with the old warranty system (which didn't pass along any fees to the end-user)?

The new insurance will replace the current warranty system that pays up to $6,000 for repairs or work that could cost as much as $28,000 for a customer with deep sewer problems, Mr. Dowd said.

Or does anybody agree with Dowd and want to convince me why this is the best news of the decade? I'm really curious why I should be happy about the PWSA shirking the responsibility of covering the old warranty system and effectively trying to raise my bill by 15-20% as a user who ranges from 1 to 2 thousand gallons per month. Perhaps the person who agrees with Dowd is the one person who had to cough up $28,000 in the past decade? But does that really mean we collectively should be ponying up $5 Million per year (83,000 customers at $5/month)?

And if this blog post hasn't swayed you on the scariness of the PWSA, check out the latest Pittsburgh City Paper article, "Water Torture."

City Council Plans Death of South Side

2010-01-12T12:17:00.004-05:00

As is said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I firmly believe that Councilor Bruce Kraus has his heart in the right place. He wants to make life better for his South Side constituents. He constantly receives complaints about rowdy drunken revelers pissing on lawns, damaging private property, and generally wrecking havoc in the South Side neighborhood.

"[T]this morning in council, Pittsburgh City Councilman Bruce Kraus reintroduced a bill to limit bars on the South Side, after a similar bill was rejected last month by an Allegheny County Common Pleas Court judge.
Mr. Kraus said the new version of the bill would change city zoning rules to prohibit all new restaurants in the Carson Street corridor, whether or not they offered alcohol. According to the city Law Department, he said, if the bill is "alcohol-neutral, it will be held up by the courts.""

This latest legislation is intending to prohibit all new restaurants from opening on the South Side. Because of the previous limit on alcohol licenses, many previous restaurants had already discovered that it was more profitable to move and sell their alcohol licenses. The most recent and egregious example is Bruschetta which shuttered its doors to re-open as Villa, quite possibly the largest square footage of physical bar in all of the South Side.

If this legislation passes, not only will no new restaurants open, many restaurants will close to follow the suit of Bruschetta. The South Side needs a balance of restaurants, bars, shopping, grocery stores, etc. Without excessive punishing legislation, this will happen.

Instead, I recommend that Councilor Kraus follow the results of the hospitality study that he commissioned. Work with local businesses instead of attempting to squash new business, and we will have a vibrant community.

Important Pittsburgh Events of 2009

2010-01-07T17:25:00.003-05:00

2009/2010 is having a rocky transition in Pittsburgh Politics. With about 8 hours to spare in 2009, Mayor Ravenstahl vetoed city council legislation that had passed unanimously 10 days prior without so much as making any opposition public knowledge in said prior 10 days. Then in the first session of 2010, everyone had an agenda for council president (including Mayor Ravenstahl yet again), and Councilwoman Harris emerged as the new president within moments of the public knowing she was a candidate.

But let's look further back on 2009:
1) Mayor Ravenstahl handily won both the Pittsburgh democratic primary and mayoral election.
2) Pittsburgh hosted the G-20 Summit.
3) 3 Innocent women and 3 police officers doing their jobs were heartlessly murdered.
4) The city became ever more bike-friendly with bike racks and more trails.
5) Unfair property assessments were rejected by the courts yet again.
6) The Pittsburgh Promise helped pay for tuition for lots of Pittsburgh students.
7) Grocery stores in Pennsylvania are starting to sell 6-packs. Is this the beginning of the end of the PLCB?
8) I had a good time in Cleveland.
9) The Steelers won the Super Bowl, and the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, celebrated by much destruction and parading.
10) I went to Peru, Argentina, and Alaska over a period of 4 months this year and still managed to keep this blog alive.

All in all, it wasn't such a bad year, but here's to hoping next year is better.

To Table Games Or Not

2010-01-03T10:41:00.004-05:00

"Some think live table games are a bad hand." Some think over-legislation is bull shit. In particular, me. Either make live table games legal and tax them, or don't. Don't make certain live table games legal and others illegal so that an electronics game vendor can make an extra buck.

Not surprisingly, Rich Orlando, President of TDN Money Systems, "the largest supplier of electronic table games to the state's nine casinos", does not want live table games.

But Mr. Orlando also believes the demise of electronic table games could end up costing the state money. He argues that the games -- in essence slot machines -- produce on average more revenue than will the live versions, which are more labor intensive and will have a far lower tax rate.

Let's debunk this:
1) Table games are more labor intensive. Therefore, they require more people to be working at the casino? They generate more jobs? Which generate more taxes?

2) If casinos will make more money by having electronic table games than live table games, they will have more electronic table games. That's a free market. Let's not shackle yet another free market. Pennsylvania already does that enough (*ahem* PLCB).

I have 2 questions:
1) Why are table games being taxed less than electronic games?
2) Why is the Post-Gazette giving Mr Orlando the time of day?

On Council Presidents

2009-12-29T13:49:00.004-05:00

"I have issues with both [declared contestants], to be honest," Councilwoman Theresa Smith said yesterday. Mr. Burgess seems too close to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, she said, and Mr. Peduto seems too far away.

Councilman Peduto has shown backbone. He took a strong stance against Ravenstahl's tuition tax. However, he has repeatedly shown that when push comes to shove, he can work with Ravenstahl on issues from street lights to over-arching reform.

Let's give Peduto a chance to keep Ravenstahl on his toes and compromise when needed.

Google and Pittsburgh

2009-12-18T14:15:00.005-05:00

Multiple choice question:

What's the #1 reason Pittsburghers move away?

a) They want to live in a sunny climate.
b) Not enough bands and music acts have Pittsburgh on their tour list.
c) They want to pay more for housing.
d) They can't find a job.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

And the answer is?

d) Jobs

Anecdotally, every person that I've talked to that left the city, did so because they couldn't find a job in the city.

Google, our potential savior, is tapping into that lack of jobs. They have expanded their operations from 2 employees to 100 in the past few years. From a software engineering perspective, Google is Mecca. When I told friends I was moving to Pittsburgh, they started gushing to me that Google had an office in Pittsburgh. But I was turned off because Google was on Carnegie Mellon's campus. Being a graduate of a different technology school, I felt I would be shunned from that club. Now, Google is taking a big step in Pittsburgh. Google is moving to the new Bakery Square development in East Liberty. Google and Pittsburgh's relationship has moved beyond the college campus boundaries and only good things can come of it. Congratulations to the folks at Google for realizing that there's more to Pittsburgh than CMU. And to those software engineering Pittsburgh ex-pats, there's never been a better time to come home.

Congratulations to Baba D's

2009-12-10T14:30:00.006-05:00

When Toby Keith and whoever has enough money can open a bar on the South Side, then you knew Bruce Kraus's stop-gap measure of a "saturation limit" on bars in the South Side wasn't going to fly in the courts. This was proved yesterday by the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas.

Judge James found that the ordinance was illegal because the city can't create special rules for bars. The city law was "an infringement on the power of the [state] Liquor Control Board and is invalid" becasue state law reserves most power to regulate alcohol for that agency.

I completely understand why the "saturation limit" was imposed. People that live on the South Side Flats were sick and tired of people pissing on their lawns and leaving broken bottles everywhere.

But the stop-gap measure was not the solution. All limiting the number of bars did was make it more expensive and difficult to get a liquor license. It did not increase the number of toilets on the South Side. It did not increase the number of trash cans. Ultimately, it was bad for small businesses. Baba D's was the scapegoat of this law. This restaurant was denied a liquor license and fought the law. They won.

Now, maybe we can get serious, read the South Side Hospitality Proposal, and actually address the South Side's issues?

Or not.

City Councilman Bruce Kraus, who represents the South Side, has already proposed a slightly modified version of the ordinance in a preemptive effort to keep it in force in the case of a court decision like the one rendered yesterday.

Oh well.

Port Authority Police

2009-12-10T13:50:00.004-05:00

Did you know Port Authority has its own police? In the past 8 years, they have expanded their operations to include digital forensics (2001), a bike unit (2002), and 2 canine units (2003).

For the past 2 years, this 39-member police force has been in time-consuming and money-consuming contract negotiations with Port Authority. What do they want? Health benefits just like the city and county police have. My suggestion? Port Authority stops wasting more county money and rolls this department into the County police department. Then the Port Authority officers can get the benefits they deserve. I shudder to think of all the duplication of services here between high-tech equipment, canine training, and an entire police station to say the least. How can we even begin to consider consolidating city and county services while entire police units roam wild?

"Members have the legal right to strike, though DelSole said the police had not decided whether to do so."

Of course, the big question is: Would anyone even notice if they went on strike?

Weird Pittsburgh News

2009-12-04T12:38:00.004-05:00

3 Weird Pittsburgh News Bits that caught my eye this Friday

1) A church bought by a controversial billboard company may become a national immigration museum. Perhaps Lamar wants to clean up their bad name around these parts? Perhaps they'll move the unfinished electronic billboard to the vicinity of the church and finally clean up the mess that is the lighting of the Grant Street Transportation Center?

2) Both Russell Crowe and Jake Gyllenhall are self-proclaimed fans of Pittsburgh. Jake Gyllenhall went so far as to show off his (presumably fake) Pittsburgh Steelers tattoo. After the Sienna Miller fiasco, it's a shock to hear celebrities speak well of the city. I guess they left their hotel rooms.

3) The county and Judge Wettick appear to have agreed on a timeline to *gasp* reassess property values. This is my favorite unexpected news of the day. County Executive Onorato has been on a high horse about refusing to perform anything even tangentially related to a property reassessment, even if it's requisite to taxing county residents fairly (and is required to follow the state constitution). This about face makes me breathe a sigh of relief. But the following caveat makes me wary: "[P]roperty owners would have to pay taxes before appealing [property assessments]."

4 Tuition Tax Myths and 1 Suggestion

2009-11-30T15:37:00.004-05:00

I feel the need to dispel some myths regarding the "fair share" tax.

1. Income tax, property tax, and sales tax are not sin taxes. Don't we still tax text books?

'Councilman William Peduto took the same tack, saying that taxes are often placed on "sin" products, like alcohol or tobacco -- but not on self-improvement. "Why would we ever tax education, where somebody is trying to better themselves?" he asked.'

2. College students are not the only ones who pay the drink tax. Many, many non-college students visit the many bars and restaurants throughout the county and share this burden. It is also important to mention here that the aforementioned drink tax is a county tax.

"Let's face it, we [college students] are the ones that pay the drink tax"- graduate student, Mackenzie Farone

3. Non-profits are not totally exempt from all taxes everywhere. Just like when I donate to a non-profit, and I can deduct that donation at the Federal level but not at the city level, cities and states (within their own laws) can decide how to tax institutions. Non-profit is simply a Federal status granted after an application to the IRS. I don't know exactly how the city of Pittsburgh's laws are worded or the state of Pennsylvania, but as far as I can see, there is nothing at the Federal level stopping Pennsylvania or Pittsburgh from enacting their own tax laws regarding non-profits.

4. College students do cost the city money. From the extra police for couch-burning Super Bowl bonanzas to the general paving of roads on which they drive and sidewalks on which they walk. Yes, college students also contribute to the city through the property tax paid on their rented abodes. But no one should claim that those benefits outweigh the city's expenses without an extensive study to the contrary. Considering that the universities would benefit from such a study if it were in their favor, and the universities are the source of every major local study, I'm going to jump to the conclusion that it would not be beneficial for them to perform this study.

For more myth debunking, check out PGH Comet. For the words of the college students, watch this video.

Suggestion:

If you owe income tax to the city of Pittsburgh, you can deduct the amount you paid on your tuition tax against your income tax. This would serve city residents in two ways. First, it would prevent any ridiculous double-taxing and calm fears of anyone working their way through college while living in the city that they will be taken advantage of. Second, it might encourage city dwellers to take a class at a local university with the inherent 1% discount. Not much of a discount, you say? Not much of a tax, I say, but every little bit helps.

Summary:

No one wants to pay taxes, but the city is desperately running out of money and is running out of methods they can use to tax because of antiquated state laws. The city would love to tax non-residents who work in the city, like New York City and many other cities, but the state of Pennsylvania won't allow it. The city would love to slap a property tax on non-profit buildings, but once again the state won't allow it. Heck. The state will probably crack down on this tax as well, but the city has to keep trying to come up with innovative solutions in a hostile environment.

What can I say? I love this city, and I don't want it to run out of money. I want to keep all of our libraries open. I want our roads to be paved and our trash to be collected, and most importantly I want all the police officers and other city workers who have put their time in over the years, to continue to have their pensions paid. So if we need to come up with creative taxes that don't further stress our residents, I'm for it. Because when it comes down to it, if it's a choice between me paying 4% on my income tax or the college students coughing up another 1% on their $50,000 per year education, you're not going to find too many residents (who also manage to pay property taxes and income taxes and county taxes and state taxes) shedding a tear for the college students.

Request:

Can someone actually figure out if this tax is legal or not, so we don't have to waste any more time debating it?

Happy Cyber Monday

2009-11-30T11:44:00.003-05:00

In the blog world, Cyber Monday is more of a celebration day than Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day recorded the least number of hits to my blog pretty much ever, but today everybody is back and surfing the web in a miserable fit of back-to-work blues.

Ways to make the working person feel better while wasting some time today yet avoiding saving money on deals?

Laugh at the up-in-arms college students, fighting being taxed 1% of their tuition.
If it's raining in Pittsburgh and you forgot your umbrella, maybe someone will give you one.
Look through the #ravenstahlrumors hashtag on twitter.
If you must shop, get some Penguins gear on sale. After all, they've been playing a lot better than the Steelers as of late.

Go surf and celebrate.

Cut Expenses Not Libraries

2009-11-23T13:48:00.004-05:00

City Council has banded together with State Representatives to fill the immediate funding shortfall for the library and keep all our city libraries open.

Clearly, there still remains a problem of rampant spending amongst our libraries, so let's see Ravenstahl and company stick to their guns and perform an audit of their budget. Their total expenditures are over $23 Million. Nationally, average library funding per capita is $40.49 which should translate to an expected $12.8 Million in Pittsburgh. Why are we so far over average per capita spending? Let's see an audit which reigns in the spending while keeping libraries open.

My first suggestion?
Library Cards currently expire every 2 years. The next time you're at the library after your card expires you have to fill out paperwork which librarians then have to enter into the system. The Department of Motor Vehicles learned long ago that less frequent applications means less expense. Shouldn't my library card last as long as my driver's license (especially considering I used my driver's license as proof of my address)?

My second suggestion?
It's not pretty, but cut some of the staff. There were at least 3 staff working at the miniscule South Side library this past Saturday. When I was a high school student, I volunteered at the local library to shelve books. How about the libraries form a partnership with local high schools to get volunteers to take some of these tasks and learn the Dewey Decimal System? It's nice to have trained librarians milling about to answer questions, but mostly they just give me snarky looks while I check out books.

Any other frustrating ways you've seen the library waste money?

A Tale Of Two Grocery Stores

2009-11-18T12:32:00.003-05:00

Back in February, I was applauding Kuhn's grocery store for moving forward with their construction plans in the Hill District. They are only being asked to spend 15% of the construction costs. Yes, a whopping 85% of the construction costs for this private grocery store will be covered by taxpayers and millionaire hockey arena builders. It should be a no-lose situation for the chain. But as of today, Kuhn's is backing out of its plan, and the Hill District will move onto its 4th decade without a grocery store.

On the other side of the coin, Whole Foods is expanding to the North Hills. They appear to be making money hand-over-fist by consumers willing to pay for organic, fair trade goods. Too bad Whole Foods can only benefit African villages from the outposts of our affluent communities leaving our predominantly African-American communities to rot. A little harsh? Yeah. But this is depressing shit.

It's All About the Schools

2009-11-13T09:03:00.003-05:00

The theme of the week is definitely schools.

Taxing schools? Is it legal to tax college tuitions in the city? Is it legal for college tuitions to have a meteoric rise over the past 2 decades? From 1982 to 2007, college tuition rates rose 439% compared to a 147% rise in family income. What's an extra 1% city tax when tuition rates will inevitably rise faster than inflation for the next 25 years as well? My advice to students? Don't waste your breath whining about that measly 1%. Complain about this year's 6% increase in your tuition. Similarly, health insurance costs have risen by 131% over the last 10 years while the median family income has remained flat. Fairness is in the eye of the beholder.

Low GPAs? Pittsburgh has lowered the bar for kids go to CCAC on the Pittsburgh Promise with as little as a 2.0 GPA (C-average). Previously, they required a 2.25 GPA. Let's be honest, if you have significantly higher than a C-average (and you can afford it and have the family support), you're not choosing to go to a community college. Let's see these kids go to community college for a year or two and give them the chance to turn themselves around.

School dropouts? Pittsburgh has a serious problem. In a 2006 study, Rand Corp. estimated that 35 percent of all Pittsburgh students drop out of high school, with the rate nearly 50 percent for black males. Any effort sent addressing this is a good thing. It's easy to point fingers at Pittsburgh's poor city schools on this one, but to put it into perspective, city schools are failing our students across the country. Cleveland and Baltimore are some of the worst with high school graduation rates of 38% and 41% respectively, but even New York City has an abysmal graduation rate of 54%. These numbers make the our 5-year 64% graduation rate almost acceptable.

Lesson learned? You can still mock Cleveland.

August Wilson

2009-11-09T08:21:00.003-05:00

People often talk about the legacy of Pittsburgh as its long-dead rich benefactors or its old buildings or its steel or even Andy Warhol. My favorite Pittsburgh legend, though, is August Wilson. Until I moved to Pittsburgh, I had no idea who he was. Though I'd walked by the August Wilson Theater on Broadway, I hadn't given its name a thought. Then, I went to see "Two Trains Running" at the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater last year. I learned that August Wilson wrote a fantastic 10-play cycle spanning the entire 21st century, and only finished the last play "Radio Golf" on his deathbed. I learned that these plays were all set in the glory and decline of the Hill District (an area whose history I'd already fallen in love with through the stunning photographs by Teenie Harris.) I learned that they had earned him 2 Pulitzer Prizes, amongst many other awards.

These are seminal plays that should be taught in school alongside "Romeo & Juliet", "The Glass Menagerie", and "The Crucible."

If you missed Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater's production of "Two Trains Running" last year, you have another chance to see it. This week at the August Wilson Center downtown, they are doing a recap of that play. Also playing are "Gem of the Ocean" and "Radio Golf" in a mini-festival with other theater groups. My new lifetime goal is to see all of August Wilson's cycle. Living in Pittsburgh should make that pretty easy.

Buenos Aires Not So Different From Pittsburgh

2009-11-06T09:22:00.003-05:00

I've been living, working, and blogging in Buenos Aires for the last month. With that in mind, here are my inevitable comparisons between the cities.

5 Ways Pittsburgh is Like Buenos Aires

Bus Routes - Buenos Aires has over 150 squiggly bus routes. Of course, their bus routes are all run by private companies and don't use public support. Different courses to the same messy result. Additionally, Buenos Aires has countless taxis, subway lines, and commuter and light rail lines. Traffic is still awful.
The Immigration Effect - Buenos Aires had a huge influx of European immigrants (especially Italian, German and Spanish) in the late 1800s. Similarly, Pittsburgh experienced a huge rush of Eastern European and German immigrants during the rise of the steel industry. We have Pierogies and Pennsylvania Macaroni Company. They have great coffee and home-made pastas and amazing ice cream.
Neighborhoods - Like Pittsburgh, Buenos Aires is a city of neighborhoods. There are trendy neighborhoods, under-the-weather neighborhoods, business neighborhoods, and historical neighborhoods. Each neighborhood is incredibly distinct from the other as much as the South Side versus Lawrenceville versus Downtown.
Culture - Buenos Aires is referred to as the "Paris of South America" while Pittsburgh is referred to as the "Paris of Appalachia". Both cities have a grand history of excellent museums and theater, dance and art.
Cost - Buenos Aires is expensive for Argentina, but for Americans it's a great deal. Similarly, Pittsburgh is one of the cheapest high-cultural destinations you can live in. They both had severe market crashes contributing to their undervalue. In Argentina that crash occurred much more recently (in 2001) and they are still struggling to recover from inflation rates and record unemployment.

1 Major Difference

Population - Buenos Aires has a population of over 3 million people, including the metro area, that population swells to 13 million. Pittsburgh is a tiny city comparatively registering in at only 300,000 city residents and 2 million metro residents. The density of shops, restaurants, and buildings is hard to envision. Its population density is 38,862 people/Square mile. Compare that to New York City which falls in at a mere 27,440 people per square mile. Pittsburgh checks in at 5,636 for those curious.

5 Reasons to Vote Today

2009-11-03T11:02:00.004-05:00

1) It's good practice for real elections.

2) You get to wear an "I voted" sticker (just don't stick it to any valuable clothing and certainly don't sue the city if you do.)

3) You can write in whomever you want, so even if you don't like any of the candidates running, that shouldn't stop you.

4) Lots of people in other countries can't vote. It's a valuable right that you should exercise lest it be taken away. After all, it's kind of a joke to spread democracy and condemn dictatorships when you're not practicing it.

5) Enjoy the fresh air and walk to your polling place. What else do you have to do?*

Ultimately, I don't care who you vote for. It's so much more valuable to have an informed, active electorate than for my preferred candidate to win. But in case you were curious, I think Kevin Acklin would make a mighty fine mayor of our city.

*Of Note: I am not voting in this election because I'm in Buenos Aires, and it's hard enough to send postcards, let alone absentee ballots from Argentina.

Match Day - Still Time To Donate

2009-10-29T08:21:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Foundation for putting forth $300,000 in 50% matching funds for Pittsburgh-area non-profits yesterday. They helped raise $900,000 for non-profits like the Pittsburgh Zoo, the Pittsburgh City Theater, and the Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. In an email to its fans, the City Theater alone announced that they received nearly $21,000. This onslaught of donations all happened in a frenzied 23 minutes.

On top of that money, the Pittsburgh Foundation also offered to match up to $100,000 in direct donations to the library. As of 6PM yesterday, they had only allocated $77,000 of that money (for a total donation to the library of at least $231,000.) In good news, the donation period isn't over yet. You have until 12PM EST today Thursday October 29 to donate to the library through Pittsburgh Gives.

Unfortunately, the technological backbone hasn't been so strong. Even though the online company was charging a fee of 4.75% per donation (or a whopping $62,000 in one day - about 3 times as much as was donated to the City Theater), they let down the charities and frustrated the folks who were trying to donate. Working with computers, I understand that there are unforeseen circumstances here, but when you are taking so much cream off the top, you better be well-prepared for an overload of visitors.

From the Pittsburgh Gives website, "Credit card donations do incur a 4.75% processing fee by the credit card processor, Network for Good. For example, a gift of $100 will net the charity $95.25."

"Network for Good" has some explaining to do. And they could start explaining by donating some of that fee to the libraries. They have until 12PM today.

On Mayors and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

2009-10-22T09:00:00.003-04:00

Regarding last night's debate:

"While reporters shuttled between the mayor and Mr. Acklin, Mr. Harris, who turned in a solid debate performance, was largely ignored by the media."

A reminder to the Post-Gazette: You are the media. If you think Mr. Harris is a worthwhile candidate, you can choose to not ignore him. But the Pittsburgh Comet will be happy that at least the status and validity of the race wasn't questioned by the "media." Kudos to Bram over at the Pittsburgh Comet for putting up some very thorough and compelling entries regarding this race.

Now, skip on over to "Green Is Good" and check out my interviews of Kevin Acklin, Franco Dok Harris, and Lindsay Baxter (acting as a stand-in for the current mayor). The interviews are focused on the candidate's green opinions from public transportation to pollution, so there will be no mention of John Verbanac.

On School Population

2009-10-20T09:44:00.006-04:00

Everyone talks about the story of Pittsburgh's population. It's halved since 1950. It's in a continual state of decline. This year marked the lowest population drop in a while and may be signs that the city's population is turning around (as Chris Briem reminds us). Similarly, Pittsburgh City Schools just reported the lowest decline in school students in the past 9 years. This parallels the city's smallest population loss in the decade. There was an increase in Kindergarten enrollment for the first time in 4 years. Pittsburgh schools are crediting programs like the Pittsburgh Promise for this slow in decline. It's easy to try to make a parallel between the city's population and the city's school enrollment. However, you'd be far off. While the city has lost barely 7.5% of its population over the past 9 years, the school district has lost a resounding 30% of its population.

Just last year, the Post-Gazette headline was:

City school enrollment falling fast

Contrast that with this week's Post-Gazette headline:

Pittsburgh schools like enrollment trend

Too early to tell? Yes. Have there been flukes in previous years followed by drastic drops? Yes. Can I have a little optimism? Yes.

Open Book Pittsburgh

2009-10-16T12:05:00.004-04:00

Over at the City Paper Slag Heap, Chris Potter recently highlighted Open Book Pittsburgh, which I was entirely ignorant of. It seems like a pretty cool site put forth by my favorite City Controller, Michael Lamb, to enlighten us on all sorts of money passing through our local government's hands. My first cursory search was for the big bucks - any city contract over a million dollars.

The latest multi-million dollar contract?

A $3 Million contract for AON RISK SERVICES CENTRAL, INC. to cover risks associated with the G20.

3 Questions

1. Can Pamela's get a piece of that? Or was the city only covering its own behind at the expense of our local businesses?
2. Is this going to get reimbursed? And where will the reimbursement show up in Open Book?
3. What kind of deductible do you have when your insurance premium is $3 Million? I hope it's pretty low.

So, yes, Open Book Pittsburgh is a great concept. But I find that right now, it creates more questions than it answers.

Study Highlights Pittsburgh's Lack of Immigrants

2009-10-14T09:13:00.006-04:00

The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia Research Initiative has released a study stating that Philadelphia was under-counted in the 2000 census. Their goal? To direct more moneys to Philadelphia for the upcoming 2010 census count.

"The report finds that almost all of the cities studied have less money and fewer staffers for this Census than they did in 2000."

And the results of this study? Philadelphia was under-counted by 8,326 residents. Pittsburgh was over-counted by exactly 752 residents. They claim that certain groups are "hard-to-count" including low-income renters, immigrants, African Americans and Hispanics.

Additionally, there are groups of folks that they tend to over-count, typically non-
Hispanic whites with more than one residence.

From the PEW report:

After each Census, the Census Bureau conducts research to determine roughly what percentage of those groups it missed. Using that research, a noted Temple University statistician, Eugene P. Ericksen, found that the 2000 count likely missed an estimated 8,326 Philadelphians, or about 0.5 percent of the city’s population.

So what is the scientific evidence used in this study?

Eugene P. Ericksen, Temple University, at the request of the Philadelphia Research
Initiative calculated the ratio of under-counts/over-counts to true population to be -1.84
percent for non-Hispanic blacks, -3.17 percent for Hispanics and 1.09 percent for non-Hispanic whites. Eugene doesn't appear to actually account for those other "hard-to-count" groups including low-income residents and renters.

Philly 2008 statistics:
Total Population: 1,447,395
44.8% Black
11.3% Hispanic
39.0% White non-Hispanic (versus 47.5% total White people)
Total under-count: 8,326 (-0.5%)

Pittsburgh 2008 statistics:
Total Population: 334,563
27.1% Black
1.3% Hispanic
67.6% White
Total over-count: 752 (0.2%)

In Pittsburgh, the census doesn't appear to track the number of non-Hispanic whites versus Hispanics that also identify as white. I assume it's a fairly negligible number.

As a state, then Pennsylvania 2008 statistics:
Total Population: 12,448,279
Black: 10.8% * -1.84% = -24,737
Hispanic: 4.8% * -3.17% = -18,941
White non-Hispanic: 81.4% * 1.09% = 110,448
Total over-count: 66,770 (0.5%)

To put these numbers in perspective, Pennsylvania would have been over-counted by 0.5%, more than twice as much as the city of Pittsburgh which is claimed to be over-counted by 0.2%. Any city with a majority of white residents and a vast minority of Hispanic residents, will show an over-count. Whether you believe our Hispanic residents are systematically under-counted and our white residents are systematically over-counted is a matter of debate. But what this study showcases yet again is our striking lack of Hispanic immigrants. Of the 239 cities in the United States with a population over 100,000 residents, Pittsburgh ranks 232nd in terms of its percentage of Hispanic immigrants. Pittsburgh is not a comparable city to Philadelphia in terms of population or demographics. In my opinion, Pittsburgh was included in their 11 cities list merely to pull more money in the state to Philadelphia. Why doesn't the highly reputable Pew Charitable Trust perform a study on the disparity of Hispanic immigrants to Pittsburgh?

So what is the justification for Pittsburgh's inclusion in the study?

From the PEW report:

The 10 cities examined for this report besides Philadelphia include the five with larger populations—Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York and Phoenix—
plus five chosen on the basis of their similarity to Philadelphia and their experience in dealing with the Census—Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh. No consideration was given to fiscal condition or population growth.

Philadelphia is the 6th largest city in the country. If they had chosen the top 10 in terms of population (actual peers of Philadelphia), would Philadelphia have been dead-last? San Antonio, ranked 7th in population, has a Hispanic population of 61%. Dallas, San Diego, and San Jose round out the top 10. It's pretty obvious why the trust left them out of the running. Why else is Pittsburgh included in this study but to make Philadelphia look better and affect state funding of census studies? I'm only surprised they didn't include Cincinnati in the list - a city which ties Pittsburgh with its meager Hispanic population yet has a higher overall population. My serious question to pose is: Why are immigrants skipping over cities like Pittsburgh (1.3% Hispanic) and Cincinnati (1.3%) in favor of fellow rust belt cities like Rochester (12.8%) and Buffalo (7.5%) and Cleveland (7.3%)?

*Note: The city over-count/under-count numbers are based on the 2000 census, whereas my state numbers are based on 2008 estimates. There are more Hispanic residents in Pennsylvania in 2008 than in 2000 which would result in an even higher over-count back in 2000, but those numbers are harder to parse.

5 Valuable Posts About Library Closings

2009-10-09T10:17:00.006-04:00

It seems like every blogger worth his keyboard has something valuable to say about libraries.

PGH Comet - No books for you
Brian O'Neill (Post-Gazette) - A Great City, Failing at its Libraries
Pittsblog - Let the Libraries Close
Me (Pgh is a City) - Does RAD work here?
And the response: Carnegie Library Blog - Sustaining our Future

Of course, the commentary on these blogs is just as interesting as the posts themselves.
As J.K. RowledUP says:

"Isn’t a branch more important that a Marketing Department? And should’t a failed CEO work for 1$"

But just like the closing of South Side Hospital and the taxing of non-profit arts groups, public outcry can change the future. Let your voice be heard. Complain to your politicians. Stop this injustice.

Note: Yes, I know. Brian O'Neill isn't a blogger. It may even offend him to be in the same list as bloggers, but it's my blog, so I can put him in whatever list I want.