2 Steps to Sanitizing the South Side

Perhaps as fallout from the upcoming G20, there is some renewed interest in sanitizing the South Side.

2 Cleanliness Culprits in the South Side

1. Public Urination. From what I hear of friends that live on the South Side, this is a pervasive problem. Many solutions have been tried in the past - a mostly vacant port-a-potty sitting over at 18th Street being the most salient reminder. Ideas have been thrown out of giving bar-owners subsidies for opening their bathrooms to the public. Councilor Bruce Kraus wants to take the direct approach. Fine the guys $500. If that's enforced, it might actually work. Of course, we'll also have Kraus to blame if there's a sharp rise in Urinary Tract Infections amongst college-aged men in Pittsburgh. Final vote is on Tuesday.

2. Dangerous Building Conditions. City building inspectors ordered the artist colony known as the Brew House (the former Duquesne Brewery at 21st Street and Mary Street) to vacate the unfit premises by September 19. As it turns out open wiring and lots of flammable materials (also known as art) make for a dangerous combination. Personally, I'd recommend they start with the state of college apartment rentals. The folks at the Brew House are choosing to be there. The college students are clearly morons who will end up pissing on their open wiring when they're kicked off the streets, causing a much more volatile situation. As for the Brew House residents and their building, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up in Garfield, and the lovely building gets turned into condos.

For the South Side, these changes are inevitable. They are the "living room" and ATM of the city. When houses cost over $300,000, you have to expect anger and indignation when someone pisses on your lawn or smelly artists move in next door. Happily, Pittsburgh still has the pleasure of containing many other pre-gentrified neighborhoods like Lawrenceville and Polish Hill. And when those are cleaned up, we'll still have plenty of more neighborhoods to follow.

Yinzer Dogs at Large

I was about 8 when the leash laws came to Haverhill, Massachusetts. We could no longer let our Beagle mutt roam the streets at will. Instead, she had to stay fenced in our backyard. After decades of leash laws, dog owners are now starting to demand some leeway. Back in Haverhill, they are trying (and failing) to establish dog parks.

In Pittsburgh, we are lucky to have some dog parks already in place in Frick Park, Hartwood Acres, North Park, and South Park amongst others. But dog-owners want some place where they can go after work, some place that's convenient. And folks in the city don't tend to have spacious fenced in backyards. In the South Side, dog-owners recently took over Armstrong Park at 12th Street, which generated a great hullabaloo amongst area residents and was cracked down upon with fines and signs galore. This generated such a ruckus that Councilor Bruce Kraus has now admirably involved himself in the issue, and plans have been drawn up to create an official dog park in the South Side. Save the hospital, build dog parks, crack down on al fresco dining, what can't this man do in the South Side?

The catch? This convenient, well-landscaped, multi-zone dog park is going to cost the city $200,000 which it doesn't have. On the other hand, some community activists over in Lawrenceville are building their own dog park with minimal landscaping and minimal cost. Which do you think will be built first? And where will the next renegade dog park pop up in the city?