Pittsburgh - The personal website of Joshua David Hall http://www.joshuadhall.com/ Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:51:28 -0500 FeedCreator 1.8.0-nukeFEED (http://nukeSEO.com) Something About The Way You Look Tonight http://www.joshuadhall.com/article603.html Here's a great article about Pittsburgh from an unexpected source: Cleveland.  It talks about How Pittsburgh is still growing in the recession, how companies like PNC Bank are still growing, the success of Giant Eagle, and all the riverfront initiatives that have been in motion.  Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is definitely making this place look younger.

And take a look at the Otto Milk Condos.  Their site rocks, you can see layouts and prices for every unit.  They also have a twitter account and pictures on flickr.  That's what I call hip marketing.  The place looks pretty sweet once it's done.  It'd be sweet to live in the cheap places knowing that someone with a 1.3 million dollar apartment lives above you too.

]]> 40.445281 -79.979353 2008-12-02T11:53:54-05:00 Posted by sixf00t4 http://www.joshuadhall.com/article603.html Staging for Google street view http://www.joshuadhall.com/article601.html Earlier this May, some folks gathered on Smithsonia Way on the North Shore near the Mattress Factory while the Google van drove by to record pictures for google street view.  There were samauris, a marching band, a large chicken, some firemen, and a bunch of other random things.  check out the project website, a street with a view.  here is a direct link to the google street view.

]]> 40.445281 -79.979353 2008-12-01T14:11:41-05:00 Posted by sixf00t4 http://www.joshuadhall.com/article601.html Money Money Money Money - - - - Muh nay! http://www.joshuadhall.com/article597.html So many new announcements going on in Pittsburgh!  We just have to find out how we're going to pay for it all.

The New Granada theatre nears it's financing goal of $1.1M.  It's a block from my house and it is such a sad thing to see it falling apart.  If they can get the rest of that money, it would be amazing.  http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08317/927187-53.stm

 The David Lawrence Convention center just released plans for an $8.5 M project to connect the bike trails from point state park (affectionately known as pennisula park).  They just don't know where the money is coming from yet... http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08325/929364-53.stm

The Majestic Star Casino will officially be called the Rivers Casino after Don Barden lost the license and Neil Bluhm took over.  http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08325/929355-53.stm

 

]]> 40.445281 -79.979353 2008-11-20T15:03:09-05:00 Posted by sixf00t4 http://www.joshuadhall.com/article597.html Kuhn's selected for the Hill District http://www.joshuadhall.com/article593.html Kuhn's has been selected to build a full service grocery store, pharmacy, bakery, cafe in the Hill District.  They outed the bid from the Save-A-Lot to just build a cheap grocery store.  This place will be about 3 blocks from my house and on my way home from work in a spare lot that you can see from this google page.

read more at the post gazette: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08318/927688-100.stm

]]> 40.445281 -79.979353 2008-11-13T15:29:23-05:00 Posted by sixf00t4 http://www.joshuadhall.com/article593.html BNY Mellon is pushing money up the Hill http://www.joshuadhall.com/article576.html From news release:

"The Bank of New York Mellon has announced that it will contribute $3 million over a six-year period to Pittsburgh's Hill District community through Pennsylvania's Neighborhood Partnership Program (NPP). The program will focus on education, job training and community revitalization for residents of the Hill District, which is near the company's downtown Pittsburgh campus.

Also supporting the One Hill Community Benefits Agreement are the Pittsburgh Penguins, the city's champion ice hockey team. "We are deeply honored to invest in a neighborhood with a noble history and promising future," said Vince Sands, Chairman, BNY Mellon of Pennsylvania. "With more than 6,800 employees located within a mile of Centre Avenue and Crawford Street, and many of them volunteering in the Hill District and surrounding communities, we are both a corporate sponsor and an involved neighbor."

Hill House Association will serve as the NPP program administrator and will work with the One Hill Coalition, which represents more than 100 community groups assembled to identify and prioritize strategies for revitalizing Pittsburgh's historic Hill District. The NPP funds will address community needs ranging from job training and education to community improvements and social services.

"BNY Mellon has a strong history of supporting Pittsburgh's neighborhoods; but never more than today with this unprecedented commitment to the Hill District," said Carl Redwood, chairman of the One Hill Coalition. "The BNY Mellon commitment gives the One Hill community benefits agreement a strong early start in the efforts to revitalize the Hill."

"BNY Mellon's initial commitment is for six years, but its impact will last for decades to come," said Evan Frazier, Hill House Association president and CEO. This is a great example of what's possible when communities, companies and public officials come together for the collective good."

"Fundamentally, good business decisions are also good community decisions," said David Morehouse, Pittsburgh Penguins president. "The BNY Mellon commitment is a significant investment in the Hill District and a very positive local development."

"We are working together to make sure that the millions of dollars of new development under way translates into job opportunities and long-term neighborhood revitalization for the residents of the Hill," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said. "Working with residents and committed businesses, a new, better city will be built on the Hill.""

]]> 40.445281 -79.979353 2008-10-08T11:26:40-05:00 Posted by sixf00t4 http://www.joshuadhall.com/article576.html She's buying a stairway to heaven http://www.joshuadhall.com/article566.html Over the summer, I was on the North Shore looking at Mt. Washington and I thought it'd be great to have a building that stretches from the top all the way down to carson street.  You could still put plants and stuff on the roof, but it'd be great to have another way to connect Grandview Avenue with the city below.  Some new business men want to do just that.  They'll take Edge Restaurant, which has been closed for 20 years, and turn it into condos, a hotel, and spa.  The wow factor comes in with a staircase along the whole mountain side though.  That will be the landmark that sets pittsburgh apart from anywhere else.  I'm seeing it at a place for fitness events like the urbanathlon.  Swim down the allegheny, run from PNC Park to Station Square, then up the stairs.  It'll take a while for sure, but they threw out 2011 for a date.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08263/913415-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml

 

 

]]> 40.445281 -79.979353 2008-09-19T09:55:42-05:00 Posted by sixf00t4 http://www.joshuadhall.com/article566.html Takin' it to the streets http://www.joshuadhall.com/article557.html Did you know that there is a wooden street in pittsburgh?  Roslyn Place in Shadyside is the only one.  It's hard to tell from the google street view, but you can certainly see the color.  Here's an article on the history, or really, lack of historical knowledge.  It's a historic landmark though, so it will be around for a while.

This reminds me of red dog roads.  Know what those are?  Red dog was a biproduct of mining that was used to pave roads.  It was a red colored gravel or brick chip like material.  I couldn't find any google images, but I there were roads like this back in the country where I grew up.  They might still be around...

]]> 40.445281 -79.979353 2008-09-04T11:07:18-05:00 Posted by sixf00t4 http://www.joshuadhall.com/article557.html Food Fight in the Hill District! http://www.joshuadhall.com/article542.html Save-a-lot was seeming to become a great addition to the Hill District community along Centre Avenue, but now we've got a horse of a different color on the block, and I like it.  Kuhn's, a homegrown local grocery store, is part of a "Centre City Square" plan developed by a bunch of groups like Crawford Square and the Hill House.  This is just plain great.

We're talking about something that will give the Hill some character.  Not just another Family Dollar or Save-a-lot like every other underserved community.  Those mega franchise places do not spur entrenpreneurship.  We need to bring in locally owned and run businesses to increase the appeal and economic power of the hill district.  Let's see how far this goes...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08223/903263-53.stm

 

]]> 40.445281 -79.979353 2008-08-11T14:32:02-05:00 Posted by sixf00t4 http://www.joshuadhall.com/article542.html New housing and a Pitt in the Hill http://www.joshuadhall.com/article538.html The Pittsburgh housing authority has approved a sale of land to Pitt for new athletic facilities.  The property is right next to the Oak Hill apartments.  The land left over will be sold to Beacon developers to more than double the number of housing units of Oak Hill.  This is great stuff for 2 reasons.  The obvious reason would be so many new houses in an otherwise undeveloped section of the Hill.  More houses mean more residents.  More residents mean demand for more restaurants, stores, etc.  More development also bridges the shady gaps of the Hill district and makes it a more aesthetically pleasing place to live.  All of that leading to higher property values.

The second good thing to come from this is having pitt's footprint spread beyond Oakland.  The further into the Hill District that Pitt goes, the more student foot traffic the Hill will see.  Eventually, they'll see Centre avenue as a great route to downtown.  Pitt creeping into the Hill district really fills in the blanks around the area and all just becomes a well blended section of the City.  So when you're driving down Centre Avenue, you don't have that obvious unsettling feeling of, "oh, we must be in the Hill District now."  It'll be seamless, just like going from shadyside to squirrel Hill.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08207/899398-53.stm?cmpid=news.xml

 

]]> 40.445281 -79.979353 2008-07-25T09:29:22-05:00 Posted by sixf00t4 http://www.joshuadhall.com/article538.html No more Majestic Star Casino http://www.joshuadhall.com/article532.html Surprise, Surprise, Don Barden doesn't have the money to finish the casino as planned, so he's sold off 75% ownership to some dude in Chicago.  That means that the Majestic Star will most likely be called something else.  There's all kind of hooting and hollering going on, some saying that it's a bait and switch, others saying that the casino license should go up to another vote, and I'm not in either of those mindsets.  Neil Bluhm and the investors from Chicago have promised to deliver what was originally promised, and by June 2009, so let's go for it.  I'm not a fan of beaurocratic red tape and legal delays and blah blah blah.  Let's just find someone that can get the job done right instead of letting costs increase and have steel structure blotter on the river front.

read more at the post gazette: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08197/897080-53.stm

 

]]> 40.445281 -79.979353 2008-07-18T12:36:38-05:00 Posted by sixf00t4 http://www.joshuadhall.com/article532.html