Crazy ideas

[mjcatl2]

In my experience downtown etc have always been at the very least generic terms for cities' (big and small) central business districts.

I do like that Pittsburgh has the Golden Triangle, though I prefer just Triangle. I mean, Golden? Really?

I know that has been the term for decades, but it seems bloated, but the triangle works since that is what it is.

I just have never heard anything refer to a "SoHo" in Pgh before. I always that NYC's made sense with Houston st and didn't think much of it, since well... it wasn't the first term to take from England.

In any case, all of these city's and there So's and No's have to stop. It's silly.

[PghUSA]

^^lol Golden is a bit . . . out there. Also I like that Bluff map but isn't Soho East of it about 10 blocks?

And I think the downtown, midtown, uptown refers to the areas along Fifth and Forbes, the Upper Hill wouldn't really be considered part of it demographically--although maybe in time it could be along with the Strip District!

[Evergrey]

Downtown is called "Golden Triangle" due to the high property values of that area. There's at least 150,000 office workers jammed into a .8 sq. mile space.

SoHo is the area called "Bluff" on the map... with the exception of Duquesne University. There is basically "nothing" east of "The Bluff". You go through a dead zone near the Birmingham Bridge before you head up to Oakland.

SoHo is the traditional name for this neighborhood, though it's seldom used today.

And I hate to keep being a fountain of criticism in this thread... but I wholeheartedly disagree with any proposal to "bulldoze" South Oakland. It may not be pretty... but it is a tight urban fabric... and the eclecticism in housing styles is something to be celebrated. There are places for high-rises... and perhaps there are even locations in South Oakland where this type of development would be appropriate. But to bulldoze a whole neighborhood would be nothing short of tragic. We should learn from the urban "renewal" blunders of the mid-20th century.

I do like the Baum Blvd idea though... that is currently a "no-man's land" is a prime spot connecting many East End neighborhoods... its potential needs to be realized.

[mjcatl2]

It's funny to me. I went to Duquesne and lived on the Bluff, but never heard that term before.

Having that cornrer of town as my home for those few years, I always wished that it would be redeveloped (particularly the portion east of Mercy on) as it is incredibly ulgy and rundown.

As for South Oakland, it's not as bad, but it is ugly. As with any part of the city, anything worth saving should be saved, but Oakland needs growing room and something has to give. Some of this is a win win. Not much of the urban fabric is historic in S Oakland.

We need to add to the critical mass in Oakland and also diversify the area as a residential neighborhood beyond students. There is potential for awesome residential towers centrally located with incredible views of the skyline, Oakland itself, rivers and so forth.

[urbanophile]

The problem with Baum is that it was built in the early 20th century as one of the then-"newfangled" motor highways. This was an era that gave us other unaesthetic "highways" like the Boulevard of the Allies, Ohio River Blvd., and Saw Mill Run Blvd. In fact, I believe all these were part of one grand plan in the early 20th century to build motor highways across Allegheny County (others included Allegheny River Blvd., Washington Blvd., Clairton Blvd., Beechwood Blvd., etc.).

Before it became Baum, that corridor was a series of small streets with Atlantic Ave. running from its current terminus at the Liberty-Baum-Aiken-Atlantic intersection (where I propose the giant L'Etoile style traffic circule for the redesigned Champs Elysees-style Baum) all the way to Craig. hey basically plaowed the road through there and the buildings that have gone up along Baum since then are typical early-mid 20th Century ugly. Baum was never intended to be a true urban boulevard despite its name and the fact that it connects Oakland to East Liberty. Rather, it was built as an old style highway (and one with lanes that are too narrow at that!).

It'll be great if they could tear down the ugly erly and mid-20th century stuff, make Baum a true bouelvard (perhaps putting landscaped isalnds in the middle) and build nice apartment and condo buildigns along side it with street-level retail and restaurants. It'll be a great way to unify the East End (bringing Oakland Skadyside and East Liberty together).

[tooluther]

Many cities actually have an Uptown and/or a Midtown that is not a cluster of skyscrapers, but a smaller district that is some how defined and varied by cities.

The Mt. Lebanon Biz district is also called Uptown...just fyi

[PghUSA]

^^That's great Tooluther, in a way it fits both topographically and economically though not geographically (north or immediate rise from a downtown block would).

When do we get to annex Mt. Lebanon? You can't have an uptown unless it is IN town.

[urbanophile]

^^That's great Tooluther, in a way it fits both topographically and economically though not geographically (north or immediate rise from a downtown block would).

When do we get to annex Mt. Lebanon? You can't have an uptown unless it is IN town.

In the case of Mt. Lebanon, the Uptown really is "up" from Downtown. Downtown Mt. Lebanon is along Beverly Road and is down the hill from Uptown.

[PghUSA]

Ok I can imagine posh Mt. Lebo having a sort of an uptown to it, but downtown too? I know the natives would love to say that, but c'mon nobody rides a horse and buggy to work anymore. When Pittsburgh was half a days journey around Mt. Washington and the West End and a ferry ride over I could imagine a downtown to Mt. Lebo. Time to get back to the 20th century, or better yet 21st.

[tooluther]

I've never once heard Beverly Rd. called downtown. The only time I've heard people say downtown Mt. Lebanon, they were just talking about uptown.