Good to see them shut down a barber shop in Market Square that was believed to be a site for drug dealing.
Now what else can they do with the Square? It's been suffering for some time, mostly because the homeless congregate there. It should have places to sit and relax, but that becomes an open invitation for people who have nowhere else to go and nothing to do. There are still some businesses hanging in there, like the Oyster House, but the whole area is very fragile right now. How many places have tried and failed in the space that used to be G.D. Ritzy's?
Not sure what the plan to re-route buses away from the Square will do. It's clearly an area that depends on foot traffic and some of the businesses that used to help generate that -- like G.C . Murphy and the National Record Mart -- are long gone. Sad to see salvage stores and their downscale wares occupying what used to be solid retail spaces.
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Notorious hot spot
Wood Street T
Notorious hot spot
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About Me
- Terry
- Just a middle-aged resident who remembers when Downtown Pittsburgh was great, and hopes it can return to that status.
1 comment:
On the one hand, it seems that all the development plans for the square, especially the YMCA moving to the clumsily named Market Square Place (old Murphy's building), signal that it's on the upswing. On the other hand, it's pretty funny and almost sad that the YMCA is moving there. The Y is considered the bottom rung of the shelter system; it's the place where homeless men go when they can't get in anywhere else. Which some might say makes Market Square the perfect location. But come to think of it, I believe that the Downtown Y's homeless housing is located in Wood Street Commons. I guess that's where it will stay.
It would be interesting to do a survey of YMCA locations in other city's downtowns. I know that Washington's D.C. Y is in a pretty good part of town and it's exercise facilities appear to serve a largely business class clientele. That's apparently what the Pittsburgh Y is aiming for, according to the PG.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07152/790753-53.stm
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