Quote:
Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat
|
The Strip District is booming, and I couldn't possibly be more thrilled. I wish there weren't so many NIMBY obstructionists in this city, though. The
Post-Gazette just ran a negative article about how this growth is "gentrifying" the Strip District.
I don't understand how putting up condos and apartment buildings on vacant lots and/or rehabilitating vacant structures for such purposes can be considered "gentrification". If I'm not mistaken the population of the Strip District was only ~600 in 2010. I'm sure it will probably be around 3,000 as of the 2020 Census. How many of the ~600 in 2010 were displaced to make room for the newcomers? I'm guessing 0, as I can't think of any occupied structures that have been razed for upzoning or denser infill.
In terms of commerce I don't think anyone---even the developers---want to see Penn Avenue between 16th & 22nd Street (the historic commercial core of the neighborhood) switch from places like Penn Mac and Wholey's and Parma Sausage and La Prima and Pittsburgh Popcorn over to Athleta and Starbucks and Ben & Jerry's and Chick-fil-A and Whole Foods. This attractive gritty historic commercial core is part of what makes it so easy to attract high-end buyers for new condos at $400,000+ and high-end renters for new $1,500+/month apartments. One perk for me choosing to rent in Polish Hill in 2010 was ease of accessibility to businesses along Penn in the Strip. As long as the commercial core of the Strip isn't compromised (and thus far I haven't seen that happening), then I don't see ANY gentrification---residential or commercial---occurring.
On NextDoor I keep arguing against NIMBY's who proclaim Pittsburgh "already has too many apartment buildings, and they're all half-empty". Can anyone document evidence of this? As far as I know ALL of the new high-end buildings going up in the East End and the Strip and Oakland are nearly fully-occupied. I know The Refinery, the high-end condo project still being built by DiAnoia's, only has two units left (one standard-priced one which should sell soon and a high-end penthouse that will probably take a while to sell). I believe Edge 1909 took a little while to fill up, but it is also priced higher than nearby complexes. Those townhouses near Edge 1909 sold like hot cakes, if I'm not mistaken. If I was affluent I'd love to live in the Strip.
I'm not sure why there's so much NIMBYism against what's happening in the Strip. Can anyone confirm if NIMBYism is this bad in every city or just Pittsburgh?