A Word from Eric Miller for June, 2004

One Building at a Time

In Pittsburgh, the newsweekly for which I wrote the 1998 cover story about the then long-awaited project no longer exists. When I wrote that, seven years ago, the project had been in planning for fifteen years. We've since added seven to that tally.

The outcome to date of Federal North or Garden Square North is not unlike that of Fifth-Forbes and other top-down, large scale projects that don't materialize. Both sought to recreate a healthy, lively neighborhood by buying up a large parcel, bringing in a developer, and making it all new and exciting at once. Alas, the excitement long-ago ended in impotence. The uniqueness of individual spaces, the diversity of development ideas and uses--the uniqueness of Bob's Salami Hut and Joe's barber Shop--can't be fully incorporated into this kind of project. That's another argument, however, because we never got that far.

The projects planned to use eminent domain to take the property. Arguments against such takings because of "blight" instead of for a public purpose like transit or public building aside, the redevelopment strategy isn't without its risks.

Six of the seven major buildings on this "garden block" have been vacant for the seven years following the big plans, public meetings, and glossy pamphlets. The one that still has an operating business in it is the Garden Theater. "The cornerstone of the project is the renovation of the Garden Theater," which would become a neighborhood gathering spot, I wrote based on interviews in my 1998 story.

As that was the most important stone of the project, when the taking didn't materialize, the entire project lingered. I never expected I would be walking by seven years later thinking the area was worse than when I went to the public meeting, interviewed the developers, and wrote my story. Seven years of decay for arguably the most significant block on the Northside. Seven years without the taverns and corner stores that had been there.

If they had just redone one building a year, I thought, the project would have not only been realizable, it would have been done by now. Of course the Garden Theater would still be there, but the improvements around it might have made it more economical to use the theater another way--say perhaps to show regular movies.

In the last seven years neighbors have had lots of time to think of other tactics to drive out the porn theater that now occupies the space, though to my knowledge none has been implemented. These include a Garden Theater cam, "I visit the Garden Theater" bumper stickers, and plain old picketing. Developing around it might have solved the problem in another way. While today the streets around the Garden are all but void of people, with all the new development, sidewalks would be occupied with people using them for more "legitimate" purposes: getting a coffee, picking up a loaf of bread, or coming in and out of their apartment. All of a sudden, a visit to a porn theater becomes very visible.

One building at a time and this would be a different place. The half-million dollars spent by the URA on court costs certainly could have gone a long way for at least one of the properties. The former owners could have been bolstered by the project instead of being forced out because of it, and real change could have been realized all along the way. One building at a time: enhancing a neighborhood made up of individual owners and ideas is the only way to allow a real neighborhood to live. When did we stop developing one building in favor of trying for half the city at once?

Let us learn from the Federal North project--we can enhance a healthy neighborhood by helping one building and owner at a time. Completely recreating a lively, healthy neighborhood and expecting it to be unique and organic is something even the best laid plans, even executed flawlessly, will fail to produce. The inevitable flaws just compound the disappointment.

Eric Miller is editor of The New Colonist.

Go to A Word from Richard Risemberg

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