by Eric Miller
The plan to raze part of Pittsburgh's downtown and bring in national retailers has become quite a big deal.
It used to be that urban renewal plans of most any kind were embraced without much fuss, but not anymore. This could be because after numerous failed attempts, and a wealth of national experience, there's good reason to think an "official" plan won't work. But Pittsburghers have differing opinions on what's wrong.
On the street, merchants in the way of Mayor Tom Murphy's bulldozers complain about having to move. Their businesses, they contest, are being sacrificed to developers from out of town. Similarly, shoppers in the bargain stores lining Fifth and Forbes groan that they cannot afford and do not want the glitzy products and entertainment promised. Strangely, some small business advocates in the city have sided with the mayor. Small business, if it is located in what suburbanites consider a slum, can't be protected from government intrusion coming through the powers of eminent domain.
In the cavernous offices of City Hall and the Department of Planning, as well as the offices of local preservation groups, the debate is less about small business versus city hall, than it is about the best way to clean up the mess. The official plan announced by the mayor would have the Urban Redevelopment Authority purchase and clear most of the land, then hand it over to Urban Retail properties, a Chicago developer, who would bring in major retailers like Tiffany's and Nordstrom. In the way of the development are 62 properties and 125 businesses, mostly local, many early century buildings and lots of downtown memories.
The preservationists on the other hand argue that the bulldozer method of destroy and rebuild has never worked, and worse, downtown will lose much of what makes it unique--the local stores and old buildings--in the process.
But even many of the merchants who would have to move, and the preservationists, agree that the area could use some sprucing up. And while many shoppers in the region would like to have more big name stores to go to, no Pittsburgher wants the city to look like just any other place, say downtown Indianapolis or the nearby suburban Ross Park Mall.
And that's what has drawn so much attention to an alternate plan for the corridor supported by the preservationists, including Preservation Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation who hired New York architecture firm Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut and Kuhn to develop alternative ideas.
Thinking Outside the "Big Box"
At some times of the day, compared with many other cities, downtown Pittsburgh can be a pretty lively place. People are walking on the streets, hanging around in Market Square and wandering in and out of the many retail businesses that exist already. But it shuts down at 5:00, when the office workers leave. While bringing in new stores and shoppers might add some foot traffic, they aren't likely to make it the "24-hour" destination experts say the city needs to attract and keep young, educated workers bored with the barbecues and lawn chores in suburbia.
This has been a big issue in Pittsburgh, a city that has watched its population dwindle. In his book, "United States of Suburbia," author G. Scott Thomas predicts that the Pittsburgh metropolitan area will be the only major metro area to shrink in population between 1995 and 2020. The change could push the city out of the top 20 in the United States. And despite a significant high-tech economy, and major universities, it's the young who are leaving. By some estimates Pittsburgh has the oldest population in the United States and a smaller share of 20-34 year olds than any other major U.S. city.
While shopping is important--with two full-size department stores and four more planned, Pittsburgh already has more than most Downtown districts--the city also needs
housing, efficient transportation, and a distinct and unique identity created through old buildings in order to have the "urban" character young workers often look for. The alternate plan contains two of these elements, housing and history, as well as some added ways to make walking around easier. It even includes the idea to rebuild a market house over the city's Market Square, where the new development is focused, taking away a breeding ground for pigeons and an outdoor motel for the city's homeless. The Diamond Market was removed from the square in 1961.
While the open space at Market Square would be lost, the alternative plan advocated by the preservationists would preserve many of the smaller retail buildings along Fifth and Forbes Avenues, including a former five-and-dime, a small bank building and a corner retail building with decorative cast iron trim. While none of the buildings individually ranks among the best in the city's rich supply of significant architecture, saving the buildings is important partly because they're all that's left, and also in order to retain a street-level "context."
In the mid-1990s the city razed a block of turn-of-the-century buildings, including elaborately faced terra-cotta structures and a 20 story office building. And currently, despite intense opposition from PHLF, plans have moved forward to gut a marble-laden bank building which was turned over to developers who are preparing the site for a Lord and Taylor department store. The building had been the main office for Mellon Bank and sits at the foot of the company's high rise.
But preservation isn't the only concern those opposed to the Mayor's plan have. Housing in particular is a critical element in any downtown that is considered to be healthy. Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, New York, and Boston all have a large number of homes and apartments a walk or a transit ride away from the downtown shopping area. People living downtown creates customers, not only for fancy stores, but for more everyday items like groceries, coffee, and hardware. The things people who can't afford items in Tiffany's want, and the things local merchants being pushed out can provide.
Downtown residents keep people on the sidewalks at all hours of the day. When Lord and Taylor closes, when the symphony isn't in season, when there is no blockbuster movie, people are still on the streets.
Currently, there is very little housing in downtown Pittsburgh. But the dense city pushed together by mountains and rivers has a significant amount of housing within walking distance of the district.
Other projects have proven the marketability of housing near downtown. A new apartment complex on the city's North Shore filled to capacity shortly after opening, and an old train station converted to apartments at the east side of downtown commands above average rents. The plan proposed by PHLF contains a new 126-unit, 6-story residential building, a new 260-unit, 10 story residential building and loft housing above many of the existing retail buildings.
City Planning Director Eloise Hirsh has said the alternative plan contains "interesting ideas," and although the planning commission has moved forward by approving the Mayor's plan, Hirsh told a local newspaper she liked the idea for housing and there was still time to talk about compromises.
It Takes Training to Make It
But there's that last critical element many cities are rediscovering that neither plan covers: on street fixed-rail transit. Yes, that means street cars.
Downtown Pittsburgh had streetcars into the 1980s, when a subway was built. Many other cities, such as San Francisco, New Orleans, Cincinnati, San Jose, and Memphis, have found that bringing them back, to make it possible to shop and even live without a car, is vital to a lively downtown. But for the most part, Pittsburgh has continued to rely on busses.
"The street car solution is like a marriage," says Dave Fritze, a member of a group trying to restore street car service to Cincinnati. Comparing street cars to the diesel bus, he said when you put down rails through a neighborhood you indicate you intend to stay there. "A bus can be on one route today and leave the neighborhood behind tomorrow. The difference is commitment."
With frequent stops, streetcars (unlike the subways that serve primarily to bring people into downtown) allow the retail district to encompass all of the core instead of a small corridor. They allow shoppers a way to move around without moving the car or lugging packages underground. They also slow traffic down, making it more inviting to walk.
Street cars make it easy for residents to live downtown without a car because they can get to work using something faster and more pleasant than a bus. Plus, historic streetcars can be a tourist attraction themselves and add to the city's "uniqueness."
Like many other cities looking to build or expand street car systems or connecting tourist attractions with light rail, San Francisco is using street cars, some a century-old, to connect tourist destinations as well as shuttle commuters and office workers. The "Market Street Railway" has been so successful and popular with tourists that commercial tenants along the route complain that the trolleys are making rents for the retail stores unaffordable.
If downtown Pittsburgh is to be a dynamic place, it needs it all. Fancy stores for suburbanites and everyday ones--national chains and local merchants--for everybody. It needs a place for cars and a way to get around without them, residents and tourists, a sense of history and something new. Finally, the city needs to let the uniqueness develop by itself, extending beyond the confined limits of a plan.
"We believe the way to make downtown retail viable is to restore significant older buildings and anchor the project with a combination of national and local tenants in unique Pittsburgh venues," said RonYochum, Chief Information Officer at PHLF. "We should offer assistance to encourage natural growth of what is unique to Pittsburgh."
This article originally appeared in Urban Ecology. Eric Miller is a New Colonist Editor.
