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Indianapolis Takes Most-Affordable Title For Fifth Consecutive Quarter Indianapolis, Ind., maintained its strong grip on the title of most affordable major U.S. housing market in the third quarter of 2006, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), released today. This is the fifth consecutive time that the city has been named at the top of the affordability chart.
Meanwhile, on a national basis, housing affordability remained virtually unchanged from the second quarter despite a sizeable increase in the average mortgage interest rate for the July-September period.
The HOI indicates that the national weighted interest rate on fixed and adjustable-rate mortgages – a key component in calculating the HOI – was 6.77 percent in the third quarter, a full 12 basis points above what it was for the previous three months.
In the nation’s most affordable major housing market of Indianapolis, just under 86 percent of homes sold in the third quarter were affordable to families earning the median household income of $65,100. The median sales price of all homes sold in the metro area during that time was $122,000 – up slightly from $120,000 in the previous quarter.
Also near the top of the list for affordable major metros in the third quarter were Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa.; followed by Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.; Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.; and Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich., in that order.
Seven smaller metro markets outranked all others in terms of housing affordability during the third quarter, including Bay City, Mich. at the top of the list; Springfield, Ohio; Mansfield, Ohio; Lansing-East Lansing, Mich.; Lima, Ohio; Battle Creek, Mich.; and Canton-Massillon, Ohio.
Also maintaining its previous standing on the HOI was Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif., which was the nation’s least affordable major housing market for an eighth consecutive quarter. There, only 1.8 percent of new and existing homes sold during the third quarter were affordable to those earning the area’s median family income of $56,200. The median sales price of all homes sold in the area during the period was $523,000.
Other major metros at the bottom of the housing affordability chart were all in California, including: Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Modesto, Stockton, and San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, in that order.
Among metro areas smaller than 500,000 people, California once again scored every entry at the bottom of the affordability chart. Earning least-affordable honors were: Salinas, Merced, Madera, Napa, and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, Calif., respectively.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 11.28.06 @ 08:22PST
Sunday, November 26th
Report Shows Energy Costs Rise, Strain Budgets
The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), held its 2nd National Summit on Energy and the Environment: Implementing the 2030 Challenge, on October 26-27 in Atlanta. The primary focus of the summit is the building sector -- a major consumer of fossil fuels, which contributes significantly to the climate change problem in the United States.
On the first day of the Summit, the mayors released a new metro economies report showing the impact of rising energy costs on household budgets, and forecasting the nation’s projected energy expenditures for commercial and residential buildings.
Almost two weeks ago the population in this country passed the 300 million mark, and 25 years from now that population is expected to exceed 365 million. With that type of rapid growth over the next 25 years, the nation will construct 40 million new homes to house this expanding population and build 20 billion square feet of new commercial space.
While homes and buildings are becoming more efficient, all of this new construction will require a significant amount of energy. This new report, prepared by Global Insight, an economic forecasting firm, projects that these new homes and commercial buildings will use an additional 4 quadrillion BTUs (British Thermal Units) of energy in addition to the nation’s current energy consumption. By the year 2030, that additio nal energy will cost $40 billion annually. Between now and then, this country will spend $500 billion on energy for these new structures over the next 25 years.
The report also found that in 2005 alone, Americans spent $501 billion on energy, including gasoline, motor oil, fuel oil and coal, natural gas, and electricity. This marks the first time that Americans have spent over half a trillion dollars on energy costs. This year, in 2006, the average household will have spent $4,795 on energy, up from $3,812 per household in 2004 and $4,443 in 2005. Next year, the average family will spend $4,841 on energy costs – that’s an increase of over $1,000 since 2004.
The $501 billion Americans spent on energy in 2005 represented 5.7% of the nation’s total household consumption—an increase from 5.4% in 2004. This year, energy costs will represent 5.9% of the country’s total consumption, and that share will continue to grow. In 2010, energy prices are expected to remain at least 20% higher than they were in 2004.
The report also found that these higher energy costs come at an unfortunate time for American families. In June, the Conference of Mayors reported that 80% of American families had not seen real wage increases over the previous year. For these families, the higher energy costs mean less money for other essentials.
The report also documents the effect of rising mortgage costs for the many families who have adjustable rate mortgages. Combined with adjustable rate mortgages and higher interest rates, meaning higher mortgage payments, many of the nation’s families will be facing even greater financial challenges. Four states—Nevada, Colorado, California, and Arizona—as well as the District of Columbia, had the highest percentage increases in the number of families with adjustable rate mortgages. In these places and across the country, the average increase in monthly mortgage payments will be 150% of any projected income gain for that family.
Thus, in the coming decades, energy conservation and the use of green technologies will be increasingly important to the financial well-being of America and its families. Mayors are leading the way by calling for all new buildings in the U.S. to be carbon-neutral by the year 2030 (meaning they will not use fossil fuel energy).
By reducing the energy consumption of the 40 million new homes and 20 billion square feet of commercial space to be built by 2031 by just 10%, the country will save $50 billion over 25 years.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 11.26.06 @ 07:31PST
Cities To Keep A Watchful Eye on the Lame Duck Session
With key issues for cities on the line, the National League of Cities (NLC) said it will keep a watchful eye on Congress during the upcoming lame duck session. Given that the continuing resolution to fund domestic spending will expire November 17 and that significant leadership changes will occur in January, NLC officials are concerned that the upcoming lame duck could be used to push through programs that would harm cities and towns.
Areas of concern include:
• Housing and Community Development: The House has already passed H.R. 5576, the Transportation-Treasury-Housing and Urban Development Appropriations (TTHUD) bill, which includes $3.9 billion for CDBG grants. The Senate version, which has only been adopted by the Senate Appropriations Committee, includes $4.1 billion. Both versions are significant increases over FY 2006 levels. In addition, both House and Senate versions would fund Section 8 tenant-based vouchers at the administration’s requested level of $15.9 billion, a small increase over last year’s level of $15.8 billion. Both bills also provide $1.9 billion for the HOME Investment Partnership Program, which is a $184 million increase over last year, and $1.5 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, a $185 million increase.
• Telecommunications: NLC has been a leading opponent in the fight against passage of the Advanced Telecommunications and Opportunity Reform Act (H.R. 5252), which was approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. If adopted, the bill would undermine local cable television franchising authority, deprive state and local governments of needed revenue, and confine broadband-video competition to a few well-to-do neighborhoods. Although it seems unlikely that the bill will reach the Senate floor on its own, there is a possibility that the bill – or portions thereof – might be attached to broader spending legislation during the lame duck session. NLC, along with its coalition local government partners, will continue to urge Senators to oppose this bill.
• Immigration: Although it is unlikely that Congress will take up the issue during the lame duck session, NLC will continue to push for a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, including enforcement and a path to citizenship for those immigrants currently in the US during a new Congress.
• Eminent Domain: Right before the mid-term recess, the House passed H.R. 4772, the Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 2006, which would allow challenges to city zoning decisions to bypass state courts and go directly to federal court. The bill also made it easier for developers to bring a claim against a municipality that a zoning decision reduced the value of their property. NLC argued that the bill would rob constituents of their ability to control the character of their own neighborhoods. The Senate took no action of the bill, but the issue could be brought up during the lame duck session.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 11.26.06 @ 07:24PST
Tuesday, November 21st
They can't do this to us here! This isn't Dallas; this is Nashville!" ...
I was sad to see Robert Altman died today, and after seeing the movie Marie Antoinette on her birthday, coincidence would have it that Altman's "Nashville" is in my netflix envelope that arrived today. And a masterpiece it is. I haven't seen the movie for a few years and haven't been to the city in a longer span, but a trip is in store for 2007. Here's a few articles from TNC's archives...
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 11.21.06 @ 14:07PST
Wednesday, November 15th
Rail Needed to Help on Global Warming
More trains can help address the global warming problem. ”Energy efficiency is a good proxy for emissions, and emissions per passenger-mile and ton-mile are lower for rail than for aviation, cars and trucks,” said Ross B. Capon, executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers.
Amtrak in 2003 consumed 18% less energy per passenger-mile than commercial aviation; 17% less than automobiles, Commuter rail was 22% more energy efficient than automobiles, and Freight rail was 18% more fuel efficient per ton-mile than water carriers. And, comparing energy consumption per rail-car-mile and per mile traveled by heavy single-unit and combination trucks, the rail-car consumed 36% fewer British Thermal Units. [Source for all modes: Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 25, tables 2.11, 2.12 and 2.14]
That modern rail can divert air travel is important. The London-Paris/ Brussels rail service Eurostar advertises that such rail trips produce one-tenth the carbon emissions that a comparable flight produces. Globally, the United Nations says air travel already causes at least 3% of carbon dioxide emissions. Aviation is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases; growth in Europe averaged 4.5% a year the past decade. The European Union is to limit emissions from airlines, probably starting in 2010. The European Commission is considering bringing aviation within the emissions trading scheme. To encourage more rail travel, former U.K. Transport Minister Steven Norris has suggested an air pollution tax of $38 a ticket on short-haul European flights.
Rail--like all actions relevant to global warming--should get more attention after the October 30 release by the British government of a report by Sir Nicholas Stern, formerly World Bank chief economist. That study finds that action taken now on global warming would cost just one percent of world economic output by 2050. By contrast, failure to act likely would shrink the world economy five to 20% over the next two centuries “because of disruption to people’s way of life caused by global warming” [Financial Times, Oct. 31].
Rail is also germane to the report in today’s issue of the journal Science that the world could run out of seafood by 2048 based on current pollution and over-fishing trends. Run-off from highways and parking lots is a major source of waterway pollution, yet U.S. public policies continue to encourage massive expansion of just such facilities. A strong rail investment program should reduce pressures for highway expansion.
The U.S. alone accounts for 25% of the world’s greenhouse emissions, with transportation contributing one-third of the nation’s emissions (rising to 36% by 2010), and highway vehicles accounting for 72% of total U.S. transportation emissions. Each year, U.S. transportation produces more CO2 than any other nation’s entire economy, except China. [Source: The Pew Center on Global Climate Change]
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 11.15.06 @ 15:38PST
Victories for transit referendum on November 7 illustrate bi-partisan support across United States
While America is divided along the lines of political ideologies, it is united in its support for mass transit. Continuing a trend, transit initiatives passed in overwhelming numbers in Tuesday’s election.
According to Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Transportation Energy Data Book (Edition 25, tables 2.11, 2.12 and 2.14), commuter rail is 22% more energy efficient than automobiles. The United States alone accounts for 25% of the world’s greenhouse emissions, with transportation contributing one-third of the nation’s emissions (rising to 36% by 2010), and highway vehicles accounting for 72% of total U.S. transportation emissions.
The successes Tuesday (see below for highlights) mirror trends from the last two elections, despite intense partisan rancor on other political issues. According to the Center for Transportation Excellence in 2004, 79% and in 2005, 84% of transit ballot initiatives passed.
Summary of transit initiatives passed by voters on November 7, 2006:
Kansas City: In what was perhaps the biggest and most unexpected victory of the day, voters approved a sales tax increase to fund a 27 mile light rail line, despite the opposition of many local elected officials. This was the seventh attempt at this ballot initiative.
California: $40 billion in public works bonds were approved by voters. Of those funds $20 billion are for transportation, and $4 billion for public transportation. Voters also approved a proposition that makes it harder to divert gasoline sales tax from transportation projects. Several local initiatives also passed (namely San Joaquin and Orange Counties)
Minnesota: Voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that requires the state government to spend sales tax collected on the sale of motor vehicles for transportation projects. 40% of the revenues must be spent on transit.
Seattle: Voters approved a property tax increase (Proposition 1) and sales tax increase (Proposition 2), both of which will fund transportation infrastructure improvement and transit construction.
Salt Lake City: Voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase (Proposition 3) to pay for public transit construction and highway projects.
Fort Worth (Grapevine): Voters approved a one-half percent sales tax to fund commuter rail projects, including a link to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.
Honolulu: While not a ballot initiative, the City Council approved (on November 3) light rail as the mode of choice for a rapid transit line on the island of Oahu.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 11.15.06 @ 15:33PST
New Population Profiles Released by Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) provides the latest detailed look at the nation’s rapidly changing and diverse population with the release of new population profiles by race, Hispanic origin, ancestry and age.
The 2005 ACS data provide key socioeconomic and housing characteristics for about 200 selected population groups at the national and state levels. They allow for easy comparisons across groups and access to a range of data from age, marital status and fertility, to language spoken at home and educational attainment.
Selected highlights include:
White Alone, Not Hispanic
The median age for non-Hispanic whites was 40.4 years.
Married-couple families comprised nearly 53 percent of non-Hispanic white households.* Additionally, 9 percent of households were maintained by a woman with no husband present and 28 percent in which the householder lived alone.*
About 2.4 million non-Hispanic white women between the ages of 15 and 50 gave birth in the year prior to the survey — 78 percent of those were married.*
Nearly 6 percent of the non-Hispanic white household population age five years and over spoke a language other than English at home.
Among non-Hispanic whites age 25 and over, 89 percent were at least high school graduates and 30 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Black or African-American Alone
The median age for black or African-American was 31.3 years.*
Married-couple families comprised nearly 29 percent of black or African-American households. About 30 percent of households were maintained by a woman with no husband present and in 31 percent the householder lived alone.
About 600,000 black or African-American women between the ages of 15 and 50 gave birth in the year prior to the survey — 35 percent of those were married.
About 7 percent of the black or African-American household population five years and over spoke a language other than English at home.
Among blacks or African-Americans ages 25 and over, 80 percent were at least high school graduates and 17 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.
American Indian and Alaska Native Alone
The median age for American Indian and Alaska Natives was 31.9 years.
Married-couple families comprised about 40 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native households. About 20 percent of households were maintained by a woman with no husband present and in 25 percent the householder lived alone.
About 44,000 American Indian and Alaska Native women between the ages of 15 and 50 gave birth in the year prior to the survey — 48 percent of those were married.
About 26 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native household population five years and over spoke a language other than English at home.
Among American Indian and Alaska Natives age 25 and over, 76 percent were at least high school graduates and about 14 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Asian Alone
The median age for Asians was 35.1 years.
Married-couple families comprised about 59 percent of Asian households. Among the Asian households, 9 percent were maintained by a woman with no husband present and 20 percent in which the householder lived alone.*
About 218,000 Asian women between the ages of 15 and 50 gave birth in the year prior to the survey —89 percent of those were married.
Nearly 76 percent of the Asian household population five years and over spoke a language other than English at home.
Among Asians age 25 and over, nearly 86 percent were at least high school graduates and 49 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.
(These tables can also be viewed for many ancestries within population groups, such as Japanese. Among Japanese age 25 and over, 93 percent were at least high school graduates and 44 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Alone
The median age for Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders was 30.6 years.*
Married-couple families comprised 50 percent of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander households.* Among the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander households, about 15 percent were maintained by a woman with no husband present and in 20 percent the householder lived alone.
About 7,000 Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander women between the ages of 15 and 50 gave birth in the year prior to the survey, 77 percent of whom were married.*
About 40 percent of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander household population five years and over spoke a language other than English at home.
Among Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders age 25 and over, 83 percent were at least high school graduates and 15 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Hispanic
The median age for Hispanics was 27.2 years.
Married-couple families comprised 49 percent of Hispanic households.* Among Hispanic households, 19 percent were maintained by a woman with no husband present and in about 16 percent the householder lived alone.
About 900,000 Hispanic women between the ages of 15 and 50 gave birth in the year prior to the survey, 66 percent of whom were married.
About 78 percent of the Hispanic household population five years and over spoke a language other than English at home.
About 60 percent of Hispanics ages 25 and over were at least high school graduates and 12 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher. Among Cubans age 25 and over, 73 percent were at least high school graduates and 24 percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 11.15.06 @ 09:06PST
Sunday, November 12th
Perils for Pedestrians
A few weeks ago, The New Colonist posted the results of a survey on evacuating cities. The survey claimed that Kansas City could be easily evacuated while San Francisco and New York would prove difficult. We received some emails suggesting the contrary. One of our readers suggested viewing this video posted on Google Video. Check it out and feel free to comment.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 11.12.06 @ 12:05PST
New Census Bureau Data Highlight Changes in Housing Values Through 2005
The real median home value in San Diego jumped from $249,000 to $567,000 between 2000 and 2005, the largest increase in the nation among big cities. Across the country, real median home values soared 32 percent, according to new 2005 American Community Survey data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The American Community Survey (ACS) provides timely and updated information about the nation’s changing and diverse population every year. Without the ACS, this type of information — historically gathered just once a decade — would not be available for communities until 2012.
The 2005 ACS data released today include housing characteristic information such as occupancy, units in structure, year built, rooms, occupants per room, vehicles available, house heating fuel, value, mortgage status, gross rent, selected monthly owner costs and other characteristics. Additional subjects covered in this release include means of transportation to work by workplace geography, geographic mobility by selected characteristics, characteristics of households and families, grandparents and the foreign-born population. Also surveyed are disability characteristics, work status in the past 12 months, occupancy and financial characteristics. The data are available for nearly 7,000 areas, including all congressional districts and counties, cities and American Indian/Alaska Native areas of 65,000 population or more. This survey is a first look at key housing information for many communities since Census 2000 – including 75 of the top 100 fastest growing cities.
Selected Data Highlights for Largest and Smallest U.S. Cities
Median Housing Value
Among the nation’s largest cities, some of the highest percent increases in real median home values between 2000 and 2005 were found in San Diego (127.2 percent), Los Angeles (110.2) and New York (79.1). In the smaller cities, with 65,000 population or more, some of the highest percentage increases in real median home values were found in Boynton Beach, Fla. (120.3 percent); Folsom, Calif. (99.5)1; and Redondo Beach, Calif. (91.7). Among the smallest cities covered in the 2005 ACS data release with populations of 65,000 or more, Newport Beach and Santa Barbara, Calif., were the only two cities with a median home value of a million dollars or more.
Owner-Occupied
More than two-thirds of the nation’s total occupied housing units were owner-occupied in 2005, an increase of 4.5 million over the Census 2000 number (69.8 million). Among the 15 largest cities, Jacksonville, Fla., had one of the highest percentages of owner-occupied housing units at 64.2 percent. San Jose, Calif., and Indianapolis also had high percentages of owner-occupied housing units. Of the 15 smaller cities, Missouri City, Texas (88.6 percent); Boynton Beach, Fla. (72.9); and Folsom, Calif. (71.3), had some of the highest percentage of owner-occupied housing units.2
Median Selected Monthly Ownership Costs
Real median selected monthly owner costs for owners with mortgages have increased 5.0 percent nationally between 2000 and 2005. Though not statistically different from each other, some of the highest increases among the largest cities in real median monthly owner costs were found in Detroit (24.1 percent), Chicago (21.7) and San Francisco (19.6). Decreases of about 10 percent in real median homeownership costs were found in some of the smaller cities such as Bryan, Texas, and Greenville, N.C.
Median Gross Rent
Additionally, the real median cost of renting a home increased nationally by 6.7 percent from 2000 to 2005. Some of the highest real median rent percentage increases among the large cities were found in San Diego (27.2 percent), Detroit (22.5), and Los Angeles (15.9). Among the smallest cities, Redondo Beach, Calif. (21.7), also had increases in real median rent. Real median rent actually decreased in some of the largest cities including San Jose, Calif. (-9.4 percent), and Dallas (-3.0).
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 11.12.06 @ 11:35PST
Sunday, November 5th
Looking For Pre-Industrial Pittsburgh Each time I drive around Perry Hilltop I notice more early houses. Early to me means before most in Pittsburgh were built and about as early as they get here. They’re an eye into a different world. Once you know what they look like, they’re easy to spot. The sides of the buildings usually extend above the roof line and are flush with the chimneys. They’re often wider than the houses around them primarily because they were once surrounded by farmland.
What was this place like before the iron and steel industries, before the streetcar and even the railroad? I imagined a quiet setting with the country smells we don’t get anymore, the sound of crickets, the picturesque landscape of rolling hills and orchards, fences for livestock and altogether absent, the sound of cars.
We’re now quite a few years past the industrial era, and yet we still have an opportunity to look back to the pre-industrial era. While I appreciate the contributions of the industrial age to our city, I can’t help but think that Post-industrial Pittsburgh could have just as much in common with pre-industrial Pittsburgh. After-all, our population is half the size it was during World War II and maybe we’d fit better in that smaller city of Allegheny. Returning to the days before industry seems enticing, if only as a recreational mind exercise.
I called David Russell, an archaeologist and historian I knew had an interest in these buildings and times.
“They are where you find them,” Russell says indicating houses this old are usually out of their context, squeezed into awkward spaces on small lots. He also noted large clusters south of the city in Washington and Fayette counties and suggests to find them a drive on the National Road in Washington and Fayette Counties is in order. There we can find one if the densest concentrations of early homes. “People moving North from Virginia settled there first.” Russell said adding they were harder to find in the North with a few exceptions including Harmony, Pa and Perry Hilltop.
The city of Allegheny was being settled just before the turn of the 19th Century in 1795. Not much is left from that era. Many of the houses that were here had as many as 150 acres. When you find them today they’re often surrounded by 200 other houses built in later years, most likely between 1890 and 1915.
Fellow real estate agent Craig Melichar and his partner Michael Masciantonio live in one of Perry Hilltop’s early homes. In fact I had noticed it and knew exactly which one it was when he described it. Masciantonio had researched it at the recorder of deeds and estimated the home at about 1838.
History related to these early houses extend back as far as the City of Allegheny itself. Melichar’s house was deeded to Margaret Darlington Denny, one of the heirs to the James O'Hara estate, a fellow who was speculating on the future of Allegheny in the early 1790s.
This home also likely changed physically over the years. Greek revival on the inside, Italianate features had been added later-- in fact the name of a later owner was found on the inside of a piece of trim. That name was Robert McKeever for whom civil war Fort McKeever was named once located on the present site of Pressley Ridge School.
Originally on a ten acre plot, Melichar described the process of buying a neighboring house “built too close” and tearing it down, restoring in some small way the feeling of open land around it.
David Russell also lives in a house on Spring Hill. Built in 1854 he located an early advertisement marketing it as a “Country estate surrounded by 44 acres.” Spring Hill is also home to several other early houses, one once owned by the brother of notable Western Pennsylvania landscape painter George Hetzel and another known as the Rhinemann House.
The acres surrounding the houses were engulfed when mechanized transportation including the streetcar provided a way for people to get to the city cheaply. With that came less need for the land used for horse grazing and farm animals.
Before the advent of the streetcar and railroads, a trip even to the banks of the Allegheny River from Perry Hilltop or Spring Hill would have taken a significant amount of time. Before 1834 it took more than twenty days to travel from Allegheny to Philadelphia. For several decades a canal system connected the two cities reducing travel time to six days.
That canal system reached the City of Allegheny near the present day Heinz Lofts, a noteworthy marker being Canal Street (O’Hara had an office on Canal Street). If you’re standing at the bus stop across from the Sarah Heinz House on Rt. 28 and look up to the North, greeting you in all their classical form are two houses that date to the time of the canals. Sadly they are both in such poor condition one might expect they won’t last to see the North Shore Connector.
Russell says there are other houses around dating to pre-civil war days. There are many of the townhouse variety in East Deutschtown (the area between Penn Brewery and the I-279) and several scattered around West Deutschtown (the area between I-279 and Cedar Ave.). Russell noted a very simple example on Spring Garden Avenue. Allegheny West and Manchester also have examples.
If a visitor from the early 1800s wouldn’t recognize much in these neighborhoods, they would feel even more alien in downtown Pittsburgh. Almost all of pre-Civil War Pittsburgh has been removed. Two remaining buildings include the Block House, now in Point State Park (which remarkably survived years of industry there), and the building near PPG Place that now houses the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
To be fair, nothing exists of the center of Pre-War Allegheny City, now the site of Allegheny Center. What would have been there for the farmer who made the long trip from Perry Hilltop in 1840? Russell said they would have come upon a thriving business community with a wonderful commons and some sort of a park. “Allegheny was considerably more affluent than Pittsburgh,” he says adding that it would have more easily resembled a New England town square than what’s there today. “Early accounts indicate it was a very nice place.”
What to look for:
Symmetrical, classical shapes. Sidewalls that extend above the roof line Chimneys built flush with the side wall, often with a window between them. Windows with twelve or more panes of glass. Most early homes here are made of stone or soft brick. The exception is log homes, which are often sided over with wood. Large fieldstone chimneys often give these away.
Some Italianate features were used before the Civil War, but Russell notes the early residents of Allegheny were often conservative and built in a style long out of fashion in bigger cities. “Sometimes the houses look earlier than they are because residents were slow to adopt new designs.”
FOR FURTHER READING: A guidebook to Historic Western Pennsylvania by Swetnam and Smith. It’s a good companion on the trip with information on many of the structures you might come across.
Eric Miller is real estate agent with Dunn Real Estate Services (www.dunnrealtor.com). He has a Masters in Urban Studies from the University of Akron and publishes a web magazine about city living at www.newcolonist.com. His real estate blog can be found at pghcityhomes.blogspot.com.
Eric Miller (editor@newcolonist.com), on 11.05.06 @ 12:11PST
Thursday, November 2nd
Getting Connected With High-Speed Trains
Amtrak recently announced that it is improving service between Harrisburg and New York City. This is the result of a partnership between the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDot), Amtrak and the Federal Transit Administration. The changes include $145 million in upgrades and faster speeds—up to 110 mph.
Amtrak says the new service will reduce most travel times between Harrisburg and Philadelphia by 15 to 30 minutes off the current 2-hour trip. Express trains with fewer intermediate stops will complete the trip in a brisk 90 minutes.
Travel times between Harrisburg and New York City will also be reduced — 30 minutes for regular trains and 45 minutes for express trains. Weekday roundtrips are increasing from 11 to 14 - with 10 traveling through to New York — making the service faster than driving.
Although ground-breaking for Amtrak, high speed trains are nothing new in the United States. On May 10, 1891 the Empire State Express reached an observed high speed of 112.5 mph near Batavia, NY. Trains regularly operating at higher speeds came on the scene in the 1930's. The last train speed record set in the United States was in 1935.
The Twentieth Century Limited ran daily between New York and Chicago, a distance of 961 miles, in seventeen and three-quarter hours. Today that trip takes 18h 30m on Amtrak.
For the most part, passenger train service in the United States has gotten worse since 1950. The recent Amtrak announcement was made on part of the line once owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad. It’s the part that has been electrified.
Electrification on the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) began in 1915 when electrification was brought to a section of track between the former Broad Street Station in Philadelphia and the village of Paoli. Extensive electrification after 1925 occurred between New York-and Washington and from Paoli to Harrisburg. In essence, advanced to the year 1925 make Amtrak’s announcement possible. In fact some de-electrification has occurred post-1976.
Still in an age of crowding highways, a return to cities, airline uncertainty and higher fuel costs, it’s good to see the efforts being put into improving train service.
Having train service between big Eastern Seaboard cities like New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Boston are not only good for traveling between the cities. In the real estate market, many in high-cost coastal cities are looking to relocate. Customers looking in cities like Pittsburgh often comment that it’s a great city, if only there was an easy way to get to New York.
That easy way to New York and Philly (really at this point with Amtrak’s announcement we really only need an easy way to Harrisburg) can be an economic-development boost for America’s second cities like Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
There’s an argument out there that investing in air travel only means buying some planes. If the route proves unsuccessful, you just reroute the planes. That’s true, but while running trains can mean building or upgrading tracks, where we are is often a result of where transportation links, initally railroads lead. Building railroads and linking smaller cities to the major ones can not only make those big cities more viable, but make smaller cities more viable by providing that easy access.
To some, an airplane does provide immediate access. Yet the airport is often forty minutes or more from a city center and the number of transportation changes required to make a trip complete can be daunting. If I left my house I’d take a bus downtown, a bus to the airport, a shuttle within the airport, a plane and then trains, buses and cabs at the destination. Sure, with a significant added cost one can rent a car, but you can’t park easily in New York and if you could, well it wouldn’t be New York or much of a city.
Higher-speed trains can make a trip seamless from downtown to downtown.
We need many more improvements such as the one announced recently by Amtrak. We need more high-speed trains. We need to be connected.
Indianapolis, Ind., maintained its strong grip on the title of most affordable major U.S. housing market in the third quarter of 2006, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), released today. This is the fifth consecutive time that the city has been named at the top of the affordability chart.
Each time I drive around Perry Hilltop I notice more early houses. Early to me means before most in Pittsburgh were built and about as early as they get here. They’re an eye into a different world. Once you know what they look like, they’re easy to spot. The sides of the buildings usually extend above the roof line and are flush with the chimneys. They’re often wider than the houses around them primarily because they were once surrounded by farmland.
That canal system reached the City of Allegheny near the present day Heinz Lofts, a noteworthy marker being Canal Street (O’Hara had an office on Canal Street). If you’re standing at the bus stop across from the Sarah Heinz House on Rt. 28 and look up to the North, greeting you in all their classical form are two houses that date to the time of the canals. Sadly they are both in such poor condition one might expect they won’t last to see the North Shore Connector.
Symmetrical, classical shapes.