Get all the details on this hot, hot, hot event. Click here!

This Friday, May 5, 2017-- Pittsburgh has Heart, Art, Eco and Robots...Yep!

 Check out the blog for more info!!
click here

Pittsburgh's 7th Annual Geek Art/Green Innovator's on May 6th!

On May 6, 2016, Passports: The Art Diversity Project produces the city's only interactive, multidisciplinary showcase of art, technology, ecology and performance: The Geek Art/ Green Innovators Festival (GA/GI). GA/GI is now in its 7th year as part of the "Unblurred First Fridays," series managed by the Bloomfield/Garfield Corporation.

During the festival event, galleries, restaurants and other businesses theme their events around GA/GI's eco/tech mission, allowing for the spectrum of Unblurred arts and exhibitions to expand. The festival invites organizations, companies and eco/tech stakeholders who might not otherwise meet to network into a community arts setting where they are provided with an opportunity to do outreach and gain new perspectives as they test and experiment with their projects and programs within a vibrant public venue.

Proof of the event's impact is far reaching. One of the festival's first participants, the University of Pittsburgh's Mobile Science Lab, discovered they could reach a younger demographic than they had originally thought, and learned they were well suited for doing festivals, which up to that point they had never done. Another year, CMU's science department took up the entire top floor of the Glass Lofts, demonstrating how to make nitro ice cream and a virgin bloody Mary, they called "a bloody shame." Other universities such as Chatam and Duquesne have benefited from the GA/GI format as well. Penn Avenue galleries, like Most Wanted Fine Art, have brought in internationally known artists.

" We have been fortunate to have nearly every college in the city involved with GA/GI in the last seven years. We've had artists who have gone on to wonderful careers, and businesses who have expanded their horizons. We make it simple to participate in the event. We'd just as soon have an unfinished project, as a finished one," said Team GA/GI Director, Christine Bethea. "It's amazing what can happen when ordinary people get to weigh-in before something is fully developed. And it's all happening with the support of the Bloomfield Garfield business community."

This year GA/GI is a key community-lead event in Pittsburgh's bicentennial, and visitors will enjoy some very unique programming. There's a collaborative installation of eco/tech and art being hosted at the Pittsburgh Glass Center by Adam Keene of Speak Life Storytellers with dance coordinated by the Kelly Strayhorn Theater. This will also be the grand opening of the first Garfield Night Market of the season with the Pittsburgh Bonsai Society doing a pop-up event nearby. In addition, Daniel McCloskey, creator of Free Money, has done a distribution of 35,000 comics in the East End to support literacy. He will be available to show his work and his discuss his journey. Another venue, The Irma Freeman Center, continues its exhibition of sights and sounds from pre-war Syria, collected by a heavy metal rock musician.

"Every year, we find more amazing people," said Bethea. "This city just keeps getting better."

GA/GI Festival @ Unblurred on Penn is on May 6 from 6-ll pm, located at venues between 4800-5500 Penn Avenue (Mathilda to Negley), and is produced by the Passports Art Diversity Project in partnership with the Bloomfield Garfield Corporation, The Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh Technology Council and others. For more info visit gagifest7.blogspot.com

Snow Storms Expose Inherent Weakness of Suburban Design

Hopefully, It's self evident that road systems with many redundancies are inherently safer, and less exposed to catastrophic traffic backups.

A Washington D.C. based blog did a short post on how the region's beltway designs made the recent huge snow storm much worse.

"Urban street grids are more resilient than road systems focused around large highways, because of how they're laid out.

The great thing about interconnected grids is that if one street becomes blocked, there's another perfectly good street one block over. And another one block down.
If a wrecked car or fallen tree or whatever blocks the street you're on, you just take a different street. There might be some additional turns involved; it might not be quite as direct. But for the most part 28th Street isn't all the different from 29th Street.

Contrast that with suburban-style systems where all traffic in a particular area funnels onto one big highway. If that one highway becomes impassible, everyone in the area is stuck. Or, at best, they have to drive miles out of their way to find the next big highway."

Amazingly, our "expert" engineers and central planners have spent the last 70 years replacing, naturally rational and resilient street grids with designs prone to massive failure.

That's part of what happened last night. There were a lot of accidents crashes. If they happened on arterial highways with no parallel roads, which a lot of them did, that road would succumb to gridlock.

The Pittsburgh Firm That Helped Create The South's Jim-Crow Era Racial Zoning Maps

Most urbanists are painfully aware how today's zoning laws tend to segregate people by race, class and age. Families with kids in large houses live here; Students here; Poor renters here etc....

But, this story I discovered unlocks the not so secret intent of laws which have remained surprisingly unchanged over many decades. They were designed to do exactly that! The first zoning codes were developed in Southern Cities to explicitly segregate blacks from whites, followed by California laws to restrict Asian's

After The Supreme Court struck down those codes, Northern engineering and consulting firms helped create maps that would create these results, legally. Often nothing more was done, other than replace racial designations with letters and numbers. Similar laws soon were adopted across the country, including Pittsburgh's in 1923.

The Pittsburgh based firm of Morris Knowles was instrumental in creating Jim-Crow Era maps for cities like Birmingham and Charleston, South Carolina. It also was a key player in the design of Pittsburgh's first major zoning law.

"The meaning of those diagonal lines isn't stated on the map's key, but what was plainly understood then, in Jim Crow-era Birmingham, is that they represented areas where blacks, by a local law, were allowed to live."

Still learning more about the origin of the laws that still shape our city. Will try to follow up with more several more posts.

Act Shocked: Pittsburgh Leaders Surprised Again by the Loss of Downtown Retail

Guess I'll be back posting some. This topic is obviously worthy of a longer take, but honestly, could the reasons for this decline be more self evident?

Almost every action of city government has placed tourists, visitors and above all parking before residential development and livability in and near the downtown. Not surprisingly, retail has died.

Compare Downtown Pittsburgh to the booming emerging/reviving East Liberty district. The difference is the intricate, dense, connected neighborhoods around East Liberty- Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Friendship, Bloomfield, Oakland that support retail.

Government thugs destroyed and removed residents from the Hill District, gutted the heart of Allegheny City and removed housing from the Strip. What did they think would happen?

Here we go again!

Lack of retailers seen as a weakness in Downtown Pittsburgh

Art and Urbanism Link Roundup

Haven't been able to keep up weekly link posts.

Anyway, here are a bunch of recent Art and Urbanism links I found interesting.

Cleveland

The next must-live Cleveland neighborhood is... (Freshwater Cleveland)

One of Cleveland's critical, loved artist studio buildings to become office space (Freshwater Cleveland)

Mountain Bike Pump Track coming to South Euclid (Freshwater Cleveland)

Huffington Post names Cleveland number one "Beercation Destination". (Huffington Post)

Jetsetter names Cleveland one of the top 10 new food cities (Jettsetter.com) 

Cleveland Performance Art Festival archives moves to Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland.com)

Cleveland Warehouse District Festival brings acrobats, music, art, cute dogs to downtown (Cleveland.com)

Anish Kapoor's shiny C curve sculpture outside of The Cleveland Museum scorches grass (Cleveland.com)

Bike Sharing grows in Cleveland, with art museum, library, other new locations (Cleveland,com)

Stylish new Cleveland School of the Arts building opens in University Circle (Cleveland,com)

Pittsburgh

Want to turn Pittsburgh into a power player? Make flying to and from easier. (Pop City)

My response here

Time for a long overdue talk about Pittsburgh's waterfront stadiums (Diggingpitt)

With parking on North Shore in flux, developer gets extension on apartments  (Stadium owners have to allow apartments under deal that guarantees parking) (Pittsburgh Post Gazette_

Recent Penn Plaza evictions highlight East Liberty's severe lack of affordable housing. (Pittsburgh City Paper)

Pittsburgh task force on affordable housing to convene Thursday (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

City affordable housing task force convenes for the first time (Essential Pittsburgh)

Why blacks are not part of the vision of a Pittsburgh "comeback". (Pittsburgh Courier)

Is East End renewal really "black removal?" (Pittsburgh Courier)

Free Jazz pops ups in unexpected hot spots (Pop City)

As bicycle commuting rises, so does the danger of  pedaling by trucks (Public Source)

Pittsburgh rated a favorite food city by Livability.com 

Find unforgettable art in a most unlikely place: A Pittsburgh Mattress Factory (NPR- National Public Radio)

Fuerza! event celebrates Latinos making a difference in Pittsburgh  (Pop City)

What happens in Pittsburgh stays in Pittsburgh (An  honest post about the isolation of Pittsburgh's art scene) (Pittsburgh Articulate)

Other Urbanism and Architecture News

How conservative pundits have become the most vocal champions of smart urban planning (Pacific Standard)

Is this how to keep Indy's gentrifying neighborhoods affordable to homeowners?  (IndyStar)

Ferguson: The black iron fences of St. Louis (Belt Magazine)

10 years of change: The evolution of Detrot's non motorized transportation network (Model D)

Hypergentrification and the dissapearance of local businesses   (Governing)

America's biggest problem is concentrated poverty, not inequality. (Citylab)

Do outdoor smoking bans mostly punish the homeless? (Citylab)

Coming soon to America, one fare card for all transit (Citylab)

Florida's privately funded passenger rail plan chugs forward amid opposition (Citylab)

Should Tampa Bay embrace new urbanism? (Tampa Bay Times)

When sports fans fight, Why violence in the stands, online rage are spreading (The Seattle Times)

Pentagon orders Ferguson to return Humvees amid concerns about police militarization (Rawstory)

Art, Archaeology and Design news

Wind powered sculptures designed to outlive us all (Hyperallergic)

A new museum is a beacon for lighthouse history (Hyperallergic)

Cannabis discovered in pipes in William Shakespeare's gardern (The Telegraph)

Have humans evolved to love art? (Artnet)

New York's Hasted Kreutler Gallery closes amid accusations of financial misdeeds (Artnet)

Honolulu Museum sues art collector for nearly $1 million over donation of allegedly smuggled artwork (Artnet)

Sotheby's misses estimates in "bumpy" second quarter (Artnet)

Queen Nefertiti's burial chamber could lie behind Tutankhamun's tomb (The Art Newspaper)

"What happens in Pittsburgh stays in Pittsburgh" An honest post about our isolated visual art scene on Pittsburgh Articulate

Another Pittsburgh native and CMU grad, Cy Gavin may be on his way to art world glory.

A writer on Pittsburgh Articulate has noticed how his history here has been erased from his NYC gallery bio to make it seem they were the first ones to ever show his work.

"Why would Sargent’s Daughters make a claim that is so clearly false? Could it be an honest mistake? Unlikely. For an older, better-known artist these types of “firsts” tend to slide into obscurity, but for a young artist like Gavin with a short exhibition history, a glance at his CV should have revealed the truth.

Maybe the artist himself hoped to re-write his CV to have his debut sparkle with the light of New York City. If so, that would be dishonest and rude. But either way, writing press releases is not the artist’s job. Gallery press officers are responsible for doing the research and getting it right. 

This latest episode with Cy Gavin seems to reaffirm the sad fact that what happens in Pittsburgh, however awesome, stays in Pittsburgh. Revision Space is just too small and too far to see from New York City."

  The post also mentions the disappearance of Pittsburgh's pioneering, Outlines Gallery from the conventional narrative. 

I left a few thoughts in the comment section. Glad that some people see this isolation as a problem. 

The author hits on a huge point, so depressing, I try not to dwell on it. 

A show of Keith Haring sketchbooks from 1979 @ Barbara Gladstone Gallery made no mention of his time here- in spite of sketch titles, like drawing at The Carnegie,;drawing on Atwood St & Steel City drawing. Who knows his first solo was at the Pittsburgh Center For The Arts? His “real life” began in NYC. 

Likewise, Teenie Harris still draws blank stares among far too many outside our city.

But, what role does Pittsburgh itself play in this? If most galleries, foundations and media only support local artists why should anyone outside the city take notice or care. Artists sooner or later are left with the choice of accepting the joy of life in a bubble or leaving. 

Would the Mattress Factory be a nationally known venue if it refused to show a range of national and international artists? 

This website, of for and about art in Pittsburgh and only Pittsburgh is a good example of the problem. However awesome, its probably of little interest to anyone outside a 100 mile radius.

A further comment by me

Pittsburgh galleries, foundations and art centers help create this isolation.
How often, do local galleries show artists from Cleveland, Columbus, D.C., Baltimore or anywhere outside a very small local area? One of the main ways to gain regional and national press or collectors is to mix local and national artists. 

Almost nobody I know in NYC, has heard of The Pittsburgh Center For The Arts, because it rarely shows non local artists. FE Gallery did that and got reviews in national publications. Spaces like Bunker Projects are inviting artists from outside the city. 

Sites like ArtHopper and Belt Magazine that link stories and reviews across a wider region tend to get a broader audience..Both are centered in Cleveland. 

Someone from Revision Space pointed out that they do regularly show both local and national artists and... they will be included in a major Art Fair!

My final thought:

This goes back to talks I had with one of the early creators of this site.

I told them, what Pittsburgh needed above all, was a website that reviewed across a wider region, like the Texas art site, Glasstire. I also pointed out that an image rich site w\as critical to since many may never see these shows in person.

This site is awesome, but why would anyone outside the area be interested in a site without lots of images, that only covered Pittsburgh art?

This is not brain surgery.

Pittsburgh needs- more galleries that link local and national artists.

More art sites like Arthopper that connect art in a wider region  

More local critics and writers on Arthopper and national sites like Hyperallergic

More residency programs open to artists from outside of Pittsburgh

More juried shows and events open to artists outside the region

Projects that create collaborations between local and global artists

Programs that invite national curators into the city

Inclusion of local galleries in national and global art fairs.

More symposiums that include national and local artists.

Projects that bring national critics and art bloggers to tour the city.

Please share your thoughts on here or in the Articulate comment thread. I'm sure I just scratched the surface- In a high tech connected world, interaction is not hard to create if its really a goal.

Still More Images Showing NFL Stadiums Rarely, If Ever Stimulate Growth

NRG Stadium (Formerly Reliant Stadium) Houston, Texas - opened 2002

The paid shill for The Pittsburgh Stadium Authority responded to my earlier visual evidence posts.

Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee - opened 1999 

Levis Stadium, Santa Clara, California- opened 2014 

AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas - opened 2009

He pointed out, a few images showed older stadiums and that the newer ones fit better into an urban context. Sadly, images of most newer stadiums hardly prove his point. Hard to see much growth in these shots.

Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Massachusetts - Opened 2002

Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina- opened 1996

NFL stadiums belong in the suburbs

Awesome Cleveland: The Cleveland Sign Painter Guy

Hand Painted Sign, Cleveland Heights 

Hand painted sign, Cleveland Heights 

Hand painted sign, Cleveland Heights 

In a high tech world the human hand is obsolete right? Not in Cleveland where one man has fought a battle with technology and won! There are literally thousands of his signs throughout Cleveland and its eastern suburbs. I took these shots myself.

Cleveland SGS interviews this smart and hard working man and gets advice every business person should hear.

More Visual Evidence, Stadiums Rarely Stimulate Growth

Sports Authority Field, Denver, Colorado 

Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium Parking, Baltimore, Maryland

Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana 

Jacksonville Jaguars Stadium, Florida

Tropicana Field, St, Petersburg, Florida 

Globe Life Park, Arlington, Texas 

Metlife Stadium, New Jersey

Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California 

Visual Evidence Stadiums Rarely Stimulate Growth

Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California 

Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana 

Florida Marlins Ballpark, Miami, Florida (Buildings on sides are garages) of stadium are garages)

Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas 

University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona 

Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota 

SAP Center, San Jose, California 

Tampa Times Forum, Tampa, Florida 

Busch Stadium, Saint Louis, Missouri 

Aloha Stadium, Hawaii 

United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia 

AT&T Stadium In Arlington Texas

How much do you have to hate your city to think this is the best use for prime, centrally located, urban property? More images and posts on the way.

Time For a Long Overdue Talk About Pittsburgh"s Waterfront Stadiums

No time to do a long post about this yet.

To a very large extent, the shift in my posts towards local planning and design issues reflects a disgust and foreboding about the impact of ant-urban policies. 

Pittsburgh as a small city, with specific geographic constraints simply can't afford to waste taxable property.

When I arrived 11 years ago,  the average city resident might have thought the city was lucky to have any development, or economic activity of any kind. Without our benevolent team owners, who would want to visit, work or live in our ugly, post industrial city. What is good for them, surely must be good for us? Um.... perhaps not.

With parking on North Shore in flux, developer gets extension on apartments

After two years, a developer might be allowed to build a 9 story 250 unit apartment building next to PNC Park IF They Replace 531 Parking Spaces Lost.

Which is more important to the teams, surface parking for occasional fans or actual taxable development?

"The stadium authority is required to replace parking under its option agreement with the Pirates, the Steelers and Continental to develop the land between the two sports facilities."

Meaning that taxpayers will likely have to pay for another huge expansion of another huge, hideous parking garage. 

No surprise that actual, livable residential construction is booming in the East End and other places far away from the stadiums.

Meanwhile the specter of gentrification becomes more visible.

Recent Penn Plaza evictions highlight East Liberty's severe lack of affordable housing 

Duh, who would have seen this coming? Certainly, not the new so called, progressive mayor who has so far kissed the ring of any and all team demands.

Pittsburgh task force on affordable housing to convene Thursday

“It’s critical because if we’re going to be an inclusive city and a city that allows for all income ranges to live here and prosper, you’re always going to need some affordable housing,” he said. “It’s really a conversation that is very timely, that is very needed.”

Followed by a call for the same kind of subsidies and policies that have helped make housing so affordable in New York, Boston and San Francisco.

How about  the city, state and federal government start by not helping sports teams turn the city into a parking lot for occasional fans. 

Pop City Posts on Lack of Flights, Cleveland & Columbus Hope For European Service, Why Can't the Greater Region Support A Major International Airport?

Another year and the same old story as individual airports around the greater region bemoan the inability to attract better national and international air service. More plans for tax subsidies to bribe carriers into providing service.

From Pop City

Want to turn Pittsburgh into a power player? Make flying to and from easier

"In 2013, Pittsburgh International had air service to just 36 destinations; many were connecting airports where passengers get on another plane to get where they really want to go. And that’s what drives Spitz Cohan crazy. She said her guests might not have the best experience when visiting Pittsburgh if they’ve missed a connection or suffer jet lag from trips prolonged by layovers."

New service is planned to Toronto but there is a decent chance it may not last.

An official for the Allegheny Conference, Ken Zapinsky answers with a sad, bunch of excuses and rationalizations.

“If there was a direct correlation between level of air service and economic success, Newark would be doing a heck of a lot better,” 

Newark International Airport is right across the Hudson from NYC, which doing pretty well.

An official from Vist Pittsburgh says"

“We compete with Louisville, Cleveland, Columbus, all of which are two stops away,” Davis said. “Of similar cities, only Charlotte and Baltimore have better air service than Pittsburgh.”

Isn't that the problem? We are competing with other similar sized regional metros instead of combining to compete against coastal mega-metros. 

Zapinsky at least admits the negative impact the lack of better service likely has.

"At issue is the potential for things to happen, according to Zapinski. Maybe a local company decides against expansion because it’s too difficult to get to the West Coast. Maybe a German company looking to grow never considers Pittsburgh because there are no direct flights. “What you can’t measure is how much better Pittsburgh would be if we had more air service,” Zapinksi said. “The real impact is in the lost opportunity for a Pittsburgh company that could have had a client fly nonstop from San Francisco or Los Angeles and cut a big deal that leads to revenue of $5 million.”

Pittsburgh isn't alone. One can find countless stories about the same need in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Louisville.

From Cleveland.Com

Cleveland to Europe: Airport director says push is on for transatlantic flight

The hope is they can land a non-stop to London.
But it's too early to rush out and apply for a passport.
Any effort to land international service will likely take at least two years – perhaps longer – from now until takeoff.

And many important questions remain unanswered:

* What airline and what European destination?

* Will the community pony up the cash necessary to convince an airline to take a risk on Cleveland?

Others see beefing up domestic flights as a higher priority:

 Joe Roman, president of the group, (Greater Cleveland Partnership) said members are telling him their No. 1 travel-related priority remains restoring domestic service eliminated by the closure of United Airlines' Cleveland hub last year.

Cleveland Hopkins Airport director, Ricky Smith says:

Smith said he is convinced Cleveland can support a nonstop flight to Europe, despite Continental's assertion that the routes weren't profitable in 2008 and 2009.

"There was a perception that the local market couldn't support those routes," said Smith. 

"That simply wasn't true."

The flights were unsuccessful, in part, Smith believes, because the schedules were inconvenient for some business travelers and the planes were smaller and less comfortable than larger jets flying out of bigger cities.

Meaning that the current Cleveland airport market can't fill larger, more comfortable planes and frequent flights.

Of course if you bribe airlines with cash or a guarantee, you can get service

"Communities the size of Cleveland aren't getting international service without that kind of financial assistance in place," said Smith. 

It's too early to say what those economic packages might include, said Smith. "The offers would differ based upon the destination, frequency of service and even the type of aircraft," he said. Ideally, they would include a mix of private and public money. 

Thomas, with the Greater Cleveland Partnership, said he didn't know whether the business community would be willing to subsidize a flight. "We haven't asked," he said."

Same issues in Columbus.

Nonstop Port Columbus flight to London? It may happen

"Whitaker believes Columbus has a chance because “We are the fastest-growing city in the Midwest," and the support of Columbus 2020 and the business community it represents adds “a lot of value to our presentation.” 

Other cities in the mix are Indianapolis, Nashville, St. Louis and Cleveland, Whitaker said, adding, “I’d be surprised if they selected more than one.”

Indianapolis? Seriously, an airport located around Dayton would serve the total Indianapolis, Columbus, Cincinnati urban triangle.

My comments on Pop City:

"Sad and ironic that Cleveland and Columbus have the same issue. 

Poor air service, reflects the insular mentality of regional cities, each trying to have their own "international airport".Logically Cleveland and Pittsburgh should share a major airport located around Youngstown. Likewise, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis would be better served by a major airport around Dayton." 

My following comment looking at some of the numbers.

 "A search shows that all the regional cities have marginal international and national service and almost all are subsidizing what they have. Detroit, is the only significant "Rust Belt" airport outside of Chicago. How is a huge, densely populated area not able to support more service? 

The Cleveland/Akron/Pittsburgh metros have a combined 5,863,000 residents. Adding the Youngstown/Warren/Boardman/Sharon CSA brings one close to 6.8 million people. Add Erie and it goes up again. Even if I added wrong, the numbers should be more than adequate to support much better air service.  

Columbus, Dayton and Indy's greater metros combined create an even stronger case for sharing a major airport."

 Smaller local airports can pick up some the shorter distance flights but in the long run most transit between cities under 500 miles would be best served by a strong rail system.

I may be back with follow up posts on the hope that someone is listening.

Cleveland Heights' Park Synagogue, An Underappreciated Modernist Masterpiece

Hard to describe the magical, peaceful creative energy I felt when I discovered this modernist gem walking around Cleveland Heights. This is true, organic architecture, tucked into the landscape and community- sadly my images don't do it justice, I was not able to tour inside or spend adequate time. Technically, I may have been trespassing- I apologize.

The complex combines a temple, school, library, gallery and community center unified into a simple, yet complex whole. Nothing seems pretentious or overly tricky.

The original Congregation had been on Cleveland's East Side but followed the growth of the suburbs eastward to Cleveland Heights.

  From The Cleveland Historical Society 

"Rabbi Cohen was already familiar with the work of Eric Mendelsohn, an architect working in New York and then San Francisco. Together with his family, the architect had escaped Nazi Germany, moving to England and Palestine. Mendelsohn had had an illustrious career in Europe. Among his most admired creations were the De la Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, England; Expressionist-style department stores in several German cities; and the Einstein Tower in Potsdam, Germany.....

Shortly after Park’s dedication in 1950, one critic referred to the synagogue as “the outstanding example of modern Hebrew architecture in America . . . the forerunner of a modern, functional synagogue design.” A curator of the Jewish Museum in New York wrote: “I regard Park Synagogue as the most significant structure of its kind in our generation.” The Cleveland Heights facility is now referred to as Park Main, as the congregation built and maintains a second facility in Pepper Pike."

The location is not easy to find- and Google Maps seems to redirect one to the second location in Pepper Pike, Ohio.

Hopefully, this is right.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Park+Synagogue/@41.5140308,-81.5665016,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0xd87382acfa6cd127 

The Harrisburg Mayor's Corruption Trial is a Potential Game Changer

Sorry, still haven't gotten those Cleveland posts up. Hope to soon.

The trial of long time Harrisburg Mayor, Reed in Pittsburgh, will likely reveal a circus of spending on pet projects like a National Civil War Museum and later a planned Wild West Museum.

What seems different is that unlike most corruption trials, there are few accusations the ex- mayor personally stole money or was even motivated by financial gain. (Although many around him may have been)

Instead, one sees a pervasive use of any means, honest or fraudulent to funnel money into pet projects- he may have actually believed were realistic.

A few examples from, Penn Live

Friday, October 3, 2003: School directors say city misled them on artifacts money

"A total of $77 million was earmarked to renovate Harrisburg's aging schools.
So how did $471,000, part of the fee used to float the $77 million bond issue, end up being spent on Western artifacts for one of Mayor Stephen R. Reed's planned museums?
The answer, city officials say, is the difference between the principal amount the city school district borrowed and the fees it paid to a city agency to finance the deal."

Harrisburg corruption charges portray former mayor Stephen Reed as unhinged from normal checks and balances

  "Former Harrisburg Authority Chairman Trent Hargrove on the transactions that swept millions into its special projects fund, which Kane has called an illegal diversion of public funds to pay for Reed's personal interests:"No major decisions were made, no major bonds were issued, no financial transactions occurred, nobody was appointed as a contractor, advisor or counsel without Reed's expressed or tacit approval. If Reed did not want it to happen, it would not have happened."
* Former Council President House, on his position as director of community relations for the Senators:
"(Reed) offered me that position because therefore he knew he could control me and he could get me to get all the votes he needed for his projects.".......

 "Among the charges in Tuesday's filing are allegations that Reed tapped the city's general fund, the baseball team and various sweeps from bond issues to pay for the artifacts and his expenses on those trips."

What was it that motivated Stephen Reed? It appeared to be power, not greed

"It paints Reed as a dictator who made decisions on his own and fired people who dared to stand in his way, who created funds to hide money so he could spend it on what he wanted – and what he wanted was artifacts.

Out of all the nuggets in the grand jury report, the one that strikes me the most, that makes me wonder about his mental state, is when investigators said that he rarely if ever checked on all the artifacts he bought. They went into storage. Some of it deteriorated. ......

These aren't the actions of a man with a vision. They are the actions of a man with an obsession."

In the private sector, using false claims and accounting sleight of hand to obtain funds is pretty clearly seen  as fraud, but the political world has always been seen as different. If voters buy it, or elected the guy, almost anything he may do outside of murder and personal theft is rarely prosecuted.

Who are they to dispute the "will of the people"- even if the voters were lied to. If the program projected to cost millions, ends up costing billions.. oops

SEC charges Harrisburg with fraud; settled case puts all municipalities on notice

"In an information vacuum caused by Harrisburg’s failure to provide accurate information about its deteriorating financial condition, municipal investors had to rely on other public statements misrepresenting city finances," said George S. Canellos, Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement."

One can hope this trial may be the start of a trend towards holding  politicians to a new standard.