National Geographic Traveler Includes Pittsburgh On List Of Six Best Cities To Kayak

A lot of lists out there seem bogus, but this one naming Pittsburgh as one of the most interesting and beautiful urban areas to Kayak rings true. The city has yet extract full value from most of it's waterfront.

Did you know you can kayak down the Chicago River in the heart of The Loop?

Part of Historic Strip Produce Terminal To Be Taken Down

Plans are in the works by the owner of the iconic wholesale produce market on Smallman Street to tear down about a third of the building as part of a larger plan to better connect the Allegheny River waterfront.

It (Buncher) is seeking to tear down a section of the terminal between the 16th Street Bridge and 17th Street, or about 528 feet of the 1,478-foot-long building.

Even as it described the terminal as a "Pittsburgh icon," the URA argued that its length and unbroken nature "inhibits the development of the Allegheny River frontage."

"The combination of the terminal and the 16th Street Bridge creates barriers that limit redevelopment of the area to the 'gated community'-type project, and reduce the opportunity for public access to the river," it wrote in its application to the state.

"Removing a block of the produce terminal allows the riverfront connection, and allows the new development of the riverfront parcel the visual and physical connection to the rest of the city that will allow the new development the greatest chance of success."

Plans for the property include constructing a 75 unit residential building as well as offices and retail. The existing-Pittsburgh Public Market which now occupies the space would move to the remaining part of the building.

Generally, I strongly support the plan. People need to appreciate history while being honest about the current Strip which does not work very well for wholesalers (who originally depended on rail terminals) or support thriving retail beyond very limited hours.

Developing a more normal street grid and integrating the Strip better with the river and the Downtown will improve both by making the area more dense and accessible to pedestrians. When will Buncher start to do the same thing with the hideously ugly superblock buildings it owns on Liberty Ave?

A Few Photos of Cleveland's Rock Hall and Downtown Waterfront

I know, these images will not excite most people who have visited Cleveland, since this is one the places they have been. As you can see, the weather was sort of bad and limited our chance to walk around much--Also the Rock Hall itself does not allow photography at all.

You might notice, also, the huge Football Stadium across the way, which is used only about 10-12 times a year, but manages the rest of the time to make a large area, dead and unpleasant. There may be some tiny park there or something but it didn't look worth looking for. This stadium is the gift that keeps on taking, right in an area, Cleveland really needs park and recreational space--or where The Rock Hall might have expanded--perhaps with exiting small scale performance spaces. There was room for both.

The ship in the foreground is a classic Great Lakes iron ore ship now open for tours.

Cleveland Makes Progress by Removing Waterfront Highway--Um Sort Of?

NPR recently did a story on how mainstream taking down urban highways has become.

"Cities as diverse as New Haven, New Orleans and Seattle are either doing it or talking about it. The chief motivation seems to be money.

Milwaukee removed a freeway spur for $30 million. Officials estimated it would have cost between $50 million and $80 million to fix that roadway. That inspired Akron, Ohio, officials to study what to do with an aging six-lane freeway that few motorists use.

"Perhaps we can remove sections of it and have it fit in better with the Akron grid system and offer an economic benefit by making land available," says Jim Weber, Akron's construction manager."

Shockingly, even Cleveland is well along the way towards removing the lakefront, West Shoreway freeway, and replacing it with a boulevard.

Except, in spite of the hype and good press, this has gotten, things are not exactly what they seem. Angie Schmitt,from Rust Wire notes that the resulting ground road will be very much a freeway.

"Several years ago, city planners and neighborhood activists on the west side hatched a plan to reconnect city residents to Lake Erie by converting the West Shoreway into a pedestrian-friendly boulevard. Planners recommended reducing the speed limit from 50 to 35, adding stoplights with crosswalks and installing a bike path.

Despite almost universal recognition of the importance of lake access, advancing the plan was not the slam dunk you might expect. In order to lower the speed limit, the state legislature would have to formally act in favor of the proposal. Although local planners estimated the reduction would cost the average commuter a mere 70 extra seconds of travel time, the legislation stalled in the statehouse. Even city council members from the farther-west wards of Cleveland came out against the plan, joining a powerful opposition group of suburban commuters.

Furthermore, in order to convert a limited-access highway into a boulevard with stoplights that would allow for pedestrian crossing, the plan would have to be approved by the Ohio Department of Transportation. After reviewing the proposal, ODOT nixed the stoplights, saying they would increase congestion. The city was forced to scale back plans"

Yes, you read right, In Ohio, speed limits and traffic light placement on major roads are not up to the local community, but the state DOT. So, now exactly how will local residents and visitors cross this road--through new improved tunnels (you really think many people will actually use these?) built at a city expense of $2.5 million. Sure seems like a freeway.

Not that it's exactly that simple since plans to reduce speed limits spurred not just suburban but city opposition in a town so oriented around the car. Those opponents can point to the relative lack of pedestrian life in the downtown and areas near the lake and say there is just no demand for pedestrian access--just like there wasn't in NYC or San Francisco before their waterfront highways came down. Even so, Detroit Shoreway and Gordon Square near the lake are fairly popular places.

One added note is that once again, a major factor here was the very unwise placement of a huge football stadium, requiring massive parking and highway access on the central city waterfront.