The North Shore Connector: Can We Make It a Train to Somewhere?

The Post Gazette put up this promo film of the soon to be open North Shore Connector.
Powerful. Awesome. An amazing asset built at great expense. Now, let's see what we can do to make this pay off beyond linking to the stadium, casino a few events and hotels.

The North Shore is most certainly not "nowhere", but our misguided, development patterns have come close to making it so by putting cars above human based development.

I will try to come back with more thoughts soon.

Video compilation of Teenie Harris profiles in the national media

The Westmoreland Museum, which hosted a earlier Harris retrospective, uploaded a montage, highlighting some of the attention paid to Harris and the communities he photographed. Almost all of them are really well done, so don't just skip through it.

Seems like many were done during the period of the earlier show, but some are newer.

"what he shows so clearly and forcefully in these photos is the sense of community that existed"

Great talk about city brands on Rust Wire: Some advice from Don Draper

Rust Wire put up a post about Cleveland's latest efforts to tinker with or create it's brand.

An Illustrated History of Cleveland’s Varied Attempts at “Rebranding"



Cleveland Rocks by Ian Hunter

A commenter than linked to this awesome article about urban brands with some advice from Don Draper.

"Face it you can't escape from who you are"

The problem, it seems, is a fundamental misunderstanding of what branding a city really means. Talk of “creating a brand” suggests a blank slate, a point of ground zero where we begin the process of establishing who we are. But cities are living organisms, with a legacy of past behaviors and no shortage of current, on-the-ground realities, which means–like it or not–they already have a brand.

Jackie Benson, a long-time player in place-based marketing, puts it this way: “If you’re the guy who doesn’t return phone calls, it doesn’t matter how much you talk about your personal commitment to your clients. You’re still the guy who doesn’t return phone calls. That’s your brand.”

People imagine that folks know nothing about the city and will believe anything pumped out by the PR team. The reality, is often that they know, a bit, and that you already, for better or worse, carry that brand.

Cleveland's biggest moment of civic branding happened in 1969



It was the city where the river caught on fire.

What's the ad guy gonna say? No, The River Didn't Catch on Fire?

Now we have some new branding for Cleveland.



It's the city with the former county executive on trial for large scale political corruption.

OK, and then it's the city that's home to The Cleveland Browns-etc....

My point is you can't hide or evade the things people already know about your city and culture that are true. If they are really, bad like being known for lots of violent crime, pollution or corruption, you likely have to work on changing those facts.

If your leadership fails to engender trust, you can’t sell strength. If your policies are not incentivizing what you want and penalizing what you don’t, you can’t sell vision. If your zoning promotes sprawl and your citizens are disconnected from civic participation, you can’t sell community.

What you can do is build up and sell the great things about who you are even if they won't appeal to everyone.

Like Cleveland might not be a great place to go on a diet.



But you know, a few people might like that. In fact, Cleveland has lots of great and very real things that many people would love.

Part two soon.

What is Transit Oriented Development?

Yes, you heard right--

"In the first 6 months of 2009, 18% of all housing construction permits for the entire state of New Jersey, were in Jersey City."

"People who used to own two cars, now only own one, people who own one care only use it on occasion."

"We don't require parking in most of the development, that your looking at."

There's a maximum parking ratio for much of this development, but there's no minimum.

"A key part of it is changing the zoning."



It's not just something they are doing in New York and New Jersey.



Hopefully, a conversation about this will develop in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and other communities around the region.

Potentially Great Moment for Transit Oriented Development as The Cincinnati Streetcar Breaks Ground

Can we say it? Pittsburgh's transit situation is an epic clusterf...k with service on even the most critical core routes being cut or eliminated.

A core problem is that we have always sold transit as basically a charity item (or jobs program) and never properly connected transit investments with development. Am I excited about the opening of the North Shore Connector? Only mildly, since it mainly connects to a sports facility used a few times a year and a gambling casino targeted at a broad base of car oriented gamblers.

For purely political reasons we supported many suburban money losing routes with few riders which helped people think that transit is a waste of money. (when is the cost of a road ever questioned)

Cincinnati's streetcar excites me-because it actually is the product of a new way of thinking about how people get around and how land will be used. I'm not saying they will get this right, but they are thinking in the right way.

Ground Broken For Cincinnati Streetcar



Something tells me, suburban voters get it, which is why they hated this project from the start. The streetcar means the city property owners can use land for something other than storing cars.

Great website reviews and maps hundreds of Ohio Festivals

Beneath Ohio's image as a bland state is a huge amount of history, diversity and just plain weirdness. Festivals are a great way to discover all that.

A few examples--from the over 200 festival reviews on the site.

Cleveland Asian Festival

The Port Clinton Walleye Festival

Taste of Cincinnati

Tremont Greek Festival

Medina Ice Festival

Avon Heritage Duct Tape Festival

Gene Autry Days – Kenton

Larchmere PorchFest – Cleveland

Toledo Lighthouse Festival

Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival

IngenuityFest – Cleveland

Ohio River Sternwheel Festival

Skunk Fest – North Ridgeville

Pyrotopia Fire Arts Festival comes to Homestead: April 27th & 28th, 2012

Pyrotopia overview from Pyrotopia on Vimeo.

This now long awaited event got delayed a bit but now has finalised dates and location. It will now be held around The Pump house in Homestead.

Keep up with the details here.

It will be the East Coast’s first-ever festival dedicated entirely to fire arts, presenting fire’s diversity of use by artists and celebrating humankind’s primal fascination with fire.

Pyrotopia will entertain and enchant attendees with the use of fire and related media such as electricity and light in artistic ways. Activities at Pyrotopia will include
• fire dancing, spinning, hooping, swallowing and other performances
• interactive fire sculptures and games
• fire-related demonstrations
• a gallery show of fire-related and inspired imagery, sculpture, video and other media
• workshops and lectures on fire science, history, safety and other topics
• and more

Anyone who went, want to share a post about Cleveland's Brite Winter Fest?

This is a time sensitive request. If you went to The Brite Winter Fest, in Ohio City and have pictures, video or thoughts about it, you can share, it would be much appreciated. Cross posting is fine.

Email: diggingpitt@gmail.com

Cleveland's Cash Mob Movement shows off it's Awesome DYI Culture

Yes, Cleveland is home to Jimmy Dimora, and a lot of just plainly misguided city leaders.

How, does it survive? Well, Cleveland also has a totally awesome, DYI, and local craft businesses culture. Born in Cleveland and spreading around the country is the cash mob movement, a grass roots way to connect, discover and support local shops.

From the Plain Dealer

An enthusiastic 'cash mob' gathered in front of The Grog Shop concert venue at Coventry Road and Euclid Heights Boulevard to, as organizer Andrew Samtoy said, help "get people back into the habit of supporting their local businesses."

After Samtoy announced the cash mob 'rules' - participants must spend $20 and meet three new people - the crowd of mostly 20 and 30-somethings made their way down the bustling Coventry strip to the night's target business; Big Fun Toy Store.

Owner Steve Presser warmly greeted the surge of new customers, as the mob quickly descended upon the store's seemingly endless supply of vintage memorabilia. Billed as offering "a shopping experience like no other", Big Fun's quirky stock of everything from Troll dolls and KISS refrigerator magnets to Dick Goddard greeting cards and 'Billy Bob'-style teeth produced plenty of smiling faces and a steady stream of purchases.

May Building Plan gives Cleveland Negative buzz In Atlantic Cities

I know this plan is allegedly dead,(I don't believe it) but I can't drop it. It symbolises so much of what has gone wrong in downtown development plans that so often put attractions for tourists and suburban commuters above the basic structure and design of the city.

Atlantic Cities picked up the story which has some very good comments.

This is a building almost everyone who has been to downtown Cleveland has seen and admired. It's not just beautiful, but screams out how useful it is for almost anything from retail, to office and residential.

Owners of Cleveland's Historic Downtown May Building propose gutting it for Casino Parking

Image from the Wikipedia (public domain)

More about this building

OK, they were turned down by the city planning commission.

The building's owners, a Florida-based investor group, had hoped to create 734 parking spaces on four floors and remove the windows for ventilation.

An architect working on the project said that that building's ground floor would be maintained for retail, and that housing and offices were possible on the upper floors. But plans submitted to the city focused on the parking proposal, which was limited to the second through fifth floors.

The commission seemed shocked that with all the "investment", in the area, like the nearby, football, baseball and basketball arenas, the soon to be constructed massive convention center and casino, that the owners didn't see more value in renovating the building for any higher use.

Of course- creating massive single use facilities, specifically aimed at bringing in huge crowds to such a small area was almost certain to inspire just this kind of development. Already several other historic buildings had been torn down for casino parking.

My sad guess is that these neighboring developments, taken as a whole subtract, rather than add to the building's potential value for offices, or residential. How many people say, gee I want to have an office right by a casino (a small casino might be different) or a huge stadium? Fewer are likely to want to live there.

Even so, Cleveland, still has the bones of a great downtown-and this building is a very big part of that. There is also a tight and growing demand for residential space downtown. One can only hope this building can make it.

2013 Carnegie International Curator's Blog getting Some Attention

I have to say, I liked the last Carnegie International, but it didn't exactly stretch your brain, consisting to largely of established American and European art stars-showing works in the very tight confines of a traditional museum and making very little use of Pittsburgh's unique landscape or history. Not surprisingly, the curator pretty quickly skipped town.

I have heard some rumors, that the new curatorial team is looking to possibly use some alternate spaces outside the museum. I sure hope so. If their blog is any indicator, they are much more involved in the neighborhood art scene. Their curatorial trips also indicate a show that spans a much wider range.

Write up in Gallerist NY

Some sample posts.

Symposium on building art institutions in Africa-In Senegal

A look at a sculpture park made out of garbage in Senegal

Political Puppet Theater from Poland

A look at Beirut's Arab Image Foundation

Artist Apartment Talks in Lawrenceville

A trip to The Maxo Vanka Murals

The Cleveland Museum Extends it Reach with a New Annex in Ohio City

This is not exactly news to many people but it was news to me.

If you dig around on the blog, you can see I've been somewhat negative about The Cleveland Museum's very ambitious-almost dangerous efforts to supersize itself-while in my opinion doing nothing to better integrate itself into the city.

My feeling about this plan to create an annex on Cleveland's West Side is totally different. Wow! nice.

I love the comments from the Bidwell's about the annex becoming much more of a place for experimentation.

"The Cleveland Museum of Art and the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation announced on September 16, 2011 a collaboration that will bring additional exposure for contemporary art to Northeast Ohio and for the first time in its history expand aspects of the museum's programming and exhibitions to dedicated space outside of its University Circle campus. Titled the Transformer Station, this new arts venue takes root in a former transformer station built in 1924 at 1460 West 29th Street in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood."

Up until a short while ago one would not have guessed from it's institutions that Cleveland is home to a good number of very important contemporary art collectors. In the next few years that will be totally changed, with the opening of the new Cleveland MOCA, The Transformer Station Gallery; Spaces Gallery and expanded Cleveland Museum contemporary galleries and of course The Akron Art Museum.

Cool Blog by West Virginia Artist, Robert Villamagna

Took me a long time to find, Robert Villamagna's personal blog where he documents some of his creative process, teaching experiences, exhibits and other random stuff. It's also a peak at many of the art happenings going on in West Virginia.

Check it out. http://wvartist.wordpress.com/

New Street Art: Benjamin Banneker Sign In The Hill District

I really like this raw folk art/ street art piece I saw in The Hill District. I think it's on Centre Ave but I'm not sure.



One thing street art can do is make people more aware of their regional or cultural history. My guess is that was the main intent of the creator of this work I saw in the hill. Sad to say, I had only a very vague idea of who Benjamin Banneker was-but I looked him up after seeing this.



From the Wikipedia

"The title page of an edition of Banneker's 1792 Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Almanack and Ephemeris stated that the publication contained:


the Motions of the Sun and Moon, the True Places and Aspects of the Planets, the Rising and Setting of the Sun, Place and Age of the Moon, &c.—The Lunations, Conjunctions, Eclipses, Judgment of the Weather, Festivals, and other remarkable Days; Days for holding the Supreme and Circuit Courts of the United States, as also the useful Courts in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Also—several useful Tables, and valuable Receipts.—Various Selections from the Commonplace–Book of the Kentucky Philosopher, an American Sage; with interesting and entertaining Essays, in Prose and Verse—the whole comprising a greater, more pleasing, and useful Variety than any Work of the Kind and Price in North America.

The 1792 almanac included the times for the rising and setting of the sun and moon. Weather forecasts and dates for yearly feasts were also included. Readers also saw a tide table for the Chesapeake Bay and home treatments for illnesses. In his 1793 almanac, Banneker included letters sent between Thomas Jefferson and himself.[17] The title page of a Baltimore edition of his 1795 almanac had a woodcut portrait of him as he may have appeared, but which a writer later concluded was more likely a portrayal of an idealized African American youth."

I liked this work a lot.

Eat Your Heart Out, Pittsburgh: Cleveland's West Side Market Celebrates 100 Years

Warning--this video is not for vegetarians.

Why is it so hard for a Pittsburgher or Clevelander to acknowledge one great thing about the other city? Just admit this is pretty great.



A whole bunch of celebrations are planned.

From Cleveland.com

A traffic-stopping street festival is planned for Oct. 7, a rare Sunday that the market will be open, and will include food by local restaurants and celebrated food trucks, as well as a parade with costumes created in workshops led by the Cleveland Museum of Art's Parade the Circle organizers.

The market's actual birthday is Nov. 2, a Friday. The gala event will be celebrated Saturday, Nov. 3 (billed as the first day of the market's next century), featuring homeboy restaurateurs and award-winners Jonathon Sawyer and Michael Symon -- along with a dozen or so of their nationally renowned chef friends. Tickets will be priced at three levels, with the most expensive providing the closest access to chefs. The Great Lakes Brewing Co. will be releasing a centennial brew.

New Organization, Alternative Appalachia aims to support non traditional arts

http://www.alternativeappalachia.org/

"Alternative Appalachia aims to provide exposure to filmmakers, musicians, visual artists and writers living in Appalachia whose art form does not conform to traditional regional styles. We intend to initiate social awareness of the wide spectrum of creativity occurring in the region through our website and other platforms. Alternative Appalachia strives to challenge stereotypes of art in the region and will create a support system for artists and develop interest in their work"

Check out the submission guidlines for each art form

P.S. No exact definition is given for what they consider, Appalachia, but all of West Virginia, the greater Pittsburgh area (actually most of Pennsylvania) and South East Ohio, is usually considered in this region.

In an earlier version of this post, I made the assumption, they gave grants. After looking further at what's on the website, I think they are more about creating a forum to make people more aware of alternative work being made here.

Just a heads up that they exist--check out the details.

James Simon's Welcome to Uptown Sign

Sorry about the low quality of these images, I don't drive and this is not a spot I normally pass with a camera at hand. When I did, there was a pretty serious back lighting situation.

Both me and Jean were a bit surprised by the weird location of this sign, which is in a parklet few neighborhood people would go. In fact, you really can only see it well, as you leave the area and head towards the South Side.

Beggars can't be choosers, and this was the spot the city must have given. James did a wonderful job bringing a creative and colorful entrance to the neighborhood.

You might know that James also did an amazing Welcome to Braddock sign.

"Industrial Strength": The South Side's Emerald Art Glass House profiled in The Times

We were watching as this weirdly great new house was starting to loom over a factory on Pittsburgh's slopes.

From The NY Times

"It took three years to build, but the Emerald Art Glass House (named after the Zielinskis’ company, Emerald Art Glass) now hovers above the factory in the South Side neighborhood, overlooking the Monongahela River, railway line and bridges.

Eric Fisher, the couple’s architect, says proudly that the cantilevered extension is three times the length of the one at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. And that it recalls the tradition of the owner living over the shop."

It gives a lot of the back story of how it was built and the owners who built it. Also has a nice slideshow.

In case the Times link doesn't work, even if you subscibe and log in, here are a few more related links.

In Rusty Bridge

On Wreck and Salvage

Amazing Milestone: Two Kickstarter projects raise over a million dollars.

So many things I should post about.

Wow, most people assume you can't raise really big money through crowdsourced funding and most people and organizations don't try.

"LOS ANGELES — Last night at 6:42 pm in New York, a Kickstarter project raised $1 million. Double Fine Adventure, a video game designed by San Francisco game designer Tim Schafer and his team at Double Fine Productions, is a downloable “point-and-click” graphic adventure game. Backers get both the game and a real time documentary filmed by 2 Player Productions as the game develops."

From Hyperallergic

Stunning but not a record because 4 hours earlier another project passed the million mark.

Obviously, I find so many reasons to love this. In spite of supposed efforts at outreach, the vast majority of conventional government and foundation funding goes to the same folks and ideas over and over.

What is the record for an art project?

Call For Artists For Youngstown Mural Project

I am getting more press releases which is cool. FYI, I can't post everything and am still very interested in people willing to do their own full posts on the blog.

Calling All Artists!
(on behalf of the Youngstown Playhouse)


Glenwood Neighbors Beautification Project!

The Youngstown Playhouse is pleased to announce an upcoming mural project in the Glenwood Avenue area on the Southside of Youngstown!

PROJECT DETAILS

The project is an effort to beautify the Playhouse Grounds and surrounding environs through a highly collaborative mural art display. Debris and brush will be removed and a mural painted by community residents and institutional partners on a large and highly visible wall adjacent to playhouse grounds. This project ties into greater efforts to beautify and improve the Glenwood corridor and to strengthen community partnerships between non-profits and neighborhood residents.

PROJECT TIMELINE

Friday, March 23 - Response DEADLINE

April 15 - Selection of artist

April - May - Design

June -July - Mural Installation

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

· Cover letter, stating your interest in the project, as well as how you
would approach the project if you were selected

· Examples of past work, jpg files on a CD (max 10)

· Annotated image list to accompany jpg files

· Resume with three references and contact information

All materials must be submitted by MARCH 23, 2012

Applications and materials may be sent to:

The Youngstown Playhouse

600 Playhouse Lane.

P.O. Box 11108

Youngstown, OH 44511

QUESTIONS
Please contact Sean Posey at sposey@yndc.org, or by calling 330.480.0423.

Youngstown Playhouse website

A Favorite Pittsburgh Mural: Kate Bechak's Worm's Eye View

Crap, I live not far from this but somehow never got around to photographing it. Sorry, I need to get a wider angle shot to give one the full three panel image.

The theme here is explained by the title, a trippy landscape as it might be seen by an urban worm. Catch all the subtle but hilarious details, like the gangsta pigeon, the gum pulling from the bottom of the sneaker and some kind of weird bacteria action.

Kate is a highly creative artist who's work I see too rarely.

Devastating, Depressing Slideshow of Pittsburgh's Lost Architecture

I came across this slideshow on line, while searching for images and history of The North Side Market House. Ohio City in Cleveland is celebrating the happy 100th birthday of it's West Side Market. Allegheny City will never have that happy moment, after losing 500 buildings at it's heart to urban renewal in the 1950's, along with it's connected street grid.

It's not so much that all these buildings were lost--life goes on, and building and adapting is part of life-it's that a vast number of them were replaced with ugly parking garages, highways, failed developments and often just empty lots. I rarely feel that way about losing buildings in Manhattan since most (not all) are replaced for good reason, most often taller and more urban structures.

Anyway, it's depressing and there's a whole lot more one could show-entire communities just blown away in a few years of destruction.

Small Instalation of Romare Bearden Work at Warhol through the end of February

Got this press release but could find no info on their website.

From a Warhol Museum press release

"In celebration of Black History Month, The Andy Warhol Museum has installed a selection of Romare Bearden artworks, which are on view through February 29,2012. This installation features 10 Bearden screen prints and collages, on loan from Pittsburgh art collectors. This installation also features five Andy Warhol works, including a series of three Ladies and Gentlemen (1975) prints, Two Horns (1958),and Martha Graham: Satyric Festival Song (1986)."

Works are on display until February 29

The first of three Antiques Roadshow Episodes shot in Pittsburgh air on Monday

I'm excited to see the discoveries people from the region brought in for PBS's Antique's Roadshow last year.

Finds included

A "folk art", carved wooden devil bought for $10 which survived a flooded basement, valued at $4000-$5000

A Louisville Slugger bat used in a game in 1960 by Roberto Clemente and signed by the baseball legend. Valued at $25,000

A First Edition set by Charles Darwin brought in by a West Virgina man valued at $284,000

A Rockwell Kent Painting valued at $150,000 -$200,000

A 17th century Chinese carved rhinoceros horn cup bought for $1, valued at $350,000 - $400,000

Story in The Pittsburgh Post Gazette

8 p.m. Monday on WQED, Channel 13

No Surprise, The Cleveland City Council approved another give away to the Cleveland Browns

When Cleveland's mayor was begged by small music clubs and musicians to cut back an 8% admissions tax he shot back- "I have a city to run.".

From The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Today, we got an idea of the kind of spending the city considers vital. Cops? Education? Street repairs? No, another give away to a favored sports team.

"City Council voted 16-2 Monday to let the team take the money from a city-administered tax on alcohol and tobacco sales. Cleveland, which leases the stadium to the football team, is required to provide only $850,000 a year for major improvements."

My guess is we will see some of these scumbags in a puppet theater show soon.

A Blogger's Visit To Youngstown on Urbanophile

From Urbanophile

A Clevelander made a day trip to Youngstown, visited The Youngstown Historical Center's Museum of Labor and Industry, walked around downtown, stopped in at The Lemon Grove Cafe; had a a few beers at Rust Belt Brewing Company; walked through Mill Creek park and drove through the struggling Idora neighborhood. Along the way he met a few people who decided to move to Youngstown, and so far are pretty happy about it.

New Documentary about Kraynick's Bike Shop being shot. Do you have a story to tell?

More Than Two Hands from Jennifer Caple on Vimeo.

Wow, an awesome project indeed. If you/yinz know and love Kraynicks, it's history or just a lot about the Pittsburgh bike scene? Perhaps you should contact the filmmakers.

"'This is Your Bicycle' is a documentary that is currently being filmed in Pittsburgh. As we continue interviews and filming on location at the bikeshop,
we are looking for photos, interviews, and personal stories for the film. Email films@jennifercaple.com or join our RSS feed for updates on screenings and events."

Follow the project at thisisyourbicycle.com

Small Clubs and Local Musicians Work To Fight Cleveland's Destructive 8% Admission Tax

Ever wonder why in spite of an incredible asset like The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland's living small club scene still struggles?

First reason is that small music clubs almost everywhere, don't often rate as the world's most profitable businesses. Add to that the range of licencing fees and taxes on the one steady moneymaker, alcohol sales and Cleveland's special gift-An 8% across the board tax on admissions.

From Cleveland.Com

"Mayor Frank Jackson has shown no interest in a tax break for music clubs, telling The Plain Dealer: "People owe, they should pay. We have a city to run. We can't run it on air."

The Cleveland Music Club Coalition is growing, and it's planning a big push in February to get hearings on the legislation and to raise awareness with a single night of concerts at their venues called "Defend Music: Stop the 8 Percent," said Sean Watterson, owner of the Happy Dog on Cleveland's West Side."

LOL my flippin ass off. What do the Cleveland Brown's, Indians and other freeloaders do to pay off the tens of millions in cash they took from taxpayers?

Recent plans to collect on back taxes (To fund Cleveland Browns Stadium repairs?) have driven a number of clubs to the wall.

From Cleveland.Com

"Cindy Barber, owner of the Beachland Ballroom on the city's East Side, said this week that she faces a demand for $400,000 -- three years' worth of taxes plus penalties and interest.

Peabody's, near Cleveland State University, recently began adding the 8 percent tax to the price of tickets but also remains on the hook for collections dating back three years."

Local musicians are trying to desperately to repeal the tax.

Kirby is urging them to send a copy of their CD, cassette or mp3 to Mayor Frank Jackson, along with a note of support for Cleveland Music Club Coalition and a pending ordinance which would exempt small music clubs from the admission tax.

He’s asking them to do so by February 29th “for maximum impact,” saying “I would like to make a huge impression on Mayor Jackson to support our local venues and musicians that helped bring $840 million dollars of income and $91.6 million in taxes to Cuyahoga County in 2010.”

Here’s how to get your music to the mayor via snail mail or email:

Mayor Frank Jackson
Cleveland City Hall
601 Lakeside Ave.
Cleveland 44114
mayorsactioncenter@city.cleveland.oh.us

Downtown Cleveland ... Is It For You? Promotional Video Hypes Organic Energy

Gotta take all Promotional videos with a grain of salt, but I like the focus on small business, creative energy and convenience in this video. The Food Trucks, Pop up stores, non chain gourmet dining scene and landscape make Cleveland's downtown actually look like a unique and special place- which it is.

I also like the open ended sales pitch which in many ways is similar to Pittsburgh's "Imagine what you can do here", campaign.

The word made flesh

Seeing the foot traffic on Penn Avenue, it was hard to believe that it's February. It was a great night for a brisk stroll among the galleries and artspaces open for first Friday. The last three winters have seen heavy February snowfalls, which is a huge deterrent for all but the most stalwart of art patrons. Last night was a happy intersection of lovely weather and a fantastic exhibit.

I have been looking forward to the Stephen Tuomala exhibit at Modern Formations, and it did not disappoint. The show is beautifully installed, and the work is really engaging. Mr. Tuolmala's loose interpretation of the body is raw with tension.

The works are ink on bible pages, taken from a couple different volumes. The larger works were crated by joining multiple pages together. An installation of dozens of skull drawings cover an entire wall, exhibiting a remarkable and subtle variation in form. The work emulates the Otranto Cathedral, with its wall of martyr's skulls. The presence of the work is intense. Across the room are three unflinching nudes that are disorienting. The life-sized figures float in a field of inky darkness, seemingly placid in the state in which they are depicted.

Modern Formations has regular gallery hours, so if you missed the opening, it's not too late to see the exhibit.

Modern Formations
Stephen Tuomala
The Word Made Flesh
Modernformations
4919 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh PA 15224
412.362.0274
Thursdays 7pm - 9pm
Saturdays 1pm - 4pm or by appointment

Operator of NY's Taxpayer Financed Yankee Stadium Garages Nears Default

Don't ever say governments don't invest in our communities. Allegheny Center, was an investment that took the heart out of The North Side, while Mellon Arena was an investment in the lower Hill- which just happened to remove it's residents and businesses.

The Cross Bronx Expressway was an amazing feat of engineering, leaving a wonderful gash through the Bronx. Often tax investments are given to vital interests like sports teams who have the community's interest at heart.

Few were as misguided and despicable than the 2005 deal between NY City and The New York Yankees. It's blowing up now.

From The Daily News

THE FIRM that built and manages the new Yankee Stadium parking garages can’t repay $237 million in tax-exempt bonds the Bloomberg administration arranged for it four years ago, new financial records show.

Bronx Parking Development Company LLC is running perilously low on cash reserves and faces a looming default by the end of the year, according to a report filed Friday by a trustee for the firm’s bondholders.

Time is running out, in other words, to avoid one of the biggest failures in decades of bonds issued by a New York City agency.

Local politicians who supported the deal like Council Speaker, Christine Quinn thought...

“I think it would be great if people could go to sporting events exclusively on mass transit but that’s not going to happen,” she said. “So one has to, when they’re developing projects like this, have a reality sense of what the needs are as it relates to parking.”

Even though more than fifty percent of game goers used mass transit.

The positive thing is that, as the garages go belly up, people are finally thinking of actual money making ways to use the land, like building hotels and conference centers. The problem is that, with the city so eager to bend over and hand out tax dollars, sports teams have little incentive to make good use of their properties. Honestly, George Steinbrenner's obsession with expanded parking revealed how little he thought of The Bronx.

In Depth Post About The Gas Drilling Slowdown in The Post Gazette

The Post Gazette has more details on how low gas prices are affecting local gas drilling. Included is a longer list of drillers who are slowing down and a map of the so called wet/dry gas line.

From The Post Gazette

Resignation of Important Cleveland Museum Board Member Creates Doubts at a Critical Time

A few years ago, I posted about the huge expansion of The Cleveland Museum of Art, which had caused the museum to tap into the interest from funds set aside for acquiring art.

Let's hope everything works out, but the loss of a major board member, who had already given $5 million to the institution raises new concerns. The Plain Dealer has a long in depth story detailing some of the history.

From The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"The loss of a generous donor - Horvitz and his family have contributed more than $5 million to the museum’s expansion and renovation - also raises questions about how the museum could have alienated someone with the potential to do more for it in the future.

The timing is troubling, too. While the museum has raised $230 million for the expansion and renovation, it still needs an additional $120 million to pay off its debt, a huge sum for any institution in Cleveland."

Low Gas Prices Force Drillers to Shut Down Wells

Governments counting on the cash and jobs bonanza from shale drilling might soon be out of luck, as a long period of very low gas prices is causing drillers to shut down wells.

Chesapeake Energy, Conoco-Phillips, Noble Energy and Consol Energy have all announced plans to cut back spending and close off wells.

Low prices deflate natural-gas rush

People looking at the falling prices, were wondering how long the drilling boom could go on. Unlike, coal or oil, gas is almost impossible to ship without a pipeline, creating a very localised market.

If You Live in Cleveland, You Might Want To Check Out This Co Working Space in Ohio City

Say hello to Cowork Cleveland from Cowork Cleveland on Vimeo.

One thing that bothers me about urbanist discussions is that many people feel it's just a lifestyle choice. Many people, particularly the self employed see real economic value in collaborative environments.

Ohio City, Tremont and Detroit Shoreway are becoming great places for small business people and the self employed.

From Freshwater Cleveland

"McDermott and Veysey visited similar coworking spaces in other cities, including Chicago, before they decided to launch Cowork CLE. “This is something that’s become popular in bigger cities,” says McDermott. “We chose Ohio City because it is an artisan neighborhood. We believe our clients are creative, independent artisans who are yearning for a collaborative environment."

The owners of Cowork CLE hope that the space will function as a kind of entrepreneurial incubator. By developing relationships in a shared work environment, their customers will be able to share useful information, help each other grow and eventually even refer business to one another, they say.

“We’re hoping people will make connections,” says McDermott."

You might want to check this place out if you live in Cleveland.

Texas Art Site, Glass Tire Creates Southern California Regional Site

As a New Yorker, The Los Angeles area always struck me more as a brand, masquerading as a city. The one thing they do well is slapping a cohesive mental image on a vast region of disparate parts, none of which alone would warrant such a high level of attention.

Not so surprisingly, the ten year old, famous art website, Glass Tire that did so much to connect and brand the Texas Art community, is creating a spin off site linking Southern California.

Glass Tire: Southern California

The map's tire icons link to art events and stories in each sub region-

Santa Barbara
Santa Monica/Venice
West Hollywood/Midtown
Culver City
Downtown LA
LA -Other
Orange County
San Diego

This is a vast area of 215 miles, between Santa Barbara and San Diego with a travel time of almost 4 hours, much further than the distance between Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we thought a bit more regionally. What factor do state borders and old money foundations have in creating artificial distortions? Do people who visit or live in one place know much about what's happening so close by?

Nakama Becomes First Major Tenant of the North Side's Garden Theater Block

Jean, was excited that the popular South Side, Japanese restaurant, Nakama would be opening up on the North Side. I was somewhat less, impressed since I assumed they would be locating in the semi dead zone around the stadiums that has hosted a revolving door of sports bars.

Wrong! Nakama, instead will be locating in a gorgeous historic building at the edge of the Mexican War Streets.

From The Tribune Review

"Nakama, the popular Japanese steakhouse and sushi bar on the South Side, will take 5,000 square feet in the Masonic Temple building at North and Reddour Street, said co-developer Craig Totino.

"They are viewed as an anchor for the Federal/North project," said Totino, co-owner of Collaborative Ventures in Mt. Lebanon. The firm and Zukin Development in Philadelphia formed Allegheny City Development Group, the joint venture that's developing the block."

"Our goal is to start construction this summer and take about nine to 12 months," Totino said. "So Nakama should occupy in summer 2013 -- possibly earlier, in the spring."

A delusional, Yinzer myth seems to be that the whole North Side was dragged down by the former porno theater next door.

More about the building.

"Built in 1895 in Romanesque Revival style, the Masonic Hall was originally used as a fraternal meeting house with four separate ground floor storefronts: three along West North Avenue and one along Reddour Street."

Fine--If the government wants to claim credit for the revival of the block, ignoring decades of efforts (see the post about Randyland) by local residents, perhaps they can take some responsibility for the highways and misguided projects like Allegheny Center which did so much harm to The North Side.

Randyland On The Today Show

Sorry, I don't watch much TV aside from a few Steeler's games. This story on Today about the North Side legend is a few years old. I believe it's Randy Gilson's birthday and the Mattress Factory tweeted this.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The old Pittsburgh art blog has a good post with links to a long list of pieces about Randy and his ongoing creation.

Who Knew? It's Legal to Hail a Cab and Pittsburgh Transportation Group Wants to Promote it

Why do discussions about increasing urban convenience, vitality and reducing the parking footprint so rarely mention taxis or any other non standard transport like shuttle buses or mini vans? It's driving, big transit (perhaps biking) or nothing.

One look at the Burg told me this had the makings of a great cab city since so many of the key areas of town, The North Shore, The Strip, Downtown and The South Side are so close together. The problem is that it's hard to boost residential and business density in these areas without cabs and it's hard to run cabs without that density. (It's a whole lot harder if the land is hogged by mostly empty stadiums)

A new program by the biggest city cab company, Pittsburgh Transportation Group aims to dedicate at least 15 cars to just these areas.

From The Pittsburgh Business Times

"So here's the solution: Come March, Yellow Cab will roll out a fleet of black and white, newer model cars dedicated exclusively to the greater Golden Triangle Area-Downtown. South Side, North Shore and parts of the Strip District."

An ad campaign promoting the service will use catchy phrases like "What the Hail" and "Hail Yes" to promote the still foreign concept of flagging down a cab on the street here.

Personally, I have a few doubts about the service if it doesn't extend to include a slightly wider area like Bloomfield, The War Streets, the whole Strip District and most of Lawrenceville. Still, I like the thinking here.

Creative Clash! How Can Pittsburgh Take It's Tech and Creative Industries to the Next Level? Talk @ Carnegie Museum

This event, which costs $45 tomorrow night seems to be full, so I'm just passing it along.

Thursday, January 26, 2012
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Location: The Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh 15213-4080

Pittsburgh is a city rich with creativity and innovation. Now, how do we take our success to the next level? Heralding the Council’s new Creative Technology Network, and presented in partnership with the Carnegie Museum of Art, Creative Clash! will explore Pittsburgh’s history and future as a key innovator at the intersection of art and technology. Today, industries including design, gaming, filmmaking, advertising, education, fine-art, production, robotics, digital media – and much more – are coalescing to make Pittsburgh home to a thriving creative technology community. Join us, and join the conversation, as we examine what it takes to sustain and grow this exciting community!

Details here.

Gabe Felice Mural in Greensburg

Still getting together my posts from my Greensburg trip. One unexpected highlight was coming across this mural by Greensburg/Pittsburgh artist Gabe Felice. Most of the other murals we came across were pretty tame and historical.

The size, is for a mural pretty small, but this piece is loaded with color and content. I like the way the design works with the structure of the brick surface in a creative, playful way.

It was Sunday, so almost everything was shut down, however the little block, the mural is on, is now home to a few stores, a hipster coffee shop/gallery and Seton Hill's new art studio building.

Gabe Felice Website

Documentary About Cleveland's Industrial Music Scene City/Ruins: Art in the Face of Industrial Decay

"This is the trailer for the first full length feature by Petrus Filmwork. City/Ruins is a documentary about the Experimental Industrial movement in a city crushed by Industrial collapse. Examining the effects of the mired economy on this underground art community and the art that is produced in it's wake. The story is built around interviews and performance clips of those involved in the scene, intertwined with visual evidence of Industrial decay, via montage of decayed landscapes."

Anyone seen this or know a lot about the scene there? Please comment with more info.

Westmoreland Museum Of American Art Gets an $8 Million Grant From The Richard King Mellon Foundation

Me and Jean drove over to Greensburg to catch the last day of The Tides of Provincetown show. The Westmoreland is really worth the trip and will be getting a whole lot better with a planned museum expansion.

Press Release From The Museum.

"The Westmoreland Museum of American Art has received an $8million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation in support of their capital and endowment campaign. The campaign includes plans for an architecturally significant new wing, renovation of the existing building and a complete re-design of the grounds. The gift is the largest contribution to-date received by the Museum. Of the $8 million, the Foundation indicated that $2 million is to be reserved to shape a challenge to other donors later in the campaign. The fundraising goal of $35 million includes $15 million for construction, $15 million for endowment and $5 million to support Museum operations during the life of the campaign.

Planning for the expansion/renovation was initiated in 2009 in response to the continued growth of the Museum's collections, educational programming, and critically acclaimed exhibitions program. The Museum's 50-plus year old building was also in need of reconfiguration to serve the needs of an art museum operating in the 21st century. The Westmoreland is currently in the design and programming phase of planning"

I will be back to post about the show and my recent trip around Greensburg. A bit of advice, if you can help it, visit on a Weekday or Saturday since the town really shuts down on Sunday. The town itself is a treasure, that only shows hints of what it could be.

Google Will Be Adding 70,000 SF of Space at It's Bakery Square Offices

From The Pittsburgh Post Gazette

"The Mountain View, Calif.-based search company has reached a deal with developer Walnut Capital to lease another 70,000 square feet of space at Bakery Square, a $130 million development.

With the decision, Google will occupy about 115,000 square feet of the 250,000-square-foot building. It now has about 45,000 square feet on two floors.

It plans to occupy some of the space later this year and the rest next year. Officials also have been told that with the expansion, Google may have as many as 500people working at the site.

The company approached Bakery Square officials late last year about adding more room and had a lease signed by the end of December"

Yes, they are hiring. follow the link for details.

Cleveland News Station Turns Political Corruption Trial Into Puppet Theater

Cleveland is having one of those, do you laugh, cry or shoot yourself moments with a sadly absurd public corruption trial.

With no cameras allowed in court, WOIO Action News has decided to put on little skits based on the day's court transcript.

From Cleveland.Com

"It's entertaining ... it's professionally done, but it's not news," said Randy Reeves, an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the executive producer of KOMU, the NBC affiliate in Columbia that is owned by the university. "This is a line I wouldn't cross. The visual distracts from some pretty serious stuff. Even at the end of the newscast, it's puppets. I can't get past that."

A second broadcast professor at Missouri, Barbara Cochran, called the segment "a comic way of dealing with the fact that in 2012, cameras are still barred from federal courtrooms, and the public is denied the opportunity to see for themselves what transpires at a public trial."

TEDx 1000Lakes - Chuck Marohn: Video Shows The Weird Unsustainable Nature Of American Infrastructure

There's a lot of meat here in a fairly short video. Likely will be back with thoughts.

Ohio DOT Promised Billions in Road and Bridge Construction It Can't Pay For

Anyone concerned about the 15 Trillion dollar reported Federal deficit should know that it's the tip of a much larger iceberg of looming costs most people don't know about.

Remember, the fight over pedestrian access to the brand new Inner Belt Bridge, Cleveland was gonna get? Surprise, it now looks like a new bridge may not be built till 2020 or later even though the current one may have serious structural issues!

Turns out the State transportation folks just wish listed important projects with little knowledge of how they might be paid for.

For years, the state has "over-programmed" for the money available, Wray said. Project commitments total $3.3 billion through 2017, but only $1.6 billion in revenues is projected for construction, he said.

Meanwhile, revenue from federal and state gas taxes has remained flat, while the costs of maintenance and construction have inflated, he said.

He expects disappointment not only in Cleveland but across the state with the draft list.

The West Shoreway project also doesn't fare well. It is not on the funding list, Wray said, despite a concerted appeal from the city of Cleveland for another $21 million.

Expect this to be an ever growing story. Ironically, in many cases, failing infrastructure offers a grand chance for cities to reinvent themselves in more sustainable ways.

Remember that The West Side Highway, in NY and Embarcadero Freeway in San Fransisco were only removed after partial collapses.

The Cleveland Browns Want More City Money For Immediate Stadium Repairs

In most cases tax financed sports stadiums are the gift that keeps on taking.
Known in Cleveland, as the factory of sadness, Browns Stadium might take the cake.

From Cleveland.Com

"Under the complicated proposal, the Browns would get this year's $850,000 plus $5 million from the next six years of repair money drawn from the tax revenue collected countywide on alcohol and tobacco sales and administered by the city. In exchange, the city would not have to make its annual contributions from the tax money to a stadium repair fund for the next six years.

But what happens if additional needs arise during that time? Ken Silliman, Mayor Frank Jackson's chief of staff, said the city will consider dipping further into the so-called sin tax money."

The team contends they are fixing the effects of the harsh northern climate. (Hello, who chose to put it that location on the lake front?)

Pack up the truck and get lost, scumbags. IMHO, Cleveland is sort of a great town, it doesn't need this abuse and it could certainly put this piece of land to better use.

Amazing Site, RETROgrapher Maps Pittsburgh's Photographic History

West Carson Street at Fernwood Street Southside



Hoffers Way, Hill District, 1924



Constructing The William Penn Hotel 1915

How did I not know about this amazing resource that posts the exact mapped locations of Historic Pittsburgh Photographs.

How it works?

All of the photographs on the site come from the City Photographer collection hosted and curated by the University of Pittsburgh's Archives Services Center

Retrographer uses Google Maps to make it easy for anybody to geotag these images. This geotag data is sent back to the Archives Services Center to become a permanent part of the archive.


About The Project

Retrographer was started in the Fall of 2010 as a project for the Senior studio Pieces taught by Dylan Vitone at Carnegie Mellon University. The project has evolved and lives on after the class has ended. So far over 5,300 photos have been tagged by people all over Pittsburgh

Retrographer continues to evolve. Check back soon on your smartphone, a mobile app is on the way.

If you have any feedback about Retrographer please email me at dpieri@gmail.com -Dane Pieri

You can really spend lots of time on this site.

RETROgrapher

All photos on the site seem to be in The Public Domain

The Internet As We Know It Is Threatened

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

The following post is the opinion of John Morris and may not be shared by other contributors to this blog.

As with any other piece of pending legislation, it's hard to get a grasp of specifics. Let's just say, this doesn't look good. The above video gives what looks like the likely chilling effects of this open ended proposed law.

A good article from The NY Times about this.

Most scary is the very shrewd way it will use intimidation against search engines, social media and other websites to get them to censor content. Most people will not know it's happening.

Please learn about and act to stop this.

Good Conversation About Development and Consolidation On Urbanophile

Sorry, I will try to get back to posting more.

Urbanophile has a post up, debating the common assumption that a large number of our regional problems would be solved by combining local and county governments. Insane fragmentation makes it hard to argue against some level of consolidation, but it might have a downside.

The blog's author lived in Indianapolis for many years and is very familiar with the two main examples of "big box", consolidation, Columbus and Indy. He notes that there are few examples of real failure in this model, but perhaps no shining example of success. Sooner or later, one runs out of land to consume and one has to face the work of good design and good government. There's always a county line to to flee across at some point.

But another thing occurs to me. Because Midtown is part of a much larger city, it suffers from the problem of a diffusion of responsibility. That is, it can assume the rest of the city will carry the load in some respects. This manifests itself in a strong anti-development NIMBY contingent that is opposed to urbanization. Any proposed development of any kind is greeted by wailing and teeth-gnashing by opponents, who’ve been known to do things like pull their kids out of school to serve as props at mid-day zoning hearings where commissioners are told neighborhood kids will literally die if new apartments are approved.

I don’t know what the sentiment is in Bexley, but they’ve certainly implemented more actual urbanization than Midtown. I suspect one reason is that Bexley knows it has only its own tax base to rely on. If its residents want to keep quality schools, they can either approve more commercial and intense development, or watch their residential property taxes go up significantly over time. That focuses the mind wonderfully.

So I also hypothesize that in addition to making redevelopment more difficult for reasons of the structure of government, big box government also inculcates an anti-development mindset to a greater degree than small box government.

Also, interesting is that many of the examples of urbanist innovation and success in these regions have come from independent suburbs like Carmel, Indiana and Bexley, Ohio.

The downside is this.

On the downside, it seems almost inevitable that many of these unconsolidated suburbs will turn into complete failed cities, often left ignored and forgotten. There are plenty of beyond dysfunctional suburbs in Chicago just like this. I presume it is similar in places like Pittsburgh. I think it is notable that consolidated cities like Indianapolis and Nashville don’t have any truly failed suburbs. Another benefit of the big box city.

Can Cheerleading Go Too Far? Debate On Rust Wire

Seems a bunch of Cleveland area bloggers got together to talk about the pros and cons of civic boosterism. Things got heated and from what I can tell, a bit ugly.

From Rust Wire:

It's always a question, how much one should focus on the positive and ignore the often obvious problems out there?

A long quote from Cleveland blogger, Bridget Callahan:

"On one hand, the Boosters have understood this better than the rest of us. In their social media based world, it is important to stay on message, that’s how all good and effective propaganda works. You pick the message, in this case how awesome Cleveland is, and you pound it into people’s brains ad nauseum until it becomes unacceptable to believe anything else. The Boosters, by and large, are marketing people. They have a product, and they are pushing it. It’s not frank intellectual discussion, it’s not nuanced civic strategy. It is just straight up emotional reaction, and they want you to have it. The world has over and over again proved the effectiveness of propaganda. Most recently, let’s all think back to a certain recent Presidential election that had those Hope posters plastered on every rusty bridge and alley from coast to coast. Hope is not the way you run a government, but it is a way to get people emotionally involved. It breeds a feeling of us versus them, of camaraderie. It is true that lots of Clevelanders feel stupid telling people out of town where they are from. It can’t hurt to seed some civic pride. We’re a fucked up city, but lots of cities are, and the Boosters’ main mission is to convince other young people with expendable income to either move here or stay here because really it isn’t so bad. And for that particular population, it really isn’t so bad. Speaking from that class level, it’s pretty okay here.

( However, when you decide to bully people on their own blogs about their suspected lack of devotion to your message because they point out other people live here too, or when you yell at someone to leave town? That’s trolling. )"

My big problem with many boosters is what they are selling.

The real problem with professional boosters is that they are often promoting the wrong stuff. What their bosses say is good, whatever the latest new fad or project, the foundation and government crowd is chasing. Often, this turns out to be bad stuff. A good example is press stories about a corp or agency "investing" so many million dollars. In the short run, that's certainly great if you are a contractor working on the project (or a politician cutting a ribbon.) Rarely do stories look under the hood at what the long term positives or negatives are.

Cleveland needs boosters as long as they have their eyes open.

TEDxPittsburgh - Don Carter - 2.4 Million

I will likely be back with some more to say about this thought provoking video. Although, he touches on some great points, I'm perhaps a little less sure, The Sun Belt will become the "Drought Belt". A huge amount of western water is used/wasted by agriculture. Even so, water is a huge asset here.

"Overall, agriculture accounts for 83 percent of all water used in California. It's true that California grows the majority of America's fruits and vegetables, so liberal use of water by its agricultural sector would not be unexpected. However, few people would suspect that growing feed for cattle is the predominant agricultural use of water in California. In 1997, 1.7 million acres of the state were planted to alfalfa alone. Irrigated pasture and hayfields consume more water than any other single crop in California - more than a third of all irrigation water. Together, alfalfa and hay and pasturage account for approximately half of all water used in the state.

The story is similar in other western states. In Colorado, some 25 percent of all water consumed goes to alfalfa crops. 2 In Montana, agriculture takes 97 percent of all water used in the state, and just about the only irrigated crop there is hay and pasture forage; more than 5 million acres in the state are irrigated hay meadows. 3 In Nevada - the most arid state in the country - domestic water use amounted to 9.8 million gallons a day in 1993. By contrast, agriculture used 2.8 billion gallons of water per day. 4 Altogether, agriculture uses 83 percent of Nevada's water 5 - and the major crop is hay for cattle fodder. In Nevada, while cow pastures are flood irrigated, wetlands at wildlife refuges and the state's rivers often go bone-dry."

Water, however is just one of a host of resources wasted in by current patterns in the Sun Belt. Most people also don't realise how vital access to water for manufacturers.

He downplays many of the other assets in the region like our colleges, which are not close to being fully exploited. The term "Tech Belt" seems limiting, but I wouldn't mind the term "Knowledge Belt".

Check it out and share your thoughts. All predictions should be taken with a huge grain of salt. How many people thought a few years ago there would be a natural gas energy boom around here now?

Pittsburgh Sprawl Map and Talk on Urbanophile

Image from Urbanophile (Screen capture from TEDxPittsburgh - Don Carter - 2.4 Million)

Aaron Renn of The Urbanophile blog has a great post up, that includes a graphic display of sprawl in the Pittsburgh region. Also, included is the earlier and even more dramatic picture of sprawl in Buffalo, from a Chuck Banas post on the subject.

Read all the comments, which include many interesting links. Several people point out the map is a bit deceptive since it doesn't compare with the region's peak population of around 2.7-2.8 million reached in the 1960's. Even so, what one sees is a dramatic increase in land use for a population that stayed pretty close to the same.

A few people thought things didn't look that bad relative to sprawl in other regions.

My response:

I would love to see some kind of estimate of infrastructure costs per person. (LOL, since these are “public goods” nobody has likely tried to come up with that number)

My guess is that the Pittsburgh region has to have one of the highest costs. Whatever the relative level of sprawl here, one has to see every small bit of it as very, very expensive.

After, Venice, the Pittsburgh area has the largest number of bridges–over rivers, over hollows, over gorges and across valleys. These don’t come cheap. Add to that, a good number of tunnels.

Of course, that just scratches the surface of the massive environmental impact. Not surprisingly, the area is known for areas of very poor air quality and a flash flood risk from storm drainage problems.

The area also is pretty close to leading in the number of bridges considered substandard.

Washington Post Piece Says Pittsburgh is "in": Trashes Annoying Portland

From The Washington Post:

As a born-and-raised Pittsburgher, I’ll go a step further. Portland, with its elaborate facial hair and abundance of strip clubs, represents irony. Pittsburgh, with its working-class pragmatism, is the opposite: earnest and straightforward. It’s a place where people drink cheap beer and wave their Terrible Towels without self-consciousness. Hipsters take faux working-class attributes —brusque beards, Pabst Blue Ribbon and occupations such as butchery — and integrate them into their lives with an ironic wink and a superiority complex. In Pittsburgh, you can find all of the above, only without the derision and affectation. The natural life span of the hipster has come to an end. What was a lifestyle adopted to make fun of the mainstream has now become the mainstream. There are no more [expletive] hipsters to be looked at (The blog “Look at this [expletive] Hipster” hasn’t been updated since September), and jokes about them — much like every skit on Portlandia — have started to feel a minute or a paragraph too long.

Right, Pittsburghers don't do irony very well. Love it or leave it, it's pretty real around here.

Burgh Diaspora digs deeper into comparing the two cities and points out that Pittsburgh has a large number of assets that are built to last. It dug up this quote about Portland.

Why Portland Sucks And Pittsburgh Does Not

“We’re a small town that does not have a major university, that does not have a major arts school,” Schiff says. “We’re off the map in a number of ways.”

Be back with more thoughts about this.

Don't go back to sleep

Don't go back to sleep, Laurie Trok's solo exhibit, is a presentation of her collage work. The works are assembled from re-purposed materials, from manila folders to magazine pictures. Her approach to collage is complex, with multiple layers and dimension.

If you missed the opening in December, Laurie Trok's solo is having a last showing at 3634 Penn Ave this Friday.

Don't go back to sleep
Laurie Trok
January 6, 6-11PM
Closing Party
Morris Levy Gallery
3634 Penn Avenue

Cool Cleveland Seeking Northeast Ohio Musicians For Videos

No, this is not exactly gonna be a high paying gig, but they do mention a small stipend and "big exposure". You know how this works, if your music stikes the right cord, you could be a viral star.

Wanted: Northeast Ohio Area Musicians

Cool Cleveland is putting together short videos on each of the cool neighborhoods in the region, from C-Town to Y-town, from the Football Hall of Fame to the Rock Hall, from Oberlin College to Lake Erie Wine Country, from Highland Square to the Erie Islands.

If you’re a musician or a band from Northeast Ohio and would like to have your music featured in one of our cool videos, we’re looking for you to help make these mini-movies relevant, energetic and enjoyable. All styles will be considered, especially uptempo. We’re not sure there’s a “Cleveland sound,” but we’re looking for it.

More details here.

On Screen/ In Person Tour Of Independent Filmmakers Accepting Submissions

As you know, a personal peeve of mine is the relative lack of opportunities for local artists to show regionally or nationally. Pittsburghers can attend the Three Rivers Film festival and I'm sure Baltimore, Philly and DC have similar events. But, how many chances are there for someone in Baltimore to see a film by a Pittsburgh filmmaker? Thank god for YouTube!

On Screen/In Person is now accepting submissions for 2012-2013 tour of independent filmmakers!

Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation is seeking the best in new independent American film to tour through its On Screen/In Person program.

Selected films will be screened in communities across the mid-Atlantic region accompanied by their respective filmmakers.

Filmmakers collaborate with host sites on the tour to develop community activities, such as Q&As, artist talks, or workshops, among other options, to further engage audiences in the screened work. The Foundation will pay selected filmmakers a stipend for each host site visit, cover all travel and accommodation expenses, and provide a per diem.

Film submissions, including animation, documentaries, experimental and narrative work, are accepted online via Withoutabox. To submit your work or view the filmmaker guidelines, please visit On Screen/In Person at Withoutabox.com.

Deadline for submission: January 20, 2012

See the details here.

Surprising Opposition To Historic Districts Grows In San Francisco

Pittsburgh, has very little of the extreme historic zoning they have in San Francisco.

The Times had a great piece about the revolt by many of the people, working to restore classic houses, one might expect to be avid supporters of these laws.

But even compatible plans can be frustrated by burdensome regulations, some property owners said.

“I consider myself a preservationist, and I encourage preservation,” said Robin Levitt, an architect who lives in an 1890s false-front Victorian house in the Hayes Valley neighborhood. Mr. Levitt said he abandoned plans to replace rotted staircases on the front of his house because historic preservation requirements were too expensive and time-consuming.

“When regulations make it prohibitive economically to make improvements on your property,” Mr. Levitt said, “it’s over the top for me.”

People tend to assume that giving a building or district historic status, instantly preserves the property. The reality is far more complex. Yes, It will make it hard or impossible to tear down the building--right now. But, unless there is lots of money available, it does nothing to fix or restore it. Often, it places barriers or costs that lead to the ultimate death of the structure.

A personal story, from NY which I believe to be true.

Back in the early nineties, I was involved in a group that put together art exhibits and other performance nights in the upper floor of a old courthouse in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The area at the time was a mix of historic brownstones, but seeing an influx of many poor immigrants.

A few of the people helping with the music events had dreams of opening a non profit music school in a beautiful abandoned police station across the street. These people loved the building and wanted very much to preserve it. They also, didn't have much money, and needed it to function well as a school.

Here--I found a post with pictures and some history.

From what I heard, a big problem they faced was that landmark status made it impossible to make significant changes to the building. In this case--they needed to remove the jail cells-which didn't exactly fit their needs and made using a large part of the building difficult.

Sadly, in the time since, the building has further deteriorated and now is very likely to be torn down. Amazingly, I later heard about an old police station in the Bronx that went through a similar problem and was torn down.

More Great Links ....Charles"Teenie" Harris Exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art

It is wonderful to see one of my favorite photographers Teenie Harris starting to get his due. His composition is amazing, as is his ability to capture the personalities of his subjects. And his contribution to the photographic documentation of American life, is, in my opinion, unequalled. The exhibit of his work at the Carnegie (already previously discussed in this blog), is up through April 7th. This exhibit was at the top of the Post Gazette's list of outstanding exhibits of 2011(the exhibit opened late October, 2011)
NPR recently aired an excellent story about Teenie Harris, The Big Legacy of Charles "Teenie" Harris For the audio, go here
The Post Gazette has added to their series (called "Two Shots")of interviews of individuals photographed by Mr. Harris. These video interviews focus on the memories of specific individuals who were photographed decades ago, either for their portrait, or as part of a Pittsburgh Courier story. Artists, take note of the video of Thaddeus Mosley. For the series go here

One Town's Video Response To Being Listed as Dying

Somehow, I missed this video which is being listed as one of the best marketing videos of the year--and by a few, the greatest music video of all time.

From Artsblog

On January 11, 2011, Newsweek magazine published a now infamous article titled “America’s Dying Cities.” It crunched U..S census data to list the top-10 cities with 100,000 residents or more that experienced the steepest population decline in the country.

Number 10 on that list was Grand Rapids, MI. But the residents of Grand Rapids were about to prove that the reports of their city’s death were greatly exaggerated.

The video is said to have cost $40,000, all of which came from the local business community but clearly the contributions of thousands of city residents are what make it powerful.