> That is, Shadyside ( from the descriptions provided) is a neighborhood > with many private resources, few negatively-impacting outer forces (such as > massive absentee-ownership and encroachment by an expanding university), a
I would argue that the universities are encroaching. There is a lot of student housing, but it's better maintained because it has more professors, grad students and Carnegie Mellon students than Pitt undergrads. I can't speak to University construction efforts or the number of properties they owned in the area at the time designation was considered. > strong community base of home-owners, I don't know what the proportions are, but again, there is a lot of rental property. There was a post-world war ii apartment housing boom, and a good number of houses have been converted to multi-family. > here), well-maintained houses that (from what I can gather) have largely > maintained their historical integrity and have not been plastered with > aluminum siding, etc.. The neighborhood looks pretty, but I have no idea how historically correct the buildings have stayed. I had (and have) little understanding of architecture when I was there. > sprinkling of home-owners. It sounds like a nightmare vision of what > Spruce Hill could become. Well, ok, it's not THAT bad! It's got some cute areas and the best ice cream place I've ever been to, a gorgeous, huge park (along the lines of Fairmount) connecting Pitt and CMU, plus all those nice behemian features we know and love...ethnic food stores, political activity, cool little stores and theaters. Gotta stick up for the old turf! To me, Shadyside is a nightmare. Being there always felt like wearing a corsett. The Squirrel Hill model is worth coming back to: comfy, clean, diverse, pleasant, not too pricey. The key here is stability, effort and pride. I'm not sure, but I think I agree that more homeownership is the way to make that happen. I think very tangible improvements like better litter and crime control are effective ways to encourage that kind of growth. I'm still not convinced that HD is the right tool for the job of giving absentee landlords the boot. Seems like there ought to be a more exact and effective way to deal with that problem. Again, given the same information, different people will come to different conclusions. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
