AntiRust

Pittsburgh Pessimism

Chris Briem has a compelling post discussing pessimism about the local economy. So I feel compelled to offer something from the other side.

I was walking down Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield this morning and I noticed a little kid, maybe five years old, wearing a black and yellow t-shirt. Big surprise, right? Well, upon further inspection, I realized it was not a Steelers jersey. Instead, it identified the little whippersnapper as the "Child of a Steelworker."

I might be paraphrasing here, because I only saw it in passing. So forgive me. But it also said something along the lines of the kid being a "Future Steelworker." At the bottom, it had three letters: USW.

Someone forgot to give this kid the memo about the death of Big Steel. In fact, he thinks it will be around so long that he might make room for HIMSELF in the industry.

We can argue all day about whether that's a pie-in-the-sky dream. But what the hell. It's a dream. And it's the first time in years that I have seen any statement about the past, present or future of Pittsburgh's relationship with steel that did not begin and end with a sigh.

Good show, kid.

Free Paul Zeise

OK. It's not like he's really in jail or anything. But I have to say, I don't really understand what was so offensive about his remarks.

Background: Zeise was a regular contributor on KDKA's Sunday Sports Showdown. The panelists were discussing Michael Vick's dog-fighting disaster. Zeise said:

"It's really a sad day in this country when somehow ... Michael Vick would have been better off raping a woman if you look at the outcry of what happened. Had he done that, he probably would have been suspended for four games and he'd be back on the field. But because this has become a political issue, all of a sudden the commissioner has lost his stomach for it."

KDKA has dumped Zeise from the show because of the remarks. And apologized about 30 times to viewers. I didn't see the show. But... I don't get it. He didn't say, "Rape is nice." He didn't say "I run a dogfighting ring, too." He didn't say, "I like to rape dogs that fight."

What he said is that "It's a sad day..." Why? Because in this country today, it appears that running a dogfighting ring appears to get you in more trouble than raping a woman. At least with the sanctioning bodies of professional sports.

Is there anything to support this? Well, Mike Tyson is still boxing. At least I think he is. And if you look at a lot of other athletes, you will see a lot of them--who have committed violent crimes against people--still on the field.

So. I am not sure that, after careful analysis, I think the remark is rock solid. But is it so far beyond the bounds that it gets you tossed? I don't think so. It was provocative, sure. In the end, though, wasn't it provocative in a good way? Isn't it worth exploring Vick's "punishment" in light of what other athletes have gotten away with?

For the record, I think Vick is quite likely a creep. And I have no problem with the NFL's maneuvers here. But I am willing to hear Zeise's side. And if I were assembling a panel or a show to discuss the matter, he'd be the first person I called.

Am I missing something here? Am I misreading it in some way? Is it offensive in a way I can't see?

Convention Centers: Can Erie's Make It?

Erie's new $100 million convention center hasn't even opened yet, and already people are worried:

Casey Wells, the Erie County Convention Center Authority's executive director, admits the project has seen its share of cost overruns for things like construction and infrastructure costs, site preparation, and legal fees.

Wells also acknowledges something else -- money will be a crucial issue for the Bayfront Convention Center for years to come.

Local officials are counting on the convention center, located on the Sassafras Street Pier, to become one of Erie's economic engines.

The project also includes a Sheraton hotel and 300-space parking garage, both adjacent to the convention center on West Dobbins Landing.

But according to financial projections from the project's consultants, the convention center will likely show hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of yearly operating losses well into the next decade. That means the publicly funded convention center will need even more public dollars to stay afloat -- money that will come from the Convention Center Authority's share of the county's 5 percent hotel-room tax.

There's more. Read the whole thing.

Big Steel: Coming Back to the Ohio Valley?

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that a Russian steel firm is thinking about building a mill on the Ohio River.

Haverhill, Ohio- The construction of two large coke production plants in southern Ohio has enticed a Russian steel maker to consider locating a mill in Ohio.

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, or MMK, is considering building a plant in Ohio to supply the automotive industry. Scioto County officials say the firm is looking at sites near two coke plants in Haverhill along the Ohio River.

SunCoke Energy of Knoxville, Tenn., opened the first Haverhill coke plant in 2005 and is building a second $230 million plant. Each plant will produce about 550,000 tons of coke, made from coal, a year.

Steel! Cars! Heavy industry! Awesome. I am glad to see that the free market is reviving interest in American... uh-oh... wait a minute...

Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Steve Schoeny, state economic development director, flew to Russia this month to meet with MMK officials. The cost of airfare alone for the two officials and two state troopers serving on security detail was $42,000.

Fisher said the expense was appropriate and necessary given the nature of the potential deal.

"Because we're competing with other states, the only way to get to the front of the line was to go there," he said.

Balls. What's a pro-industry libertarian to do?

I have no idea what the officials discussed. But I bet I can guess.

One wonders. The coke plant is already in Haverhill. (Who knows how that happened?) And the car plants are nearby. Factors which would seem to make it a good place for a mill. I wonder what else they'll do to sweeten the deal.

Couldn't they at least ask the company to send people to Ohio for the meeting?

Megaprojects and Casino Cash: How to Spend the Booty

This is a bit long-in-the-tooth in blog terms, but Erie is still fighitng over what to do with its casino money. Seems that some individual municipalities just want a hunk of cash to spend as they see fit, while other "regional planning" types want to "leverage" the moeny by spending it on bigger stuff. The guy who wrote this column is one of the latter:

It's part of a power and money grab that seeks to squander a huge opportunity for this region in favor of more of the same parochial, shortsighted thinking.

The gambit started in mid-June with a letter to Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio. In it, the elected leaders of six municipalities -- the city and Millcreek, Summit, Greene, McKean and Waterford townships -- said they should control the annual $5.5 million in "restricted" revenue from Presque Isle Downs & Casino. That claim is rooted in their reading of muddy language in the state slots law providing for restricted cash to be used for grants to municipalities "contiguous" to the one hosting the casino.

The six municipalities want a committee comprising an elected official from each, plus DiVecchio, to decide how the money is spent. That approach would remove half the region's slots take from a broader framework, which seems to have support on Erie County Council, that envisions investing the money in key assets and "transformational" projects that would make a long-term difference for the entire region.

"Transformational" projects? I assume that means a few big projects instead of a lot of little projects. Which might be true. But is it necessarily true? I think immediately of Pittsburgh. The situation is different in a lot of ways. But is it clear that this money would be better spent on projects that leaders here consider "transformational"?

Oof. Shudder to think. We'd probably end up with a spare hockey arena with lots of granite countertops. Is that the kind of thing this columnist has in mind for Erie? I don't know for sure. But this worries me:

Certainly the mayor should be lobbying the key players in county government, using his underdeveloped clout to ensure the city gets a boost from gaming. It's an opportunity especially to make headway on transforming Erie's downtown into the vibrant entertainment, cultural and residential district it can become and this region needs.

Sigh.

Hockey Arenas and Social Justice: The Hill District Speaks

This week's city paper features a cover story about efforts to make the new Penguins arena more neighborhood friendly. Seems that activists are worried that the new hockey arena is going to screw them like the last one did.

For far too long, Feldt and others say, developers have held all the cards in inner-city redevelopment. They muscle lucrative subsidies from municipal officials with the promise of jobs and investment dollars. That money tends to end up in the pockets of developers rather than the surrounding community, which is often economically disadvantaged. Construction jobs pay well but don't last, and are often filled by out-of-town contractors. The jobs that remain are mostly low-wage positions in the service sector. The project's neighbors, meanwhile, bear the costs of displacement and increased traffic that developments often bring.

OK. But I just don't get it. Seems to me that if these projects never deliver what they promise, the best approach is not to get developers to promise more, but to stop doing these projects.

Look. Let's say a Chevy dealer talks me into buying a Corvette. But when I show up to get it, I actually end up with a broken-down old truck. And it happens again and again and again. (This is exactly what has happened with the redevelopment projects local governments have puchased from developers--they just don't perform as promised.)

So the next time I go to the dealer, should I just... insist that he throw in a towing package? No. I should stop buying vehicles from people who keep lying to me.

The problem with using a hockey arena to redevelop a neighborhood is that a hockey arena is a crappy way to redevelop a neighborhood.

Moreover, all these activists are doing is adding to the cost for developers. Which I guess is a good thing. Until the developers just start pricing it in to the public subsidies they demand. And what are the odds that local officials won't find a way to deliver the extra money? Practically nil, I'm afraid.

Last, even if these "concessions" end up making the arena a better deal for Hill District residents, what about the rest of us? What about the taxpayers living elsewhere who have pitched in for the convention center (and its new hotel) and PNC Park and Heinz Field and all the rest?

These projects don't deliver for ANYBODY except the developers. So here's an idea: How about we just stop paying for them in the first place?

Update: By the way, about 17,000 people live in the Hill District. So let's do some calculations. For the next 20 years, Don Barden is kicking in about $8 million a year for the arena. About another 7.5 million is coming from the slots fund. Which, as we now know, is not taxpayer money at all. If you believe arena supporters.

So about $15.5 million per year. At least. That just magically appeared.

Which means you could give each and every resident of the Hill District--every man woman and child--about $1,000 per year for the next 20 years. So a family of five would get $5,000 a year. For 20 years. Or... I don't know. What would that turn into in terms of spending per student in Hill District schools?

But come on. This is the government. What business do they have educating people when there's a hockey team to support?

I know., The response is, "But this money is for economic development. So nyah nyah nyah." Well, how did the last arena work out in terms of economic development?

It sucked.

So if you can make the case for THAT in terms of economic development, you can make the case for education or transit or anything else in terms of economic development.

As a matter of fact, I think you could make a better case for, literally, flushing the $15 million a year down the toilet. At least that would not actively destroy neighborhoods like the Civic Arena did.

Eat Seasonal. Buy Local. Maybe.

I was at the new liquor store in East Liberty the other day. The one down by the Whole Foods. While I was grabbing my booze, I saw a young lady wearing a shirt that said something like, "Eat seasonal. Buy Local." Which appears to be an increasingly popular sentiment in the circles I am supposed to run in. And I suppose that's a good thing. It seems to make a lot of sense.

But does it? There appears to be some question whether "eat seasonal, buy local" is necessarily the best way, at least from an environmental point of view. Check out this link for a pretty serious discussion.

My less serious, snarkier contribution: Guess what the girl I encountered at the liquor store was buying? A nice Niagara wine? Something from Erie?

Nope. An Australian Shiraz.

And so it goes.

Pittsburgh's Own: Ron Paul in the New York Times

The NYT has an extensive feature on libertarian/Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul in today's Sunday Magazine section. It's packed with interesting factoids and analysis. My favorite?

Maybe this is old news, but Paul's family ran a dairy business. As a teenager, Paul had delivery route. One of his customers was Honus Wagner. I am not sure why I think that's cool. But I do.

Real Exurbs: End Times, and the Commute of Champions

Cumberland, Maryland, is a sleepy, post-industrial community of about 21,000 people. It is 134 miles from Washington, DC. It is 139 miles from Baltimore. Home prices in Cumberland shot up 17 percent last year. Why? Because everyone has gone completely insane:

Davis lives in Cumberland full time, though Hart, like many of Cumberland's newer residents, is a commuter.

A commuter to where? Baltimore. Did I mention that Baltimore is 134 miles away? He does not drive it everyday. But still. This is straight up cuckoo.

Seriously. I wonder what "urban enthusiasts" make of this. Cumberland is certainly becoming a hipper, more cosmopolitan place. It is becoming denser as people filter back in, of course. And it is now chock full of art studios and fancy restaurants staffed with big-city chefs. Presto! Urban amenities! Walkability!Except many of these people are commuting 140 miles to work. Which kid of makes people in suburban McMansions look like a bunch of environmentalists.

So from an environmental perspective, how far away can you live from work if you just go once a week? Twice a week? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

And just to give you some perspective, Cumberland is actually closer to Pittsburgh (123 miles) than it is to DC or Baltimore. You could commute from Pittsburgh to Erie (127 miles), Pittsburgh to Cleveland (132 miles) or Pittsburgh to State College (136 miles) and still drive less than the Cumberland-to-Baltimore people do.

Wow.

New Convention Center Hotel: Balls!

Looks like Pittsburgh is going to get a highly subsidized convention center hotel:

... the state Legislature this week included a $34 million subsidy for the $103 million project when it approved projects paid for from the slots development fund. The fund, based on 5 percent of taxes paid by slots casinos, also is helping to pay for a replacement for Mellon Arena.

I think that sucks. But such is life. In the meantime, I think it will be interesting to see how this will be received. The headline on this story is interesting itself. It mentions the word "subsidy." But wait. This money is from the casino fund. If you recall from the recent arena kerfuffle, some supporters argued that money from the slots funds wasn't exactly "taxpayer money." It was money from gamblers that the state just happened to be collecting. Which made it... different.

Ok. Whatever.

In the meantime, here is an absolutely devastating report from Brookings. It details how wrongheaded the whole "convention-center-as economic-development" argument really is. The long and short of it: The amount of convention space in the U.S. has exploded, while the number of conventions has not. And publicly financed hotels hardly ever--if ever--pay off.

Good money after bad.