AntiRust

"Private Funding" for a Penguins Arena, and a Modest Business Proposal

The Post-Gazette gives the Allegheny Institute some press today, specifically the think tank's proposal for a privately funded hockey arena.

The best part comes near then end, when a spokesman from the Penguins says that the team's arrangement with the Isle of Capri--in which the Isle of Capri will build the arena but only if the government grants them the hugely lucrative slots license--already amounts to private funding:

Penguins spokesman Tom McMillan said the team has met the challenge of privately funding a new arena through the Isle of Capri proposal. He said the Allegheny Institute should get behind it.

"The Isle of Capri plan will fully fund construction of a new multipurpose arena and therefore free any public money that may have been targeted for an arena to be used for other important projects in the city and county," he said.

Golly, Mr. McMillan, thanks so much. Not only for the the arena, but the great business idea. See, if this passes, I have a plan. Hear me out:

I propose that the City of Pittsburgh give me every single vehicle in its fleet. See, I want to sell them. And use the money as I see fit. Why, you ask, would the good people of Pittsburgh agree to do that? Well, I am prepared to offer a deal you can't refuse: If you give me what I want, I agree to build a library in downtown Pittsburgh. Or anything else the city wants. Yep, I will give you money to hire teachers or policemen. Or even to build some high-end condos downtown. I know how you love the condos.

See, you were already planning to do a lot of this anyway, right? So the money I give you is going to "free" that money up for other uses, just like Mr. McMillan's plan will do. Of course, I can't write you a blank check. I have to insist that whatever you want me to offer doesn't ring in at more than, say, $500,000.

Now just hold on a minute, you might say. All the vehicles in the city fleet must be worth more than $500,000. Otherwise, why in the world would I ever agree to make the trade implied in this deal? You might go further to argue that what I propose here doesn't really amount to private funding at all--that the city would, in fact, be trading its fleet for whatever I agreed to "offer" in return. And that, in the end, the only person really profiting from this proposal is me.

Exactly.

And then you might go on to tell me to pack sand, and that if the city wants a library or or more teachers, it will procure such things with tax dollars, like it's supposed to. And you might say that if the city ever DID want to sell its fleet, the best way to do so would be to auction the vehicles off to the highest bidder and direct the proceeds into general revenue so leaders could be held accountable for how they spend it.

Exactly.

In Baltimore, Death Threats Against Steeler Faithful

It has seemed pretty clear for some time the the Baltimore Ravens are a bit challenged when it comes to "class."

Well check this out: Baltimore Sun columnist Susan Reimer, who is originally from Pittsburgh, wrote a column about her hometown on Super Bowl Sunday. It generated a ton of nasty responses casting aspersions Ms. Reimer, her family and our fair city in general. (Free registration required.)

So first: Boo!

Second, I think this says a lot about the Ravens and Baltimore. I hear it told that Baltimore was one of the great football cities in the days of the Colts. But I was living there when the Ravens came to town, and things were really, really weird. There is a real meanness to their supporters--perhaps exacerbated by the fact that there are so many Steeler fans in town. (A lot of Burgh-types moved to Baltimore for work in the 1980s and took their allegiance to the Black and Gold with them. Moreover, a lot of Colts fans hooked on to the Steelers wagon when they were without a team. The only other options were supporting a CFL team--I think it was CFL--or switching over to the Redskins and the NFC.)

The Ravens did come in with a real bang, but there was a lot wrong from the beginning. "The Ravens"? OK. I suppose you CAN name a team after a character in a literary work--but that is about the LAST thing I can see appealing to the stereotypical "Baltimore person." Geez, if you are going literary, call them the "Menckens" or something. At least people associate him with Baltimore. I don't think the same is true of Edgar Allen Poe. My personal choices would have been the "bluecrabs" (yeah, I know, not all that tough) or the "stevedores" (very tough). The whole thing wreaked of focus group.

But no worries: They got the stadium, which was going to make everything better. Except they banned tailgating in most of the parking lots, which to be honest is what a lot of the old fans liked about football in the first place. And the insults continued: The price of tickets. The whole seat-license BS. Yes, the team won the Super Bowl soon after arriving. But it still just never felt very "Baltimore." And it still doesn't.

But please, leave poor Susan Reimer alone.

Optimistic About Light Rail in Pittsburgh? Check This Out...

Lots of banter about transit in Pittsburgh these days. Lots of optimistic projections about ridership, revenue, etc. Well, let's see how it's playing out in in other cities. From today's Baltimore Sun:

An article with the [1987] photo described expectations for the system. It would be built at a cost of $290 million and carry an estimated 34,000 riders a day. Fares would pay 60 percent to 70 percent of its operating costs.

In the ensuing two decades, rosy expectations have wilted.

Cost overruns drove the price tag for the original system to more than $470 million, with double-tracking and other upgrades bringing the total to about $680 million.

Weekday ridership has never approached projections, peaking at 29,003 in 2002. Last year, with the closings at their peak, ridership was off more than 40 percent at 16,610.

Before the double-tracking project got under way, fares were paying about 22 percent of operating costs. That figure dropped during construction.

Spurs to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Penn Station were added in 1997, but talk of further extensions died out. Downtown merchants complained that construction of the light rail killed businesses. Many who survived say its completion failed to deliver the shoppers the MTA promised.

So why such an open discussion of the system's failures now? Well, because it is time to celebrate the fact that they just got finished dumping another gargantuan pile of money into the cursed thing, of course.

See, those rosy projections were wrong before. But the new rosy projections--made by the same agencies and interest groups--will be right on the money. Sound familiar?

Balls.

Your Weekend Plans Should Include This: Pennsylvania's Great (and Weird) Contribution to the Arts

So what are you doing this weekend?

Uh... Wrong.

You are going to change plans immediately and head to Pennsylvania's most incredible contribution to the world of arts. The region's fastest-growing tourist attraction. It's loudest international confab.

Dammit, this is good stuff. You NEED to go.

That's right, it's time for the annual Ridgway Chainsaw Carving Rendezvous.

I am not kidding. This is real art. And it's a real indication of the interesting things that can happen when the whole heritage/future/industry/arts of the region actually intersect.

Grassroots, baby. Loads of fun. All volunteer. World-class. (Really it is. Ridgway is the center of the rapidly expanding chainsaw carving universe.)

So get thee to Ridgway.

Oh, and don't forget your big-boy pants and drinking shoes. You'll need them.

Want to know more? Read chapter 11 of this book.

Why, exactly, should downtown Pittsburgh be a "neighborhood"?

I've asked this question before, but I still don't think I have a good answer. So here goes again: Why, exactly, is it so important for downtown to be a neighborhood? Cities need lots of things. Yes, neighborhoods. But also warehouses, offices, churches, bars, etc. And for whatever reason, most cities also have bad and ugly things. Ghettos. Train yards. Etc. So why are we so sure that downtown should fill this one specific role?

As discussed here and here, even the Brookings Institution report that supports this kind of redevelopment indicates that most downtowns never really were the humming residential districts for which we seem to be pining. That is, we would not be returning the city to some elusive Golden Age condition, but making it up as we go. From the report:

The recent movement of households into downtowns signifies a dramatic change in the land use patterns of these areas. Downtowns traditionally contained offices, large warehouses, and the occasional factory. Downtown living was usually restricted to hotels, clubs with sleeping facilities, flophouses, and jails. By the 1920s, downtowns reached their economic peak and then began to change. Many downtown business functions began migrating to “uptowns” or “midtowns” within cities and, later, to “edge city” and “edgeless” city locations outside of town.

OK. I understand that mayor O'Connor and the rest of the people in charge of redeveloping Pittsburgh want to turn downtown into a "neighborhood" anyway. I have heard O'Connor make the connection that this is America's "City of Neighborhoods." He put it this way while campaigning last year:

"We need to turn Downtown into Pittsburgh's 89th neighborhood," he said referencing his idea to encourage students and young professionals to live, work and play in the heart of the city. O'Connor said Downtown could harness the same vibrancy of the revitalized South Side if there are more apartments.

"We could flood Downtown with about 5,000 to 7,000 young people if we have apartment living for the students down there," he said last week.

Again, I am just not sure why. The answer seems to be, "Because that's what city's do now." And it is. Across America, civic leaders are throwing millions at young people, trying to bait them into moving downtown.

But won't they be moving from somewhere? Even in O'Connor's rosiest scenario, we would "flood downtown with 5,000 to 7,000 young people." Well, doesn't that require a dam bursting somewhere else? Don't we have to drain that exact number of young people from some unfortunate place? I guess this works if that somewhere else is Cleveland or Baltimore or Manhattan or East Podunk. But isn't it more likely that a really high percentage of those young people are going to just transfer in from Shadyside? Squirrel Hill? I don't know... Cranberry?

At least the last of these would bring people in from outside the city. But is that really worth all the trouble? I mean, we are doing a whole lot of hand-wringing (and spending) and it's not clear why.

WHY do we want people to live downtown? It does not appear that they ever really used to--at east in numbers significantly greater than they do today. And as it stands, people don't really want to. They would rather live next to the bars and bookstores in Squirrel Hill and Shadyside. Why build bookstores and bars downtown, just to make them do the same thing somewhere else? I guess my question is, who benefits from this shift?

And last, might it not be possible that Pittsburgh's position as a "City of Neighborhoods" makes this an even worse place for this kind of social engineering? The thing that people seem to like about Pittsburgh is its "authenticity." I know that is an incredibly loaded term, but ask around. People like Bloomfield. It has an identity. Good and bad. Which I think is pretty cool. Can a downtown full of Max and Erma's REALLY recreate that?

Should it?

Redevelopment without subsidies? Could it be?

Wow. Is it possible that rehabilitation of the G.C. Murphy's building will go off without government subsidies? It should, now that a few developers have revealed plans that, apparently, do not involve feeding at the public trough. Really, that's what they said. The fellows in question are Jack Piatt and Ralph Falbo. According to today's Post-Gazette:

[Piatt] confirmed yesterday that he intends to present a "pretty comprehensive package" to Mayor Bob O'Connor within a couple of weeks to redo the Murphy's building and other properties in the corridor.

...In addition, Washington, D.C., developer Madison Marquette, in partnership with Montgomery County residential builder Toll Brothers, has been working for some time on a $50 million to $60 million proposal that involves Murphy's and other Urban Redevelopment Authority-owned properties in the corridor.

... One of the things that concerns [O'Connor] about the Madison Marquette plan is the $24 million in public subsidies the developer is seeking. As part of his plan, Mr. Falbo said there may be a need for public money to make street improvements but nothing as high as $24 million.

Mr. Piatt said he certainly would avail himself of whatever public subsidies are available, but that they are not part of his budgeting.

Well, if he's not asking, let's see if the folks who run this city can resist offering. That might be tougher than it sounds. By offering subsidies, they earn the right to claim more credit for the city's "revitalization."

Not that any of these people epitomize the laissez-faire ideal. Remember, Piatt accepted a few million for the Lazarus project. Still, this seems a lot more palatable than the project that would require $24 million to subsidize the lifestyles of people who are already doing pretty well for themselves.

Mayor O'Connor deserves credit for throwing this open to at least some form of competition by refusing to give Madison Marquette exclusive rights to the property. Now--follow through.

Resisting Downtown Development Schemes: Nice Work Mayor O'Connor!

Hey! Whoa! It looks like the new mayor is pushing back a bit against developers who want gobs of public money to build high-end retail and residential projects downtown. In this case, O'Connor is refusing to sign a letter of agreement with a developer that wants up to $24 million in public funds for loft apartments and stores like Tiffany's. As if people who live in high-end apartments and shop at Tiffany's somehow need their lifestyles subsidized.

So credit where credit is due. Nice job Mayor O'Connor.

Now, has the guy turned a new leaf and become some sort of libertarian champion? I doubt that. But maybe his is just sharp enough to realize that he can play these developers off one another in sort of a pseudo-auction. See who can build the best project with the least subsidies. That's not my preferred solution, but it seems better than signing the first proposal that comes through the mail slot.

Harry Potter's Pennsylvania Industry Connection

Yeah, I know I mentioned this before. But my hometown newspaper is talking about it again. And it's really cool. So here goes:

The Harry Potter books are printed on paper from northwestern Pennsylvania.

Yes. The little wizard that launched a zillion little minds owes it all to a few loggers and other hardhats right here in PA.

As it should be.

Carry on.

No more linking to Erie Times-News?

Weird. I was going to link to a story that appears in today's Erie Times-News. It kind of sucks that registration is required, but it was an interesting story. I was going to post the first paragraph or two and let people decide for themselves if they wanted to sign up for the whole thing. Which is how this sort of works. You think they would like that sort of redirection to their site.

Only now, in addition to the registration thing, it appears that they have done something to make it impossible to cut and paste sections of their stories. I didn't even know that was possible. Is it? I have given it a shot from home and a remote location, just to see. And sure enough I can't select things for copying.

Seems akin to the NYT's decision to hide things behind firewalls. I know its their stuff and they can do with it what they want. But getting people to your site is the name of the game, no? It's not like people in Pittsburgh have easy access to print copies of the ETN anyway.

I suppose that I could retype the relevant sections. But I won't. And very few other people will.

Who knows. Maybe it's just a glitch. Or maybe the computers I am working on are gummed up. But it doesn't look that way.

Oh well.

Is "Yinzer" an offensive term? And what does that have to do with Islamic cartoons?

Pittsblog poses an intriguing question--one with far-reaching, even international implications.

Is the term "Yinzer" offensive? And who can use it?

I am really quite serious about the implications of this question. An interesting version of it appears in the Baltimore Sun this morning, actually. Hampden is now considered the "funky" section of Baltimore. That is, it has a lot of restaurants and bars but has so far resisted the influx of large chains. It can also lay claim--or at least tries to lay claim--to Baltimore's "authentic" blue-collar roots.

Part of those roots include the use of the classic Baltimore accent and lexicon. People in Pittsburgh say (said?) "Yinz." People in Baltimore, especially the old ladies, said, "Hon." As in short for "honey."

Now, that stereotypical old lady is referred to as a "Baltimore Hon." Big bouffant hair-do. Overweight. Think about the folks in a John Waters movie.

Now, the hipsters in Hampden celebrate this stereotype with an event called "HonFest." People dress up like a Hon and speak in an exaggerated form of the accent.

Offensive? Voyeuristic? Or are people being oversensitive?

OK. For the international aspect? Try this on for size.

Let me be very clear. I am not saying that saying the word 'Yinzer" or "Hon" is the same as drawing a cartoon of a religious symbol. Or that I expect people to riot in the streets. Or even that I think use of words like "Yinz" should be restricted to "authentic" Pittsburghers, whatever the hell that means.

What I am saying is that there does appear to be some common anxieties in all these issues. Who controls the language? Who is an insider? What can insiders expect in terms of respect from outsiders? Where do we draw the line between offensive speech and oversensitive listeners?

Staking my own claim, I did a lot of "HonSpeak" when I was in Baltimore. I still make fun of my wife for it. And I probably crossed the line on occasion. In fact the HonFest makes me kind of uncomfortable. And I am not sure why, or where I would draw the line. Or if I can even legitimately claim to be "offended" by the use of "Hon" or "Yinz" since neither is native to my lexicon. Or if that should matter. Or must matter.

No, not much of a claim to stake. But I think that points to the understated complexity of these issues.