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<\/a><\/p>\nThe location is beautiful and, because of a very late booking, also economical as the hotel needed to sell rooms, even at the rather absurdly low rate that I received.\u00a0 But this post isn\u2019t about the law of supply and demand as it applies to the hotel business.\u00a0 No, it is about the moribund state of what was once one of the most vibrant locations in Pittsburgh and why.<\/p>\n
Nearly three decades ago, while attending one of the fine institutions of higher education in Pittsburgh, I used to amuse myself by heading into the shopping districts.\u00a0 A particular favorite was Kaufmann\u2019s department store located on 5th<\/sup> avenue consuming the entire block between William Penn Place and Smithfield Street.<\/p>\n Known for its iconic clock, its window displays, and its gourmet deli on the 9th<\/sup> floor (note the plaque below the ornate support of the clock - it and others like it play an important role in what follows),<\/p>\n Kaufmann\u2019s anchored one end of what was an exciting set of stores that dotted 5th<\/sup> avenue and surrounding streets.\u00a0 Towards the other end, closer to the point, were the two other large department stores of Gimbal\u2019s and Horne\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0 The Warner Theater sat in roughly in the middle, next to an old Woolworth\u2019s \u2018five and dime\u2019 that had one of the most eclectic selection of goods and a fish market to boot.\u00a0 No matter the weather or, seemingly, the time of day there was always something exciting going on and a bustle of activity that one expects from a thriving metropolis.\u00a0 Activity on the sides of the rivers, particularly the South Side of the Monongahela, was far more sedate.\u00a0 The center of the city was the place to be.<\/p>\n As the decades wore on, the center lost it shine.\u00a0 One by one, the great department stores went insolvent and disappeared.\u00a0 The smaller shops became more run down with empty store fronts capturing greater and greater amounts of real estate.\u00a0 The vibrancy was gone.<\/p>\n No doubt, the casual observer chalks all this up to the gradual dwindling away of the industries that once made Pittsburgh one of the great cities of the world.\u00a0 And there is some truth to that.\u00a0 But only some.\u00a0 The bulk of the industrial upheaval actually occurred nearly forty years ago when US Steel closed down most of their activities.\u00a0 Pittsburgh not only survived but managed to bounce back.\u00a0 This resiliency was initially powered by its world class medical service and research and the numerous universities its sports.\u00a0 These later institutions have contributed to a growth of late in data analytics and computer technology and the Steel Town has seen a resurgence in the last ten years.<\/p>\n Numerous new trendy locations have sprouted up designed with idea of separating the consumer from his money in various different ways.\u00a0 From the thriving North Hills, to the Waterfront center that stands where the great mills once did, to the new and burgeoning hipster locales of the South Side and Lawrenceville, to the old faithful neighborhoods of Squirrel Hill and Shadyside, certain regions are active and growing.<\/p>\n So how to reconcile all this growth with a dead and empty downtown?\u00a0 In one phrase \u2013 designated historic landmarks.\u00a0 Almost everywhere one goes within the core of the downtown region, one finds a building bearing the historical landmark plaque (the total list of Designated City Landmarks and Historic Districts<\/a> spans 14 pages).\u00a0 And this plaque is the economic kiss of death.<\/p>\n To understand just why a designation as a historical landmark stifles the microeconomy associated with the object in question consider the restrictions that burden the property owner.\u00a0 A brief consultation with Section 1101.05 of the Pittsburgh Municipal Code<\/a> shows that a property bearing the historic landmark designation cannot have exterior alterations without approval of the Historic Review Commission, an extra layer of bureaucracy over and above the mandatory Bureau of Building Inspection.<\/p>\n The hidden cost of ownership of such a building is far larger than is simply totaled from property taxes and upkeep and utility costs.\u00a0 There are opportunity costs that have to be figured as well.\u00a0 For example, as a younger more fitness conscious workforce begins to call Pittsburgh home, the candy shops of yore should now be replaced by yoga studios and organic markets.\u00a0 Simply exterior redesign, including modern signage and architectural sensibilities, should be one of the first orders of business.\u00a0 But these changes may be extremely costly, if not impossible, if the building in question is a historic landmark.<\/p>\n Each piece of land is a scarce resource unto itself.\u00a0 As market forces clamor for changes, historic landmark designations and the bureaucracy that goes along with them slap the invisible hand from reshaping the building to fit the demanded change.\u00a0 As a result, business move to locations less encumbered and the landmark falls into disuse.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh is by no means alone in this predicament.\u00a0 As the following video shows, the historic landmark designation may be spelling the end to one of New York\u2019s most iconic bookstores.<\/p>\n <iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kZoIlz2y4Cw\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n It is hard to fathom that the entrepreneurs of decades-gone-by would actually approve of these policies.\u00a0 After all, they were the innovators who turned their backs on older style construction and whose dynamism produced what were new structures at the time.\u00a0 They were willing to bury the past in favor of economic growth.\u00a0 Surely, they would expect no less from us today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I had the occasion recently to visit family and friends in Western Pennsylvania.\u00a0 A brief pre-Christmas chance for reacquaintance and holiday cheer.\u00a0 Since there are so many houses to visit,... 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