Category: default || By jt3y

Wow. Do you think the phrase "stop the presses!" echoed through the tiled corridors of the Post-Gazette when this little tidbit of breaking news cleared the wires?

A little-noticed provision in the state's new slot machines bill prevents cities that host casinos from enforcing their own, local guidelines on traffic control, building design and other traditional zoning and planning matters.

The main reason for the zoning prohibition is money.

The purpose of the slots bill is to make as much dough as quickly as possible for both state and local government coffers, said Gary Tuma, spokesman for Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, a key slots supporter. Haggling over zoning and planning requirements takes time and could put a speed bump in the way of collecting gambling revenues.

Of course, Alert Readers of the Almanac knew about this two weeks ago, thanks to Jonathan Potts and Fester, who picked it up from the Philly Inquirer.

Not that we're braggin' or nothin'.

...

Elsewhere in the news, I haven't been there yet, but the opening of a new restaurant in the Palisades down at the McKee's Point Marina provides a glimmer of hope. Jonathan Barnes had the story in the Post-Gazette:

The restaurant will feature a sandwich menu with hot fare and daily specials, said co-owner Janet Menarcheck, of Pittsburgh, who is partnering with her son, Bill, and her brother, John Stefaniak and his wife, Iva ... "My son wanted to start a business, and my sister, brother and I all have business and restaurant backgrounds. It just seemed like the way to go."

The restaurant will serve as an anchor for further development of the marina and the adjacent riverside Gergely Park, city administrator Dennis Pittman said.

It's worth noting that another restaurant in the Palisades (operated, I think, by the Antonellis of Woody's Little Italy fame) was unable to make a go of it. (I'd welcome more information on that if anyone remembers for sure; I want to say the restaurant was called "Water Street Cafe" and was open from roughly 1996 to 1997.) And a proposal to bring a brew pub to the marina has been dormant for several years.

In fairness, however, Echostar's call center has brought a lot of new people Downtown since 1997, and they need someplace to eat and entertain clients. As much as they may like smiley cookies, they can't go to Eat'n Park every day.

So, I wish the best of luck to the Menarchecks; I intend to visit their new restaurant as soon as possible, and I'd hope other Mon-Youghers will do the same.

...

As they say, perceptions are reality for most people, and the perception of Our Fair City has been pretty bad over the years. In the 1950s and '60s, it was regarded as a wide-open town for prostitution and the rackets (mention "Brick Alley" to any current or former McKeesporter over 40 and watch their reaction); in the '80s, decline and unemployment were the watchwords.

If outsiders have any perception of Our Fair City right now, it's of crime and abandoned buildings. That's not fair --- I don't see too many abandoned buildings in Haler Heights or near the Voke, and the crime problem is much exaggerated --- but it is the perception.

Maybe the shabby appearance of Downtown, which is where most people enter the city, contributes to the negative impression. Coming into the city from Versailles, you pass a bunch of old, dirty warehouses and poorly-tended houses. Walnut Street was never a good-looking thoroughfare, but at least it used to be busier.

(Kudos, by the way, to whoever has purchased the old Menzie Dairy Co. garage on Walnut. The ground floor has been remodeled and it has a nice, fresh paint job. Let's hope they keep up the good work.)

From Dravosburg, visitors get to see the rundown West Fifth Avenue corridor. What part is the scenic highlight? The junkyard at the end of the Mansfield Bridge --- which has spread to include an old gas station where cars are being dismantled --- or the seedy stretch between Beemer's Restaurant and Edward L. Kemp Co.?

Approaching from North Versailles Township on East Fifth Avenue, it's not too bad --- Bloom's Cut Rate and East End Cafe are colorful punctuation marks at the city limits --- but the street quickly goes downhill once you pass the cluster of rundown garages under the approaches to the McKeesport-Duquesne Bridge.

Though UPMC has invested a lot of money into upgrades to the facade and entrances to McKeesport Hospital, frankly, I don't know if it's doing them any good. The first thing visitors see are the beat-up buildings and failed businesses at the corner of Lysle Boulevard and Fifth Avenue.

If I thought shame would work, I'd start posting the names of the people who own some of the ugliest buildings in Our Fair City. It's public information, after all, available from the county's Recorder of Deeds. Of course, I'd probably get sued.

In a free country, the government can't really force private property owners to take care of their buildings, and perhaps it's unfair to ask property owners to invest money in structures that have marginal rates of return.

On the other hand, one would have hoped that civic pride and a sense of moral obligation would compel them to at least maintain their buildings. What would they say if the people who live in their neighborhoods didn't cut their grass, or threw garbage into the street?