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Eric,

Don't you think that building all these "luxury" condos is a bit of a mistake, though? I was talking to the guys at Burt Hill, an arch firm that is in Pittsburgh (they were at some career fair thing here), and they were talking about how they're rallying to meet with the mayor and the planning dept etc to try to make a move to get these units to be more affordable. I mean, as a native I know where the cheap and cool neighborhoods in the city are, and would know exactly where to move to if I were to move back, but most of my fellow friends wouldn't, and the first thing they would ask is about downtown because it's in the center and close to everything. So shouldn't there be some kind of housing that those of us who are low on the totem pole salary wise should be able to afford? This is a problem Philadelphia is experiencing, too, and if I come back to Pittsburgh and find it's been condo-fied the way Philly has I'm going to be angry. One of the great things about Pittsburgh is that it hasn't jumped on that bandwagon, until now. But at least they're building housing downtown finally. Ack, prisoner's dilemma.

Amanda

Amanda-

The way I see it there wasn't any housing downtown before the luxury condo's came. Housing in general downtown will bring retail and make downtown better. That will make living in the areas around downtown without a car more practical and attractive. So, while a mix may be better, the condos themselves are good in my opinion.

In the short-term, however, a lot of people think all these new rental units are hurting the small landlords. That's likely temporary too. It could play out that the rental units are sold to homeowners who want to live near downtown. That would be good for the neighborhoods.

The downside? Well, in the last 50 years lower income people had to travel to the suburbs for jobs. In the future they may have to travel to the city. However, because the entire thing can't be developed at once, there will always be more of an economic mix and wide price range in the city.

An energetic, expensive city is better than an empty, cheap one. Is there a balance? I hope.

Eric

This exchange took place at the East Allegheny Yahoo Group