【47】Can’t get enough @ Strip District

Let me tell you a story. Just a story, no Yinzerita or beer winning trivia or Investigation Discovery. So just sit back and hear me out.

One the first day of November, I needed to get out of the office in Lawrenceville and head to a graphic design shop in Cultural District to do a final approval on a printing project, just to make sure nothing would go wrong.

It was a lovely sunny day, so I planned amble time for this trip and decided to walk to the shop and walk back to catch a team meeting in the office. It was a 40-minute walk one way and most of the time you find yourself walking through the Strip District. This was actually the first time, I took a walk through this famous neighborhood and had some time to take in what I saw, heard, and smelled. It’s a vibrant market. You see those organic food stands everywhere, old but tasteful and sometime colorful buildings aligning along the streets, professionals working in adjacent areas, like downtown, having their lunches in those delicious restaurants or outdoor food stands, and some visitors from outside of Pittsburgh wandering around and about doing some antique shopping in those family-owned shops. Oh, Frank Sinatra’s music would occasionally escape from some CD stores and flew around the background to bring you back to the old times.

It was a great walk. Yet, that’s not the entire story I want to tell.

One the way back from the Cultural District, I was attempted by the great smell of food in the air. So I decided to spend $5 for a lunch to see if I can get one that is not fast food. As I was thinking that, I passed by a food truck where two people were serving food outside and one lady was working inside of the truck. The gentleman had a big smile and was greeting every of his customers with sincerity and humor. He also had many loyal customers who seemed come to his place quite often, because he would say something like this “I haven’t seen you this summer, where have you been?”

Well, nevertheless, as a daughter of a former restaurant owner, I understand that a happy person often make very good food. So those fried rice and noodles and spring rolls looked so delicious as if they were saying “try me, and you will not regret!” So I spent $5 dollars getting a box of mixed fried noodles and rice plus a spring roll. Not bad. Not bad at all. Maybe I was influenced by the good spirits of this sands and content about the good lunch deal, before I left, I was attempted again to talk to the gentleman.

And I did. From our brief conversation, I learned that he is of Philippine origin, came to Pittsburgh in the 1960s, opened an Asian grocery store and ran it until 1988. Made some money, but the market was changing at that time in Pittsburgh (population outflow) and he wanted to try something new. So he closed the grocery store in 1988 and opened this food truck in 1989. He was happy about the business so the food truck has been around ever since. Since he owns the block the food truck resides on, he has been at the same spot for 24 years. And his name is Robert.

It’s a beautiful story about the resilience of the people living in our City, an inspiring story about the adaptability of International folks thriving in this City while also contributing to its prosperity, and…... there is more…..

As I kept walking while ruminating over Robert’s story in Pittsburgh, a brand new woody stand inside a typical Strip District building caught my attention. Two gentlemen were conversing lightheartedly but I could tell the one in Pittsburgh Penguins hockey shirt was very excited about something new in his life, although he appeared to be calm and in charge. So I couldn’t help but stopping to ask the question “Sir, Are you planning to open a new business here?”  He might be slightly surprised by this question from a complete stranger, but he was kind enough to nod his head and said “Yes. I am”. Then I told him the story of Robert just down the street and wished him good luck.

Isn’t this a great manifestation of life, and our life in and around Pittsburgh? Some people have been around the block for a long time and they can tell you all about history and their experience so we become humble and eager to create our own legacy.  There is also always someone new trying to find their spots, and they can tell you the excitement, the exploration, and the possibilities we face ahead so that we always have something vibrant  to hope for, for ourselves, our family, our neighborhoods, as well as our city.

I can’t never get enough of what I encountered that day in the Strict District. Not after opening to its lively spirits and finding myself completely submitting to its dynamics and beauty, let alone knowing all these stories behind those brick walls and glass windows.

Can you?

⑳Not all nice and beautiful --blight and brownfield@Swissvale, RIDC Park, Mckeesport

When you set up your mind to see all kinds of rosy things, it’s very easy to be willfully blind or subconsciously ignorant. Then some serious problems might be overlooked. I am aware of my tendency to be positive, so it’s important to shout out something bigger and more serious so that I would remember where there is sunshine, there would also be shadow. Then the perspective on things would become more balanced and realistic.

In September 2012, I had the chance to visit a RIDC park, where old/dilapidated/discarded industrial land (Brownfield) was converted into commercial land where office buildings and factories are erected. Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC) has played a leading role reinvesting and transforming the dilapidated rotten assets into productive assets. They are "Brownfield" experts.

In Early 2013,  I had another chance to take a tour to Swissvale to learn about the challenges and victories in vacant/dilapidated residential property (Blight) revitalization. Mon Valley Initiative (MVI) was the tour guide, which has been converting old property into new ones with an affordable price. The tour was made possible by Frank’s connection and referral to the Executive Director of MVI, Laura Zinski. They, along with so many other associates, are blight mitigation experts.

What I am pointing out are two big legacies left behind by the 1970s-1980s steel industry downfall as it occurred in Pittsburgh. When the steel manufacturing profit margin decreased in Pittsburgh, mainly caused by competitive overseas markets and increased labor cost, and companies couldn’t compete against  the profit margins in Korean and some other Asian countries, the capital flew out of the Pittsburgh region like a bullet flies out of a barrel.  The loss of capital caused the industry to stall then contract, and eventually  an outflow of  the labor population. Vacant residential properties and industrial assets became an omnipresent eyesore, especially in those communities along the rivers.

We don’t necessarily like these kind of legacies, but there is an army of people, experts working on these challenging issues to turn crisis into opportunities.  As they say “Life happens, deal with it.” As long as people still care about how their neighborhood look like, how their property value would be impacted by their neighbors’, there is a hope for civic engagement that can make some changes possible. This goes back to the notion of “Individual Responsibility” when tackling the blight issue. From a large scale and on a higher level, the similar notion applies to the brownfield revitalization. But what’s needed more at this level would be “Acumen Business Leadership”.

Beer winning trivia @ Monongahela  River, and Mckeesport

1. Monongahela is an Native Indian word meaning “Falling banks”. The Mon River flows through Marion, Monongalia, Greene, Fayette, Allegheny, Washington, and Westmoreland seven counties in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It was the site of an Air crash that has become the subject of numerous urban legends and conspiracy theories. Early in the morning of January 31, 1956, a B-25 bomber en route from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to Olmsted Air Force Base in Pennsylvania crashed into the river near the Glenwood Bridge in Homestead. All six crewmen survived the crash, but two later succumbed to hypothermia and drowned. Despite the relative shallowness of the water, the aircraft was never recovered.

2. Mckeesport is the second largest city in the county. Around the time of the French and Indian Wars, George Washington often came to Mckeesport to visit his friend, Queen Alliquippa, a Seneca Indian Ruler. After it was settled in 1795 and named after John McKee, its founder, McKeesport remained a village until 1830 when coal mining began in the region. Large deposits of bituminous coal existed. McKeesport rose to national importance during the 1900s as a center for manufacturing steel. The city's population reached a peak of 55,355 in 1940. Because of its economic importance, its political influence was significant too. Richard Nixon and John Kennedy met in McKeesport for their first of five debates on April 22, 1947, to debate labor issues. Nowadays, the population in Mckeesport is about 22,000, less than half of its population in 1940. But still it is a diverse mix of races and nationalities. As a celebration of these heritages, McKeesport hosts an annual ethnic food festival and community celebration referred to as International Village. Started in 1960, the three-day festival in August is one of the Pittsburgh-area's largest and oldest ethnic festivals and features traditional cuisines from Africa, China, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hawaii, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, the Mediterranean, Mexico, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Vietnam.

Your ID @ Mon Valley Initiative and RIDC

In which neighborhood is Mon Valley Initiative headquartered?

Who is the current CEO of RIDC? From which Ivy league university did he obtain his Bachelor's degree in Economics? From which new Ivy league college did he receive his PH.D degree?

Note: In the trip to Swissvale are dear teammates of mine: +Nicolas Smart, +Rosa Rendon, +Zhe Wei, +joshua king , +Josiah Vincent , +Susan Andrezejewski, +Kyle Jennison, +Marisa Pereira Tully, (+Ashraful Mohammod).We worked together on the System Synthesis project at Heinz College. It's an interesting experience for me. Learned a lot. Found out my area to improve and strength to carry on.