(no subject)

[sanpaku_backup]

I flew in to Pittsburgh yesterday morning to be here for my parents' fiftieth anniversary party. They were glad I came, and so was I. Now I'm scamming wireless access from some unknown, tech-savvy oldie in the building. God bless you, Mr. Rosewater, wherever you are.

I had to take a vacation day to get a cheap flight back tonight... in the meantime I haven't had much to do here except relax, which is good. I drove around the old 'hood, which is never a good idea. The old hollow where flw and our Hoover School droogies used to play in has been filled in and populated with McMansions, which are aesthetically awful in their own right in addition to not blending in at all with the area. The hollow itself was formed by cliffs on either side of a ravine, so I guess I figured it'd always be there. Tire swings, forts, an old hole in the ground where flw and Jeff Wenk dragged a chair and put a metal covering over to make a lair... or at least that's what I remember, though I'm probably wrong. It was a great place to have as a kid and a major redeeming quality of suburbia. All gone.

Frank will be amused to hear that this all meant that they paved that one stretch of Robb Hollow Road, so you could now use our neighborhood as "back roads" away from Bower Hill, just like he always wanted.

At my old house the new owner has ripped out the bushes and put glass cinderblock windows in the basement... there's no understanding some people. Otherwise it all looked the same -- the trees were bigger than I remembered.

Also Hoover School was surrounded by construction crews. Seems they're finally getting around to taking out the asbestos that made us who we are today. Progress marches on.

Comments

[cellio]

*wave* Sorry I didn't realize you'd have time to kill; we could have done lunch or something. It sounded like such a quickie visit that I assumed you were booked solid.

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

Actually I pretty much was, too much so to get into the city, though I did think about it. (I shouldn't be in the past tense; I'm sitting in the airport for hours right now!) We might be around for Thanksgiving or something in that period.

Ugh!

[flw.livejournal.com]

I was in Pittsburgh, and I didn't even drive through the old neighborhhod! Can you believe that? I am a hard-core nostalgist, too. It's good to know that the McMansion/$950,000 for a cardboard box construction mentality has reached Pittsburgh. I have never understood the absolute failure of Market Economics in the Pittsburgh Real Estate market. By which I mean:

1970:
Population: 2,000,000
Houses: 500,000 built to last centuries, big, and tough
Cost: $30,000

1980:
Population: 200,000
Houses: 450,000 built to last, big and tough.
Cost: $100,000

1990:
Population: 100,000
Houses: 440,000 built to last, big and tough.
Cost: $150,000

2000:
Population: 100,000
Houses: 435,000 built to last, big and tough.
Cost: $180,000

2005:
Population: 100,000
Houses: 430,000 built to last, big and tough.
Cost: $400,000

but why live in a genuine turn of the last century stone mansion in the Heart of the City? Move out to Stowe and pay $900,000 to live in a cardboard monstrosity with your neighbors 8 feet away! And it's on a GOLF COURSE! Yay! You'll play all the time!

Re: Ugh!

[sanpaku.livejournal.com]

You didn't drive through the neighborhood because you thought your dad might come out of your house waving a rake at you screaming in tongues.

Actually this is the first time around there in a couple of trips for me, and my parents' place is just across the street (next to Temple Emanuel). I mean, it's there. It's not going anywhere. Yes, the rise of the insanely stupid housing market that prevails in the rest of the country, in Pittsburgh, is disturbing.

Last night I dreamed that I was going to meet you in The City, except that I had ratted you out to the feds and was watching while a massive police dragnet moved in to pick you up. It was a truly excellent dream. Thought you'd want to know that.