Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

"A community’s physical form, rather than its land uses, is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic." [Katz, EPA] This blog focuses on place and placemaking and all that makes it work--historic preservation, urban design, transportation, asset-based community development, arts & cultural development, commercial district revitalization, tourism & destination development, and quality of life advocacy--along with doses of civic engagement and good governance watchdogging.

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Pittsburgh as a mixed use civic center but no residential

These postcards are pre-1967, because the Mellon Institute for Industrial Research merged with the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1967. I bought the card because of the description on the back:

Civic Center, Pittsburgh, Pa., showing Mellon Institute in the foreground. This view shows a part of one of the most costly and impressive civic centers to be found anywhere.  From this point of view one looks down on universities, libraries, memorials, art galleries, auditoriums, music halls, hospitals, athletic fields -- and Carnegie Museum.  Along with all this, magnificent churches, theaters, and hotels.


FWIW, Jane Jacobs was critical of the creation of this district--separate from Downtown--in the discussion in Death and Life of Great American Cities, making the point that "mixed primary use" allows for shared parking and other efficiencies.

Postcard front, Pittsburgh Civic Center, no date (but before 1967)


Postcard back, Pittsburgh Civic Center

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home