Repeating poor decisions will hamper East Liberty

I am very disappointed in the new housing going into East Liberty ("Dreams Alive in East Liberty: Development of New Mixed-Income Housing at Halfway Point," Nov. 1). We seem to be making the same poor choices that were made in the 1960s, but we have disguised it by calling it mixed-income housing.

I was uplifted by the demolition of the disgusting high-rise projects. I thought a new day was coming when I could walk down Penn Avenue and not fear for my life. It seems that the city and the developers would rather avoid emotionally charged reverse discrimination than do what is right for a community that used to be so great.

Call me what you want, but the realization of East Liberty coming back as a prosperous urban center will not happen as long as we keep promoting the same government-assisted housing that ruined the neighborhood in the first place.

We have made great strides with The Eastside commercial development and the new Lofts on Baum. The market is ripe for a new, wonderful beginning, but this will not happen with a mixed-income plan that will forever trap much of East Liberty in a government-assisted land of urban decadence and decay.

WILL DAVIES
Friendship

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Keep our lights on

While I agree that it is a shame there soon will be no major bookstore Downtown ("Unfinished Tale: The Heart of Pittsburgh Needs a Major Bookstore," Oct. 30), I think the closing of Barnes & Noble there may have more to do with a willy-nilly economic development practice.

Currently we have 19 big B's (Barnes & Noble and Borders in their various configurations) within 25 miles of the Golden Triangle, where decisions are made every day about rewarding the out-of-town corporate booksellers with various tax reductions and building strategies that these publicly traded corporations can use to open new stores. Soon another Borders will open in East Liberty.

An explosion of development of Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Costco also seduces local development planning decision makers. Currently, book sales at these stores make up more than half of the bookselling market and they have taken those sales right out of other local bookstores.

Could all these corporate entities be too many for Pittsburgh's market? Until there is some careful review of the economic impact on locally owned businesses when the rewards are put on the table, we'll face an even grimmer regional marketplace with more and bigger vacant stores.

One big solution for this community would be a dedicated effort to buy locally and ensure diversity in the character of our city. There are several bookstores and music stores remaining in this area that buy goods and services locally and give back to Pittsburgh in many other ways.

How about it, Pittsburgh patrons, companies and media? We've kept our lights on for you. You can keep our lights burning.

MARY ALICE GORMAN
Mystery Lovers Bookshop
Oakmont

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Bus overcrowding

Even though Lawrenceville is an "up and coming" city neighborhood, with art galleries, coffee houses, boutiques and $250K-plus lofts/condos, we haven't come far enough to be worthy of catching the buses coming from the affluent northern suburbs.

As I stand at the bus stop along Butler Street every morning on my way to work, I'm amazed as the "half empty" or "half full" "R" bus passes by headed to Downtown. We have to catch the overly crowded 91A or 91S bus -- if they decide to show up.

Between the excited and sometimes rowdy students on their way to the high schools Downtown and those of us headed to or through town to work, we stare in amazement at the number of folks who continue to board the bus. The 91A and 91S between 7 and 7:45 a.m. are so crowded, that if not viewed as a safety hazard, they should be.

If anyone knows why the Port Authority doesn't have stops in Lawrenceville for the "R," please let those of us who live in Lawrenceville know. If the Port Authority would allow the "R" to stop in Lawrenceville at the stops between 40th Street and where it turns to go down the Martin Luther King Busway, this would alleviate passenger congestion and the safety hazard on the 91A and 91S both inbound and outbound during rush hour.

ANITA THOMAS
Lawrenceville

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Faith in action

While our political leaders debate and define terms like "troop levels," "collateral damage" and "genocide," thousands of people around the world are dying.

While our religious leaders manipulate and spin terms like "jihad," "revelation" and "the chosen few," thousands of people around the world are dying.

Obviously, the time for talking has long since passed and the time for action is long overdue.

What would happen if a group of highly visible, highly respected world religious leaders got together and decided to physically act upon the various faiths they espouse? You know, "walk the talk," "put their money where their mouths are," "lay it on the line."

What if Pope Benedict XVI, the Dalai Lama and the Rev. Billy Graham packed up their individual holy scriptures and a few toiletries, and headed off to the hot spots of our world?

What if they plunked down smack dab in the middle of Darfur or Baghdad or Beirut, and simply but forcefully said, "We're not leaving until the raping stops, the starvation stops, the killing stops!"?

How would the world community react? Would their physical presence matter? Could such an act of faith, of self-sacrifice, make any difference?

Ludicrous? Ridiculous? Absurd? Any more ludicrous than Mohandas Gandhi's Salt March to Dandi? Any more ridiculous than Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington? Any more absurd than Jesus Christ's March to Calvary?

KEITH G. KONDRICH
Swisshelm Park

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War's sorrows

The Pieta-like photo of the Iraqi woman weeping for her dead grandchild (Nov. 1) was unforgettable. From time immemorial women have cried over children killed in man-made wars. It recalls a line from a '60s folk song -- "When will they ever learn / When will they ever learn?"

DIAN BUJDOS
Lincoln Place

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Embrace diversity

Pittsburgh will be the big winner by embracing people of color and ethnicity and those with alternative lifestyles. Additionally, like major growth regions such as the Silicon Valley and Boston, Pittsburgh and the commonwealth should accept the new reality that embracing those with diverse backgrounds is not only the right thing to do, but also stimulates economic growth and development.

National gratitude should be extended to New Jersey and its leaders for recognizing that gay and lesbian citizens, as well as all people, deserve to be embraced and given normal rights ("N.J. Allows Gay Marriage or Civil Unions," Oct. 26).

Pittsburgh and the commonwealth will win through inclusion and by creating an environment where we can cohabitate and recognize the fact that all people should be given the right as well as the obligation to contribute to society.

TONY LACENERE
Managing Director
iNetworks Advisors Inc.
Downtown

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Candidates didn't help their cause with annoying phone calls

To all the politicians who voted for the do-not-call phone lists (both state and federal), thank you very much. We all were tired of the ceaseless annoying phone calls, many of which come during the dinner hour.

To all the politicians and candidates who believe that people who signed up for the do-not-call lists want their phone lines, answering machines and voice mail boxes endlessly filled up with political calls, may your political careers be short ones.

Yes, I know you voted yourselves exemptions to the do-not-call lists, but your calls are no less bothersome than the advertisers and survey takers. In many cases, you don't even have the courtesy for your calls to show up on caller ID. And most annoying of all, for the vast majority you don't even have the courtesy to have a live person on the other end of the line so that we may tell him we do not want any more calls from your campaign.

During the next campaign season remember that "Do not call" includes you! And also remember that your annoying calls make me think twice about voting for you. They do not make me want to vote for you.

JOHN LOVE
Green Tree

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