Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's travel schedule drew criticism yesterday, a day after he missed a North Side meeting on casino design.

His trip to Boston to meet that city's mayor and a developer was his third overnight journey in two weeks.

"Leadership is about being present," said Republican mayoral challenger Mark DeSantis. "Maybe I'm a little old-fashioned, but I think people like to see their mayor, they like to see him up close, and if he calls a meeting he should attend."

Weeks ago the city sent a direct mail piece, bearing the mayor's signature, in which he invited residents to "please join me" for Tuesday night's meeting at the Pittsburgh Project. Some 150 people attended, with some chanting "Where is the mayor?"

Mr. Ravenstahl said last night that the trip was planned months ago, and until a staff member notified him of the fervor at the meeting Tuesday night, he was unaware the mailer indicated he would be present.

"It was a mistake by the office," he said. "The letter that went out was technically wrong."

Mr. Ravenstahl was in Boston for a trip completed yesterday in which he toured the Harbor Point public housing development and met Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

Harbor Point developer Beacon/Corcoran Jennison is the owner of the Oak Hill community in the Hill District.

"It was a complete education about how to create sustainable housing for low-income people," said Miles Byrne, project director for the developer. "It's not just about Oak Hill."

The developer is trying to finalize an agreement, which the mayor helped negotiate, with the University of Pittsburgh on the future of what was the Allequippa Terrace public housing site.

Mr. Ravenstahl's staff said the mayor traveled with Chief of Staff Yarone Zober. The developer's law firm, Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, paid for airfare and meals, and the mayor paid for his accommodations.

Mr. DeSantis faulted the arrangements. "If a private company is doing business with the city and they are paying for his travel, that is wrong," he said.

The city code, though, allows for complimentary travel and meals.

"After the scrutiny that I've received over summer, we made sure before we went that we paid for everything that was appropriate," the mayor said.

Last week, Mr. Ravenstahl traveled to New York for the International Downtown Association's annual meeting, and then to Washington, D.C., to discuss regional funding needs.

In recent months the mayor has taken heat for missing a Hill District meeting on arena development to travel to New York, and for golfing rather than attending a City Council public hearing on domestic violence allegations against police.