Strip wholesalers make an essential difference

I am all for the redevelopment of unused land in the Strip but am seriously frightened by the current plan that was put forth before the last community meeting, demonstrating how little those meetings mean ("URA Approves Deal for Strip Development," March 12). The plan, as I understand it, calls for removing the wholesalers from the Strip.

The misguided view of some is that nobody will live here with the truck traffic. Tell that to the waiting list at the Cork Factory and to the growing list of residents of the 31st Street and Otto Milk Lofts, which are filling up.

The idea put forth by people such as Sen. Jim Ferlo and the URA is to turn the Strip into the next Southside Works, which sells no essential goods. The Strip provides essential goods to the entire region: Restaurants, grocery stores and individuals rely on the Strip.

The removal of the wholesalers will undoubtedly cost the city greatly. The wholesale customers will go to Cleveland to get their goods and will raise their prices and restock less often. This means lower-quality food at higher prices. It will also mean the retail outlets owned by the wholesalers will leave the Strip, greatly impacting the lower-income shoppers who come from neighborhoods like the Hill and the North Side.

This is a bad idea and all Pittsburghers should stand up and say no to planned destruction of the Strip District. Save the wholesalers, save the Strip!

DON ORKOSKEY
Strip District

Keep the character

Progress is a matter of perspective. To some, "progress" is just another word for gentrification, and the Urban Redevelopment Authority and Buncher Co.'s new development plan seems to be just that. The Strip District and Lawrenceville are traditionally blue-collar neighborhoods with charm that speaks to the very heart of our region.

The development of the Allegheny riverfront would seem to detract from the neighborhood character and add some of the upper-class "mall feel" of Southside Works and Station Square. When new corporate businesses and expensive housing starts to crowd the area, where do the people who already live there go?

Some of us like the quiet riverfronts and the rusty remnants of what is a quickly disappearing Pittsburgh.

SEAN LEHR-NUTH
Bloomfield

Shared suffering

I read the article "A Precious Piece of Paper" (March 7) with interest and sadness as only two days before I observed the 27th anniversary of my son Daniel's stillbirth at West Penn Hospital. Much was different in 1983.

I was not able to hold him and a funeral was out of the question. I did manage to obtain a death certificate and I still have a small cedar box of memories from that awful time. I suffered terribly in the weeks following and was met with little support from well-meaning family and friends who had no idea what to say or do. Thankfully, my sister-in-law had also been through it and I clung to her for dear life.

In desperation I even started a local chapter of a nationwide support group. The camaraderie and comfort of those other suffering mothers got me through an otherwise unbearable time in my life. I want mothers who lose babies through stillbirth or miscarriage to know there are others out there who understand and remember just how painful this process is. It takes time, but you will heal. I urge those in pain to seek out other mothers.

Now I have two grown daughters and I am awaiting the birth of my first grandchild, but on March 5 of every year I remember and light a candle for my baby and a little corner of my heart aches for him to be here. You may not see it now, but your tragedy can help others in the future who will be trying to find a way through this nightmare. Turn your loss into a positive experience by reaching out to other moms and by knowing that your baby's life has an important meaning in this world.

DENISE LOHR
Squirrel Hill

Poor-quality repairs

Regarding the Feb. 28 story about potholes and the problem of too little money for street repair ("The Bumpy Bottom Line"): It's been the same old story for decades -- not enough money, arguments over what streets to deal with first, insufficient master planning, etc.

We can't change the weather with its cycle of freeze and thaw that cities in the Northeast must endure. In Pittsburgh, the cycle of insufficient responses to residents' complaints continues as constantly as the freeze and thaw of winter weather with no new solutions proposed in all these years.

This particular article didn't mention the cost of replacing good tires lost to potholes or the difficulty seeing potholes at night and under snow. Drivers must negotiate not only potholes but also a crazy quilt of uneven, crumbling street surfaces caused by years slapping patches on top of patches.

As a lifelong city resident, the biggest problem to me is the quality of the materials used to repave the streets. It seems like potholes appear too quickly on the blocks that have been completely resurfaced. Shady Avenue in Shadyside is just one example. We are wasting the little money we have.

No matter how much money the city allocates, city streets will continue to be a disgrace until new solutions are sought.

SHIRLEY TUCKER
Oakland

Awful cartoon

I picked up my Post-Gazette on March 4 and sat down with my morning cup of coffee. The world is in such a terrible state right now, with such a load of tragic events -- such misery and people in mourning for loved ones and so many horrendous events.

I turned to the editorial page and to my horror there was a Rob Rogers despicable cartoon featuring President Barack Obama in an inner tube labeled health care reform at the edge of a pool holding a killer whale. A political satire! How cruel, how ignorant! A beautiful woman killed at SeaWorld recently is used to make fun of a political situation.

I can't believe the Post-Gazette would stoop to approving something so gross to be printed. Where have all the nice, compassionate people gone?

MELVA R. GIBSON
Penn Hills

Diversity of values

Maureen Dowd's March 11 column heightens the contradictions in today's politically correct multiculturalism ("Pilgrim Non Grata in Mecca"). Ms. Dowd seeks to find an internal homogeneity underneath external differences. This does not comport with reality.

Different cultures have different values; indeed different individuals within the same culture have different values. Compare Ms. Dowd's worldview with Sarah Palin's as a simple example. If we are to celebrate diversity, should we not recognize internal differences as well as external differences?

LEE D. MOSES
Squirrel Hill

Rep. Altmire, don't fall for Pelosi's promises

Like a child throwing a tantrum, Barack Obama has threatened to take his ball and go home if you don't pass his corrupt and expensive legislation.

Rep. Jason Altmire, please remain strong against this health care bill. No amount of political capital from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can save you from your constituents. Whatever her promises of reward or retribution, we will be here long after she is gone. If you vote for this legislation, you will be defeated in the next election. You may point to a record of conservative voting, but voting conservative on something that will pass without your vote is a cheap political trick.

When you return to a career in private life, your decision to go against your constituents will follow you there as well. You will forever be known as the man who folded to back-door deals and dirty tricks to pass legislation that will further weaken our country and enslave millions to an administration filled with corrupt and unscrupulous men and women.

We, your friends and neighbors, have no political agenda other than to remain free from government intervention in our lives. We ask only for the option to make our own free choices.

CHERI R. NEELY
Ross

Insured Congress

Having given much thought on the issue, we must recognize that the members of Congress are extremely concerned about the cost of providing health insurance for all of the citizens.

If that prompts them to reject the plan for health care for all, the least they can do is give up their own government-funded health insurance; they should pay their share or go uninsured if they or their loved ones have pre-existing health problems.

But we must understand that the insurance company lobbyists would step up and provide free private-sector insurance to keep their influence alive. So, it looks like the people lose no matter what.

PHILIP SIDEL
Squirrel Hill

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