Today it was announced that the Pittsburgh Public Market, now in the far end of the Produce Terminal in the Strip, would be moving to an all new space on Penn Avenue this summer. This move is in response to the wrong-headed decision by Buncher Development to tear down part of the Produce Terminal in order to build an office park along the riverfront.
The new location is at the 2400 block of Penn Avenue and is a much larger space with more reliable heating and cooling than the present location. The Produce Terminal on Smallman Street was a little bit of an awkward location, as the vast majority of foot traffic occurs on Penn Avenue. But with this move to the 2400 block, the new Public Market is 2 blocks away from the "end" of the shopping zone (Penn Avenue Fish Company and the Polish Deli). Will the foot traffic walk 2 blocks past Bar Marco/Firehouse Farmers' Market to get to the Public Market?
The heart of the Strip on the weekends, from Wholey's to the 2200 block of Penn Avenue, gets quite congested. By lengthening the zone, will this make the situation better or worse? If the pedestrian traffic continues to thicken, the day may come where Penn Avenue should be considered to be pedestrian-only in the shopping zone on the weekend mornings/afternoons.
It will be interesting to see if Bill Peduto is elected Mayor of Pittsburgh in May (no Republican stands a chance in November historically). Peduto is very food truck friendly and it would make sense for food trucks to congregate in the Strip on the weekends. It would be very realistic to shut down Penn and set up the trucks right on the street, making the Strip even more of a destination.
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I'm excited for the new location - more space for vendors and demo's, increased visibility, located right on Penn where most people shop. I think that the Strip has already been extending its borders - think of all the new loft and condo developments going up - the retail is now catching up. I would love to see some food trucks popping up in the Strip, but it might be a challenge for traffic/parking. (I wish more people would take advantage of public transit, but this seems like a city where most everyone prefers to drive.)
ReplyDeleteIf Peduto is elected, one of his interests is re-vamping the ridiculously onerous food truck laws. At that point, the Strip will be a mecca for food trucks of all sorts. It will probably oversaturate, actually.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm....oversaturated fooooood truuuucks. *Aghaghaghahahaha*
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