Planning to Plan

Well, this is just plan-tastic:

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and city Councilwoman Tonya Payne held a press conference today at the Hill District branch of the Carnegie Library to announce that the city is seeking a consultant to write the plan, which would guide Urban Redevelopment Authority investments and city Planning Commission decisions regarding the entire neighborhood, from Crawford-Roberts on its west to Oak Hill on the eastern end.

The plan is part of a hard-fought Community Benefits Agreement negotiated between neighborhood groups and the Penguins, city and Allegheny County related to the new arena.

Just so we're clear: this doesn't actually mean there is a plan yet, and it doesn't mean that anyone has been selected to craft a plan, and it doesn't mean that anything new is going to happen in the next year in the Hill, and it doesn't mean that even after the year of planning anything is going to happen, but it is going to be *something* which politicians will be able to point to in the Hill and say "look what I did."

I'm going to echo Rep. Wheatley's quote that this event was "not newsworthy" and say that it would have been more appropriate as a solitary Tweet on Twitter... right up there with "OK, poop's coming out."

I would like to say that it is a huge coincidence that both Ravenstahl and Payne are up for re-election this year, but I don't think anyone would buy that, with, perhaps the exception of my Uncle Bernie who collects both wooden nickels and bridges in certain New York City boroughs.

Now, don't get me wrong: an outline for where the City should be focusing its limited resources in this neighborhood is great, I just don't think that the announcement of the release of the document that will generate proposals for the formulation of a plan to allocate resources is all that big of a deal.

If you'll excuse me now, I must be off to the bathroom. I'll keep you posted on my status.