Suburban Sprawl

As I drive up McKnight road, I see a lot of empty spaces. Across from Ross Park Mall is an old Chi Chi's, Sam's Club, Ford car dealership, Damon's and Don Parmesian. These stores all closed and have been sitting vacant for quite some time. A little further up is the closed Famous Dave's BBQ.

Further up the road is a sign for new commercial development at McKnight and Duncan. Up in Wexford a huge new shopping center is currently being built. Rather than building all this new development from scratch, what can we do to reuse the land that has already been developed on?

I am not suggesting that we build the WalMart across from Ross Park Mall. That would have been a traffic nightmare. However, this land already has the utilities available that these new developments do not. They are an eyesore that we drive past every day that we should be rebuilding on rather than adding to the sprawl we already have.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think part of the problem is that every township does their own planning. McCandless where I live would never give up their developments (and the tax revenue) at McKnight and Duncan even though a better location might be the car dealership in Ross in conjunction with the existing shopping center next to it. A better location in McCandless might be the area around Trader Horn and Showcase Cinema, anyway.

Is there some master plan for McKnight Road that I just don't know about or is it really just every Township for themselves?

Election Day on the North Side

I spent the afternoon of Election Day on the North Side. The pride and excitement in the communities I visited was incredible. We had a hard time finding anyone who had not voted as just everyone we met loudly and proudly proclaimed they went to the polls to vote for Barack Obama.

We stopped by a polling location in Manchester around 6:30 to make sure the people we expected to be waiting in line didn't leave without voting. Except that there was no one in line, because just about everyone had already voted. They usually get at most 200, but at that time over 800 had voted.

Living in the suburbs, I didn't get a sense of what Barack Obama really means to people. On the North Side, people had a sense of pride in him that I know I have never felt for anyone in my life.

I think President Obama will make a huge difference in the African American communities as a role model. Parental involvement in a child's education is assumed here in the burbs, but no some much in the city where I grew up. Obama's story about his mother getting him up at 4:30 to study is a powerful example.

Country First

"Country First" was John McCain's catch phrase, but his actions didn't match it. Barack Obama's message really was "Country First", and it needs to be how he runs his presidency. President-elect Obama and the rest of the Democratic Party need to take "County First" to heart when they govern if they want to be successful.

I hope the Democrats learn the lessons from 6-8 years ago when the Republicans held the Presidency and both houses of Congress like the Democrats are about to. The Republicans were drunk with power. Do you remember "You are either with me or with the terrorists" when anyone questioned just about anything George Bush did? How about Bush's "I have political capital and I intend to spend it" comment after his re-election? They were "Party First," and didn't care what anyone thought about it.

My own Congressman, Jason Altmire, is a great example of what a "Country First" and "Western Pennsylvania First" term in office can get you politically. It got him a comfortable win against Melissa Hart. She had nothing real to attack him on while she still had her "Party First" record from her time in office hanging around her neck. I hope he continues to represent our views and continue his "Country First" governance in his second and subsequent terms in office.

Governing "Country First" is kind of like something I learned from my father. When you focus on the customers and the people that work for you, your career can take care of itself. It is much easier having your customers and employees push you up the corporate ladder rather than you having to climb it yourself. I have found this to be true throughout my professional career.

If the Democrats take Barack Obama's "Country First" message to heart and focus on their customers, the American people, the country, the world and the Democratic Party will go a long way.

Where can he go?

Sign seen in a front yard near my house:


RIP
America
11-4-2008


When Bush and the Republicans were in charge, they told Liberals they could move to Canada if they didn't like it.

Where can this guy go? Albania? The Republic of Georgia?

YES WE CAN!