OT: Pittsburgh Mills Mall sold for $100

[Darth_VadEER]

People don't shop like they did before. I remember being a kid and shopping with my mom and aunt at the mall. They'd rent lockers and spend hours shopping and browsing. Kauffman's had restaurants on the upper floor of their stores and we'd get lunch there.

If I was good, I'd get to mess around in the arcade and get an Orange Julius - which was all brick, almost like a cave....

 

[TheNoise88]

People don't shop like they did before. I remember being a kid and shopping with my mom and aunt at the mall. They'd rent lockers and spend hours shopping and browsing. Kauffman's had restaurants on the upper floor of their stores and we'd get lunch there.

If I was good, I'd get to mess around in the arcade and get an Orange Julius - which was all brick, almost like a cave....

The best part of the mall to me as a teen was the National Record Mart (if you live in WPA, most malls had one). I could spend a lot of time (and money) in there. Our mall had a Walden Books too. Killed a lot of time at their magazine section. Spencer's was good for laughs. In between, if lucky enough someone could borrow dad's car and take me and my buddies, patrolling up and down the main through ways hoping to run into girls from school. (Or praying not to be seen, if forced to go with parents, usually for back to school clothes...).

 

[ratking17]

National record mart was great...bought my music there...they would give you a sticker and if your cassette died they would replace it

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Yeah now, the kids go to malls to start fights and create mayhem. Kids nowadays don't need "time outs", don't need "grief counselors", don't need "happy spaces", they need to have their asses kicked every now and then when they get out of line.

 

[ratking17]

KB toys were also a great mall staple. And Aladin arcades. You would put quarters on the machine marking you had next in whatever game you were challenging others in

 

[Piranha]

The best part of the mall to me as a teen was the National Record Mart (if you live in WPA, most malls had one). I could spend a lot of time (and money) in there. Our mall had a Walden Books too. Killed a lot of time at their magazine section. Spencer's was good for laughs. In between, if lucky enough someone could borrow dad's car and take me and my buddies, patrolling up and down the main through ways hoping to run into girls from school. (Or praying not to be seen, if forced to go with parents, usually for back to school clothes...).

That sounds eeeily similar except we were looking to hook up with girls from other schools. We tried to find a different one from different schools figuring they would not cross paths. Getting as many digits as possible.

 

[F.Hoopies]

"Devastated"? Drive up and down the Mon and Ohio Valleys, or New Castle. That is devastated.

Recruits,

I had a patient in West Tarentum a month ago in my old neighborhood. It was awful. We moved in late 1980's to West Deer. I could not believe how bad it was. My memories were good growing up there and at that time Grandview was considered a good school.

Sadly, many areas are getting worse as the layoffs from ATI and PPG are hitting areas last like Creighton, New Ken, Lower Burrell, Natrona Heights, Apollo, Vandergrift and Leechburg.

I'm pretty sure you're a Highlands guy. I was told by a guy who would know that Highlands had the highest percentage of kids on free/reduced lunch in the Valley. It wasn't that way when we were growing up.

I agree with almost everything mentioned in this thread. However, I still have a soft spot for the Ak Valley.

 

[Mikefln]

I bet you guys would be very surprised at how much money is still in all these old towns. There are more "millionaire next door" types living in those towns than you think. Remember a lot of those old folks had pensions (chased the companies away, but good for those who actually received them), and they saved money. The problem is they became millionaires by not spending money, unlike the areas we consider rich like USC, Mt Lebo etc. I bet there are more people living there that are actually broke because they spend money. Yeah they make a lot but they spend it and basically live paycheck to paycheck.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

The original plan for that mall and the one that was built look nothing alike. When the economy crashed in the mid 2000s many committed entities backed out of their agreement with the mills. There was supposed to be higher end retailers, themed restaurants like the Nascar one, a water park Great Wolf I think, etc.

More than anything it was recession in 2008 that killed that place.

I think this is very accurate. I think a lot of what has been said has been very accurate but I think this is the closest to the bone.

I grew up in the South Hills and knew nothing of the AK Valley growing up. It just wasn't remotely on my radar. I had never even heard of the term Alle-Kiski Valley until I was an adult.

It's funny but when you grow up in the South Hills, if there's a town that you don't know where it is, you just instinctively say, "I think that's up 28 somewhere?"

Blawnox? Where the hell is Blawnox? "I think that's up 28 somewhere."

Where the hell is Vandergrift? "I think that's up 28 somewhere."

I thought Creighton was a college? "I'm pretty sure that's up 28."

Then, I started working in Cheswick and I realized that they do the same thing with 51. If they don't know where the town is, they just say, "It's off 51."

It's really funny and I think sooooo Pittsburgh. We are divided into all these little areas that a fairly large city feels very small and intimate.

 

[buckage]

Pitt stadium

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

I will say this: when I first started working in the AK Valley, I was taken aback by how different it was than the South Hills.

The whole mindset was just very different – very country. I have lived in West Virginia and it felt more like that than it did places like Mt. Lebanon or Bethel Park or Upper St. Clair.

It was just totally different – I can't explain it. Everything was just different.

However, the more time I spent there the more time I really grew to like the people. I think the AK Valley has some of the nicest people in the whole region – and I really mean that. There's a lot of good souls in that area and I sincerely miss them.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

As for the mall, I actually did some work there many years back now and I do agree that the mall should never have been built for a lot of reasons.

However, I also agree that they were really victimized by timing as much as they were poor planning. They just built the wrong mall at the wrong place at the wrong time.

They also made some really poorly conceived decisions. That is a very rural area and instead of trying to compete with Waterworks or Monroeville Mall or Ross Park Mall, they should've gone in a different direction.

I can tell you with authority – because I worked on promoting it – that Bass Pro Shops was prepared to build a megastore there. They have a store in Wheeling and then not another one until Harrisburg. They were looking for a place to build a giant supercenter – among their biggest stores in the country – in the Pittsburgh area and they all but decided on Pittsburgh Mills.

It was basically a done deal end it definitely would have been an anchor with a badly needed. It also fit in perfectly with the local culture. I think that mega center with an indoor water park would've worked well as anchors for the area.

Think of all the people from Pittsburgh who take the mir kids up to Erie for that type of thing. What's it called – Splash Lagoon or something like that?

Shave a few hours off that trip and you have a winner.

That was all set to happen but the sluggish economy and Frazer's idiotic leadership conspired to kill it.

That's why they built a giant hotel next to the damn thing.

Unfortunately, the Frazer Township borough leadership were some of the most shortsighted, backwards people I have ever met and they ruined the whole thing.

They just didn't get it and basically fought everything tooth and nail every step of the way. That is why it looks so different than its original design.

I think they should've positioned themselves as the anti-Ross Park Mall. They should have gone out and landed the Container Store, for example. That store has been killing it in the Midwest for a long time and is just coming to Pittsburgh now.

Things like that.

Give people throughout the AK Valley and the North Hills something they can't get at RPM or WWM.

Instead, they tried to go head-to-head with them and that was a ridiculous miscalculation.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

When it comes to the area as a whole, I think parts of West Deer are actually very nice. Russellton is in rough shape but some of the newer parts are not bad at all. There are even some high end developments there.

I'm told that the school there is actually pretty nice. I'm also told that Freeport is nice.

I like Natrona Heights too. I think that's a nice little area over by Highlands High School.

Creighton is not a very nice place and New Kensington is basically horrible.

Definitely, as a whole, AK Valley needs to be improved. It's just a classically depressed area. However, it also has its charms. Personally, I would not want to live there but it's not as bad as some are making it out to be.

My biggest issue with that is there's just no easy way to get in and out of it – that goes for the entire region. It just seems 10–15 minutes too far away from everything. It's kind of like Bethel Park or South Park in that way.

It's very annoying.

 

[Piranha]

I think this is very accurate. I think a lot of what has been said has been very accurate but I think this is the closest to the bone.

I grew up in the South Hills and knew nothing of the AK Valley growing up. It just wasn't remotely on my radar. I had never even heard of the term Alle-Kiski Valley until I was an adult.

It's funny but when you grow up in the South Hills, if there's a town that you don't know where it is, you just instinctively say, "I think that's up 28 somewhere?"

Blawnox? Where the hell is Blawnox? "I think that's up 28 somewhere."

Where the hell is Vandergrift? "I think that's up 28 somewhere."

I thought Creighton was a college? "I'm pretty sure that's up 28."

Then, I started working in Cheswick and I realized that they do the same thing with 51. If they don't know where the town is, they just say, "It's off 51."

It's really funny and I think sooooo Pittsburgh. We are divided into all these little areas that a fairly large city feels very small and intimate.

You must work at Curtis Wright (Old Westinghouse).

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

Nope. Guess again. Also, I'm no longer out that way.

 

[Piranha]

Nope. Guess again. Also, I'm no longer out that way.

Is it officially in Cheswick or does it have a Cheswick Zip Code, but is really in the O'Hara/Fox Chapel area? Technically - you have Harmar Twp, Springdale Boro, Springdale Twp, and Cheswick Boro all in that same little area.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

You're getting warmer…

 

[Piranha]

You're getting warmer…

If it is technically Cheswick Boro, then Watson Standard, Cheswick Pools, Chesarina, the Goodwill, Syria Mosque, or you had a private practice.

 

[Piranha]

Grieco's Carefree Inn off 910 in Indianola used to be a good Italian restaurant. Have not been there in a long time. AK Valley - close to the Pittsburgh Indoor Sports Arena.

 

[pittdrumz]

I used to live in Hampton Twp but worked in New Ken and after the Mills opened I went there once cause it was along the way and convenient. I never went back. I thought the layout was terrible and they had too many high end boutique type shops that were unappealing.

I thought if they put in something to really draw people in it had potential but alas, they blew it. Sadly, Sears Grand was my favorite store there.

 

[beiglepanther]

I finally gave in and did the amazon online shopping for Christmas.. I like to consider myself a bizzaro trailblazer, meaning I wait at least a decade after something becomes a fad before I try it. it's pretty freakin sweet avoiding the mall and getting this crap delivered to your front door.. Who'd have ever guessed this whole internet thing was gonna pan out. I may have to retire my word processor

I still refuse to cut the cable chord though, I will never stream my tv content.. Long live $150 dollar monthly cable bills and channels that I pay for but don't watch..

Ha on the cable, I'm the same way. I pay about 140.00 for direc tv I'm only home about 12-15 days a month and then only watch Seinfeld re runs, unless Pittsburgh sports are on. I started asking my GF what a firestick was the other day as she is 15 yrs younger and a lot smarter, she just kinda looked at me and walked into the other room.

 

[pitt-girl]

Yeah I am an AK Valley native and regretfully a resident (came home to take care of family) built a new house in Natrona Heights and again, regret it somewhat. What a dead area. And the sad thing is, it hasn't been as hard hit as the Mon and Beaver Valleys or New Castle as far as the steel industry. While Allegheny Ludlum or PPG (whatever the glass plant) does not employ as many as it once did, they are still viable plants who are operating. The area is old, the politicians lazy and backwards, but we can see when they actually do something, it fails. Hell, they put a Mexican restuarant in Natrona Heights and it didn't last a year. (it sucked).

As for the mall, from the get go it was a loser. I love the "NASCAR" theme, like that was going to rake in the people. NASCAR had like a 5 year fad period around 2000, who in the hell cares about NASCAR here? I know this is Pennsyltucky, and alot of hilljacks but come on, this isn't Greene County.

Truth is, people have habits. People in the AK Valley when they want to go "out shoppin' an' at", we are conditioned to go to Monroevillle or Ross Park Malls. Now that Monroeville Mall is like going to Homewood, probably not as much.

The crappy chain restaurants surrounding Mills Mall are still crowded they tell me, Loews, Walmart, Sams Club on the peripheral do okay. But the AK Valley is so friggin backwards. People should be ashamed of themselves for being so cheap and backwards.
People here are really weird, so afraid of anything new. So backwards. A visit to Pittsburgh for some (20 minutes away) might as well be going to Mars (the planet not town). You would think those who researched this would have learned this. This area cannot even get a Red Lobster. I HATE RED LOBSTER, but these jabrones would eat that up there would be lines around 28 to get in. Just a pathetic part of the earth, that I hate to say are my people.

Bubba nailed it, bars and churches. Want a pizza or seasoned wings and cheap beer? Come to the AK Valley. Want anything else, forget about it. The worst, this complete failure of a mall then just killed New Ken, Lower Burrell and Heights Plaza shopping districts.

Yinz AK Valley folks know exactly what I am talking about with this rant.

The interesting thing is Ross Park is much newer than South Hills Village, etc. And it too took a while before it really took off 10+ years ago. I'm still not 100% sure why because it's not like it's in the middle of some high income area. Ross is a great area, but definitely very middle class. Yes, it draws from higher income areas to the north, but Ross Park was no Taj Mahal when it was first built. The explosion of the McKnight Road corridor is fascinating.

 

[pitt-girl]

As for the mall, I actually did some work there many years back now and I do agree that the mall should never have been built for a lot of reasons.

However, I also agree that they were really victimized by timing as much as they were poor planning. They just built the wrong mall at the wrong place at the wrong time.

They also made some really poorly conceived decisions. That is a very rural area and instead of trying to compete with Waterworks or Monroeville Mall or Ross Park Mall, they should've gone in a different direction.

I can tell you with authority – because I worked on promoting it – that Bass Pro Shops was prepared to build a megastore there. They have a store in Wheeling and then not another one until Harrisburg. They were looking for a place to build a giant supercenter – among their biggest stores in the country – in the Pittsburgh area and they all but decided on Pittsburgh Mills.

It was basically a done deal end it definitely would have been an anchor with a badly needed. It also fit in perfectly with the local culture. I think that mega center with an indoor water park would've worked well as anchors for the area.

Think of all the people from Pittsburgh who take the mir kids up to Erie for that type of thing. What's it called – Splash Lagoon or something like that?

Shave a few hours off that trip and you have a winner.

That was all set to happen but the sluggish economy and Frazer's idiotic leadership conspired to kill it.

That's why they built a giant hotel next to the damn thing.

Unfortunately, the Frazer Township borough leadership were some of the most shortsighted, backwards people I have ever met and they ruined the whole thing.

They just didn't get it and basically fought everything tooth and nail every step of the way. That is why it looks so different than its original design.

I think they should've positioned themselves as the anti-Ross Park Mall. They should have gone out and landed the Container Store, for example. That store has been killing it in the Midwest for a long time and is just coming to Pittsburgh now.

Things like that.

Give people throughout the AK Valley and the North Hills something they can't get at RPM or WWM.

Instead, they tried to go head-to-head with them and that was a ridiculous miscalculation.

I think there are some short memories here of what Ross Park was like after it was first built. A nice mall, same anchors as the rest, but nothing truly upscale. I took a while for that to happen.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

As for the mall, I actually did some work there many years back now and I do agree that the mall should never have been built for a lot of reasons.

However, I also agree that they were really victimized by timing as much as they were poor planning. They just built the wrong mall at the wrong place at the wrong time.

They also made some really poorly conceived decisions. That is a very rural area and instead of trying to compete with Waterworks or Monroeville Mall or Ross Park Mall, they should've gone in a different direction.

I can tell you with authority – because I worked on promoting it – that Bass Pro Shops was prepared to build a megastore there. They have a store in Wheeling and then not another one until Harrisburg. They were looking for a place to build a giant supercenter – among their biggest stores in the country – in the Pittsburgh area and they all but decided on Pittsburgh Mills.

It was basically a done deal end it definitely would have been an anchor with a badly needed. It also fit in perfectly with the local culture. I think that mega center with an indoor water park would've worked well as anchors for the area.

Think of all the people from Pittsburgh who take the mir kids up to Erie for that type of thing. What's it called – Splash Lagoon or something like that?

Shave a few hours off that trip and you have a winner.

That was all set to happen but the sluggish economy and Frazer's idiotic leadership conspired to kill it.

That's why they built a giant hotel next to the damn thing.

Unfortunately, the Frazer Township borough leadership were some of the most shortsighted, backwards people I have ever met and they ruined the whole thing.

They just didn't get it and basically fought everything tooth and nail every step of the way. That is why it looks so different than its original design.

I think they should've positioned themselves as the anti-Ross Park Mall. They should have gone out and landed the Container Store, for example. That store has been killing it in the Midwest for a long time and is just coming to Pittsburgh now.

Things like that.

Give people throughout the AK Valley and the North Hills something they can't get at RPM or WWM.

Instead, they tried to go head-to-head with them and that was a ridiculous miscalculation.

I think there are some short memories here of what Ross Park was like after it was first built. A nice mall, same anchors as the rest, but nothing truly upscale. I took a while for that to happen.

Yes, but it's location is so much better that it was always going to be the anchor mall of the North Hills. Pittsburgh Mills was never going to challenge for that mantle so it needed to go in a different direction.

 

[pitt-girl]

Yes, but it's location is so much better that it was always going to be the anchor mall of the North Hills. Pittsburgh Mills was never going to challenge for that mantle so it needed to go in a different direction.

Agree, but again, the majority of people were not concentrated in the North Hills. Development has come here very, very slowly. For years we always said that it was totally untapped. All the newer development remained south - Waterfront, South Side, etc. Hard to understand how actually getting a new, modern movie theater just 2 years ago was so huge unless you lived here. Ross Park languished for a good number of years.

 

[TheNoise88]

The whole mindset was just very different – very country. I have lived in West Virginia and it felt more like that than it did places like Mt. Lebanon or Bethel Park or Upper St. Clair.

I have spent some time around there (former girlfriend from the area) and agree with above. It's actually why I mused on WVU having a branch campus there.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Recruits,

I had a patient in West Tarentum a month ago in my old neighborhood. It was awful. We moved in late 1980's to West Deer. I could not believe how bad it was. My memories were good growing up there and at that time Grandview was considered a good school.

Sadly, many areas are getting worse as the layoffs from ATI and PPG are hitting areas last like Creighton, New Ken, Lower Burrell, Natrona Heights, Apollo, Vandergrift and Leechburg.

I'm pretty sure you're a Highlands guy. I was told by a guy who would know that Highlands had the highest percentage of kids on free/reduced lunch in the Valley. It wasn't that way when we were growing up.

I agree with almost everything mentioned in this thread. However, I still have a soft spot for the Ak Valley.

Yeah I am. It is amazing, I lived away from the area for 20 years. I live in the one new development now in Natrona Heights. It is a nice neighborhood. But my god, this place, and alot I blame local politicians for being so backwards, and people who have never left. Sometimes when you don't have or experience, you don't know what you are missing. As far as ATI, could you imagine this area if they left all together? It would be Clairton Part II. And what has happened at ATI is just no different than any manufacturing, automation and process control just reduces the need for human involvement. So they will never employ enough. The 1.2 Billion dollar expansion was great, it cemented that ATI's main plant will be here for awhile, but it really didn't employ any additional people.

To show you how backwards this area is, there is a large development of land that someone was going to put in a light Industrial Park. They have flattened down all of the trees. Cleared some of the land. And it was stopped because someone complained, some small pipe business that may employ like 6 people worried about "run off". Needed businesses, tax dollars and employment, and someone bitches and it stops. Also Natrona Heights specifically is a victim that it is adjacent to Butler county which is more tax friendly.

But the AK Valley, I mean I am a foodie, and trust me, Clarksburg friggin West Virginia has more viable choices. Oh sure, I am close enough to Pittsburgh, but it is not even the drive that is bothersome but finding parking. The area is one big Sr rest home. And look at the local HS sports teams, for the most part, they suck. Christ Highlands is one of the biggest schools, and they barely could field a wrestling team (didn't the past few years) and other sports. I think the Highlands area is home to some of the laziest white people on earth.

Sorry for the rant. But the Frazier Mall is just a result of this whole Valley crumbling. Like I said it is a weird area. Close enough and old mill town enough to have all of the problems of the Clairton or Quippa/Ambridge areas and rural enough to have all of the problems of Trumpville, and rural areas like Ford City and Kittanning which essentially are Heroin distribution centers.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I think this is very accurate. I think a lot of what has been said has been very accurate but I think this is the closest to the bone.

I grew up in the South Hills and knew nothing of the AK Valley growing up. It just wasn't remotely on my radar. I had never even heard of the term Alle-Kiski Valley until I was an adult.

It's funny but when you grow up in the South Hills, if there's a town that you don't know where it is, you just instinctively say, "I think that's up 28 somewhere?"

Blawnox? Where the hell is Blawnox? "I think that's up 28 somewhere."

Where the hell is Vandergrift? "I think that's up 28 somewhere."

I thought Creighton was a college? "I'm pretty sure that's up 28."

Then, I started working in Cheswick and I realized that they do the same thing with 51. If they don't know where the town is, they just say, "It's off 51."

It's really funny and I think sooooo Pittsburgh. We are divided into all these little areas that a fairly large city feels very small and intimate.

Jesus Doc, this is so true. When I worked in West Virginia, we had to go to Koppers in Clairton to do an inspection. Someone said, well you drive, you are from Pittsburgh. I told them, "I have never, ever been to Clairton in my life". The topography with Pittsburgh in the very center of it, make alot of the areas seem remote, distant and unnavigable.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

When it comes to the area as a whole, I think parts of West Deer are actually very nice. Russellton is in rough shape but some of the newer parts are not bad at all. There are even some high end developments there.

I'm told that the school there is actually pretty nice. I'm also told that Freeport is nice.

I like Natrona Heights too. I think that's a nice little area over by Highlands High School.

Creighton is not a very nice place and New Kensington is basically horrible.

Definitely, as a whole, AK Valley needs to be improved. It's just a classically depressed area. However, it also has its charms. Personally, I would not want to live there but it's not as bad as some are making it out to be.

My biggest issue with that is there's just no easy way to get in and out of it – that goes for the entire region. It just seems 10–15 minutes too far away from everything. It's kind of like Bethel Park or South Park in that way.

It's very annoying.

And what happened, is that mall killed alot of those towns also. The Heights Plaza was fairly vibrant, Macy's was its anchor. But of course Macy's in the Mills Mall made that store redundant.

Now with the improvements on 28, it is a really easy drive to dahtahn Pittsburgh. House prices here are cheap. Taxes (in the Allegheny County part) are not. If they would reduce taxes and build development here, hell there are so many railroad tracks not being used on either side of the river, create a light rail line into town......this area could recover somewhat. But the little fifedoms that kill this area, myopia and backwardsness that you spoke of, will not allow this to happen.

It is funny, I know probably the three wealthiest guys my age in the area. And "blue collar" is a step above describing them and their businesses. I mean one deals in scrap metals. They were dirtball kids who lived down the street from me growing up and now are multi millionaires.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Agree, but again, the majority of people were not concentrated in the North Hills. Development has come here very, very slowly. For years we always said that it was totally untapped. All the newer development remained south - Waterfront, South Side, etc. Hard to understand how actually getting a new, modern movie theater just 2 years ago was so huge unless you lived here. Ross Park languished for a good number of years.

Yeah just to highlight this, when I was in HS, Richland and Mars were small cow schools. We wouldn't play them in anything, they were too small. I am sure the same in the South Hills with South Fayette. Pine-Richland really exploded then moved up into Adams and Cranberry and Mars. Now over towards Saxonburg.

Another thing (living in other cities) what is highly annoying being in Natrona Heights, is the circuitous, tortuous route it takes to get to Cranberry (Bakerstown-Warrendale Rd aka "the red belt) or 228. There is no East-West running "expressway" across the northern part of the Pittsburgh metro area like you see other areas, that would really spawn growth.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I have spent some time around there (former girlfriend from the area) and agree with above. It's actually why I mused on WVU having a branch campus there.

Hence my reference to "Pennsytucky". Which is only the second best derogatory nickname in Western Pa. The best?? Fayettenam.

 

[tetonpanther]

Owtie the notion that the lender "bought " the property for $100.00 is incorrect. as part of the sale the existing first mortgage was divested. the purchase price includes discharge of that lien held by the purchaser as a purchaser at judicial sale they are given credit in the purchase for their debt. If there had been a legitimate third party bidder the lender /purchaser would have been obligated to bid up the price to assure that it

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Owtie the notion that the lender "bought " the property for $100.00 is incorrect. as part of the sale the existing first mortgage was divested. the purchase price includes discharge of that lien held by the purchaser as a purchaser at judicial sale they are given credit in the purchase for their debt. If there had been a legitimate third party bidder the lender /purchaser would have been obligated to bid up the price to assure that it

I know. That was sarcasm.

 

[Piranha]

Ha on the cable, I'm the same way. I pay about 140.00 for direc tv I'm only home about 12-15 days a month and then only watch Seinfeld re runs, unless Pittsburgh sports are on. I started asking my GF what a firestick was the other day as she is 15 yrs younger and a lot smarter, she just kinda looked at me and walked into the other room.

Come on man! (jk) Your bill should be half that. You need to call them and get credits on your bill. Tell them u are cancelling if they do not work with u and get customer loyalty credit. They also have a discount for AAA members and adding friends. My bill has averaged $70 over the past 3 years. It was around 50-55 initially with all the discounts.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Owtie the notion that the lender "bought " the property for $100.00 is incorrect. as part of the sale the existing first mortgage was divested. the purchase price includes discharge of that lien held by the purchaser as a purchaser at judicial sale they are given credit in the purchase for their debt. If there had been a legitimate third party bidder the lender /purchaser would have been obligated to bid up the price to assure that it

Why let facts like this get in the way of a good discussion.
This was more interesting when we thought the property was sold for $ 100.
Could of sold it on Craigslist!

 

[Panther Holla]

We need to Make Malls Great Again.

I miss the wood benches, fountains and stone/brick constructed sitting areas.

Unfortunately, I'm starting to lose memories of my grandfather, but one of them I have left is being a small child sitting on his lap at the mall looking into a fountain waiting for my mom and aunt to come out of JC Penny. He was smoking a pipe, I loved that smell. He was giving me coins to toss in and make wishes.

MEMORY LANE ALERT!

At age 5 I sat on Santa's lap in Misco's in Braddock, asked for a red wagon under the tree. He delivered.

Braddock was where we bought our school clothes and comic books and small toys from the 5-and-10. We'd go there by streetcar. Great Valley was option 2. Anybody remember Claber's or Weiser Hardware?

Then came Eastland, across the bridge and over the hill. JCPenney is where I got my bike with the stingray handlebars and the banana seat, and there I discovered that mecca called National Record Mart. Eastland was an outdoor mall until about 1972, when it was enclosed and air conditioned to compete with the new Monroeville Mall. (Shortly after they laid the carpeting, Hurricane Agnes flooded Eastland. Bye bye, rugs.)

I landed my first job at Monroeville Mall -- stock boy at The Limited. For a 16-yo guy surrounded by very attractive, mostly single older women five night a week, it was heaven.

Sad to see what has happened to our malls. They were gathering places, happy places.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Online shopping made "regular malls" obsolete. The only ones that will survive are the higher end malls located in upper middle class to rich areas (Ross Park, SHV, King of Prussia, etc). Unless you are in a higher end area, your mall may still be there like Century 3 but its dead for all intents and purposes. Instead of going to the Military Bowl (too cold), my wife went to some local mall in Annapolis and it was like she went to Disney World. She took pictures and talked about it like it was something out of the future. Those kinds of malls will still exist.

If I was Century 3, with the explosion of hockey in this area, I'd turn half of it into a hockey rink and the other half an indoor water park. You can still also have some select stores in the middle somewhere.

 

[pitt-girl]

Online shopping made "regular malls" obsolete. The only ones that will survive are the higher end malls located in upper middle class to rich areas (Ross Park, SHV, King of Prussia, etc). Unless you are in a higher end area, your mall may still be there like Century 3 but its dead for all intents and purposes. Instead of going to the Military Bowl (too cold), my wife went to some local mall in Annapolis and it was like she went to Disney World. She took pictures and talked about it like it was something out of the future. Those kinds of malls will still exist.

If I was Century 3, with the explosion of hockey in this area, I'd turn half of it into a hockey rink and the other half an indoor water park. You can still also have some select stores in the middle somewhere.

Even though I abhor shopping, on my many visits to Raleigh I am always amazed at the huge, beautiful malls. Quite extraordinary.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

As for the mall, I actually did some work there many years back now and I do agree that the mall should never have been built for a lot of reasons.

However, I also agree that they were really victimized by timing as much as they were poor planning. They just built the wrong mall at the wrong place at the wrong time.

They also made some really poorly conceived decisions. That is a very rural area and instead of trying to compete with Waterworks or Monroeville Mall or Ross Park Mall, they should've gone in a different direction.

I can tell you with authority – because I worked on promoting it – that Bass Pro Shops was prepared to build a megastore there. They have a store in Wheeling and then not another one until Harrisburg. They were looking for a place to build a giant supercenter – among their biggest stores in the country – in the Pittsburgh area and they all but decided on Pittsburgh Mills.

It was basically a done deal end it definitely would have been an anchor with a badly needed. It also fit in perfectly with the local culture. I think that mega center with an indoor water park would've worked well as anchors for the area.

Think of all the people from Pittsburgh who take the mir kids up to Erie for that type of thing. What's it called – Splash Lagoon or something like that?

Shave a few hours off that trip and you have a winner.

That was all set to happen but the sluggish economy and Frazer's idiotic leadership conspired to kill it.

That's why they built a giant hotel next to the damn thing.

Unfortunately, the Frazer Township borough leadership were some of the most shortsighted, backwards people I have ever met and they ruined the whole thing.

They just didn't get it and basically fought everything tooth and nail every step of the way. That is why it looks so different than its original design.

I think they should've positioned themselves as the anti-Ross Park Mall. They should have gone out and landed the Container Store, for example. That store has been killing it in the Midwest for a long time and is just coming to Pittsburgh now.

Things like that.

Give people throughout the AK Valley and the North Hills something they can't get at RPM or WWM.

Instead, they tried to go head-to-head with them and that was a ridiculous miscalculation.

I remember the plans for the waterpark. A national player, wasn't it the Dells or something like that? I didn't follow it closely, what killed it? I remember they initially said they weren't going to allow day passes and you had to stay overnight which I thought was pretty dumb on their part. As a visitor to Splash Lagoon, I was looking forward to something closer.

Pittsburgh could use another waterpark option. Sandcastle (and to a certain extent Kennywood) has really gone down hill since that spanish company took it over. Sandcastle especially. They haven't made any improvements since they added the dragons lair almost 10 years ago, and they keep taking things away like the boat docks, hot tubs, and movie nights. They could really use an adult only area as the current setup of adults with drinks trying to mingle along with the kiddies in the one pool is a recipe for disaster. And there is plenty of room to build an adult only pool but this new ownership is all about maximizing profits while doing the bare minimum to keep things running (maybe the Nuttings have an ownership stake).

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

I bet you guys would be very surprised at how much money is still in all these old towns. There are more "millionaire next door" types living in those towns than you think. Remember a lot of those old folks had pensions (chased the companies away, but good for those who actually received them), and they saved money. The problem is they became millionaires by not spending money, unlike the areas we consider rich like USC, Mt Lebo etc. I bet there are more people living there that are actually broke because they spend money. Yeah they make a lot but they spend it and basically live paycheck to paycheck.

yeah that is so true. People in Wexford or USC with the McMansions and BMW's....big hat, no cattle. I remember a plumber friend of mine who did a job in Franklin Park and went in and it was a huge place but was barely furnished and what furniture they had didn't look too nice. So he asked them if they just moved in assuming that their stuff might still be in storage and they replied that they had been there 4 years.