Carnegie Mellon demolition on Forbes Ave, Hamerschlag Hall behind

This demolition site on Forbes Avenue used to be the location of Il Valletto Cafe and Crimes of Fashion clothing store. The sidewalks, now remnants of rubble, were once filled with racks of colorful vintage clothing and a Florence style covered seating area.

In September, just before the G20 Summit, Carnegie Mellon hung banners on the construction fence claiming the land to be the future home of “education, research and retail development”. Another banner boasts that CMU is investing in Oakland’s future. Sounds like this is going to be the new site for the CMU/Disney Global Research and Development Labs.

It’s pretty boring. Are the big institutions taking over the city one lot at a time? It appears the mayor would rather tax the customers of these institutions (students) than the  institutions themselves. Is CMU really investing in Oakland’s future and what does that mean? Are they building these labs to give Oakland residents more jobs? Will Oakland property values increase?

Maybe we’d be better off with a locally-owned vintage clothing store and Italian restaurant…

"Investing in the Future of Oakland and the Region"

Future Home of Education, Research and Retail Development

"This used to be my home."

What it used to look like via Google Maps Street View (© 2009 Google)

Boring Pittsburgh

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