T.O.D.'s working out well for East Liberty

Apparently the rumors are true, Target, the Rich man's Wal Mart is coming to East Liberty.

Today's Post Gazette and the Pittsburgh Business Times reported that rumors which had been floating around for a while have been confirmed. The new Target is supposed to be open in late 2010, and be located near the newly built East Liberty shopping area that already includes a Whole Foods, Borders, and other up-ity stores.

This is exciting news for many reasons, some transit related, and some not.

1st and foremost, it will bring approx 200+ jobs to the East Liberty Area, and will provide a huge boost to an area that is already on the rise. Even more important, in my mind, is the fact that it will help battle urban sprawl. One of the many reasons sprawl has become so prevalent in our area, is that it's hard to find a lot of the conveniences (large chain stores, etc.) without having to drive outside the city to a mall or large shopping center.

No more my friends! This could help bring additional people to the city to shop, helping other businesses. It could also help attract residents to the city that may have previously used the reason that shopping was not convenient as a reason not to move to the city, or to leave.

Now, onto the transportation related benefits. Apparently, one of the reasons 'Sliberty was chosen was because of easy access to the Busway n'at. This is a great example of T.O.D. (see my KILLER article on Transit Oriented Development) and how it's working. The area around the East Liberty Busway stop is BOOMING, and this will only add to the success. Now people can use transit to come from downtown, Oakland, or other areas in the east end. They can come right to the East Liberty stop, get off, do their shopping, hop back on another bus, and be home in 10 minutes. It's better than driving a car!

If there is one shortcoming I could point to, it's that East Liberty is just one neighborhood. There are many others in need of and ripe for development. Hopefully people will see the success of what has happened in East Liberty and want to expand it to other areas of the city (Hazelwood, for example).

I complain alot about Pittsburgh, and it makes me glad to blog about something positive!