University Partnership of Pittsburgh

This is exactly what is wrong with Pittsburgh.

The better idea is to tax commercial places, tax industrial places, tax business places. Then taxes are NOT needed to be carried on the backs of children, nor school buildings, nor other places that SHOULD NEVER be TAXED.

The Pittsburgh Technology Center is a place that got a lot of tax relief in the past. It "took" in the past decade and should "give" this decade. But no. The taking continues.

The tech people talk about how we need to educate the kids in schools as we don't have a literate workforce. But, the schools can't function on the taxes provided from centers of great technology -- as the tech center is nothing but a big tax dodger.

This says: The SUPER Rich and INSITUTIONS Get Richer and the POOR GET POORER.

Welcome | University Partnership of Pittsburgh 3/21/2006
Expansion of Pittsburgh Technology Center Moves Foward
Pittsburgh – The Greater Oakland Keystone Innovation Zone (GO KIZ) is a collaboration formed by regional economic development organizations to increase technology company formation, location and growth by better leveraging the combined assets of the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. For the past year the GO KIZ Space Subcommittee has been focused on expanding the amount of space for high tech start ups and corporate research centers in close proximity to the universities.

This week City Council gave final approval for $43 million in infrastructure funding setting in motion the expansion of the Pittsburgh Technology Center.

GO KIZ Board members Jerome Dettore, Executive Director of the City of Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, and Dennis Davin, Director Economic Development for Allegheny County, shepherded the expansion of the Pittsburgh Technology Center through the public approval process. The Urban Redevelopment Authority is managing the site planning and coordination of private developers interested in the site.

The expansion of the riverfront Pittsburgh Technology Center could double the size of the current development by adding over one million square feet of high tech lab and office space to a growing concentration of university R&D, corporate research centers and high tech start up companies spanning through the South Side, Hazelwood, Oakland and Lawrenceville sections of Pittsburgh.

The expansion of the riverfront Pittsburgh Technology Center is the latest step in an emerging movement to redevelop and interconnect the Greater Oakland area around Pittsburgh’s university-health care hub. These activities will provide a more inviting environment for the growing number of university spinouts, companies locating in the region to access the university-hospital complex, and for graduates of the universities, helping the region to better capture the technology value being generated by the Oakland institutions.

In reality, this is no expansion of the Pittsburgh Technology Center -- it is just a couple of parking garages. The infrastructure investment is just to park a car for suburban residents.

The infrasturcture for wet labs is $0. The infrastructure for dense urban spaces is $0. The infrasturctur for technology is $0. The infrastructure for new business development is $0. The infrastructure for progamming, coordination, management and new ideas is $0.

The Pgh Technology Center is on a prime piece of property. There should be no tax breaks there. It rests on the river, among the thriving job sites of Downtown, Oakland and South Side.

The infrastucture expansions should occur in Hazelwood -- but no. This is not a deal for the mega site in Hazelwood.

The infrastructure investment and expansion could occur throughout the city in the 30 or so school buildings, in real neighborhoods. There are many school buildings around the city that could be GREAT places for interesting job creation sites and re-habs. And, those sites could take some of the burden off of the schools need to increase the tax collection of the city's bottom line.

The school buildings are going to be sold at below bargain basement prices -- to get fat cat developers rich -- because the city is doing dumb deals on property that should be taxed.

This is the latest step in the emerging movement to cripple the region and bankrupt the city.