North Shore Development Plan Approved

The Pittsburgh City Planning Commission approved Continental Real Estate's updated master plan of the North Shore entertainment complex today, to the woe of several North Side community activists. Continental's Vice President of Development Mike Hudec says the company did meet with the North Side Leadership Conference when implementing the site's original master plan, but has not contacted them since. "There is a process out there... We don't have to go through the process, but we're not ignoring the process and we never did ignore the process. We start with City Planning, and from there we get direction on who to go meet with," says Hudec. AFSCME political organizer Matthew Brockman says his group's problem is that the proposed entertainment complex will bring jobs -- but not many good ones. "Good jobs mean an ability to collectively bargain. That way you have good wages and good health care programs. Right now we've got all these millions of people living without health care. That's a drain on the city. That's a drain on the state," says Brockman. North Side United! spokesman Bernie Oursler says though the approval of this master plan was a defeat, his organization isn't through yet. Says Oursler, "We're going to be asking City Council to intervene. When the Planning Commission won't consider the city's needs, we're going to go to the City Council. We're going to go to the mayor. We're going to keep taking our fight forward."