civilized ku # 1112-13 ~ the king is dead - long live the king
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 01:54PM 
Gone / Foto Hut ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Gone / Ritz Camera ~ Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggenIt might be a slight exaggeration to state that the King, aka: film, is dead but film and the processing thereof is fading fast.
Signs, quite literally, of the fading process can be found all over the place, where the "ruins" of camera stores and film processing establishments litter the consumer landscape. That is especially true in urban landscapes where the rule of thumb is to pull the plug, turn out the lights, and get out of town ASAP, leaving behind a facade destined to crumble and fade in the now much-pictured urban decay motif.
I find it rather ironic that establishments which once catered to the picture making trade are now picture making fodder for the same audience. Think about it - who would have thought of making pictures of these places before they were abandoned?
As many may be aware, here in the good 'ole US of A, Detroit is viewed as the Mother/Mecca of All Urban Decay locations. The urban / industrial ruins there are plentiful and decayed to the point of being overly ripe for the picture making picking. However, IMO, Pittsburgh is running a close second. In fact, in some ways it may be King of the Decayed and Decaying Heap.
Despite its sometimes high ranking as a "most livable city", Pittsburgh abounds in neighborhoods and whole sections of the city that are not so "livable". That is not to say people don't live in those areas, many do, but those areas are not very picturesque. Unless, of course, one is into making urban decay pictures. In that case, they are very picturesque.
That said, the urban decay most on display in Pittsburgh is on a small scale, which is to say most (not all) big scale decay - industrial decay - has been bulldozed out of sight and memory. As an example, trying to find a steel mill, decayed or operational, in or around Pittsburgh is a little like looking for a needle in a haystack.
But, if residential / small storefront decay is your wont/want, you won't go hungry for lack of golden opportunities. Whether its in the heart of the Golden Triangle (Pittsburgh's downtown) - or in many of the city or near-in neighborhoods / communities - see Braddock* as an example - Pittsburgh and its surrounding environs are at or very near the top o' the heap, urban decay picture making wise.
Because of my tentative and ever changing schedule during my recent visit to Pittsburgh, I did not get out and about, picture making wise, into the city's decaying urban landscape. However, as General Douglas MacArthur once said, "I shall return", or, at least I hope to before I fade away (in one form or another).
Re: the king is dead - long live the king - while I'm certain the new King, aka: digital picture making, will live long and prosper, my only wish is for it to stop "updating" in such a fast, furious, and oft times very frivolous fashion.
*Braddock - only a few miles from downtown Pittsburgh, Braddock is a mix of boarded-up storefronts, houses in advanced stages of collapse and vacant lots. The state has classified it a “distressed municipality” — bankrupt, more or less — since the Reagan administration. The town was featured in the film version of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Road.” Set in a post-Armageddon America where food is so scarce that many survivors turned to cannibalism, “The Road” was shot partially in Braddock.
Reader Comments (3)
get a grip... you need to do some more traveling. I guess everyone has a grudge against a city they used to live in, but here are some stats for you...
Atlanta - 16%
Las Vegas - 16%
Indianapolis - 17%
Phoenix - 19%
Memphis - 19.6%
Detroit - 19.9%
Dayton - 21.7%
Richmond - 23.7%
Pittsburgh region is 8.4%,
9.7% downtown (the golden triangle)
ranking as one of the lowest Major city Vacancy rates.
It ranks 10th for the 2011 top ten healthiest Retail markets in America, behind the likes of Seattle, San Fran, NYC, Boston, San Diego
and the burgh was ranked No. 1 for the highest occupancy rate in apartments nationwide because... ""Pittsburgh simply is losing fewer jobs than most other metro areas, so the housing market is holding up better. Furthermore, Pittsburgh is one of just a handful of markets nationally where rents are still increasing," Willett said. "Rents went up 1.3 percent during the year that ended June 30, reaching an average of only $860 per month."
and if that's not impressive enough, just think that they have those stats in spite of the fact that the population declined from 676,806 in 1950 when it was one of the largest cities in the United States to only 305,704 in 2010 (22nd largest in U.S).
probably one of the best survivor stories of the century and Detroit should look to Pittsburgh as a role model for their future.
OOOOOOOO… Snap!!! He told you.