agreed. he was actually working on the trail stuff before he was mayor. then once mayor, he could push through a bunch of it
2010-06-24 13:41:50
10
Tom Murphy
Just thought to mention I saw Tom Murphy cycling on the North Shore a couple weeks ago and thanked him for all he has done for cycling trails.I didn't think too highly of him as a mayor,but he did a lot for the start of pushing for cycling trails.I remember, before he was our mayor, we had no trails and after he left we had many miles of trails along our rivers.Tom Murphy was our first mayor to come up with the idea to have cycling trails in Pittsburgh.Thank you Tom Murphy for all you have done for our fellow cyclists!!
2010-06-24 13:21:46
No way Pittsburgh would be getting all the positive attention it gets without those trails.
*edit, er. I should re-phrase that. Pittsburgh gets a lot of positive attention and I think a large part of that comes from the trail system on the rivers.
Thanks Tom Murphy!
2010-06-24 13:47:13
I dunno.
I like that he did good things for bikes, but...
< rant= 'ON' >
(from Wiki) Against overwhelming public opposition, he secured $1 billion in funding for the development of Heinz Field, PNC Park
So we paid millioin in tax money for stadiums THAT WE DO NOT OWN to house sports teams that WE DO NOT OWN.
If the rules of the sports leagues were vaguely decent, then I would feel differently.
By "vaguely decent," I mean if their rules would allow a coalition of local sports fans (i.e. season ticket owners)to purchase the teams. It would be decent if this was allowed to happen next time the billionaire owners tried to shake down the citizens for a few more hundred million dollars by threatening to sell the team to other scum bag billionaires who, in turn, would shake down their local governments...
It is obscene that (other than the grandfathered in Green Bay Packers) teams are not allowed be owned by towns, nor large groups of fans in those towns.
Think of it : Pittsburgh does not have a football team.
Isn't that an awful thought for you fans? Pittsburgh without a football team.
But it's true. Pittsburgh doesn't own a football team. We PAY for one, but somehow, we dont' own it.
The Rooneys (and few other billionaire types)own the football team The Rooneys live in Pittsburgh, but they are not Pittsburgh.
The stadium scam alone makes me angry at Tom Murphy.
The rumors of his fortune being made by investment in Cranberry real estate, while the city of which he was mayor continued to decline is hardly something that warms me to him either.
< /rant>
2010-06-24 19:02:45
Thank you Kevin McClatchy!
2010-06-24 19:08:40
i like the trails. glad he did it. if he didn't, there probably wouldn't be trails. he wasn't that supportive of bikes on the road. i don't really have much to comment on the rest of his administration, but i'll still give credit where it's due.
2010-06-24 19:57:04
he was also a staunch opponent to the Mon-Fay Expressway, but he also almost bulldozed downtown
2010-06-24 20:03:01
in the course of looking up a photo of him, i came across this ancient photo of David Hoffman of "Bike Pittsburgh"
2010-06-24 20:05:35
Murph had his hand in a lot of the awesome city/county development projects during the 1990’s…but he also left the city bankrupt.
When Kevin McClatchy sold the Bucs Fox Sports put up billboards around the city that said ‘Thank you Kevin McClatchy” (for all your hard work)...This enraged local baseball fans…McClatchy was responsible for the spectacular new ballpark but also ruined the team…but I digress…
2010-06-24 20:22:41
I agree with Erok.I thought he was one of the worst Mayors Pittsburgh ever had,but I have to give him much kudos for his support and construction of bike trails.We went from one of the worst ranked, to a better than average rank cycling city during his administration.He did this while his administrators,(city council)didn't want anything to do with constructing bike trails.As bad as he was,Our current "Party,Boy Mayor " is even a worse Mayor. Atleast in a time of crisis Mayor Murphy would always be here to respond to an emergency.Can't say the same for immature Luke.
2010-06-25 01:06:47