Al, I moved the discussion to this list. Before we both get booted from Allegheny. I agree with you. Garfield was a great neighborhood before the project, now it isn't. Penn Ave. used to be a nice place to shop. As a kid I never felt in danger and I roamed from the top of Garfield Hill down to Penn Ave. Now I hate to have to pass through, I can't even think of living there. Since I don't have air conditioning, I must be rich. LOL Rosanne, My family lived in the Terrace Village projects between 1948 and 1954. When WWII was over, our family was booted from an apartment at 3604 Fifth Ave in Oakland so that the landlord could divide the apartment in two and thus collect more rent. Nobody wanted to rent to someone who had kids so my dad found this dump down on Boundary St in Panther Hollow and we lived there until we could get in Terrace Village. The idea of the projects being a helping hand was noble but, instead of being a TEMPORARY hand of help, it became a way of life for a group of people and it's become worse than most people are aware. The housing authority owns private homes all over the city and places their "tenants" in these homes and takes care of all repairs and maintenace. They'll even install air-conditioning, if the tenants want it. Hell, I had to work and save for years before I could afford to air-condition my house. I should have refused to work, gone on welfare and live in one of their homes. Hell, I'd even ask for a swimming pool in the back yard. Might even get one. Something's really screwed up in this society. I remember when being poor meant that you didn't have cars, TVs, computers and all those other expensive items. Air-conditioning? Forget that! Remember when the movie theaters used to advertise that they had AIR-CONDITIONING to draw in customers during the hot, sweltering nights of summer? Now it's considered a "right" for the poor to have all of these things. But if you have all of these things, why are you considered "poor"? And needing help?? Al At 06:05 PM 12/31/2001, you wrote: >Al, > >To finish the last, when I lived in Garfield, the shopping center wasn't >there. There were no high rises, and Columbo St. dead ended about 12 houses >below Pacific Ave. It didn't go down to Schenley Ave. until the project was >built. It is very different today. So much for government housing. > >Rosanne >