Comments for blog.limedaley.com/post/it-s-all-relative

Comment #1574

2010-02-10T01:50:55Z

when we first visited pittsburgh in 2004 to discern our first placement with intervarsity, there was a "big" snowstorm. it was 6 - 8". being michiganders, we found it completely odd that nothing was plowed after 24 hours, and jason could go cross country skiing with our hosts down the middle of major city streets (highland park/east liberty), a day after the storm.

the good news is that pittsburgh rarely gets snow accumulation, so it's not often an issue. except when it is...

Comment #1573

2010-02-09T23:38:04Z

ha ha! yes, I remember Doug saying that too and I was shocked when services were canceled Sunday! Also someone told me that the city only has 19 snow plow vehicles. I don't know if this is true or not, but you would think with a storm coming, they would prepare by contracting more plows ahead of time. But I guess they weren't expecting as much as we got, so that is their explanation.

Comment #1572

2010-02-09T20:16:56Z

I did see the one article about city leaders being out of the city, but I always wonder when reports come up like that, how much does it matter if the mayor (or president) is physically in the location where the issues are taking place - he isn't going to be driving a snow plow.

My friend who correctly predicted the amount of snow fall was quite happy as she saw the local weathermen slowly starting to predict more and more snow as the storm got closer.

I can understand Pittsburgh not being ready for snow on the day of the storm, but I'd think if you have the plows driving 24 hours a day, you'd be done in a day or something, certainly to the point where the main streets are cleared.

I just got the e-mail from Ascension about services being cancelled for tomorrow - I always remember Doug saying that whatever the weather, or hurricanes, or the sanctuary collapsing, he'd be there celebrating the Eucharist... :)

Comment #1571

2010-02-09T20:12:08Z

According to the news, radio and TV, part of the problem is Pittsburgh was preparing for 4-8 inches, not 20+. Pittsburgh Public Works didn't have the man power available to plow 20 inches of snow out of the city and spent the majority of Saturday plowing out for emergency vehicles and people who called in with real emergencies and needed to get out of their home. So, they got behind and until they started hiring contractors and using Penn DOt to help, they can't really get anywhere. This is their "excuse", but it makes you wonder when like you said most municipalities were able to manage the storm within a reasonable time frame. Add on top of that the fact that the mayor was up in seven springs for a birthday bash when he knew the storm was on it's way instead here in the city, getting workers ready. The city was totally unprepared and I don't think there is much excuse considering the amount of taxes people pay there. I am sure glad I live in Shaler, where our roads were also cleared by Sat. and they have been coming everyday just to wane it back even more and make the roads broader.

Comment #1570

2010-02-09T17:44:01Z

Part of it is due to Linda's Law of Preparedness: Every city is prepared to handle the weather commonly experienced one zone further south. Apparently people object if their taxes pay to cover weather events that don't happen very often. Orlando is now well prepared to handle a hurricane, but as the memory of 2004 dims, I expect we will start to slip...until the next hurricane wakes us up again.

There's much more to it than that, of course. You must take into account local needs, local culture, and local corruption.

And there's one other factor that I haven't figured out how to account for, when considering how money is spent. Some places seem to do a very similar job for vastly less than others. When we moved to Florida, the per-pupil annual expenditure in the public schools was about $3000. The figure for that year from my demographically similar alma mater school district was about $11,000. I can't say for sure whether or not one school system was a little better or worse than the other, but I can say with absolute certainty that the difference was nowhere near worth $8,000.