Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
@chrisbriem.bsky.social
Moriae Encomium
Pinned
In a poetic coincidence today, I now have a book cover. Not available yet, but you can pre-order, and I promised my editor everyone following here will want to preorder! But if you have landed here because of the Nippon Steel/US Steel news, you will want to read this:
Tiny house before tiny houses were cool.
November 11, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Tiny house before tiny houses were cool.
Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
Scoop: The University of Pittsburgh will maintain its current federal funding for indirect research costs after cuts announced earlier this year threatened to push one of the region’s major research institutions off a financial cliff.
www.wesa.fm/health-scien...
www.wesa.fm/health-scien...
NIH under Trump wanted to cut indirect research costs to 15%. Pitt just signed an agreement at 59%
Pitt and the Department of Health and Human Services have agreed to maintain the school’s current 59% reimbursement rate for ancillary research costs through 2029.
www.wesa.fm
November 7, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Scoop: The University of Pittsburgh will maintain its current federal funding for indirect research costs after cuts announced earlier this year threatened to push one of the region’s major research institutions off a financial cliff.
www.wesa.fm/health-scien...
www.wesa.fm/health-scien...
Factoid of the day - workforce edition.
Workers Age 65 and Over in the Pittsburgh MSA, 1998 to 2024
Workers Age 65 and Over in the Pittsburgh MSA, 1998 to 2024
November 5, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Factoid of the day - workforce edition.
Workers Age 65 and Over in the Pittsburgh MSA, 1998 to 2024
Workers Age 65 and Over in the Pittsburgh MSA, 1998 to 2024
Here is your factoid of the day. Who knows that in recent years Allegheny County has become the youngest county in SW Pennsylvania?
November 4, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Here is your factoid of the day. Who knows that in recent years Allegheny County has become the youngest county in SW Pennsylvania?
Seems almost open?
November 4, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Seems almost open?
So here is an updated factoid. For many years in this benchmarking, Pittsburgh was just behind Tampa in the percentage of Population age 65 and over. But we moved decisively past Tampa a few years ago*, and now so has Cleveland. So it's Cleveburgh on the right.
November 3, 2025 at 3:27 PM
So here is an updated factoid. For many years in this benchmarking, Pittsburgh was just behind Tampa in the percentage of Population age 65 and over. But we moved decisively past Tampa a few years ago*, and now so has Cleveland. So it's Cleveburgh on the right.
Obligatory Halloween mention of the strangest post-political life of an Allegheny County politician. Former county commissioner Bob Cranmer became an author writing about his real life need for an exorcist to clear his Brentwood home of… well, just of….
October 31, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Obligatory Halloween mention of the strangest post-political life of an Allegheny County politician. Former county commissioner Bob Cranmer became an author writing about his real life need for an exorcist to clear his Brentwood home of… well, just of….
Who has been inside?
October 28, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Who has been inside?
Some books become deprecated quickly, others become ever more relevant long after they were first published. Today I’m reminded of this one.
October 23, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Some books become deprecated quickly, others become ever more relevant long after they were first published. Today I’m reminded of this one.
Here is a rarely noticed piece of Bloomfield (Bridge) zen.
October 23, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Here is a rarely noticed piece of Bloomfield (Bridge) zen.
Reposted by Chris Briem (www.briem.com)
Part of this feels relevant to Pittsburgh's insane refusal to reassess property values since 2012. Long-term homeowners in my area have houses twice the size of mine and pay half the property taxes; when they sell they're going to make bank and the next owner will get a fun assessment surprise.
Just something I've been thinking about. Yes, this is mostly an artifact of being an older region, but still this has an impact in local real estate markets, and an even more concentrated impact in some communities.
October 22, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Part of this feels relevant to Pittsburgh's insane refusal to reassess property values since 2012. Long-term homeowners in my area have houses twice the size of mine and pay half the property taxes; when they sell they're going to make bank and the next owner will get a fun assessment surprise.
Tessitor lawn sign in the wild.
So few lawn signs in the city this cycle?
So few lawn signs in the city this cycle?
October 22, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Tessitor lawn sign in the wild.
So few lawn signs in the city this cycle?
So few lawn signs in the city this cycle?
A quick snapshot of employment change in the Pittsburgh MSA from just before Covid set in to now.
At extremes note: priv. education services is capturing institutions of higher education locally & construction reflects dropoff following completion of the cracker plant.
At extremes note: priv. education services is capturing institutions of higher education locally & construction reflects dropoff following completion of the cracker plant.
October 21, 2025 at 6:11 PM
A quick snapshot of employment change in the Pittsburgh MSA from just before Covid set in to now.
At extremes note: priv. education services is capturing institutions of higher education locally & construction reflects dropoff following completion of the cracker plant.
At extremes note: priv. education services is capturing institutions of higher education locally & construction reflects dropoff following completion of the cracker plant.
Better shot, Bloomfield zen.
October 20, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Better shot, Bloomfield zen.
PublicSource: Pittsburgh is hailed for its affordable homes. How true are the headlines?
www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-h...
www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-h...
Pittsburgh is hailed for its affordable homes. How true are the headlines?
Compared to the coasts, Pittsburgh houses are bargains. But that’s skewed by fixer-uppers and long commutes, and the city’s stats are not much better than other middle-American cities.
www.publicsource.org
October 20, 2025 at 9:08 PM
PublicSource: Pittsburgh is hailed for its affordable homes. How true are the headlines?
www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-h...
www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-h...
bonappetit.com:
Experience Pittsburgh Dining Like a Local: Chef Nik Forsberg Shares His Secret City
www.bonappetit.com/story/nik-fo...
Experience Pittsburgh Dining Like a Local: Chef Nik Forsberg Shares His Secret City
www.bonappetit.com/story/nik-fo...
Bon Appétit: Recipes, Cooking, Entertaining, Restaurants
Cook with confidence. Enjoy your food. Find recipes, search our encyclopedia of cooking tips and ingredients, watch food videos, and more.
bonappetit.com
October 16, 2025 at 2:40 PM
bonappetit.com:
Experience Pittsburgh Dining Like a Local: Chef Nik Forsberg Shares His Secret City
www.bonappetit.com/story/nik-fo...
Experience Pittsburgh Dining Like a Local: Chef Nik Forsberg Shares His Secret City
www.bonappetit.com/story/nik-fo...
Just something I've been thinking about. Yes, this is mostly an artifact of being an older region, but still this has an impact in local real estate markets, and an even more concentrated impact in some communities.
October 15, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Just something I've been thinking about. Yes, this is mostly an artifact of being an older region, but still this has an impact in local real estate markets, and an even more concentrated impact in some communities.
Looks (finally) open
October 13, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Looks (finally) open
This! One of Pittsburgh's greater failures (IMHO) is not having a functioning land bank in the decade or two when it could have really shaped local real estate in the first decades of the 20th century.
Cleveland crushed Pittsburgh. Cuyahoga Land Bank's offensive against abandoned properties scored 2,600 home renovations and 243 new homes built, while Pittsburgh was just getting its ground game going, @chwolfson.bsky.social reports in "The Homeownership Wall" www.publicsource.org/cleveland-ve...
Where does Cleveland clobber Pittsburgh? Its land bank.
The Steelers may best the Browns, but Cleveland’s land bank sets a model for how Pittsburgh could make more homeowners.
www.publicsource.org
October 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM
This! One of Pittsburgh's greater failures (IMHO) is not having a functioning land bank in the decade or two when it could have really shaped local real estate in the first decades of the 20th century.
Thomas Mellon erasure complete:
October 13, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Thomas Mellon erasure complete:
Ok. I have to point this one out because the sales pitch says you get to live in “the *epic* neighborhood of ‘Lower Lawrenceville’” (emphasis added). Far be it from me to add that it is actually in Central Lawrenceville. But we’re now ‘epic’!
October 10, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Ok. I have to point this one out because the sales pitch says you get to live in “the *epic* neighborhood of ‘Lower Lawrenceville’” (emphasis added). Far be it from me to add that it is actually in Central Lawrenceville. But we’re now ‘epic’!
Is this native to Bloomfield?
October 8, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Is this native to Bloomfield?
With news of Monroeville Mall's possible demise, and ongoing travails at Pittsburgh Mills, interesting to look back at this article from 1989. (PG: April 10, 1989). At the time there was this 'fear' in economic development world that we were 'under-retailed'... Like, really? (PG: April 10, 1989)
October 7, 2025 at 5:54 PM
With news of Monroeville Mall's possible demise, and ongoing travails at Pittsburgh Mills, interesting to look back at this article from 1989. (PG: April 10, 1989). At the time there was this 'fear' in economic development world that we were 'under-retailed'... Like, really? (PG: April 10, 1989)
Monroeville Mall soon to be the Isalys of eastern Allegheny County.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...
October 7, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Monroeville Mall soon to be the Isalys of eastern Allegheny County.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/b...
Is the Turners crate account on this site?
October 6, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Is the Turners crate account on this site?