I was already excited about this news story.
"A proposal to severely restrict panhandling in the City of Pittsburgh was introduced in City Council today."
Pittsburgh's professional panhandlers drive me nuts and I'd like to see the practice banned altogether. Before you call me heartless and unsympathetic, come to Oakland sometime and witness these phonies for yourself. Anyhow, I thought any effort to combat them would be a step in the right direction.
Then I read this.
"Busking — defined as the public provision of entertainment without a vocal request for money — would be expressly permitted."
Those who've lived in Da Burgh for a little while is probably well aware of its inability to retain young people after graduation from one of our fine collegiate institutions. Most of the time, it seems our legislators not only have no intention of fixing the problem (witness the mayoral ads focusing almost entirely on the elderly), but they also seem intent on making it worse. Supporting busking, however, is a step in the right direction.
Buskers contribute to the cultural atmosphere of a city. It's not like they're jingling a cup and annoying people for a living. They're entertaining people. They're contributing to the ambiance. They're fun.
Let's hope this trend continues so Pittsburgh can stop hemorrhaging young people.
[For the record, I had to rewrite this post because I'm an idiot and read "expressly permitted" as "expressly forbidden". - Funky]
Funky Dung
Comments 7
"Busking — defined as the public provision of entertainment without a vocal request for money — would be expressly permitted."
It is permitted, isn't it? Or am I missing something? That wouldn't surprise me either — long day.
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Posted 01 Aug 2005 at 4:46 am ¶Crap
I read it as "expressly forbidden". Who the heck says "expressly permitted" anyhow?!
I'll be rewriting this article.
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Posted 01 Aug 2005 at 2:07 pm ¶Busking is cool. Pittsburgh is actually the only American city I've been in where there aren't street musicians at least in the Downtown area. Growing up in the San Francisco suburbs, when we went into the city, I always looked forward to listening to the jazz panhandlers, the dirty hippie folk guitarists (who are still everywhere. . . the 60s aren't over in SF), and the crazy guitarist dude dressed in a gorilla suit who played Beatles songs.
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Posted 03 Aug 2005 at 2:07 am ¶Chicago has a lot of street musicians, too. Mostly jazz, with maybe some soul or gospel as well–I can't remember seeing any hippies.
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Posted 04 Aug 2005 at 10:07 pm ¶In Times Square NYC, there's a cowboy guy who sings country songs with a guitar and only his underwear. Good lookin' fella too!
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Posted 05 Aug 2005 at 10:43 pm ¶I've actually done some busking in downtown Pittsburgh in the past. The word from local government has always been "It's okay downtown, but we're not sure about anywhere else." I'll certainly be glad if the new law clarifies this policy a bit better.
The very best place for busking has always been the Strip District. It's a thriving marketplace, with many outdoor merchants (at least on a Saturday) and they always tend to welcome a good (or even moderately good) musician who can convince people to slow down for a moment. In the downtown proper, I've actually been chased off of public sidewalks by authoritative "private security personnel" who apparently believe that street performers are bringing down property values or some such. The audiences always disagreed.
In any case, I do agree that Pittsburgh would benefit from a more active busking community. Hopefully the new law will help out a bit.
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Posted 12 Aug 2005 at 5:36 am ¶Thanks for stopping by, Gclectic. It was nice meeting you and chatting last night.
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Posted 12 Aug 2005 at 6:04 pm ¶Post a Comment