SPRING -- and it finally appears to be here -- is said to be the time when a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. But in Pittsburgh, thoughts apparently dwell on love in all seasons, at least for baby boomers. So implies Bert Sperling, who has a new study titled "Where Romance Is Booming" that puts Pittsburgh No. 1 among the Top 10 cities for boomer romance. Mr. Sterling completed this odd exercise in rating boomer love by using U.S. Census data for people age 45 to 60 from the 50 largest U.S. metro areas. He looked at marriage and divorce rates and also romantic activities such as giving flowers. It turns out that almost 71 percent of Pittsburgh boomers are married compared with 68.4 percent in other metro areas and only 16.9 percent of Pittsburgh boomers are divorced or separated (19.9 percent elsewhere). Mr. Sperling partnered with Cialis maker Eli Lilly and Co. for the study, but the company shouldn't get its hopes up. Pittsburgh already has pierogies n'at to put the boom in the boomers.

THE GARDEN THEATRE is one of the good news stories of the North Side. For years the local community waited as the seedy theater resisted attempts by the Urban Redevelopment Authority to take it over as part of a much-needed makeover of the area -- a legal battle that was finally won. In the flush of victory, the Central Northside Neighborhood Council encouraged people to submit slogans to adorn the marquee while the future of the building was decided. The suggestions were witty but not witty enough for the city, because good news attracts politicians like syrup attracts flies. Last week, this slogan was announced as the one going up: "The Return of the Garden/ Directed by Luke Ravenstahl." Many mayors and many officials have had a hand in the resurrection of the Garden Theatre, and Mayor Ravenstahl is the least of them. Talk about claiming credit for yourself. If it happens, someone should remind the mayor that his name will be on the marquee of what was until recently a porn theater. Besides, the only great lovers in this town are older than the mayor (see above).

WHAT'S IN A NAME? When it comes to the naming rights of new stadiums, the answer is money for local authorities. The Penguins currently play in Mellon Arena, formerly the Civic Arena, under a 10-year naming rights agreement signed in 1999 and worth $18 million. But a new arena will be built and is expected to be ready early in the 2009-10 season. What will that be called? Mellon Financial Corp., which is still completing its merger with The Bank of New York and will be moving its headquarters to the Big Apple, will have the first option on naming rights for the new arena, but it's not clear if the firm will exercise its right of first refusal. We can only hope that the new arena is adopted by some well-known sponsor, not only because it will put money into the Penguins and strengthen the franchise, but also because the alternative may be worse. We can just see it now: Luke Ravenstahl Arena.