Mayor’s November Newsletter

Image by PMAHCC via FlickrWe looked on the city of Pittsburgh website, but there is no sign up for a newsletter.  Thought other might want to see the update from Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

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CITY OF PITTSBURGH
“America’s Most Livable City”
Office of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl

Dear Neighbors,

Over a six month period during 2007, I hosted 10 Neighborhood Forums throughout the City.  I, along with all City directors, engaged in dialogue with more than 650 residents during the forums.  I reported on the state of the City, while challenging residents to envision their neighborhoods 10 years ahead, laying the groundwork for future initiatives.  My Office of Neighborhood Initiatives collected and analyzed the feedback from each of the forums, highlighting the top three issues and concerns: 1) public safety; 2) blight; and 3) economic development.  My staff has attended community meetings and block watch events throughout the past year following the forums and has continued to analyze feedback on issues of high priority and concern with residents.   Public safety has remained a recurrent issue at neighborhood community meetings.

Public Safety remains a top priority for my administration.  It is important that our residents feel safe in our City and in their homes.  With this in mind, we are providing resources to neighborhoods to help them combat and prevent crime.  We have worked and continue to work with neighborhoods to implement block watches, to provide information on the services available, and the Police continue to work with us to educate neighborhood groups and concerned residents on crime prevention.  We want to encourage all residents to call 9-1-1 when they have been the victim of any crime.  The service is there, and we ask that you use it.  No crime is too small to report when it comes to you feeling safe in your homes.

By December, we will have our Nuisance Property Legislation in effect as well as our Rental Property Registry.  We will now have policy on the books that can help us hold absentee landlords accountable.  We will use these new policies to help clean up our residential communities.

In addition to my recent public safety initiatives, we are also addressing other quality of life issues that we all continue to face in our neighborhoods.  As part of my commitment to our neighborhood business districts, we have continued our Taking Care of Business (TCOB) Sweeps. I have visited our neighborhoods and business districts to understand first-hand what we can do to keep businesses open and to attract more.  Public Works cleaning crews – including hoky patrols, street sweepers, and graffiti cleaners – continue to work in each district from a list of action items delivered from your calls into 311. Inspectors from the Bureau of Building Inspection and Fire Department reported code violations.  Urban Redevelopment Authority development specialists talked to business owners about storefront renovation grants and other small business loans.  We will be continuing the business district Sweeps through late November.
Through my TCOB program, more than 100 street trees will be planted throughout neighborhood business districts this fall. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ TreeVitalize initiative has made such efforts possible and will help the region reach the goal of planting 20,000 trees by 2012.  We will also be installing new garbage cans and other streetscape items during the winter months.

In addition to cleaning up our City, we have continued to transform our neighborhoods with my green agenda.  In September, I had the opportunity to meet with Green Up Pittsburgh community stewards to celebrate our new green spaces, urban farms and gardens.  It was great to listen to their heartfelt stories and share the food they harvested from their gardens.  Green Up Pittsburgh is not just about improving the look of our neighborhoods; it is also about building community within our neighborhoods.  The program has evolved into an educational and learning experience for residents and children.

With the community’s help, the assistance from the City of Pittsburgh’s Green Team and the Penn State Cooperative Extension, we have greened more than 50 lots and we have approved seven new sites for this fall and spring.  In addition to the individual, community-stewarded sites, we are greening up recently demolished sites, and are working to develop green strategies for our neighborhoods.  We have made great progress in turning what was blight in our neighborhoods into assets.

At the Green Up Pittsburgh Stewards Recognition Event, stewards asked for more engagement with the partners and one another.  In efforts to connect the stewards even further, we will be designing an online forum for stewards to connect with one another and to help share best practices for building their neighborhood green space.  It will also provide an opportunity for residents to find out where their local Green Up Pittsburgh site is located and ways to for them to get involved.

Pittsburgh has been called America’s Most Liveable City, and through the implementation of Green and sustainable initiatives, and by investing in our neighborhoods, we believe that we can keep this title and build a safer, and more clean and green Pittsburgh.

For more information please contact my Office of Neighborhood Initiatives at 412-255-4765.

512 CITY-COUNTY BUILDING 414 GRANT STREET PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA 15219
Phone: 412-255-2626     Fax 412-255-8602
www.pghgov.com