Community Development

Trash Talk One complaint that we hear from time to time is that poor neighborhoods often get the leftover trashcans from other neighborhoods.  One example taken earlier in the year (Kevin Acklin used this particular example in the second mayoral debate, back in October): a trashcan behind the Homewood-Brushton YMCA labeled “Bloomfield”. Here’s a photo taken...
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Last week as we left Loew’s and a sneak preview of Funny People, once again we found ourselves appreciating just how awful the design of the Waterfront is.  It’s as if the bad mall martians flew in from outer space, landing on one of the most key-critical, history rich and defining sites of Pittsburgh’s...
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Today’s post-agenda on Community Benefit Agreements held in Pittsburgh’s City Council Chambers had some in the audience all a-twitter.  Here’s what happened:
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Today, City Council held a post-agenda to give residents the opportunity to speak about the issue of Community Benefit Agreements in the City and other recent events. The Acklin campaign posted a video of Kevin Acklin’s remarks: Kevin Acklin: CBA Remarks Before City Council from Acklin for Pittsburgh on Vimeo.
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So while the battle for heath care is being waged on a National Level it is interesting that some things have also been brought to light here in Pittsburgh about development and jobs. Here is a quick summary… Last Week It has been an interesting frew weeks in Pittsburgh.  Last week Northside United staged a protest...
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From the folks at PUMP: A+ Schools and PUMP believe that the City and the region rely on an excellent public school system in order to prosper. But the school system will only be as good as its leadership demands.  Board Watch is an effort to engage and inform the community about school board governance...
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Remember the big debacle last year regarding a certain LED billboard on a certain transportation center (at the corner of Grant and 11th Streets in Downtown Pittsburgh)? (See this, that, or the other post from last year.) Well, lucky for us, we have a say in the issue. As the City prepares to develop...
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Image by UtopianLibrary via Flickr Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s idea to lease the city’s parking garages (more here) has generated quite a bit of buzz in Pittsburgh and beyond.  The article from the PG was also picked up by Harvard’s Kennedy School here and on the blogs Milwaukee Talkie and Planetizen. This idea has also been covered...
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The beat cop is a much coveted neighborhood tool. Neighborhood groups across the City, beg and plead with their Zone Commanders and the Mayor to acquire just a few hours a week of such a person’s time. In an article in today’s P-G, the questions is raised, “Will Squirrel Hill get a dedicated beat...
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In the Post-Gazette today, attorney Joseph Pass responds directly to Ken Zapinski of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development’s management-slanted editorial from labor day weekend. Don’t punish transit workers Perhaps local corporations should make ‘concessions’ I read with interest the rantings of Ken Zapinski of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development titled, “A Time for Concessions” (Forum,...
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An article in Saturday’s Post-Gazette is titled, “URA chief’s friends asked to help with legal bills.” Um, excuse me? Pat Ford, who has continued to receive his $117,875/year salary while on paid leave from his position as URA Executive Director because of an ethics investigation, is not a charity case. Heck, this guy could...
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After a long and persistent effort, residents of the Hill District, united under the One Hill Coalition, finally received a community benefits agreement signed by local elected leadership. This is a very positive step toward more sustainable development in Pittsburgh; CBAs provide a vehicle for community input into large scale development.
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A timely topic, as energy becomes a sharper issue for the American public and we watch changes in consumer behavior hash out against a backdrop of slow-to-change and often contradictory public policy. Will there be any long-term impact on where people choose to live? Well, this index is a project of The Urban Markets...
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A new blockwatch network called Pittsburgh Safe Neighborhoods Network has kicked off and started a blog where materials are available and they’re encouraging block watch folks to share information.
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Many a Pittsburgh resident has seen the sad shape of Pittsburgh’s Uptown (a.k.a. Soho) neighborhood today. It’s sprinkling of old buildings awash in a sea of parking lots. And all of those parking lots are owned by one man, Sal Williams. Many a community advocate has been puzzled and stymied by this accumulation of...
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