15211.org

Councilwoman Smith passed along the following info:

The City of Pittsburgh advises that the Department of Public Works will close McArdle Roadway, from Liberty Bridge to Grandview Avenue, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 through Friday, September 10, 2010 in order to allow workers to remove invasive trees and tree planting.

The Mount Washington Community Development Corporation (MWCDC) is looking for artists for the annual Wild Art Wild Trails project in Emerald View Park.  To be eligible, you can be any experience level and work in any medium, but you must be a resident of Pittsburgh.

Sunday, September 26th - Following a community clean-up, artists will be challenged to create pieces using or inspired-by the discarded items that are collected.

Sunday, October 3rd – Artists will collaborate with community members on their pieces at the park.

To apply please submit your name, contact information, and a brief (1-page or less) explanation of your interest in participating as an artist in Wild Art Wild Trails. Please include the following information:

• Reason you are interested in the project
• Applicable experiences and influences
• Interest in or experience working with the public on art projects
• Photos of work (optional)

Applications due to khunninen@mwcdc.org or Wild Art Wild Trails, MWCDC, 301 Shiloh Street, Pittsburgh PA 15211 by Tuesday, September 7th. Selected artists will be notified by Wednesday, September15th.  

Craig Cozza should be grateful he lives in Pittsburgh and not Cleveland.  According to a recent Great Lakes Urban Exchange (GLUE) post, Judge Pianka has taken a stand against neglectful property owners in his city. His goal is to discourage flippers and he’s gone so far as to order one man to spend 30 days in a run-down house that he owned and was attempting to flip. READ MORE.  

According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Pittsburgh is at the top of the short list of cities that will be discussed at the 2010 National Preservation Conference this year.

Strategic preservation is a key component of revitalization and economic development so it’s important to determine what historical assets we value most in our community. You can help the state identify, prioritize and address historic preservation needs by completing the Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Plan Community Value Survey today. Take the survey here. 

Oh and if preservation is your thing and you want to mingle with other like-minded folks, check out the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh.

Brian O’Neill gives us food for thought in his piece in this past Sunday’s paper. (“Transportation situation seems to deteriorate“).

In his estimation, we could save the PAT bus routes that state legislators are threatening to cut and fix some of our beaten-to-hell-and-back roads for 4 cents more a gallon on gasoline. Seems simple enough until we realize it’s an election year and politicians in close races are loathe to raise the ire of their constituency with any tax increases.

Particularly poignant are O’Neill’s descriptions of people that spoke to planners last week about their reliance on public transit. A disabled woman will lose her independence, a single mother will miss visitations with her child and people won’t be able to get to work. If that doesn’t pull your heartstrings, the numbers about the lack of parking lots spaces available to accommodate more cars should convince you.

Write or call our legislators if you’d like to express an opinion. For 15211:

• Senate District 42: Wayne D. Fontana
• House Representatives: District 19 Jake Wheatley, District 22 Chelsa Wagner, District 27 Daniel J Deasy

Live outside of the 15211? Go here to find your representatives (upper right corner).

Councilman Peduto shares some interesting tidbits with his followers on Facebook.  One of his recent posts linked to a  New York Times article (“Rebirth of a City“) about young people purchasing dilapidated homes in rundown neighborhoods in upstate New York for as little as $1. A non-profit organization called Home Headquarters makes this possible and although the impact hasn’t been measured yet, it is hoped that with each home transformation, people in the neighborhood will be inspired to initiate their own home improvements.

We may not have a dollar housing initiative here, but there are incentives to try and get people to move into the city neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. I assume if you’re reading this blog that you already live here, so please share this info with friends or family who may be considering a move.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority

Pittsburgh Home Ownership Program provides below market rate first mortgage financing for the purchase of new or existing homes in move-in condition located in the City of Pittsburgh. Down payment/closing cost assistance grant funds are available for all borrowers. PHOP fact sheet.

Second Mortgage Financing Interest offers free, deferred second mortgage financing to help purchase a newly constructed or rehabilitated single family home through the Neighborhood Housing Program and the Housing Recovery Program-Developer. This program is only available for the purchase of a URA-sponsored single family home. NHP fact sheet. HRP Dev fact sheet.

City of Pittsburgh Act 42 Tax Abatement

• If you purchase or build a new home in the City of Pittsburgh you can be abated up to the maximum amount of $86,750 assessed dollars off of the building (house) assessment. This abatement is in effect for three (3) years as of the first year the purchase is tax assessed.
• If you do home improvements to your existing home in the City of Pittsburgh and the improvements are applicable, you can be abated up to the maximum amount of $36,009 assessed dollars from the increase of your assessment. This abatement is in effect for three (3) years as of the first year the improvement is tax assessed.

Keystone Opportunity Zone Tax Benefits

Keystone Opportunity Zone sites exist throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 12 regions, and offer developable sites with either greatly reduced or eliminated state and local taxes. Visit pasitesearch.com for more information.

Image: Painting by Jennifer Harrison

The Friends of Grandview Park and Severino’s Community Feast are offering up an opportunity to sample local cuisine at Grandview Park on Saturday, September 5th.

Chef Justin Severino brings his California fine dining experience, passion for simple-traditional food preparation and respect for locally-grown food to create a family style feast in Grandview Park overlooking the city on Saturday, September 4 at 6pm. The meal will be paired with local wine and beer and dinner guests will include local farmers, cheese makers and brewers.

Severino attended the Pittsburgh Culinary Institute and had an externship at Casbah in Shadyside before moving to California for eight years, working in several restaurants and managing his own charcuterie. The dinner at Grandview Park marks his return to Pittsburgh. He’ll soon be the executive chef of Elements in Gateway Center (formerly Palomino).

Tickets are $75 per person (a portion of the proceeds will fund improvements to the park). Visit Friends of Grandview Park on Facebook for more information or contact the Mt. Washington Community Development Corporation.

Pitt’s Urban and Regional Analysis program launched a blog this week to house both the Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community Information System (PNCIS) and highlight the most up-to-date news and information from it.

In their first post, they’ve published an interactive map of Marcellus Shale leases that have been filed with the Allegheny County Department of Real Estate and indicate which entity has been granted a lease.

Obviously, we’ve got an interest and a stake in what goes on in the 15211. But who exactly is living in Mt. Washington with us? When we define what revitalization means to our community, whose needs and wants do we consider? As an article in New York Magazine recently revealed (“Who are the People in Your Neighborhood“), there is a new online tool that can help us find out.

Customer segmentation company, Claritas Prizm, released You Are Where You Live, which can at least give us a sense of who lives in our community. This tool segments consumers into 14 groups and 66 demographically and behaviorally distinct types based on U.S. census data and information pulled from a number of other data sources. It was initially developed to help companies determine the purchasing behaviors of consumers.  

Simply click here and type in your zip code. It might be useful to look at other neighborhoods in Pittsburgh for comparison. It’s important to remember that this demographic cluster is extracted from U.S. census data that is 10 years old now. It will be interesting to try this tool again once 2010 data is released to see how demographics may have shifted.

The most common Prizm segments in the 15211:

• American Dreams – American Dreams is a living example of how ethnically diverse the nation has become: more than half the residents are Hispanic, Asian or African-American. In these multilingual neighborhoods-one in ten speaks a language other than English middle-aged immigrants and their children live in middle-class comfort.
• City Roots – Found in urban neighborhoods, City Roots is a segment of lower-income retirees, typically living in older homes and duplexes they’ve owned for years. In these ethnically diverse neighborhoods-more than a third are African-American and Hispanicresidents are often widows and widowers living on fixed incomes and maintaining low-key lifestyles.
• Close-In Couples -  A group of predominantly older, African-American couples living in older homes in the urban neighborhoods of mid-sized metros. High school educated and empty nesting, these 55-year-old-plus residents typically live in older city neighborhoods, enjoying secure and comfortable retirements.
• Multi-Culti Mosaic- An immigrant gateway community, Multi-Culti Mosaic is the urban home for a mixed populace of younger Hispanic, Asian and African-American singles and families. With nearly a quarter of the residents foreign born, this segment is a mecca for first-generation Americans who are striving to improve their lower-middle-class status.
• The Cosmopolitans- Educated, midscale and multi-ethnic, The Cosmopolitans are urbane couples in America’s fast-growing cities. Concentrated in a handful of metros-such as Las Vegas, Miami and Albuquerque-these households feature older home-owners, empty-nesters and college graduates. A vibrant social scene surrounds their older homes and apartments, and residents love the nightlife and enjoy leisure-intensive lifestyles.

Community specific data can also be found at PNCIS and PGHSNAP.

The National Trust Main Street Center recently selected five business districts in West Virginia, Oregon, Florida, Delaware and Georgia to participate in a pilot program with Google and Igloo Studios to enable these communities to model their own business districts. Using a combination of Google SketchUp and Google Earth, staff of community organizations and/or Boards of Directors can visibly express their desires for development in the community without having to navigate complicated architectural software.

Providing tools for communities to participate in revitalization is a positive step, but I hope people realize that technology does not supersede the need for professional architects or interior designers. We already have skeptics among us when it comes to trusting the experts on certain facets of our business district revitalization, which became evident at some of the community meetings with Pashek Associates. A lot more goes into urban planning than making a model of a bakery, restaurant or specialty grocery store. What about tree planting and burying utilities underground and public safety and traffic studies?

Speaking of the optimal mix of businesses for Shiloh Street (weren’t we?)…what do you all think of Havana? I stopped by this weekend. It definitely brings a more sophisticated vibe to the neighborhood. It’s hard to critique drink selection or food since the former was limited and the latter isn’t being served just yet. The music was great though. The owner, having worked at Zen Social Club, selected it himself rather than relying on a jukebox. The mere fact that you don’t have to be at the mercy of the guy playing ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ 37 times in a row is refreshing. If you control the music, you control the atmosphere. Opening up that space and making the corner more vibrant changed the atmosphere of that part of the street, too. The people getting their ice cream at DiFiore’s walked a little bit farther down Shiloh than they may have in the past and people were going back-and-forth between Redbeard’s and Havana. It will be interesting to see how everything continues to transform when Harris Grill/Shiloh Grille opens.