Nov 05 2009
by Diana Nelson Jones/Nov 5
it is no longer astonishing that groups from a bunch of neighborhoods get together and act toward a common goal - a sweeter life for all. Surprising, maybe, but no longer unheard of.
The southern Hilltop neighborhoods now have a paid community organizer who has gotten organizations from six neighborhoods on board, literally, to form the board of the Hilltop Alliance, a newish community-building umbrella that has some serious technical assistance.
The Web site, www.pghhilltopalliance.com has just been launched.
Sara Bennett, the community organizer, was hired by the Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development (PPND) and its partners in building professional capacity in neighborhood groups. Those partners include the mayor's office, city planning, the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group.
The Alliance was born of the momentum of these neighborhoods going together on a Weed and Seed grant and then a collaborative Hilltop convention called by CORO, a community building non-profit who sent team leaders to help knock on doors and roust people out for that big meeting in 2007. Sara said the goal is to build capacity so the Alliance is an umbrella the way the Northside Leadership Conference is an umbrella for a score of North SIde neighborhood-building non-profits
To build the Alliance, Sara said, invitations went out to all known neighborhood councils and community development non-profits in Allentown, Arlington, Arlington Heights, Beltzhoover, Bon Air, Carrick, Knoxville, St. Clair, Mount Oliver and the Mount Oliver borough.
So far, representatives from the two Mount Olivers, Carrick, Allentown and St. Clair have joined, and 60 people turned out for a recent pow-wow to launch an action plan - in plain talk, something like a "to do" list that you can actually pull off -in anticipation of a big action forum on Nov. 16. (There will be a lot of talk before the action, and we will be there to report on it.)
Walkabout will follow the progress - the drippingly slow, almost uncohesive segments of progress that lurch backward for every step forward until enough people get tired of yelling and shouting about turf and hurt feelings and disagreeing over what business should be developed on the corner.
Well... Walkabout may not live long enough to see the shouting end, but...
"It's a slow road," Sara said, "but so much collaboration that hasn't happened before is happening now. It's a struggle, but it is necessary and it's worth it. If we can persevere through the tough stuff, we will hit a tipping point, first organizationally, with more neighborhoods coming on board, and from that, we will start to see some real changes," she said; for starters, "a drop in the crime rate and an improvement of the perception of safety.
"I don't see us going back to where it was 50 years ago, but the goal is to make these wonderful places to live, where people can feel safe and bring their kids to the park and places after school.
"We want the Hilltop to be a place that is on the map in Pittsburgh."
Nov 04 2009
by Diana Nelson Jones/Nov 4
Now that the election is over and Walkabout can't be accused of influence peddling, we would like to remark on the great idea Franco Dok Harris advanced during his campaign - that every neighborhood have an urban farm.
Urban farms are most immediately antedotes to the lack of economic development in neighborhoods with oodles of vacant land, idle hands and bad nutrition.
On remediated soil and in greenhouses, this city could help spawn a significant agricultural industry to give people in these neighborhoods entrepreneurial capacity. We all would benefit, as growers and consumers. But a farm in every neighborhood reaches a broader, more environmentally responsible goal: Making food available where it is consumed. Not only does trucking tear up our highways, bridges and tunnels, trucking time and grocery shelf-life means many foods are treated to hold up for days and even weeks.
Neighbors growing crops and even raising the animals we eat could be held to much higher standards - for food safety and humane treatment - than corporate farms are. (We would need to allow farm animals to live in the city, but zoning could figure that out.)
Now comes an article about how little we know about growing grains - the foods "that stand between the human race and starvation." Below is an excerpt of the complete article at http://www.culturechange.org/go.html?540
Growing Your Own Grains
By Peter Goodchild
Most of what are called grains are members of the grass family, which has the scientific name of Gramineae or Poaceae. Grains are the most important plants in human diet, contributing most of the carbohydrates as well as a certain amount of protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Generally speaking, grains are quite undemanding in terms of soil or weather.
Unfortunately most of our knowledge of raising grain in small quantities with simple tools has been lost, or at least it is hard to find. Nearly all of the present-day research is geared to modern agribusiness -- hybridization, genetic engineering, and very expensive machinery and chemicals. The information gained from such research would be of no use if anything went wrong with the technical or economic infrastructure. Grains are all that stand between the human race and starvation, but the human race has made very little effort to record the fundamental information.
To its credit, the current administration of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has answered many calls for turning vacant land into agricultural opportunity.Seventy vacant lots have been sold or granted to groups or individuals for farms and gardens. A more aggressive plan would be to assemble a series of large tracts working with neighborhood groups to establish year-round agri-businesses that generate jobs in the neighborhoods.
Nov 03 2009
by Diana Nelson Jones/Nov 3
Jack Leonard reports in the Los Angeles Times on the conviction of an emergency room doctor in injuries to two cyclists on a twisty, narrow road in that city's suburb of Brentwood.
Bicyclists nationwide are pleased that justice validated their right to be in traffic and, most important, to be safe in traffic.
Christopher Thompson, who according to testimony had a history of antagonism toward bicycle drivers, faces 10 years in prison for a road-rage incident in July in which he claimed that the cyclists made obscene gestures and yelled at him after he yelled at them from his car window to get in single file. The cyclists claim that he drove up very fast behind them, barely missed them in passing them and then stopped abruptly in front of them, causing them both to crash.
Read the whole story and sidebars on this subject at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cyclist3-2009nov03,0,761131.story
Also visit www.la-bike.org for comments.
You may be thinking, yeah, but that's L.A.! We're not nuts here in Pixburgh.
If you think we are sane here in the 'burgh, you ought to answer the phone at a newspaper...
As a result of my Walkabout blog and other reports about bicycle drivers in the city, I have heard from lots of people whose attitudes made me think of this doctor's actions.They rightly claim bicyclists should obey the rules of the road, but some have such a mean spirit about bicyclists that I think someone in a psychology department should be studying this hostility for underlying reasons. We have all seen bicyclists run red lights, ignore stop signs, make illegal turns, etc., but we have all seen car drivers doing the same thing.
The real issue is why we can't all get along, and I will venture that the solution is empathy. The solution to most all ugly situations is empathy, the folk remedy of putting yourself in the other fella's shoes, as my grandfather used to say.
If a cyclist is pedaling hard in front of the car you are driving, imagine yourself trying to get where you are going on a bike with a driver in a moving weapon breathing down your neck. Empathy will make you chill out and slow down. I know because I use empathy to avoid my own frustration.
The only people who should be in such a hurry are people driving ambulances.
And speaking of ambulances... it was an emergency room doctor who caused these people to crash. One victim had a lacerated face, the other a separated shoulder.
Doctors are people too, but if your job is to patch injured people up, how could you possibly put people at risk of a trip to the ER? The Hippocratic oath instructs to first do no harm. If an emergency room doctor is capable of doing this, is anyone safe driving a bicycle in traffic?
(*Hippocrat: a word I just made up)
Oct 30 2009
by Diana Nelson Jones/Oct 30
The city will begin curbside pick-up of bagged raked leaves next week, but this offer is good for a limited time only - through Nov. 28. Pick-up will be on your designated recycling day. The bag has to be one of those big paper ones specifically for yard waste - but it can only contain leaves.
Some among us, no matter how clear the instructions are, will put them out in blue bags or the week when those big blue trucks DON'T come, and so the regular garbage guys will take it and some of us will get all irate and say recycling's bunk. Don't be that fool. But every once in a while, the city screws up.
In fact, one recent recycling week, I called 311 to report that my blue bags were gone but that the recycling trucks had not come yet. I deduced that because everyone else's blue bags were still out. I told the operator the city's sanitation department had picked them up and do you know what she said? She said, "Did you see them do it?"
How's that for cheeky? The regular garbage trucks had just picked up. I heard them roar down the alley, then I went out to let the dog..., y'know, and my blue bags were gone.
What did my helpful 311 person think?, that someone came along behind the city guys and took my blue bags so they'd get blamed for something they didn't do? Or someone took my blue bags and no one else's because mine have way better stuff in them?
I thought 311 is supposed to take our calls seriously because, of course, we're all just one Realtor away from much lower property taxes.
Except me... I'm a lifer for the city, the more inner the more better.
Anyway, go to www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/pw/assets/09_leaf_disposal.pdf for the lowdown on leaves and locations where you can take all your yard debris year 'round.
Oh OK, here they are:
-- corner of North Dallas and Hamilton Avenue in Homewood;
-- in Hazelwood on Melanchton Ave off the 5200 block of 2nd Avenue;
-- in the West End off Steuben Street on Hassler.
Have your proof of city residence handy.
Oct 29 2009
by Diana Nelson Jones/Oct 29
One reason not to leave the family home is the treasures you find in the attic.
George Clark grew up in the house in Highland Park that his grandparents raised their children in, and when his grandfather died, his parents moved in to care for his grandmother and George was born into that house. He lives there now with a dining table full of items ready to take to the big history show Sunday.
The East End-East Liberty Historical Society, which is four years shy of its 100th birthday, invites anyone who wants to know more about and share memorabilia from East Liberty, Highland Park and other East End places.
The show is from 2 to 5 p.m. in a vacant store behind Trader Joe's in the Village of East SIde Shopping Center on Penn Avenue, and it's free to all comers. There will be refreshments and live music.
The Society, 50 members strong but aging, wants to build membership and get help planning an East Liberty Festival it wants to hold next year.
Walkabout met George Clark and Al Mann at George's home last night to look at bills and receipts, photos and books and old postcards and, best of all, we got to stroke the sleek beaver fur top hat, circa 1915, that George's grandfather purchased at Aufhammer & Evans, a men's furnishings store in East Liberty from 1875 to 1953.
George is a board member and Al is president of the society.
Al, a retired chemical engineer, has lived in Highland Park since 1965. He worked for Gulf Oil at its research center, a tenure that bumped up against a rich history: The first commercial oil refinery in the country was in Highland Park in 1861, just years after the discovery of oil in Titusville.
George grew up hearing his grandmother's stories and over time he discovered boxes of reminders of past transactions and activities that "probably would have been thrown out" had the family moved, he said.
"My grandmother talked about changing into ice skates in that boat house and its pot-bellied stove," said George.
Sunday's show will include a photo montage from the grandson of the owner of the former Mansmann's Department Store; memorabilia of Pete Bolanis, the son of the founder of Bolan's Restaurant; and Peggy Spangler's collection, which might include a photo of her father feeding chickens approximately where the police barracks are now, on Washington Boulevard.
Al said the society is discussing offering tours of the area. One stop might be to find the Civil War gun placements on the way up to Morningside.
The society also is looking forward to having space of its own in the East End Cooperative Ministry's new site, to be built at Penn Circle and Collins Street.
"We have no home now," said Al. "When we get this space, we will have classrooms."
Oct 28 2009
by Diana Nelson Jones/Oct 28
Do you have a history with East Liberty and something to show for it?
On Sunday afternoon, your old photos and memorabilia will be welcome additions at the East End/East Liberty Historical Society's show. It's from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Village of East Side Shopping Center on Penn Avenue. The show will be held in the vacant store behind Trader Joe's.
Al Mann, the society's president, says the displays will include "unique old-time
photos and artifacts presented by several area residents including George Clark,
Peggy Spangler, Ray Schinhofen, Carl Vitti, Pete Bolanis, and others."
You might be asked to help organize an East Liberty Festival to be held next year. The society will provide refreshments and live music.
Check this blog for updates, including pictures of people's collections.
Oct 27 2009
Les Ludwig,a candidate for mayor from Squirrel Hill, has an ingenious plan for supporting libraries.
A perennial candidate who speaks regularly before City Council, he has been advocating a system in which consumers agree to add three cents to their grocery bill for libraries "but nobody listens to me." Walkabout listened and thought i was worth presenting here. His idea is that consumers could add three cents to any bill, depending on what businesses would want to participate. He uses Giant Eagle as an example. Say you spend $65.77 on groceries and the cashier asks if you want to round up to $65.80 to help libraries.
"It's in the pain-free zone," Les says about three cents. If Giant Eagle wanted to figure out how to configure its cashier system to do that, an incentive could be that the company reap the interest from the collection over, say, a year.
"This is a system for solving problems in society that's relatively painless," Les says. "There could even be three things the money could go to, and the electorate would finally have a chance to say, 'I want my three cents to go to _______," whether it be toward free college educations, public safety, libraries or the city's debt.
Walkabout does not endorse mayoral candidates, but this is an idea, and ideas are what society needs more of.
Oct 27 2009
by Diana Nelson Jones/Oct 27
Everyone has his reasons for wanting to keep his neighborhood library. Harold Keller of Beechview recently discovered the benefit of being "a hop skip and a jump" from the branch on Broadway Avenue.
For the past year and a half, Harold has performed a one-hour comedy monologue on PCTV as Traci the Trailer Trash Girl. It airs on Friday at midnight. He dresses in a wig, a black tunic and too much make-up playing Traci and has developed a cult following.
The satire is "not about literacy it's about ignorance," he said. "I make fun of everything and everyone. When I realized I had fans, I went to the library to set up an e-mail account so I could hear from them." (The e-mail will be shown on the screen during his show starting in November.) "People have pasted me on YouTube," including a group of teen-agers who have videotaped themselves watching the show and commenting on it.
Without the Beechview branch -- one of five the library board proposes closing -- he won't have easy access to his fan base.
A former housekeeper at Kane Regional Hospital and a former worker in a state store, Harold is living on Social Security and finding his niche on TV, the Internet and at the library.
You can email Harold at trailertrash85@yahoo.com.
Oct 27 2009
More Save the Libraries news, this time from Gloria
Forouzan in Lawrenceville. She has started a Facebook group, "Save Our Library 15201."
In an e-mail, she writes:
We have almost 400 members & are growing by the day. Members come
from all over the city, many are college and high school students.
Link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=175333518572&ref=nf
Grassroots supporters from each
neighborhood are in frequent contact & agree no divide & conquer - we
will not favor one branchs closure over anothers.
Each day more events are added
to our list, here are a few:
City Council
Rally
Tuesday,
October 27th 10 am
Council is expected to address library funding.
3
Rivers, 6 Rings, 19 Branches, NO LESS. Show up with signs and
friends.
(Note: I went up ther and no one as protesting.)
Hazelwood Rally
Saturday Oct. 31, 2 p.m. at the Hazelwood Library
Save
the Libraries Reading & Dance Party
Monday,
November 2, 8 p.m.
Belvederes
(Butler at Fisk, Lawrenceville)
Young
members of Pghs literary community invite you for readings, phone-ins, an online
petition.
Friends of the
Lawrenceville Library Branch
Selling
children's t shirts, $10. All proceeds benefit Friends of the
Lawrenceville Branch. Available at Perk Me Up, 4407 Butler St.
Oct 26 2009
by Diana Nelson Jones/Oct 26
The grassroots crusade to fight closure of four Carnegie Library branches now has a Facebook group, an on-line petition and plans to make noise.
A rally is scheduled at the Hazelwood branch, 4901 2nd Ave., Saturday at 2 p.m.
Thousands of Pittsburghers are still game to test the theory that democracy works best (or only) when politicians become alarmed that they might lost their seats.
Before four libraries are closed, one is moved and two others are merged, might this city, then, decide it can commit more than $40,000 a year to one of this nation's most storied philanthropies? Andrew Carnegie started libraries to elevate the poorer classes, but he didn't set up an endowment because he believed libraries should rise or fall on the community's esteem for them
P-G Book Editor Bob Hoover wrote in the Oct. 13 Post-Gazette about the industrialist's thoughts, including this nugget: "The main consideration should be to help those who help themselves."
The Carnegie Library system says it will be operating on $1.2 million less than it needs in 2010, based on expectation of a 20 percent cut in state funding. Another set of numbers is a score you're not going to like. In dollars spent annually per capita, it's Cleveland 250, Pittsburgh 38.
Ouch.
Without further adieu, here are the Facebook and petition links:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=179959010959&ref=search&sid=662658499.2126572381..1
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/CLP123/petition.html
Never in the history of America have the well-off lost their schools and libraries so that those in the greatest need could be favored, so of course Beechview and Hazelwood are among the losers if the Carnegie closes four branches. including Lawrenceville and the West End.
The system plans to merge Knoxville and Carrick branches and move the Mount Washington branch from Grandview Avenue to Virginia Avenue, but we don't know where on Virginia yet.
In an email to announce the petition and Facebook group, reader Tess McShane wrote that "each branch that closes represents an unraveling of Pittsburgh's social fabric."
She and her family moved to Pittsburgh from Seattle a few years ago and settled in Beechview, thinking it amazing that they should find a great old affordable house in a neighborhood on a street car line and with a library. But it turned out there was not much else to celebrate. They live in Point Breeze now but have lots of friends in Beechview and other neighborhoods where libraries are threatened.
"Libraries are oxygen sources in neighborhoods that are losing air, and somebody needs to do something," she said.
She set up the Facebook group and the petition and has patrons from libraries all over the city behind her, she said. "It's depressing that a city on the rise with so much potential is closing libraries, but it is heartening to see people from different neighborhoods working together" to prevent that.
A solution is out there.... creative minds can find it... probably from inspiration of stories and other sources... at a library!
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