Pittsburgh To Display City’s Progress, Potential At Major Bike Conference Downtown

Pittsburgh is already America’s most livable city, and a conference here this week might help it become even more so.

The city is hosting the Pro Walk/​Pro Bike/​Pro Place conference today through Thursday, welcoming more than 1,000 planners, architects, public health professionals, real estate professionals, educators and advocates from around the globe.

The conference could benefit Pittsburgh and the visitors.

“To have them learn from us and have us learn from them and all of their years of experience changing their cities into walkable, bikeable places is really really important for Pittsburghers but also for the people visiting Pittsburgh,” said Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsburgh.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/2014/09/08/Pittsburgh-will-display-progress-potential-at-major-bike-conference/stories/201409080015#ixzz3CkHIYKhK

Pittsburgh Suburbs Suffering Poverty At High Rate

Locator map of the Greater Pittsburgh metro area in the western part of the of . Red denotes the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, and yellow denotes the New Castle Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Pittsburgh-New Castle CSA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Poverty is growing at a faster rate in the suburbs than in the cities, and the Pittsburgh area is ahead of the curve — but not in a good way.

Nationally, about 55 percent of the population living in poverty is outside of cities, but in Allegheny County, 61 percent of people living in poverty are in the suburbs, and the number rises to 79 percent when the Pittsburgh metropolitan statistical area is measured. That area includes Allegheny and its six surrounding counties.

Those numbers come from Elizabeth Kneebone, a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and co-author of “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America.”

Ms. Kneebone said suburban poverty has been growing since 2000 and became more significant than urban poverty even before the economic meltdown of 2008 and 2009. The recession exacerbated it.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/region/2013/11/18/Suburbs-suffering-at-high-rate/stories/201311180136#ixzz2l1MynVBs

Southwestern Pennsylvania Transit Merger Report Is Due Out In April

Locator map of the Greater Pittsburgh metro area in the western part of the of . Red denotes the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, and yellow denotes the New Castle Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Pittsburgh-New Castle CSA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A private firm hired by PennDOT to study the merging of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s 10 transit systems — which has drawn interest from county leaders across the region — said on Monday it will present its findings in April.

Officials from outside of Alle­gheny County said forming a regional transit system is a good idea but are wary of taking on the costs of the Port Authority of Allegheny County.

“We’ve got to look at it. All of these small transit systems are dying on the vine. There’s no federal and state funding. You want to see if you can consolidate some things, but a lot of details have to be worked out,” said Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi. “I certainly don’t want to absorb (Port Authority legacy costs) to Washington County taxpayers.”

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/4961575-74/transit-county-authority#ixzz2j8v6KQEL
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First Bus Departs From Revamped Franklin Street Station In Reading

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The final step toward Reading’s iconic Franklin Street Station once again serving passengers came in the form of a message.

BARTA officials arranged for the message to flash on the first bus to leave the station since its rebirth: “Thanks Dennis; You gave it all.”

It was for Dennis D. Louwerse, BARTA’s executive director, who died Thursday after 30 years leading the county transit agency.

“This is the culmination of a dream,” Ryan Furgerson, BARTA’s deputy executive director, said of the first bus departing from the former train station.  “This is something Dennis would very much wanted to have seen.”

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=509990

Pittsburgh’s Larimer Revival Concerns Residents

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Plans to revamp Pittsburgh’s Larimer section promise the creation of a new kind of neighborhood, where low-income residents are no longer clustered in housing projects or crumbling apartments, where subsidized housing units are scattered among market-rate ones.

But some are worried that the blueprints for the $100 million housing development would push residents in two places slated for demolition — East Liberty Gardens and a Pittsburgh Housing Authority-owned project — farther from transit lines and business districts.

“[The housing authority] is talking about moving me somewhere else,” said Robert Morton, who lives in one of 27 units in the Auburn/Hamilton-Larimer complex, which is owned by the housing authority. Mr. Morton, 64, uses a wheelchair.  “I can’t just uproot and go somewhere else.”

The city is currently preparing an application for a highly competitive $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, with hopes of building some 350 units of mixed-income housing in the struggling neighborhood, to support jobs, parks and businesses similar to those in neighboring East Liberty.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/pittsburghs-larimer-revival-concerns-residents-697299/#ixzz2aRwXiz1o

2 Men Rescued From Side Of Mount Washington

Locator map with the Mount Washington neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania highlighted. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  The incline costs $2.50 each way.   The fee for a mountain rescue is $750.00.

Pittsburgh emergency crews safely rescued two people who were stranded on Mount Washington between the Wabash Tunnel and the Monongahela Incline after they attempted to climb down on foot.

The rescue attempt began around 3:45 p.m.  Both men were safely brought to the bottom of the 600-foot incline by 6 p.m.

“We just thought there was a shortcut,” said one of the men, whose name has not yet been released.  “We almost made it to the bottom, but then there was a 30-foot drop.  That’s not real easy to jump down.”

The other man suffered an ankle injury but declined transportation to the hospital.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/2-men-rescued-from-side-of-mount-washington-697101/#ixzz2aIdMI8aW

Centralized Jobs Are A Bonus For Lancaster

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lancaster County has kept an unusually high percentage of its jobs in Lancaster city and suburbs, a new study shows.

The concentration of jobs in the city and suburbs here makes it easier for job-seekers to find work, the study’s author says.

Having centralized jobs also reduces traffic congestion, lowers energy consumption and cuts pollution, she says.

“Generally, we say that more compact forms of development are positive,” said author Elizabeth Kneebone.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/839044_Centralized-jobs-are-a-bonus-for-Lancaster.html#ixzz2QvJnTd3X

Poor Economy Boosts Mass Transit Ridership In Butler County

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When John Paul of the Butler Transit Authority saw the numbers of riders increasing in big numbers late last year, he thought, “Wow, that was a good month.”

When it happened again the next month, he thought it was a fluke.

Now that it has happened for six consecutive months, he’s calling it a trend.

In fact, overall use of public transit in Butler County is skyrocketing, a fact that local experts link to dual factors of a battered economy and improvements in the transit systems.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12005/1201300-54-0.stm#ixzz1idLTnao0

Pottstown Borough Creates Intermodal Transportation Center Using Federal Stimulus Grant

If you have been downtown lately, you will notice there is construction going on next to Harleysville Bank First Niagara Bank.  The old SEPTA train platform area is being renovated and transformed into an intermodal transportation center.  This is a much-needed improvement for Pottstown.  Currently, PART’s main transfer point is right in front of Argento’s restaurant and in the middle of the very busy High & Hanover Street intersection.  Those big buses take up a lot of room!

Wisely, our borough government has applied for and been awarded a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to create the intermodal transportation center.  A transportation center makes SENSE!  If you have ever been to Norristown’s transportation center you will see how organized this makes using mass transit.  Pottstown is unique as we are the only municipality in Montgomery County to have our own mass transit system.  Pottstown also has SEPTA service along with PART. 

As I am constantly posting and hinting around about Pottstown getting grants to pay for improvements, I feel it is only fair that we give public recognition to the borough for obtaining one!  Nice going and let’s get some more :).

Disgraceful Behavior From SEPTA Union President Willie Brown

The President of SEPTA’s largest union, Local 234, has resorted to name calling and is refusing to meet with Philadelphia Mayor, Michael Nutter.

Willie Brown is calling Mayor Nutter “Little Caesar” and is refusing to include the mayor in any future negotiations.  Brown is deferring to former mayor and now governor, Ed Rendell instead and leaving the current mayor of our largest city out in the cold.

This behavior is counterproductive and frankly immature.

The only people who suffer are the riders of SEPTA.