Heinz Endowments Looks To Smart Urban Planning For Pittsburgh Moment

The Heinz Endowments is redirecting resources toward smart urban planning to seize upon an “amazing moment” in Pittsburgh’s development, foundation president Grant Oliphant said Thursday.

A citywide building boom, an infusion of young professionals and heightened partnerships between foundation and civic officials are among factors jump-starting conversations about long-term planning strategies.

“Suddenly, in 2015, Pittsburgh is a place to be,” Oliphant said. “There is an energy in Pittsburgh around development that makes possible things that were really not possible to push forward 10 years ago.”

Oliphant’s remarks emerge 18 months after a major personnel shakeup at The Heinz Endowments, Western Pennsylvania’s second largest foundation with more than $1.5 billion in net assets. A string of executive departures in 2013 left the foundation without an executive director for eight months, amid an apparent clash between the Heinz family and departing staffers over the foundation’s ties to an industry-backed environmental group.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/8178606-74/heinz-foundation-oliphant#ixzz3Xapyylia
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‘Sociable City’ Plan Rolled Out To Coordinate Pittsburgh’s Nightlife

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

Responsible hospitality. The night-time economy. A “sociable city” plan.

They’re buzzwords for a basic concept.

Nightlife, and the neighborhoods in which it happens, are resources that need to be planned and managed, from transportation and parking to permitting and policing. And that involves comprehensive coordination between community business owners, an array of city agencies and institutions like universities.

“Like our transit planning, like how we manage special events, these economies will benefit from planning and management,” said Maya Henry, the city’s new night-time economy manager, a $65,249-a-year position created by Mayor Bill Peduto to coordinate those efforts. “My job is to bring the lens of the night-time economy to all of those places that already exist in city planning.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/10/27/Sociable-City-plan-rolled-out-to-coordinate-Pittsburgh-s-nightlife/stories/201410240211

Temple University Student Study: Norristown Needs A Food Policy Council, Community Gardens

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

NORRISTOWN — An urban planning class presented the results of a study of food availability in Norristown to council Tuesday that included targeted recommendations.

Jennifer Krouchick, a Temple University student in the urban planning studio class taught by Professor Deborah Howe, said that Norristown is a car-dependent municipality for large food shopping but had also notched a 74 percent score in “walkability.”

Of Norristown’s 34,324 residents, 19.3 live below the poverty line, according to recent demographics. In addition, 2,484 of Norristown’s 13,058 households receive federal food assistance through SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

A resident group helped the students shape the food study during a task force meeting in January, Krouchick said. A community workshop was held in April allowing residents to explain what food issues were important to them.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140701/temple-university-student-study-norristown-needs-a-food-policy-council-community-gardens

Eight-Story Holiday Inn Proposed For Downtown Pittsburgh Site

There are Hol­i­day Inns all over the land but not a one in Down­town. A Brid­geville de­vel­oper is hop­ing to change that.

The Forza Group will brief the city plan­ning com­mis­sion Tues­day on a pro­posal to build an eight-story, 99-room Hol­i­day Inn at 435 Fort Pitt Blvd. near Smith­field Street. The plan also in­cludes a bar and restau­rant and lim­ited park­ing, nine spaces in all.

In doc­u­ments filed with the plan­ning com­mis­sion, Forza said it hopes to have the $9 mil­lion proj­ect com­pleted by June 2015.

“There’s re­ally no [Hol­i­day Inn] pres­ence in the Down­town Pitts­burgh area,” said Brock Hunt, Forza’s di­rec­tor of fran­chise re­la­tions. The clos­est is a Hol­i­day Inn Ex­press and Suites on South 10th Street, South Side.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/05/23/A-Holiday-Inn-could-be-headed-Downtown/stories/201405230173#ixzz32e8nZnAc

Land Bank Ordinance Legislation To Boost Lot Cleanups In Pittsburgh

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

Some of Pittsburgh’s vacant lots become dumping grounds for used tires. Others get filled with construction debris. Some are overwhelmed with knotweed, a thick and invasive species that has been a plague since Bill Harlak started cleaning lots 34 years ago.

Harlak is executive director of City Source Associates, the city’s property maintenance contractor. He attempts to keep tidy 7,200 vacant city-owned lots, plus 1,400 the Urban Redevelopment Authority owns. His dozen employees clean perhaps 2,000 lots a year, he said.

“There’s always more land,” he said.

Surplus city-owned property, whether a patch of grass or an abandoned home, drains about $5.5 million a year from the budget, according to the city planning department. The estimate includes costs to the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Building Inspection and police. A newly established land bank could reduce the cost — if it can succeed in selling abandoned properties.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5946208-74/lots-vacant-lot#ixzz30C8n1ZVa
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Collingswood Loves Its Park-To-Go

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Editor’s note:  We love this idea!!  Kudos to Collingswood for enhancing the quality of life for their residents.

It hasn’t even been around a full week yet, but the verdict is already in:

Collingswood loves its parklet.

Then again, a week ago most people in town probably didn’t know what a parklet was.

In the case of Collingswood, it is a mobile platform complete with tables, chairs and benches, faux wrought-iron trim, and a planter sprouting red and yellow flowers.

Paid for by the borough and the business improvement district, it has been a fixture on Haddon Avenue outside the Grooveground cafe since its debut Thursday.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20130625_Collingswood_loves_its_park-to-go.html

Conshohocken Retains Its Sense Of Community

Location of Conshohocken in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Forty-nine years ago, Conshohocken leaders began crafting a comprehensive plan to transform the grimy old mill town into a modern, livable municipality, albeit a small one.

At just over one square mile, Conshohocken is shoehorned into a bend of the Schuylkill River, but is within earshot of I-476 and the Schuylkill Expressway, two of the region’s major arteries.

It took several decades, but between the vision of past leaders and the impact of that pair of highways, Conshohocken has become one of the region’s hottest neighborhoods, with sleek condo towers, destination restaurants and corporate headquarters along the waterfront, and a locally owned, family-friendly strip of restaurants, bars, and stores along Fayette Street.

Over the last decade, Conshohocken’s population has grown younger, wealthier and whiter, according to U.S. Census data.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/neighbors/main_line/20130429_Conshohocken_retains_its_sense_of_community.html

In Post-Lower Macungie Development Boom, Talk Of ‘Smart Growth’

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

Jim Palmquist is one 66-year-old who has the time, motivation and legs to walk the nearly two-miles from his Lower Macungie home to the closest restaurant.

What he doesn’t have is a death wish.

With the proliferation of cars and trucks clogging roads between his Fresh Meadow Drive neighborhood and the closest Brookside Road businesses, walking can be a life-risking proposition, particularly because of the sporadic placement of sidewalks and walkways that go virtually nowhere.

“This is a township that is completely auto driven,” said Palmquist ,who recently did a thorough study of sidewalks in the area of Lower Macungie and Brookside roads. “You can’t walk to the Wawa. You can’t walk to the township building.”

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-lower-macungie-smart-growth-20120930,0,2415679.story

Best Bet For Tax Revenue: Mixed-Use Downtown Development

This is an article about mixed-use urban development that should be a must read for all Pottstown civic leaders and concerned residents about the direction our community needs to take.   Hit tip to Chris Huff for the referral!

http://www.newurbannetwork.com/article/best-bet-tax-revenue-mixed-use-downtown-development-13144