Wolf Brings Urban Policy Expertise

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s next governor knows all about distressed cities.

Gov.-elect Tom Wolf spent 12 years as president of Better York, a nonprofit bent on revitalizing the city of York. In that role, he worked closely with a nationally prominent urban expert who promotes regional solutions for urban woes.

As he prepares to take office Jan. 20, Wolf said he wants to lead a statewide discussion about how the future of older cities such as Scranton, inner ring suburbs and the surrounding townships are interrelated.

“What I bring to this is a real appreciation for what cities do,” he said in an interview.

Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/wolf-brings-urban-policy-expertise-1.1803039

You Know, Downtown Pittsburgh Life Can Be Quite Sweet

English: Downtown Pittsburgh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was a downtown Pittsburgh resident for the month of Buctober and Ducktober.

A bit of an explanation first: In August, I entered an online contest sponsored by Imagine Pittsburgh, an initiative of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, designed to drum up interest in living in the Golden Triangle. The prize: One month in Millcraft Investment’s River Vue apartment building, the old state office building.

And my room had quite the view, overlooking Point State Park and a spectacular vista including Mt. Washington, and our three rivers. I liked River Vue, which bills itself as luxury apartment living — a lot. It’s quiet, the residents are friendly, and it’s in a great location.

Downtown living was a big change for me. Even though I’ve worked at the Trib on the North Side for more than 31⁄2 years, I’ve always been a suburbanite and have owned a house in Beaver County for more than nine years. I’ve never lived in a big-city, downtown setting.

Read more: http://triblive.com/lifestyles/morelifestyles/4941109-74/downtown-river-living#ixzz2jVJqYDn7
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Pennsylvania’s Two Big Cities Rank High On Urban Vitality Index

Image via Wikipedia

The Creative Cities International’s “Vitality Index,” has listed our two biggest cities as number eleven and twelve on their list of the top 35 U.S. cities.  The index measures such things as demographics, cultural offerings and recreational amenities, such as parks and trails; as well as conducting surveys of neighborhood life, attitudes and atmosphere.

Pittsburgh ranked number eleven and Philadelphia ranked number twelve.

To read all about the survey, click here:

http://www.creativecities.org/VI%20exec%20summary%20071811.pdf