Events

Champions of Sustainability
WDUQ FM Broadcast Schedule 90.5 FM

Sunday, June 4 at 6 pm & Monday, June 5 at 7 pm
John Norquist, President & CEO of Congress for the New Urbanism, former mayor of Milwaukee
Topic: "National Perspectives on Planning: Public Participation and Targeted Investments"

Sunday, June 11 at 6 pm & Monday, June 12 at 7 pm
Judith Bell, President of PolicyLink & Radhika Fox, Senior Policy Associate, PolicyLink
Topic: "Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions: An Agenda For Rebuilding America's Older Core Cities"

Sunday, June 18 at 6 pm & Monday, June 19 at 7 pm
Anne Canby, President of the National Surface Transportation Policy Project
Topic: "Transportation: The Key to a Prosperous Future"


Sunday, June 25 at 6 pm & Monday, June 26 at 7 pm
David Soule, Associate Director, Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Northeastern University
Topic: “Overcoming Deal Breakers to Urban Redevelopment for Regional Prosperity”

Listeners are invited to offer comments via region@wduq.org

Champions of Sustainability is a public lecture series presented by Sustainable Pittsburgh - which affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses. These Champs broadcasts will soon be available on Sustainable Pittsburgh's website together with the past 30+ Champs programs.

This radio series is supported by the Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation.

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The May 19 Smart Growth Conference incorporated an interactive participant engagement process to provide input to issues of importance to the future growth and development of our region. You may click here to view the results.

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Resources

PUMP Transportation Forum

Tuesday, May 30
6 PM
The Wood Street Galleries (above the Wood Street T station)
Refreshments
PUMP's Website

According to a recent survey, PUMP members identified public transportation as one of the issues that needs to be addressed in order to attract and retain young people in the region. The PUMP Transportation Committee will host an informational forum on funding for transportation projects for the region. Shrinking or stagnant gas tax revenues combined with soaring costs for construction materials, such as steel and concrete, are forcing states from around the country to look at new and creative ways to finance critical infrastructure improvements in the transportation sector. Featured speakers are Mr. Thomas Folk, Esq., a partner in Reed Smith LLP's Northern Virginia offices and Mr. Dave Wohlwill, a Lead Transit Planner for the Port Authority of Allegheny County.

Healthy Children Project: “We Are Living in a Toxic Soup”

Thursday, June 8
7 PM
AC-ACLD, Inc
4900 Girard Road
Pittsburgh

Friday, June 9
12 PM
Healthy Black Families Project
Hosanna House, Inc.
Highmark Learning Center
807 Wallace Avenue
Wilkinsburg
Info/RSVP: Kathy Lawson 412-341-1515 x208 or klawson@ldaamerica.org
Free
RSVP required.

There are many factors which may contribute to the causes of disease and developmental disabilities – genetic, environmental, and social. Evidence reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences indicates that toxic chemicals contribute to these problems. Environmental science factors take on a great importance because they can be prevented. Find out what you can do

The World Is Flat

Video presentation of Thomas L. Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times and author presenting his best-selling book "The World Is Flat"
Followed by local reaction panel and audience Q&A.Video presentation of Thomas L. Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times and author presenting his best-selling book "The World Is Flat"

Followed by local reaction panel and audience Q&A.

Wednesday, June 14
11:30 am - 1:30 p.m.
Omni William Penn Hotel
Cost: Members $25. Non-Members $35, Students $15
Reaction Panel:
Moderator: Court Gould, Sustainable Pittsburgh
- Ken Cuccinelli, Chairman, Quest Fore, Inc.
- Susan Edwards, Vice President of Marketing Services, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (invited)
- Maxwell King, President, The Heinz Endowments
- Brian Rabe, Director Global Customer Support, Kennametal Inc.
(Please pay at the door, by cash or by check made payable to “The Economic Club of Pittsburgh.”)
Space is limited - reservations required: Please make your reservations by email to reservations@econclubpgh.org no later than June 9 . If you discover you cannot attend or arrange for an associate to attend, please cancel by June 13 or you will be billed for the cost of the luncheon. Call (412) 762-2671 for cancellations.

Presented by: Economic Club of Pittsburgh in cooperation with the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Sustainable Pittsburgh, and the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh

Nations, regions, and cities the world over are just beginning to comprehend the convergence of technology and events that allowed India, China, and so many other countries to step up as leaders in the global economy. Their role in the global supply chain for services and manufacturing, is creating an explosion of wealth in the middle classes of the world's two biggest nations, giving them a huge new stake in the success of globalization. And with this "flattening" of the globe, which requires us to run faster in order to stay in place, has the world gotten too small and too fast for human beings and their political systems to adjust in a stable manner? What is the Pittsburgh region's play in this fast changing environment? What must our business, civic, and government leaders do to ensure our relevance and competitiveness in the fast changing global economy?

Join in viewing a video presentation of Thomas Friedman presenting the key insights from his brilliant new book as he demystifies the brave new world, making sense of the often bewildering global scene unfolding before our eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt.

After the video presentation, a reaction panel of local business and civic leaders will provide insights on what's at stake and steps the Pittsburgh region can take to compete in leveled economic world where Beijing, Bangalore and Bethesda are next-door neighbors.

Pittsburgh Mills' Future Could Be In Doubt

But Court Gould of “Sustainable Pittsburgh” says the state and county only used your tax dollars to promote sprawl and they should have used those resources to redevelop old industrial sites or restore our crumbling highways. “Our region which is challenged in it's population growth and continues to find it's way in a global economy cannot afford to continue to give the store away,” said Gould. Onorato says the county won't be giving any more tax breaks to retailers to develop previously undeveloped land. “To go to a green field use a TIF to relocate retail, we’re not going to be doing it,” said Onorato.

Part-owner of Pittsburgh Mills mall ready to start work nearby

Construction should start soon on a 172,000-square-foot open-air shopping center adjacent to the new Pittsburgh Mills mall, despite ongoing questions over the future of the Frazer mall's majority owner.

Ecology and Recovery - Allegheny County

In this report, we examine, value and rank the remnant and recovering ecosystems that support the natural health of the rivers and streams of Allegheny County. To activate that knowledge, we analyze techniques for preserving, conserving and restoring these systems. The acquisition and maintenance of land or conservation easements by public or private entities involves a commitment of resources, both financial and personal. It may be too much to expect any single entity to acquire and maintain all of the land necessary or appropriate for the preservation of the river banks and related areas within Allegheny County. However, a partnership between the county, local municipalities and various conservation organizations, working from a long range, coordinated plan, could make it possible to acquire a variety of ownership interests along the rivers that would provide protection and public benefits. The Allegheny County Parks Department could serve as coordinator of land and conservation easement acquisition and maintenance, with contributions from local municipalities of services, funds and land for areas within their boundaries. Trail groups are already responsible for acquiring and maintaining rights-of-way. Land trusts provide a vehicle for acquiring both fee title and conservation easements on private land along the riverbanks and on adjacent wetlands, hillsides and hilltops appropriate for preservation and restoration in connection with river preservation.

Regional Transit Vision

The regional strategic vision for public transportation proposed in this report addresses a fundamental question: What kind of region do we aspire to be? The answer to that question is key because the land use and development patterns of the future will fundamentally affect the public transportation vision for the future. The report presents and analyses two alternative development scenarios and then develops a regional public transportation vision for each...It became clear during the planning process that land use would be a key to the public transportation vision. State planning law and the region's configuration of local government into over 500 separate municipal governments (each with primary responsibility for land use and zoning) combined with the continuing expansion of the regional highway and utility infrastructure, have created a regional development pattern that has promoted a spread out development at the expense of older established communities, and at the expense of public transportation...Despite our slow growth, Southwestern Pennsylvania exhibits the development pattern know in most metropolitan areas of the United States as suburban sprawl. In our region, significant land has been consumed for development while overall regional population has changed very little.

A new vision for transit is crucial to this region's well-being...

The transit study report -- "A Regional Strategic Vision for Public Transportation Serving Southwestern Pennsylvania" -- is what the people of southwestern Pennsylvania need to aspire to achieve. Public transit is the framework for the study, but more individual freedom, not less; and a better quality of life for the region, not less, are the promises inherent in this new transit vision...The transit vision underscores how critically important it is for the region to have a public transportation system that is integrated with development so that it is attractive in terms of cost and environment, and efficient in terms of getting people to where they need to go.

Study outlines transit's future

"We can be smarter about how we invest in transportation," said Caren Glotfelty, the director of environmental programs for The Heinz Endowments, which contributed $500,000 toward the cost of the study and espouses smarter land-use policies. "Regional solutions to growth and development come together in this study. We've been anxious to see it released." The study found the region has a strong public transportation system supporting the urban core, or Pittsburgh, mostly. It says the system has to be strategically integrated and expanded to support a stronger regional economy and rein in urban sprawl.

Transit system must be better connected, study says

Local community leaders on Friday released the final version of a study that looks at what steps the region needs to take to plan for future public transportation needs. The study, titled "A Regional Strategic Vision for Public Transportation Serving Southwestern Pennsylvania," suggests that the region needs to follow a focused growth plan that looks to create a better-connected region through public transportation.

Time to erase borders

Regionalism is gaining momentum in areas of the U.S. surrounding major urban hubs, and Southwestern Pennsylvania may be next to consider the concept...Several officials addressing the crowd were critical of having 551 cities, boroughs and townships in the 10-county region, with 30 percent boasting fewer than 1,000 residents. "This set-up has failed over and over again in our small municipalities," said J. Bracken Burns, chairman of the Southwest Regional Commission and a Washington County commissioner. "And yet, they struggle day in and day out to do a job they simply cannot do." ..Within the 551 municipalities in Southwestern Pennsylvania, there are 850 agencies that manage sewer systems. A similar geographic area surrounding the Minneapolis-St.Paul region of Minnesota has only one sewer authority. "It's just not acceptable," Burns said. "We have to work as a region."

Pa.'s first 'green' school building planned for Westmoreland County

Burrell School District Superintendent Amy Palermo said she's looking forward to creating a healthier atmosphere, including the use of more natural light and recycled building materials. Some of the building's features also will be included in science instruction. The state also added a $260,000 reimbursement to the local school district for achieving green certification, she said. The project is being paid for through a $25 million bond sale. "We want to do things that are good for our staff and our schools, and then we found out the results of a reimbursement incentive to do that," Palermo said. The added costs of building to the green standard have proved to be minimal to this point, said Dana Steadman, lead architect and project manager for The Foreman Group. Foreman's subcontractors have not raised their prices higher than the cost of standard materials so far, he said. "We basically told the school district we believe we can do a green building using our traditional design methods, not varying much from what we normally do," Steadman said.

State's infrastructure is slipping toward Third World status

While the Rendell administration has been putting more money toward road and bridge maintenance, for instance, increasing the number of bridges either under reconstruction or preservation from 211 in 2003 to 666 last year, the problems are on such a widespread scale as to be almost insurmountable. For instance, the federal Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the state will need to spend $12.7 billion over the next 20 years to replace existing sewerage systems and build new ones to meet increasing demand.

NY Times: The Business of Green: A Special Section

From Grist Magazine: The New York Times ran a ginormous series last week on green business, creatively titled "The Business of Green."..Read about green collaborations among businesses and enviro organizations; Chicago's success in combining environmental and economic goals, and meeting them; entrepreneurs in the carbon-trading market; the risks of nuclear power as a "clean" energy source; and environmental products like lead-free bullets that are popping up in government agencies. Take a video tour of a cutting-edge green building; learn about the eco-trends in the restaurant biz, advertising, e-waste recycling, and pig farming... A couple of articles focus on the moneymaking potential of green technology; a feature on sustainable investing discusses "big money managers who hope to substitute an 'n' for the 'd' at the end of 'greed' and still come out ahead."..

Inner-ring metro cities are key to regionalism

Not quite urban or modern suburban, metro Detroit's inner-ring cities are critical to the success of regionalism. They share common goals and interests with both the City of Detroit and the further suburbs. They are places where differences come together. Old and young, wealthy and needy, liberal and conservative, black and white -- these communities are the melting pot of metro Detroit. And they are where compromise can begin. Many of the challenges facing our metro area could be resolved through policy reform. We can work toward that with a regional agenda in five key areas: Regionalism. Social equity. Sustainable development. Municipal funding. Infrastructure.

Get Real...solving the problem of global warming.

On the other hand, some prominent figures have joined Gelbspan in his conviction that realism about climate change means getting radical, although they remain the exceptions to the complacency rule. John Browne, CEO of British Petroleum (BP), has called for measures to cut carbon emissions by seven gigatons per year. Eliminating just one gigaton—a billion tons of fumes—would require building 700 nuclear stations to replace traditional power plants, or increasing solar power by a factor of 700, Browne says. BP has championed a get-real approach ever since 1997, when the firm became the first major energy company to advocate action to cope with climate change.

Mon-Fayette Expressway funds may fall short

The estimated cost of the Mon-Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway has jumped by $1.4 billion -- to $5.4 billion -- during the past five years and completion of the roads may be too expensive, a report out today says.

Mon-Fay decision / Decide how to fund completion, or pull the plug

This should be the crucial year for the Mon-Fayette Expressway and Southern Beltway. Not the year that these long-running toll-road projects will be finished, but the year it should be decided, once and for all, how to finance their completion. If the Legislature, turnpike commission and other officials can't do that in 2006, then it will be time to pull the plug on all future work.

Macquarie-Cintra's $3.85 Bln Bid for Indiana Toll Road Approved

Macquarie Infrastructure Group and Cintra SA's joint $3.85 billion offer for Indiana's only toll road won final approval yesterday as state legislators voted for the lease as part of a 10-year highway plan. The Australian and Spanish companies said they expect to close the transaction in June, when they will pay to take over operations of the Indiana Toll Road in exchange for all toll and concession revenue from the 157-mile (253-kilometer) highway for 75 years...Jay Kenworthy, a spokesman for the Indiana Senate Republicans, said the major sticking point in negotiations was the route of a new road that would run from Indianapolis south to Evansville, and whether it would be a toll road built and operated by private companies as Daniels has proposed. The compromise legislation would maintain most of the current route of the proposed extension of Interstate 69, leaving open the possibility of rerouting the road in Indianapolis. It allows for a private operator to put tolls on most of the road, except for the 40-mile stretch south of Indianapolis.

2006 Transit Ballot Measures

State-by-state inventory of transit funding and initiatives.

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Sustainable Pittsburgh is a public-policy advocacy group that links economic prosperity, ecological health, and social equity.

Please review SP's regional assessments and vision/policies for the future: SWPA Regional Indicators Report, Citizens' Vision for Smart Growth, and Regional Policy Guidance Document by clicking on the links to our website.

The Transportation for Livable Communities project is a partnership of Sustainable Pittsburgh and the national Surface Transportation Policy Project to advance a sustainable transportation system for Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Sustainable Pittsburgh benefits from support in 2006 from:

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Dollar Bank
The Heinz Endowments
Mellon Financial Corporation
The Pittsburgh Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation


Special thanks to the SP Members

Sustainable Pittsburgh
425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1335
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
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fax (412) 258-6645
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