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Events

Public Comment Period on 2040 Long Range Transportation and Development Plan ends today

The region's metropolitan planning organization (MPO), the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, is accepting public input on the draft 2040 Transportation and Development Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania and other documents until 4pm on Friday, June 17 (today). The 2040 plan helps to guide the region's growth and development patterns. At stake is channeling investments for infrastructure and economic development in ways that can improve quality of life, lessen the cost of doing business, increase long-term profitability, help reduce infrastructure costs, and contribute to recruitment and retention of employees.

Written comments can be submitted online at www.spcregion.org; by mail to: SPC Comments, 425 Sixth Ave., Suite 2500, Pittsburgh, PA 15219-1852; by fax to Comments, (412) 391-9160; or by e-mail to comments@spcregion.org.

All comments must be received by 4:00 p.m. on June 17, 2011.

By commenting on the draft, you help to:
- channel the pattern and character of growth and development to hasten regional sustainability that protects and enhances investments
- ensure economic growth occurs without the impacts and inefficiencies of unchecked sprawl
- promote sustainable communities
- level the field for development and redevelopment to revitalize our older urban centers
- focus on the new economic nexus of land use, transportation, housing, and transit oriented development
- learn about new interactive tools to analyze the suitability of locations for transit oriented development

The SPC documents are available for public review at the offices of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, at the Pittsburgh Department of City Planning, at County Planning offices, and at many public libraries around Southwestern Pennsylvania. The documents are also available online at: http://www.spcregion.org/trans_ppp_sched.shtml

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission will consider these draft documents for action at their meeting on June 27, 2011 at 4:30 p.m., Regional Enterprise Tower, 425 Sixth Avenue, 31st Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15219-1852.

Click here to read Sustainable Pittsburgh's comments on the draft plan.

Read a Post-Gazette article about the information session Sustainable Pittsburgh hosted last week along with SPC and the Urban Land Institute - Pittsburgh District Council.

Resources

Save the Date: Sustainability and Healthcare Session #2: Strategic Environmental Solutions

Thursday, July 21
7:30 am – 3:00 pm
Fairmont Pittsburgh
More information to come.

This second of five workshops in the healthcare series will feature interactive work sessions with healthcare experts in energy, waste, green cleaning, and green building operational areas.

Invited Workshop Experts:
Noedahn Copley-Woods, University of Pittsburgh
Marc Mondor, evolveEA
Russell Olmstead, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System
Shanti Pless, US DOE
Janet Stout, Specialty Pathogens
And others

Power Breakfast Meeting: Stephen Bland, CEO, Port Authority

Friday, June 17
7:30 am
Rivers Club, One Oxford Center, Downtown Pittsburgh
Cost: $20 Members, $30 Non-members
RSVP by June 15, 2011: (412) 392-0610 or information@aaccwp.com.
(Confirmation guarantees payment)
More information

Join the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western PA in welcoming Associate Member, Stephen Bland, CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny County. Mr. Bland will discuss the agency's changes and future plans for public transportation and the impact on you and your workforce.

Safely dispose of common household chemicals

Saturday, June 18
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Walmart (Hilltop Plaza), Kitanning, Armstrong County
Fee: $2/gallon - Cash Only
More information: www.zerowastepgh.org or (724) 548-3223

Pennsylvania residents are invited to drop off common household chemicals for recycling and proper disposal on June 18. This event is hosted by Zero Waste Pittsburgh, a project of the PA Resources Council, UPMC, and Armstrong County.

ACCEPTABLE ITEMS INCLUDE:
• aerosol cans
• automotive fluids (motor oil, transmission fluid, antifreeze, brake fluid)
• batteries
• chemistry sets
• compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs)
• gasoline and kerosene
• household cleaners (ammonia, drain openers, acid cleaners, oven cleaners)
• mercury
• paint products (latex, oil based, alkyd based, arts/crafts chemicals, rust preservatives, creosote, water sealers, paint thinners, furniture strippers)
• pesticides /herbicides (rodent killers, insecticides, weed killers, mothballs, fertilizer)
• photo chemicals
• pool chemicals

THEY DO NOT ACCEPT:
• ammunition • appliances • bulk waste • commercial and industrial waste • compressed gas cylinders (including propane tanks) • drugs • explosives • flares • fluorescent tubes • leaking containers • medical waste (including needles) • PCBs and dioxin • radioactive materials (including smoke detectors) • tires

River Sweep 2011

Saturday, June 18
8:00 am- 12:00 pm
Various locations in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Clarion, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties
View tentative PA cleanup locations
General information
Contact: Pennsylvania Coordinator, Betsy Mallison, bmallison@talismanusa.com or (724) 444-4229

**Cleanup sites may be postponed due to high river levels, so please check with the River Sweep coordinator for your county for any possible date postponements. Rescheduled dates will be posted online.**

Since 1989, this award-winning cleanup for the Ohio River and its tributaries brings thousands of volunteers to the riverbanks to collect tons of trash and debris. River Sweep encompasses the entire length of the river, from its origin in Pittsburgh, PA to its end in Cairo, IL, including 1,962 miles of shoreline and many tributaries.

More than 21,000 volunteers from public organizations, civic groups, recreational clubs, and the general public in six states bordering the river come together to collect more than 20,000 tons of trash and other debris from the banks of the Ohio River and tributaries.

River Sweep is an event organized by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, an interstate water pollution agency for the Ohio River Valley, along with environmental protection and natural resource agencies from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

Juneteenth

Saturday, June 18
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sewickley Community Center, 15 Chadwick Street, Sewickley
For more information and a full list of events visit their Facebook page at Juneteenth SCC, accessible by their blog or call (412) 741-5430.
Tickets for the evening plays are $10; all other events are free.

Juneteenth marks the day when the last slaves were freed in the United States. Hosted by the Sweickley Community Center, the second annual Juneteenth celebration features children's activities, a market place selling food, clothes and jewelry, and live music. There will also be a panel discussion on "Education as Road to Freedom or Pipeline to Prison." Read more in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Green Gatherings

Saturday, June 18
2:00 pm
Kayak Pittsburgh: Northshore Riverfront Park
Tickets are $12 for WYEP members; $15 for nonmembers.
Registration Required.
More information

WYEP and The Allegheny Front continue a series of interactive workshops that will expose you to new ideas for a healthier you and a greener community. Participants will get a paddle with Kayak Pittsburgh and an Outdoor Yoga with BYS Yoga!

Connecting to Markets Series:
Neighborhoods and Labor Markets - Exploring Low-Income Neighborhoods in the Regional Context

Monday, June 20
11:30 am - 3:30 pm (Eastern)
Federal Reserve Bank, Pittsburgh Branch
717 Grant Street, Pittsburgh 15219
CAPACITY IS LIMITED AND SEATING WILL BE ON A FIRST-REGISTERED, FIRST-SERVED BASIS.
For more information, contact Ellen Kight (ellen@ppnd.org, (412) 471-3727 x13 or Joseph Ott (joseph.c.ott@clev.frb.org, (412) 261-7947).
More information and registration

Many agree on the importance of regions as the right geographic scale to think about, and act upon, issues of economic performance, racial and income disparities, and other elements of community well-being. This perspective is a valuable lens for diagnosis, but perhaps it is less so for prescribing action. Most policy interventions happen somewhere, or at least have spatial implications, yet spatial analysis seems oddly missing when these policies are considered.

The goal of this three-part series is to further stimulate conversation among those working to expand opportunity in low-income neighborhoods and those thinking and acting at regional levels. We aim to introduce more “concreteness” to the regional discussion, and to introduce to the neighborhood discussion deeper thinking about connections to regions.

The first discussion topic in this series concerns the connection between lower-income neighborhoods and regional labor markets. Labor market isolation of lower-income neighborhood residents is thought to have multiple causes; i.e., spatial mismatch of jobs and housing, thinness of employment networks, racial discrimination in hiring, and the failures of public education. What does research and practice tell us about effective policies to connect residents of lower-income neighborhoods to labor market opportunities throughout metropolitan areas? Where can we point to success in adopting community centered or community-mediated solutions to these basic labor market failures?

Please join national and regional panelists as they discuss these issues. The national panel discussion will convene at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and will be streamed live to satellite locations. Following the national discussion, a regional discussion will be convened at each satellite location.

Energy Forum: The Costs and Opportunities of Energy Development

Monday, June 20
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Free Admission
To Register: email marketing@post-gazette.com or call (412) 263-3850. Include names of attendees.
More information

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the major forms of energy? What role should green energy play in this mix? How can society balance economic and environmental factors? Join the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and partners for the next energy forum as a distinguished panel of national and regional experts examine these questions.

Moderator:
David Shribman
Executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Introduction:
Joe Reinhart
Shareholder focusing on environmental law at Babst Calland and chairman of their Natural Resources Group

Panelists:
Jay Apt
Four-time Shuttle astronaut and CMU professor whose research focuses on the economics of the electricity industry

Robert Dye
Senior economist for The PNC Financial Services Group. Holds a petroleum engineering degree and doctorate in energy management

Lisa Graves Marcucci
Pleasant Hills resident and local activist on coal mining who works for the advocacy nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project

Jerry Richey
Executive vice president and chief legal officer of CONSOL Energy

Environmental Toxicity and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Friday, June 24
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Power Center Ballroom, Duquesne University, 600 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh
Call (412) 833-4360 or visit www.envirotoxicityandkids.com for more information.

This conference will address the science surrounding environmental toxins and their harmful effects on the neurodevelopmental system as well as offer potential strategies to create positive changes in the environment and health practices and policies. Speakers include Pediatric Neurologist Dr. Martha Herbert of Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School and Dr. Isaac Pessah, professor of toxicology at the University of California’s Davis School of Medicine. Co-hosted by Duquesne University and The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh.

Family Outdoor Festivals

Saturday, June 25 - Mellon Park
Saturday, July 23 - McKinley Park
Saturday, August 27 - Allegheny Commons
All events run from Noon until 4:00 pm
Free to the public. More information

Venture Outdoors Family and Community Programs will host three FREE festivals this summer. Each event features fun beginner-friendly activities. Try scaling the climbing wall, paddling a kayak on Lake Elizabeth, using a GPS unit to find treasures, or biking around the park! At the June 25th festival, kids can create their own sensory touch box with recycled materials provided by the Outdoor Classroom, and make a Squonk marionette with the Children's Museum. Hula hooping, nature activities, food and music from Pittsburgh's favorite DJ, DJ Nick Nice, will be offered at the event!

Resources

Regional commission asks towns to consider sustainable transportation

While transportation is a focus, economic development, small business, social equity, environmental justice, air quality conformity, health and population growth are all in the mix, said Matt Pavlosky, a SPC transportation planner. . . Mr. Gould said the agency's 2035 plan "was a departure from documents prior, the stepping out point" for the agency in planning for sustainable development. The Smart Growth Conference that is held here annually now serves as a forum for public input into the agency plan, he said.

Bicycle-sharing company eyes Pittsburgh

Bike Pittsburgh, which works to protect the rights of bicyclists and promotes bike safety, helped organize the event because it anticipates a bike-sharing program will be a part of the MOVEPGH project, a 25-year plan to outline goals for more transportation options, said Scott Bricker, Bike Pittsburgh's executive director.

Cranberry launches new initiatives to beef up collections of recyclables

Cranberry already has won accolades and grant money for innovation and diligence in boosting recycling rates, but, led by Lorin Meeder, environmental programs coordinator, the township has kicked off a second phase of its recycling program to take sustainable stewardship to another level.

More

Rapid transit seen between Downtown and Oakland

One of the advantages of bus rapid transit is much lower development cost than rail -- the Cleveland corridor was redeveloped for $200 million. A Downtown-to-Oakland rail line likely would cost more than $1 billion. . . "We see this as a major regional economic development and real estate project," said Ken Zapinski, senior vice president for transportation and infrastructure for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. "This is really an urban revitalization project that happens to have buses involved," said Court Gould, executive director of Sustainable Pittsburgh.

Let’s Talk Sustainability - science-themed online talk show, by youth, for youth, filmed before live audience

Let’s Talk Sustainability is an intensive youth development program that will support high school youth to develop expertise regarding sustainability, online broadcasting, and virtual world construction. Global Kids youth in New York City will combine this expertise to produce a talk show, featuring live interviews with scientists and other STEM-related professionals, pre-produced videos, and game show like activities. This talk show will be a virtual talk show, filmed before a live studio audience within the virtual world Second Life, and will be later archived with downloadable materials that will be made available for a broader audience and classrooms around the world.

School districts are scrambling to pare budgets in response to the proposed billion-dollar cut in state funding

There will be larger class sizes and fewer middle and elementary school foreign language classes, high school business and consumer science courses and elementary music programs throughout the region if the preliminary budgets approved by school boards in the wake of proposed state budget cuts become final.

Alarm raised anew on Port Authority deficit

To balance the budget that begins in July, the agency plans to spend much of its reserve fund and all of the remaining emergency funding that was provided by departing Gov. Ed Rendell early this year. Those one-time infusions total $40 million and will leave the authority with $10 million in reserves. If the state doesn't act to cure the transit system's chronic funding problems, the 2012-13 budget will be at least $30 million in the red.

WBCSD President Contributes to NAS Climate Change Report - Brings Business Perspective to America’s Climate Choices

America’s Climate Choices outlines the impacts climate change will have on the environment and its economic and humanitarian consequences. The report stresses that the inherent complexities of climate change are best met using a pragmatic approach and applying an iterative risk management framework to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating engagement between scientific and technical experts, as well as the stakeholders making America’s climate choices. It was authored by climate scientists, businessmen and politicians.

Jan Gehl on Safety

Want to prevent crime and keep people safe in traffic? Jan Gehl says the solution is to mix up pedestrians, bikes and cars into "shared spaces."

Famed architect Jan Gehl presents excerpts from his book Cities for People over at Streetsblog. This time, he's focusing on street types and traffic solutions, and (of course) taking a human-oriented approach:

"A number of recent urban planning ideologies deriving from accident statistics contend that the risk of accident can be reduced by physically mixing types of traffic in the same street under the heading of 'shared space.'

The underlying idea of these so-called shared streets is that they will give trucks, cars, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians of all ages the opportunity to travel quietly, side by side and with good eye contact. Serious accidents will rarely occur under such conditions, or so it is thought, because pedestrians and bicyclists need to be extra vigilant at all times."

The Earth Is Full

You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century — when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all — and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that we’d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once?

America's Tomorrow: Angela Glover Blackwell and Manuel Pastor

In the first video installment of our new multimedia series, "America's Tomorrow: Equity in a Changing Nation," I sat down with my friend and colleague Manuel Pastor to talk about the challenges and opportunities of America’s changing face. Manuel, who leads the University of Southern California’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equity and is one of the most insightful people I know, talked about the breadth of the coming demographic changes – and what it means for equity.

For information on becoming a Member of Sustainable Pittsburgh, please visit our website.

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Sustainable Pittsburgh affects decision-making in the Pittsburgh Region to integrate economic prosperity, social equity and environmental quality bringing sustainable solutions to communities and businesses.

Sustainable Pittsburgh benefits from support ($1,000 and up) in 2011 from:

Allegheny County - Dan Onorato, County Executive
Bayer Corporation
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
BNY Mellon
Dollar Bank
FedEx Ground
The Heinz Endowments
Highmark
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Pashek Associates LTD
Pittsburgh Quarterly
PNC Financial Services Group
Port Authority of Allegheny County
UPMC


Special thanks to the SP Members

Sustainable Pittsburgh
425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1335
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 258-6642
fax (412) 258-6645
E-mail SP