Events

Resources

Transportation Funding Initiative: Information of Note to Report

New TFI information of note to report: The Governor's Transportation Funding and Reform Commission is to release an interim report by the end of August followed by a series of public input meetings around the state during the weeks of September 11 - 18. The Commission's final report will be issued on November 15 following the election. Thus, you can appreciate the narrow window of time for the legislature to determine a funding solution.

To date, 442 organizations and individuals have endorsed the Transportation Funding Initiative (TFI). If you haven’t already done so, please add your name to the growing list of those concerned with the looming financial crisis that threatens all modes of transportation in the Commonwealth and our region (whether or not you use public transportation). Go to: www.sustainablepittsburgh.org/TFI to view TFI website. Review the statement and principles urging action by the Governor and legislature, add your organization's name, jot a testimonial, and be a part of the ground swell calling for action by year-end to determine a long-term, reliable transportation funding solution.

Read the letter to the editor entitled, "We must work together to find a public transit funding solution," published in the Post-Gazette on 7/27 and note the interest of one business leader from the high tech sector http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06208/708899-110.stm.

Here are a few key milestones:
-End of August: Interim Commission report (Governor's Transportation Funding and Reform Commission - watch for public meet dates and times)

-September (weeks of 9/11 & 9/18 TBD): Commission hearings to collect public input
-9/4 Labor Day parade (outreach opportunity)
-10/5 PenTrans forum in Philadelphia with members of the Commission
-10/26 Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network public event where the transportation crisis will be featured
-11/7 Election Day
-11/15 Final Commission report due to Governor and
-11/23 Thanksgiving Day
-11/30 Legislature adjournment sine die
January 2007: Port Authority Allegheny County budget deficit of $31.5 million begins to be felt if no solution is found.

Conclusion:
- Transportation funding is OUR problem -- OUR issue, let's work together to solve it this year!
- The urgency continues to let the Governor and legislature know southwestern Pennsylvanians understand the critical contribution transportation and public transportation makes to our economy, society, and environment.

- Urge your network to endorse the Transportation Funding Initiative. - Stay tuned for the Governor's Commission interim report and public meeting in our area (information will be published in 3 E Links as soon as is available).

- Be prepared to communicate to the Commission not only the need for a long-term, reliable funding solution, but also for the "context" through which investments should be programmed strategically to achieve goals. Examples such as: revitalize our existing communities, complete the streets for all modes of transportation, advance SPC's recently released Regional Transit Vision, and plan for allowing access to jobs, etc. for citizens of our region - long into the future.

- If you have insights to share regarding strategy and key milestones, drop us at line at info@sustainablepittsburgh.org

Watch for the interior bus cards on Port Authority Allegheny County buses that state: Add your name to the 2006 Transportation Funding Initiative. Ensure YOUR input to the Governor’s Transportation Funding and Reform Commission to call for a solution to the current transportation funding crisis. For more information call 412-258-6642 or visit: www.sustainablepittsburgh.org/TFI.

Resources Continued

Mascaro Sustainability Initiative: Undergraduate Research Symposium

Thursday, August 3
10:30 am – 2 pm
Kresge Auditorium, 1175 Benedum Hall, University of Pittsburgh
Lunch Provided
Please RSVP to Kim Wisniewski at 412-624-6718 or kwis@engr.pitt.edu by July 28th

Learn about the 2006 undergraduate summer research projects in sustainable engineering.

Watershed Workshop in Western Pennsylvania

Saturday, October 14
8:30 am - 4 pm
Felician Sisters of Pennsylvania Provincial House
Coraopolis
Free, but space limited
Click to Register or call 1-800-321-7775
More Information

This workshop provides training for grassroots watershed groups, conservancies, municipal government officials and volunteers about the basic legal tools available that allow citizens to get involved in watershed and water quality protection. Topics covered may include: stormwater management, wetlands protection, total maximun daily loads, and much more. Those attending will receive manuals and other materials as well as a light breakfast and lunch.

South Central One-Day Predatory Lending Conference

Friday, October 27
9 am to 4 pm
Capital Union Building, Penn State, Harrisburg
Middletown
Download Registration Form (MS Word Document)

The South Central Assembly is holding a one day Predatory Lending Conference on October 27. Pennsylvania Secretary of Banking, William Schenck and PHFA Executive Director Brian Hudson are among the several top-notch speakers who will present information at the conference. The Assembly has five years of experience with its anti predatory lending effort, and this conference will provide a time to reflect on the current and emerging threats to the region from this insidious enemy of affordable housing.

Reconquering World Cities

The world’s most successful cities are integrating approaches to social, economic, and environmental issues, as well as addressing governmental concerns.

Think Global, Act Megaregional

We tend to conceptualize locally, in terms of our neighborhood, our town, our city, our suburbs, so that we miss the bigger picture of what is happening regionally, or indeed, megaregionally. Ground-breaking organizations, from Envision Utah to Envision Central Texas, from SCAG in southern California to the Regional Plan Association in New York, are working on these issues, but the awareness comes slowly that we are all part of the mainland, not islands unto ourselves, and that what affects our neighbor affects us and vice versa. Multinational corporations are keyed into this mentality, but many elected officials, frankly, are not. They are self-protecting institutionalists who want to preserve their own turf and do not want change. To plan spatially means to recognize that traditional jurisdictional boundaries have become obsolete. We find ourselves in the 21st century saddled with 19th-century jurisdictional baggage. Yet, we need planning that understands the new realities at a scale appropriate to the challenges and opportunities faced by megaregions in our nation’s third century of development. In the European Union and in Asia, according to CQGRD, major public and private investments in infrastructure have been made to develop strong interjurisdictional networks. These investments have strengthened transportation, communication, cultural, and economic connections in the major cities in the European Union and Asia. Why could not similar investments be made in America?

Going green 'to redesign comfort'

More than 60 researchers from across the country are in Pittsburgh this week making plans to revamp engineering courses so they incorporate education in minimizing construction waste, reducing energy use and maximizing natural resources such as solar energy and tree shade...This week's conference is part of the new $2 million federally funded Center for Engineering Sustainability, based at CMU and with partners at the University of Texas at Austin and Arizona State University. "Green building is something that not all contractors right now are familiar with or have certification in," said Dean Mosites, president of the building division for Robinson-based Mosites Construction Co. "But it's a competitive edge to be out there with experience in it.

"The Many Faces of Sprawl"

The Allegheny Front features a special roundtable discussion about development and land use in Pennsylvania begins our series "The Many Faces of Sprawl".

Roundtable Guests:
Janet Milkman, President and CEO, 10,000 Friends
Grant Ervin, Pittsburgh Policy Director, 10,000 Friends
Court Gould, Executive Director, Sustainable Pittsburgh
Gregory Crowley, Ph.D., Director of Research, Coro Center for Civic Leadership and author of "Politics of Place: Contentious Urban Redevelopment in Pittsburgh"

High Waters -- Price of Development?

Pennsylvania's never seen a Katrina, but big storms have devastated communities here. Nearly two years after Hurricane Ivan hit, some businesses and residents still hurt. Environmental officials say flooding has worsened statewide in the last century because of development. In our continuing series, The Many Faces of Sprawl, The Allegheny Front's Jennifer Szweda Jordan looks at flooding and ways to prevent it.

We must work together to find a public transit funding solution

A robust transportation network serves our economy the way the circulation system works inside the body. If blood can flow freely carrying nutrition to all body parts, you feel healthy and alive. Cut off the supply and you suffer. It's the same with our regional economy. If our network of highways, bridges and public transit systems can get people and freight where they need to go, the economy thrives. As that system crumbles, though, so does our economy.

Pennsylvania is at a critical juncture in development of ongoing funding to maintain and expand the transportation networks that serve urban, suburban and rural areas. Without a solution, for example, significant fare increases and cuts in public transportation service are inevitable as would be the negative impacts to southwestern Pennsylvania.

First LEED-Certified Airport Terminal - Boston

The new Delta Air Lines 'Terminal A' at Logan International Airport in Boston has achieved an environmental milestone as the world's first air terminal to earn LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The terminal, the first to be built since 9/11, was designed by architecture firm HOK (Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum), using Massport's 2001 guidelines for sustainable airport construction. The facility maximizes sustainable building methods and technologies, overcoming the significant obstacles inherent in bringing green design to airports. To combat the accelerated heat island effect and stormwater runoff issues typically caused by impervious surfaces on runways, parking lots and large roofs areas, for example, Terminal A features a roofing membrane and paving designed to reflect heat from the building and special stormwater filtration devices to remove suspended solids and total phosphorous.

Allegheny Places Update

The Allegheny Places Planning Team is currently in the process of planning and conducting Community Outreach Meetings to continue to gather input on the four Alternative Development Scenarios unveiled at our first Public Workshop in May at Robert Morris University, Downtown Campus. Special thanks go out to all of you who participated in our Workshop. The input that you and more than 160 other citizens provided is key to ensuring that Allegheny Places reflects the vision of those that live, work and play in Allegheny County.

For those of you who have not had a chance attend the public meeting or to provide comments, please review the 2025 Trend Scenario and the four Alternative Development Scenarios on our website at http://www.alleghenyplaces.com/news/index.asp and complete the digital comment form. Please note that the opportunity to comment on the current scenarios will be available online until August 18, 2006.

What's Next

The Alternative Development Scenarios will be evaluated and debated by the Team based on an impact analysis that is currently under way. The best parts of each scenario will be blended and a round of Public Meetings will be conducted to gather input. Additional e-mails alerting you of upcoming public meetings, as well as general planning updates will continue throughout the projects duration.
Thank you for your continued interest and involvement in the project!

Dan Onorato
Allegheny County Chief Executive

William Robinson
Allegheny County Council Representative

Vital Signs 2006 - 2007

This report tracks and analyzes 44 trends that are shaping our future, and includes graphs and charts to provide a visual comparison over time. Categories of trends include: Food, Agricultural Resources, Energy and Climate, Global Economy, Resource Economics, Environment, War and Conflict, Communications and Transportation, Population and Society, and Health and Disease.

The City of Portland Office of Sustainable Development

Practical resources for a healthy, prosperous, sustainable community. The Office of Sustainable Development's mission is to provide leadership and contribute practical solutions to ensure a prosperous community where people and nature thrive, now and in the future.

A Home of My Own: Rural Pennsylvania’s Affordable Housing Stock

Affordable, quality housing provides well-documented benefits to families, children, and the community at large. Recent research, sponsored by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, however, points to a shortage of affordable housing across rural Pennsylvania that varies by region and even from county to county. Dr. Rajen Mookerjee of Penn State University–Beaver and Drs. Angela M. Williams Foster and David Y. Miller of the University of Pittsburgh conducted the research in 2004 to determine the availability of quality affordable housing across Pennsylvania’s rural counties.

State mercury plan draws support

The standing-room-only crowd Tuesday at Pennsylvania's first public hearing on controlling mercury pollution was the largest turnout Ken Bowman can remember at a Western Pennsylvania environmental hearing since the landmark Clean Air Act hearings of the 1970s. More than 100 people from throughout the region attended the hearing on Washington's Landing. Thirty testified on rules proposed by the state Environmental Quality Board calling for a 90 percent reduction in mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants by 2015. Federal rules call for an 86 percent reduction by 2018.

Canon-McMillan High School to get wind turbine from state

By the start of this school year, students in Canon-McMillan School District will get a firsthand view of how wind energy is converted into power. The state Department of Environmental Protection announced July 12 that the district and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority in Jefferson, Greene County, were among 15 locations chosen statewide to receive 35-foot-high, technologically advanced wind turbines

Communities pledge funds for transit system in Butler County

Harmony officials have agreed to pledge $5,000 a year for five years to help launch a transit system to serve southwestern Butler County, and hope to offset that cost by leasing parking spaces for a park-n-ride lot.

Technology Consulting for Nonprofit Organizations

The Carnegie Mellon University course entitled “Technology Consulting in the Community” (TCinC) provides an excellent opportunity for nonprofits to assess and improve their information technology capabilities. It places the management of a nonprofit organization in a consulting partnership with a CMU Computer Science student as a consultant. Their common goal is to expand the capacity of the nonprofit to use, plan for and manage technology for use in administrative, operations and program management.

Future of Our Roads

Rising traffic demands require a new vision for the mile markers ahead.

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

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
(412) 258-6642
fax (412) 258-6645
E-mail SP