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Events

Time is running out!

Sign up now to attend the 6th Annual Regional Equitable Development Summit!

"Going Regional on Addressing Blighted and Abandoned Properties"

Tuesday, December 15
8:30 am - 12:30 pm (8:00 am - Registration and Continental Breakfast)
Twentieth Century Club, 4201 Bigelow Blvd., Oakland
Fee: $10 Sustainable Pittsburgh members; $15 non-members
Registration and details
Contact: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org or Lori Butler at 412-258-6642

Keynote presented by John Kromer, Sr. Consultant at the Fels Institute, author of Fixing Broken Cities: The Implementation of Urban Development Strategies

Also featuring:
Opening Remarks, Laura Zinski, Executive Director, Mon Valley Initiative

Strategy Panel:
Moderator: Irene McLaughlin
- Joanna Deming, Director of Outreach and Engagement, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania
- Michael Kohlman, Director, Beaver County Tax Claim Bureau
- Mark Minnerly, Director of Real Estate at The Mosites Company
- Jacqueline Parker, Deputy Secretary, Community Affairs and Development, PA Department of Community and Economic Development
- Kendall Pelling, Project Manager, East Liberty Development Inc. and Co-chair Vacant Property Working Group

Call to Action: Bracken Burns, Commissioner, Washington County

Resources

Planners Unite - Strategy Session

Thursday, December 3
11:45 am - 1:15 pm
Regional Enterprise Tower, 23rd Floor, A.E. Hunt Room
RSVP: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org
No fee to attend. Bring a bag lunch.

Community developers and planners unite! Let's not go out with a whimper.

Have you noticed during these hard economic times community planning is among the first to fall to the budget axe? What's a planner to do now that funding from the state and community investment in good planning is drying up to a trickle? How can we demonstrate community planning is nonexpendable? Come join us for a brown bag (bring your lunch) forum to discuss just how critical we know planning is to community and regional prosperity and deliberate how to put this imperative back to the priority it deserves. Governor's race, restructuring of state programs, regional planning, municipal cooperation... all topics for consideration.

This gathering will feature a presentation by Ed Boito of PA Works! followed by a panel reaction and group discussion.

Panel:
Court Gould, Sustainable Pittsburgh
Alex Graziani, Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County
Susan Hockenberry, Local Government Academy
Jason Kambitsis, City of Pittsburgh
Lew Villotti, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission

Presented by:
Southwest Section Council, Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association
Local Government Academy
Sustainable Pittsburgh

NEW UPDATES! 6th Annual Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Equitable Development Summit
"Going Regional on Addressing Blighted and Abandoned Properties"

Tuesday, December 15
8:30 am - 12:30 pm (8:00 am - Registration and Continental Breakfast)
Twentieth Century Club, 4201 Bigelow Blvd., Oakland
Fee: $10 Sustainable Pittsburgh members; $15 non-members
Registration and details
Contact: info@sustainablepittsburgh.org or Lori Butler at 412-258-6642
Keynote: John Kromer, Sr. Consultant at the Fels Institute, author of Fixing Broken Cities: The Implementation of Urban Development Strategies

*NEW* Featuring:

Opening Remarks, Laura Zinski, Executive Director, Mon Valley Initiative

Strategy Panel:
Moderator: Irene McLaughlin
- Joanna Deming, Director of Outreach and Engagement, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania
- Michael Kohlman, Director, Beaver County Tax Claim Bureau
- Mark Minnerly, Director of Real Estate at The Mosites Company
- Jacqueline Parker, Deputy Secretary, Community Affairs and Development, PA Department of Community and Economic Development
- Kendall Pelling, Project Manager, East Liberty Development Inc. and Co-chair Vacant Property Working Group

Call to Action: Bracken Burns, Commissioner, Washington County

The presence of blighted and abandoned properties is among Southwestern Pennsylvania's most pressing threats undermining sustainable communities and regional equitable development. Blight and abandonment is a tip of the iceberg issue that undermines and potentially exacts a downward spiral sentence on quality of life and prosperity across social, economic and environmental essentials for a sustainable community. Without mitigation, this problem will continue to grow and be a drain on the region’s resources. It undercuts the ability of the region's communities to maintain their footing as places of choice. There are real costs. As the Statewide Blight Task Force noted in 2008, “Blight is an “economic crime” costing taxpayers and municipalities millions of dollars annually in lost property tax revenues, sewer and water fees, and increased municipal expenditures.”

Addressing blight and abandonment offers the chance to build assets in a community. It is a win-win strategy that pays in stabilizing neighborhoods, increased revenue, job creation, increase in property values and lower crime. Given the regional nature of this issue, regional approaches are in order. However, at present, there exists no regional plan, decision-making table, nor coordinated regional effort to tackle the growing crisis of abandonment and blight in our communities.

This year's Summit will present findings are recommendations from recent work, specific to our region, on how regional capacity can be developed to address blight and abandonment. Practical strategies and cooperative efforts will be highlighted as ripe for deployment to the benefit of individual communities and the regional as a whole. The Summit will be a key milestone in developing new structures and well-substantiated plans for raising capacity around the region to attack blight and return properties to community benefit and often local tax rolls.

Keynote, John Kromer is Senior Consultant at the Fels Institute of Government and is the author of Fixing Broken Cities: The Implementation of Urban Development Strategies. He is a serving as strategic consultant to Sustainable Pittsburgh's Regional Blighted and Abandoned Properties Solutions Project.

Presented by:
- Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania
- Sustainable Pittsburgh's Sustainable Community Development Network
- University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs: Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership

Sponsored by:
- The Buhl Foundation
- The Heinz Endowments
- Richard King Mellon Foundation

Warren Miller's Dynasty

Friday, November 27
Matinee: 6:00 pm; Evening: 8:00 pm
Andrew Carnegie Library and Music Hall, Carnegie
Tickets: At the door: 4:00 pm show - $10.00; 8:00 pm show - $12.00
Any tickets purchased after Wednesday, November 25 at 2pm must be purchased at the door.
Details, including additional ticket information

From October through December 2009, Warren Miller’s Dynasty will crisscross the country on a nationwide film tour. Narrated by Jonny Moseley and presented in striking high-definition, Dynasty highlights winter’s most gripping explorations and ultimate challenges . . . the new, the old, and the unknown . . . the steep, the deep, and the unthinkable. Warren Miller’s Dynasty takes a breathtaking global tour of China, Alaska, Norway, Colorado, British Columbia, and more. Join legendary WME athlete Chris Anthony as he treks into China’s interior on a search for the birthplace of skiing; follow mountaineering marvel Chris Davenport to Norway’s highest peaks; reunite with the pride of the Midwestern ski community, Luke and Adam Schrab; and catch a rare glimpse at historic clips from Warren Miller Entertainment’s vault of vintage footage.

Marcellus Shale Documentary at Pitt

Showing of “Split Estate”
Wednesday, December 2
6:30 pm
Room 109, Barco Law Building, University of Pittsburgh, Oakland
Contact Steve Hvozdovich for more details: 412-765-3053 x 210 or shvozdovich@cleanwater.org
More information

Garfield County in western Colorado and Greene County in western Pennsylvania have one thing in common – environmental degradation due to drilling for Marcellus Shale natural gas. There is nothing like moving visual images to bring home the reality of that environmental degradation. In the documentary ‘Split Estate’ the impact of the drilling in Colorado is brought home in stark terms.

This documentary tells the chilling tale of discovering that you don’t own the mineral rights under your land, and that an energy company plans to drill for natural gas two hundred feet from your front door. Imagine having little recourse, other than accepting an unregulated industry in your backyard. 'Split Estate' maps a tragedy in the making, as citizens in the path of a new drilling boom in the Rocky Mountain West struggle against the erosion of their civil liberties, their communities and their health. Zeroing in on Garfield County, Colorado, and the San Juan Basin, this clarion call for accountability examines the growing environmental and social costs to an area now referred to as a “National Sacrifice Zone.”

No Impact Man: An Evening with Colin Beavan

Wednesday, December 2
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm (with a book signing afterward)
Edinboro University, Pogue Student Center
Light refreshments will be served.
Admission is free because of a grant from the Black Family Foundation.
More information

"Colin Beavan is a liberal schlub who got tired of listening to himself complain about the world without ever actually doing anything about it..." Thus, in November, 2006, Beavan launched a year-long project in which he, his wife, his two-year-old daughter and his four-year-old dog went off the grid and attempted to live in the middle of New York City with as little environmental impact as possible.

The point of the project was to experiment with ways of living that might both improve quality of life and be less harmful to the planet. It also provided a narrative vehicle by which to attract broad public attention to the range of pressing environmental crises including: food system sustainability, climate change, water scarcity, and materials and energy resource depletion.

Beavan's experiment in lifestyle redesign is the subject of his book (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) and a Sundance-selected documentary by independent film producers Laura Gabbert (Sunset Story, Getting to Know You) and Eden Wurmfeld (The Hammer, Puccini for Beginners, Kissing Jessica Stein). Beavan writes and administers the provocative environmental blog NoImpactMan.Com, which has become a meeting point for discussion of environmental issues from a "deep green" perspective. In addition to some 2,500 daily visitors and 4,000 daily page views, the site has 10,000 email and "newsreader" subscribers. About 1.8 million people have visited the blog since he established it a year and a half ago.

Developers' Workshop - Saving Time & Money with Low-impact Development

Friday, December 4
8:30 am - 3:00 pm
Westmoreland Conservation District, 218 Donohoe Road, Greensburg
Cost: $40, includes breakfast, lunch and materials
Registration due: TODAY - Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Visit the Westmoreland Conservation District Web site or call Christie at 724-837-5271, ext. 210.
Registration brochure

See how designing with - instead of against - the natural contours and features of a site makes good (dollars and) sense. Move less earth... Convey less water... create fewer (or no) basins... lower site lifetime costs... and gain aesthetic and environmental benefits with this “smart growth” approach. Some of the area’s most successful developers, planners, engineers, and designers will be at the District to share their practical perspectives. The day-long event will also feature a hands-on visioning activity using smart growth principals in low-impact development. Seating is limited and registration and pre-payment are required by Wednesday, November 25. Downloadable registration forms and electronic payment capability are available at the Westmoreland Conservation District web site.

“Race, Ethnicity, and College Student Development: From Theory to Practice”

Monday, December 7
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
School of Social Work Conference Center, 2017 Cathedral of Learning, 20th Floor, University of Pittsburgh, Oakland
Lunch will be provided
Registration is not required
Visit the Center on Race and Social Problems for more information or call 412-624-7382.
Information on presenter, Kathy W. Humphrey

The University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work Center on Race and Social Problems presents: “Race, Ethnicity, and College Student Development: From Theory to Practice” as part of its Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Fall 2009 Speaker Series. The featured speaker is Kathy W. Humphrey, Vice Provost and Dean of Students, University of Pittsburgh

Workshop Explores Wind Energy Manufacturing Opportunities

Wednesday, December 16
8:30 am - Noon
Sewall Center on the Robert Morris University campus, Moon Township
Free to attend
Register by contacting Mickey Denner at mdenner@pittsburghregion.org or by phone at 412-392-4555, ext. 3103.
Registration deadline is December 9, 2009.
More information

This free half-day workshop is for small- to mid-sized manufacturers wanting to explore the business opportunities related to the regional wind energy supply chain. Participants will learn about the structure of the wind energy supply chain and the components that are most in demand globally, what original equipment manufacturers in the wind energy industry look for in their suppliers and how capable regional manufacturers from targeted sectors can take advantage of growing supply chain prosperity in this alternative energy sector. Sectors targeted as potential matches for the wind energy supply chain include metal fabricators and foundries, machine shops and manufacturers of bearings, plastics, coatings, controls and electrical equipment and components (including turbines, generators, motors and fans). A case study from an existing regional manufacturer already involved in the wind energy supply chain will also be presented.

Pine Creek Watershed Conservation Plan Public Meeting Dates Scheduled

Thursday, January 28, 2010
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Rose Barn in North Park
Backup date is Thursday, February 4 if there is a meeting cancellation due to weather.

As reported in the October North Area Environmental Council (NAEC) Newsletter, NAEC and the Pine Creek Watershed Coalition (PCWC) are developing a Pine Creek Watershed Conservation Plan. The Pine Creek Watershed includes Bradford Woods, Etna, Franklin Park, Fox Chapel, Hampton, Indiana, Marshall, McCandless, O’Hara, Pine, Richland, Ross, Shaler, and Sharpsburg.

A Watershed Conservation Plan is a combination of watershed research and public opinion that works to restore, maintain, and enhance watershed resources. Local citizen participation in the planning effort is key to ensuring that the Watershed Conservation Plan responds to their community’s needs and concerns. Projects recommended in the plan will become eligible for future state and federal funding.

The first round of public meetings was held in June 2009 to provide input and identify issues and concerns related to the study. Using the information from these public meetings, public survey results, interviews with key watershed stakeholders, and the continued coordination with the plan’s study committee, draft management strategies and action plans are now being developed. The January 28 meeting is an additional opportunity for the public to provide input on the content of the management strategies and action plans and to prioritize them in a manner that will benefit not only the natural elements, but also the social fabric of the watershed. The meeting format will include an approximate 20-minute presentation of the watershed plan, management strategies, and action items. Following the presentation, several workshop areas will be set up, and the public will be invited to participate in a prioritization exercise and will discuss in small groups the strategies and action plans.

SAVE THE DATE: Diversity Conference

May 20-21, 2010
Holiday Inn Monroeville, 2750 Mosside Boulevard, Monroeville
CE, CLE credits will be available. Act 48 approval is pending. Resource Family re-certification hours available.
Contact: Jennie Thye at 412-471-8722 ext. 214 or jthye@3riversadopt.org

Plan to join Three Rivers Adoption Council and Family Design Resources for a compelling two-day conference exploring diversity issues impacting services to children & families. May 20th features keynote speaker, Dr. Sharon E. Moore, Professor of Social Work, University of Louisville. Dr. Moore will be addressing: “Racial and Ethnic Identity Development in Youth”. May 21st features a panel of distinguished professionals from the child welfare, juvenile justice, education, medical and mental health fields who will address the critical nature of diversity and inclusion in the practice of serving children and families. This conference is for professionals from the child welfare, juvenile justice, education, medical and mental health fields and for resource families.

Resources

Signs of Hope

I came to Detroit and its environs, the seat of America’s glorious industrial past, to see if I could get a glimpse of the future. Is the economic, social and physical deterioration that has caused so much misery in the Motor City a sign of what’s in store for larger and larger segments of the United States? Or are there new industries waiting in the wings — some of them right here in the Detroit metropolitan area — with new jobs and bright new prospects for whole new generations of American dreamers?

As Sewers Fill, Waste Poisons Waterways

One goal of the Clean Water Act of 1972 was to upgrade the nation’s sewer systems, many of them built more than a century ago, to handle growing populations and increasing runoff of rainwater and waste. During the 1970s and 1980s, Congress distributed more than $60 billion to cities to make sure that what goes into toilets, industrial drains and street grates would not endanger human health. But despite those upgrades, many sewer systems are still frequently overwhelmed, according to a New York Times analysis of environmental data. As a result, sewage is spilling into waterways. In the last three years alone, more than 9,400 of the nation’s 25,000 sewage systems — including those in major cities — have reported violating the law by dumping untreated or partly treated human waste, chemicals and other hazardous materials into rivers and lakes and elsewhere, according to data from state environmental agencies and the Environmental Protection Agency. But fewer than one in five sewage systems that broke the law were ever fined or otherwise sanctioned by state or federal regulators, the Times analysis shows.

More

The world saved the bankers. Now it is time for the bankers to return the favor

Depending on how you view it, climate change is either the biggest problem mankind faces or its greatest financial opportunity. For example, McKinsey has become known as a climate-change consultant, thanks to its greenhouse gas “cost abatement curve”. This clever little chart shows the relative opportunity costs of different abatement activities. McKinsey’s curve and expertise on climate change have opened the doors and pockets of ministries and industries around the globe. What is striking about the global cost-abatement curve is what a bargain it seems to be to lower emissions by protecting rainforests.

FLABEG Brings 200 Green Solar Jobs to Steel City

FLABEG based its decision to open a solar mirror factory in Pittsburgh based on several factors that could continue to feed more green jobs into the rust belt. Like many rust belt cities Pittsburgh hosts world class universities, a skilled industrial workforce, and a lively urban cultural scene.

United Nations call for a balanced and effective climate agreement

Seal the Deal! The United Nations is leading a powerful campaign to encourage governments to seal the deal on a fair, balanced and effective climate agreement when they meet in Copenhagen in December 2009. The Seal the Deal! campaign is mobilizing political leaders, the business sector and civil society on an ambitious, global scale to raise a strong call for urgent and united action on climate change. You are urged to join the global chorus and call on world leaders to agree on ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions before it is too late. You will have the opportunity to show your support for the campaign during the discussion at the United Nations Foundation by signing your name on the global Seal the Deal! petition on a large cotton cloth, which will then go to Copenhagen.

Will Complete Streets legislation get run over?

With more than 400 pedestrians killed every month in America, the desperate need for safe, "Complete Streets" in our communities is abundantly clear. In response to your emails and our advocacy, the Obama Administration is taking notice of the pedestrian safety crisis, but many in Congress have yet to make a stand on the issue. We need to demand safer streets from leaders in Washington. New roads should be built for all the people who use our streets - motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists - of every age and ability. Help make safer streets the law: Ask your representatives and senators to get vocal in support of the Complete Streets Act of 2009.

Energy-Frugal Recovery: Why Settle for Less?

Whoa!! Let’s pause and recalibrate before we equate economic “recovery” with our past practices of devouring land and consuming energy resources with near total abandon. As a nation we’ve been wastrels, to be sure. Our mall- and big box mania, dependent on 1-to-4-ton vehicles for simple shopping trips, demanding vast acreage of paved-over landscape, left us (before the current eruption of dead malls) with six times the shopping space, per capita, of Europe.

15 Cities for People Who Hate Driving and Long Commutes

Pittsburgh is a bit of an anomaly in that it is not a massive city—the population is just over 300,000, with a metro area of 2.4 million—but it has a large public transit system for its size. Pittsburgh's transit system, the Port Authority of Allegheny County, has a daily ridership of 240,000 on its buses and light rail.

The World's Looming 'Water Gap'

The bad: Global demand for water already exceeds supply -- about 1.1 billion people don't have access to clean water -- and the so-called water gap is increasing at an accelerating rate.

The good: Cost-effective, sustainable solutions are available to close the gap, particularly if governments and business focus on reducing demand rather than trying to generate additional supply.

The challenge: Getting beyond the nostrum that water is a "human right" so that water, which is obviously a scarce resource, can be priced in a way that drives conservation.

How a Soft Energy Path Could Put China on the Right Track to Sustainable Growth

China is putting forward aggressive policies to reduce energy intensity while still maintaining rapid development. But transformative sustainable development in China needs to respect some unique conditions if it is to be successful.

Hazard zone: Council is making mischief on city planning

The impact could be felt by just about any business in industrial or ed-med districts that wanted to change the use of land or an existing building, unless their intentions are specifically permitted, such as classroom space by universities. And that's just the collateral damage.

Panel of experts: County should revisit tabled toxic-air proposals

"Louisville decided to regulate air toxics because they are not a priority for the state and because there was a headline in the paper that said the city had the worst air in the Southeast," Ms. Anderson said. "Our mayor is very pro-economic development but he realized that such a headline can be devastating to economic development.

Prevailing wage bill coming up for debate in council

The prevailing wage bill is the first in a series of proposals that would place new rules on city-backed development purported to ensure it is friendly to workers, communities, the environment and low-income residents. A coalition of environmental, religious, community and labor groups is backing the package. . . Prevailing wage legislation would be a kick in the gut to those laboring to rebuild Pittsburgh, some developers said. "It would cripple our ability to do what we've said we're going to do with our little piece of Downtown," said Brian Walker, chief financial officer of Millcraft Industries, which is involved with several properties in the Market Square area and Fifth-Forbes corridor, Downtown. "We will stop doing development in Downtown Pittsburgh."

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 in 2009 from:

Bayer Corporation
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Buhl Foundation
Dollar Bank
Falk Foundation
FedEx Ground
The Giant Eagle Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
Richard King Mellon Foundation
Dylan Todd Simonds Foundation
University of Pittsburgh
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