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Events

Is there Sustainable Development?

Sustainable Pittsburgh finds inspiration in the beautiful New York Sun letter of 1897 answering eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon's question, "Is There A Santa Claus?". The fun "sustainability" interpretation:

“Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. Yes, Virginia, there is Sustainability. It exists as certainly as nature nurtures and generosity toward the present and future generations exists, and you know advancing economy, environment, and equity leads to abundance and gives to your life the highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Sustainability! There would be no triple bottom line promise then, no innovation, no play book and optimism to make tolerable this existence. We should have no genuine progress, except in hollow yardsticks. The external light with which resolve for a better life fills the world would be extinguished."

Best wishes from Sustainable Pittsburgh in 2011!

Resources

Southwest PA Air Quality Partnership: Annual Meeting

Friday, January 7
8:15 am - Noon
Botany Hall at the Phipps Conservatory, 1 Schenley Park, Oakland
Please RSVP thom.swpaqp@hotmail.com

Please join the Southwest Pennsylvania Air Quality Partnership for breakfast and celebrating its 15th Anniversary. During the meeting, Michael Dawida of Scenic Pittsburgh will provide the keynote address, "Perceptions of Pittsburgh: Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow." Following Mr. Dawida is the feature persentation by Don Hopey and David Templeton of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, “Mapping Mortality.” Sean Nolan, DEP, will provide a 2010 Air Quality in Review after the Post-Gazette presentaiton.

Contemplating Governing - What is it like to serve in local office?

Westmoreland County
Mondays, January 10, 24 & 31, 2011
6:00 pm
Westmoreland Conservation District

Allegheny County
Thursdays, February 10, 17 & 24, 2011
6:00 pm
Green Tree Municipal Building

Butler County
Wednesdays, March 9, 16 & 23, 2011
6:00 pm
Cranberry Township Municipal Building

Cost: $45; upon a successful election, your $45 registration fee for Contemplating Governing will be applied to the registration fee for the Newly Elected Officials Course
For more information, please contact the Local Government Academy at 412-237-3171, or visit their website.

Contemplating Governing is an introducation to serving in local government. These sessions will help individuals decide if local government service is right for them and encourage responsible campaigning. Contemplating Governing is not political training. Instead, it focuses on the tasks and issues facing local government in the 21st century. This program provides citizens the chance to consider the opportunities, challenges, requirements and reasons to serve in local elected office. Topics include:

- Understanding the Pennsylvania local government environment, including powers and duites of various boards and commissions, such as City and Borough Councils, Township - Commissioners or Supervisors and School Boards
- Overcoming obstacles to running and meeting legal requirements
- Determining what is a responsible campaign pledge
- Understanding local government taxation and services
- Measuring board effectiveness
- Local government's important role in community sustainability
- Contemplating Governing is a three-part program, allowing you to choose a location or dates convenient for you.

Grow Pittsburgh offering A Garden Primer classes

January 13, 20, & 27 (Thursdays)
February 8, 15, & 22 (Tuesdays)
March 7, 14, & 21 (Mondays)
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
McElvy Room, East Liberty Presbyterian Church, 116 S Highland Ave., East Liberty
Cost: $60 ($50 for Grow Pittsburgh Members) Cost includes a detailed resource manual and dinner provided by Chipotle.
More information, including registration, is available at www.growpittsburgh.org

Don't know the first thing about vegetable gardening? Never even picked up a spade? Fear not - A Garden Primer will cover all the basics, including which tools beginner gardeners will need, what and where to plant, and when to harvest. In addition, those taking part in the course will be given step-by-step instruction on everything from starting a compost [pile] to properly transplanting seedlings. Whether working with a spacious backyard or an apartment balcony, participants will receive specialized advice and guidance to get their vegetable gardens going whatever the space. Space is limited so be sure to sign-up today!

ICLEI Webinar: Nation’s First Local Carbon Tax Legislation- The Case of Montgomery County, Maryland

Friday, January 21
1:00 pm - 2:20 pm
Contact Megan Wu for more information: megan.wu@iclei.org or (617) 960-3406.

Hear the first-hand accounting of the nation’s first local carbon tax legislation passed by the County Council of Montgomery County, Maryland on May 19, 2010; Learn the key issues to consider when proposing similar legislations in a locality; Learn the importance of and the strategies on legislative coalition building; Understand the potential implications of local carbon legislations for the national climate policy.

Reed Smith Spring 2011 Speaker Series:
The Intractable Career of James Crow III

Monday, January 31
12: 00 pm – 1:30 pm
School of Social Work Conference Center, 2017 Cathedral of Learning, 20th Floor, University of Pittsburgh Lunch will be provided; registration is not required. Contact: (412) 624-7382 / www.crsp.pitt.edu

The University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work, Center on Race and Social Problems presents "The Intractable Career of James Crow III," presented by Robert Hill, Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.

Robert Hill is the University's chief communications officer. For more than 20 years, he was a vice president at Syracuse University. In 1999, he served as California University of Pennsylvania's Vice President for University Advancement.

A product of Jim Crow and de facto segregated schools in St. Louis and New York City respectively, Hill has interrogated issues of racial equality/inequality for more than 40 years. At Pitt, he has celebrated the Black experience in his exhibition Free at Last?: Slavery in Pittsburgh in the 18th and 19th Centuries; his documentary K. Leroy Irvis: the Lion of Pennsylvania; and Blue Gold & Black: Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg Reports on the Pitt African American Experience, of which Hill is publisher.

Robert Hill holds a Harvard University certificate in management, an M.S. degree from Manhattan College, a B.S. degree from NYU's Stern School of Business, and an A.A.S. degree from Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Maurice Cox to Present at Design Excellence Lecture Series

Monday January 31
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
George Rowland White Theatre, University Center, Point Park University
414 Wood Street - Downtown Pittsburgh
Tickets: $20
More information

Have you ever stopped to wonder why your block, your neighborhood, or your city looks the way it does? More than likely, it was designed as a solution to a problem and a way to improve people's lives. Architecture affects us every day whether we are aware of it or not and our city would not look the way it does without inspired citizens. Architect, educator, and civic leader, Maurice Cox, is the second lecturer of the Design Excellence Lecture Series on Monday, January 31, 2011. A nationally recognized expert, Maurice explains that educating the public about design is the first step to empowering them to take control of their surroundings. Maurice is a professor at the University of Virginia, and has previously served as the Director of Design for the National Endowment for the Arts, was a city councilor and mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia, and is a founding partner of RBGC Architecture.

Following Maurice's presentation, a panel discussion with local design practitioners about the evening's presentation will take place.

10th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference:
Building Safe, Healthy and Livable Communities

February 3-5, 2011
Charlotte, NC
Visit www.NewPartners.org for more details.
Conference Brochure
NOTE: The Local Government Commission Scholarship is available to apply for until December 17th. Limited quanitities are available. The Diversity Scholarship is also available until December 30th.
To date, 50% of sessions have been approved for AICP accreditation, with 95% anticipated to be approved by the time of the conference.

Today, more than ever, people are faced with environmental and economic challenges that will define the current generation, shape the future, and test the resilience of cities, regions, states and the nation. Join leaders from across the U.S. in tackling these challenges head-on and demonstrate smart growth solutions that will reduce this country's dependence on foreign oil, create a green economy, assure a healthy population, and expand transportation and housing options for all Americans.

The program will kick off on Thursday morning and continue through Saturday afternoon and includes a dynamic mix of plenaries, breakouts, implementation workshops, specialized trainings, and coordinated networking activities. Exciting tours of local model projects from Charlotte, NC and surrounding cities will be featured. There will be something for everybody, from veteran experts to smart-growth novices, with nearly 90 sessions and workshops. Learn from hundreds of speakers who cross disciplines to share insights, and valuable tools and strategies for making smart growth a success in your community.

5th annual Farm to Table Pittsburgh local food conference

March 25 - 26, 2011
10:00 am - 5:00 pm both days
David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh
Ticket prices vary.
More information is available at: www.FarmToTablePA.com

Come to the conference to meet local food producers face to face. The two day conference is an immersion into the local food scene in Pittsburgh and the Southwest Region of Pennsylvania. Over 75 vendors including farms, farmers markets, restaurants and other local food producers are expected to be on hand. Conference highlights include speakers, cooking demonstrations, food samples and the ability to purchase food and wine directly from the vendors.

Resources

Local Township selected to as one of the STAR Beta Communities

In December 2010, the development of the STAR Community Index took a major leap forward with the selection of nine STAR Beta Communities. These leading cities and counties will collaborate with ICLEI to design and test STAR’s online performance management system—lending their insight and expertise to shape a tool that will benefit local governments nationwide. Locally, Cranberry Township was selected as a community. The full list of nine Beta Communities include:

• Atlanta, GA
• Boulder, CO
• Chattanooga, TN
• Cranberry Township, PA
• Des Moines, IA
• New York, NY
• King County, WA
• Washington, DC
• St Louis, MO

Keep Pittsburgh Moving! - Visit this website and take action!

Keep Pittsburgh Moving is a campaign to raise awareness of Pennsylvania's transportation funding crisis, with the ultimate result being to stimulate legislative action in Harrisburg and resolve the Pennsylvania transportation crisis.

The website, keepPGHmoving.com, enables visitors to create tailored messages or choose from prepared messages, and send them to their legislators, as well as share them via Facebook and Twitter. The gallery of messages that can be sent to state legislators reflects the broad repercussions of the transportation crisis. Among the messages are, “Let’s Not Become One Big Traffic Jam,” “The City Will Lose Downtown Jobs,” and “Let's Not Add More Commute Time.”

Help make a difference by sending a message to your newly elected state legislator! They must act immediately to fix the transportation budget deficit. It's important for members of the legislature to work together on a bipartisan basis to identify new revenue sources.

Video: Experience walking and biking culture in Pittsburgh

There are 446 Bridges, Most with Pedestrian Sidewalks!
This great video by our friend Clarence over at StreetFilms gives an excellent overview of Pittsburgh's bike culture and infrastructure. Having never been, and because Pittsburgh isn't as well covered by the national media, I had no idea that it was so vibrant and healthy. It's a nice surprise! If you are in the area, make sure to check out Bike Pittsburgh (become a member, or at least say "hello" on the message board). Readers from Pittsburgh, please share your experience in the comments below.

More

Marcellus Environmental Fund

This $1 million fund provides assistance to non-profits in western Pennsylvania that support projects and offer solutions that: Protect landowners and communities from the negative impact of development and drilling in Marcellus Shale regions; and Preserve Pennsylvania's natural resources and landscapes.

In case you missed it: "Mapping Mortality" An 8-part Post-Gazette series on Air Pollution in SWPA

Last week the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran an 8-part series on air pollution, "Mapping Mortality." The articles revealed that pollution problems remain far from solved in communities such as Shippingport and Monaca, Bellevue and Sewickley, Masontown and Clearfield, Cranberry and Bridgeville, Pittsburgh and hundreds of others.

This series is the result of a year-long investigation by the Post-Gazette into how much this region's air quality has improved since the passing of the Clean Air Act, forty years ago this month.

New Census numbers confirm the resurgence of cities

Taking a look at a number of indicators, they outlined the beginnings of a reversal of the 20th century story of urban decline. Instead they found evidence of city centers prospering and the aging suburbs around them falling into economic decline. Take a look at these maps of changes in median income by census tracts between 2000 and 2005-2009, courtesy of the NY Times site. Orange is positive, blue is negative.

Moving Past Gridlock: A Proposal for a Two-Year Transportation Law

The current political climate in Washington makes major reforms difficult. Yet there are tasks, some bold and sweeping, some targeted and incremental, the federal government can and must undertake to help states and metropolitan areas rebalance America’s economy. . .These include: federal performance measures in safety and system-wide asset management; a new partnership with metro areas that raise their own revenue that reduces bureaucracy and accelerates project delivery; and better coordination of existing federal credit assistance programs.

Philadelphia Solar City Partnership

With the development of a 3 MW solar PV system in Falls Township, Bucks County – the largest such system east of the Mississippi river – the Philadelphia region is fast becoming a leader in solar energy production. The Solar City Partnership, a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Energy and the City of Philadelphia, is developing its own solar energy initiatives. Philadelphia’s long-term goal for solar energy is to fully utilize its potential to safely, reliably and cost-effectively displace the use of energy generated by fossil fuels. The city’s "Solar City Partnership" will bring together a group of stakeholders to identify and remove the barriers to solar development in the city.

Philadelphia Green 2015

Building on Philadelphia’s commitment to become the greenest city in America, Mayor Michael A. Nutter today announced a bold action plan to transform 500 acres of empty or underused land into publicly accessible green space in neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia over the next five years. The new plan, called Green 2015, pledges that the City will partner with communities, local institutions, foundations and the private sector to assemble acreage that "connects people to parks" in underserved neighborhoods throughout the City. At the same time, the plan provides an innovative way to boost the City’s compliance with new federal stormwater regulations that require the City to reduce stormwater runoff into local rivers and streams.

Pittsburgh region 1 of 10 areas selected for Home Energy Scoring Program

Allegheny County was chosen as one of ten pilot locations nationally for a Department of Energy Home Energy Scoring Program. Similar to the government-rating of fuel efficiency for vehicles, a standardized home energy score is expected to help Americans know how many "miles to the gallon" their home gets. The Allegheny County pilot will partner with neighborhood house tours to highlight the score and energy efficiency improvements.

S.F. streets particularly mean for pedestrians

While the health effects of traffic include pollution, noise, stress and higher rates of asthma hospitalizations, pedestrian injuries are a blunt measure of the human cost of driving. . . A study by the hospital's injury center found the cost of treating 3,619 injured pedestrians between 2004 and 2008 amounted to $171 million in 2008 dollars. Three-quarters of the medical costs were paid by public funds.

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 2010 from:

Allegheny County - Dan Onorato, County Executive
Atkins Family Foundation
BNY Mellon
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Dollar Bank
Elsie H. Hillman Foundation
FedEx Ground
Highmark
Pashek Associates
Port Authority of Allegheny County
Richard King Mellon Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
UPMC
Waste Management


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