new orchard, old homes, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from mulch.thief’s photostream

Building One Pennsylvania is a statewide, grassroots coalition which emerged from a 2010 summit of more than 600 leaders concerned about how to deal with the problems of older cities, towns and boroughs in the state. These communities face the same problems: a diminished tax base, an increase in property taxes, a decline in school and municipal services, and a deteriorating infrastructure. The Building One Pennsylvania coalition is comprised of community leaders from many sectors including: municipal, school, faith, business, labor and civic. The group’s main goals are to “stabilize and revitalize their communities, reinvigorate local economies, and promote regional opportunity and sustainability.” Building One Pennsylvania works with its national partner, Building ONE America.

Building One Pennsylvania’s statewide steering committee has been holding regional events around the state. On October 27th, they held a conference of 800 people in Lancaster, PA which featured Shaun Donovan, United States Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, as the main speaker. Donovan spoke of what he called, “the tyranny of the ZIP code.” From LancasterOnline:

There’s a big divide in America that could be called “the tyranny of the ZIP code,” a member of President Obama’s cabinet said in Lancaster on Thursday.

If you live in the right ZIP code, with more access to opportunity, your chances of succeeding are much better.

And “while we have made real progress, despite the economic headwinds we’re still facing,” more needs to be done to level the playing field when it comes to housing and other opportunities, Shaun Donovan said.

Donovan and local officials at the conference identified a need for communities to take a regional approach to their common problems. Donovan added, “Solutions must be tailored to the area, not a one-size-fits-all.” There was also recognition that state and federal policymakers will have to play a real part in turning around Pennsylvania’s older communities. Leo Lutz,Columbia Mayor, said, “Like many of our communities, our problems are not caused by local decisions, and they will not be solved by local decisions.”

You can view a video of Donovan’s remarks to the conference here.

A shadow of the past, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from CubanoConFlickr’s photostream

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) is the regional planning agency for our area (Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland counties). According to SPC, “The Commission develops plans and programs for public investments; fulfills federal and state requirements for transportation, economic development, and local government assistance programs; and operates with public involvement and trust.” They direct approximately $33 billion in state and federal funds through 2030. The last time we wrote about SPC, they were taking public comments on their Public Participation Plan. This time, they have set up a public comment period and regional public meetings on the draft of their 2040 Long Range Transportation and Development Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania. There are four components to the plan. You can review each by clicking on the following links:

2040 Transportation and Development Plan for Southwestern Pennsylvania

Environmental Justice Benefits and Burdens Assessment for the 2040 Plan

Air Quality Conformity Determination for the Pittsburgh Transportation Management Area

Southwestern Pennsylvania Public Transit Human Services Coordinated Transportation Plan Update

The 30-day public comment period for the 2040 Long Range plan began on May 18th and will conclude on Friday, June 17, at 4:00 p.m.

You can attend a Public Participation Panel meeting to hear presentations, look at maps, ask questions, and submit your comments. The Pittsburgh meeting will take place:

June 8, 6:00 p.m.
Regional Enterprise Tower
31st floor
425 Sixth Avenue
Pittsburgh 15219-1852

If you cannot attend that meeting, written comments may be submitted:

Online:
www.spcregion.org

Mail:
SPC Comments,
425 Sixth Ave., Suite 2500
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-1852

Fax:
Comments, 412-391-9160

E-mail:
comments@spcregion.org

You can view the public notice here, for a full schedule of regional meetings.

Steel Town, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0)image from ecstaticist’s photostream

William H. Frey of the Brookings Institution recently took a look at migration within the United States and found an interesting fact: young, educated people are looking more to the Rust Belt and less to the Sun Belt. Frey identifies college graduates and young adults as groups which are usually considered the most mobile and coveted. For years the trend has been for these groups to flock to the Sun Belt states post-graduation. However in the new economy, young adults are less likely to migrate from their home states and, when they do migrate, they’re finding Rust Belt cities to now hold a greater attraction.

Why the change? One can assume it’s not for the weather, tax breaks or old economy jobs. One reason for the shift is that cities like Pittsburgh did not see a huge housing bubble — or housing bubble collapse — so there’s affordable, stable residential properties. Another key reason cited is that knowledge-based cities have become a magnet for the college-educated because that’s where the jobs are. The Brookings Institution chart shows that Pittsburgh in particular has turned a migration loss into a migration gain:

Richard Florida at The Atlantic notes about Brookings’ findings:

But perhaps the best news is that a significant number of older Rustbelt metros — like Buffalo, Cleveland, St. Louis, Hartford, and Milwaukee — that had been losing young adults and college grads have stemmed those previous losses, while others — including Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Baltimore, as well as New Orleans — have begun to turn them into gains.

While clearly the economic crisis has caused more young people to stay put in these locations, two other factors have influenced this shift. On the one hand, many of these regions have made long-term efforts to transform from industrial to knowledge-driven economies, which we know from the experience of greater Boston and other places take the better part of a generation to take hold. On the other hand, some of these cities and regions have also been at the forefront of efforts to develop strategies to make themselves more open and attractive to young college graduates, and these strategies may be starting to pay dividends.

One way to build on this trend is smart revitalization. We need to tap the economic potential to be found in our historic buildings, urban waterfronts and local business districts. Restoring existing structures is not only green, it creates the kind of vibrant and diverse neighborhoods that attract young professionals. Here’s a video by the City and Regional Planning Program at The Ohio State University which talks about the importance of sustainable development and investment in older communities:

Child Holding Green Plant, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from Pink Sherbet Photography’s photostream

What would our world look like if instead of our best and brightest college grads needing to take whatever job they could find right out of school, they could focus their energies and passions on building a sustainable society?

TerraShift is a Pittsburgh-based social venture which offers fellowships to recent college graduates and young professionals that include hands-on work experience, skill-building workshops, networking, and independent study time. It also gives them the time, space and support to do this by covering all their living expenses for one year. TerraShift’s focus is on giving these young people the skills and experience to go on to meaningful careers in the fields of sustainability, social justice, and societal progress. TerraShift then helps to place their fellows in effective change-making organizations (entrepreneurial, organizational, and institutional).

Here’s where your involvement is key. The Unreasonable Institute is a mentor-intensive program for startup entrepreneurs hungry to tackle the world’s greatest social and environmental problems. They’ve launched a competition in which the public votes with their wallets to decide who will be accepted into their institute. Forty-five finalists were chosen from across the globe and TerraShift is one of them. In order to win, they need to be one of the first twenty-five finalists to raise $8,000. To prove their entrepreneurial mettle, they must achieve this goal with the broadest support possible — meaning for this first week of the competition, supporters may not donate more than $10 (contribution caps increase incrementally each week). The competition aims to reach one million people worldwide.

You can view TerraShift’s video entry below. Once you have, you can tell the world that Pittsburgh is a city that supports social entrepreneurs by heading over to the Finalist Marketplace and making a contribution to TerraShift.

Who is Guyasuta? He was a Seneca chief who led the French and the British through the wilderness of western PA.

Six years ago, Councilman Peduto captured his spirit and created a Fellowship for young and young hearted Pittsburghers to help form public policy through a unique process. This year you are invited to be a part, as we study triple bottom line economics and see how it can be utilized to revitalize our neighborhoods. The fellowship is looking for young, committed residents of Western PA that plan on staying in the area for at least the next 2 to 5 years.

The first presentation of the fellowship this year, The New Deal/ A Better Deal – A Context For Historical Change, will take place on Thursday, October 29, 2009 6:30pm – 8:30pm at AVA Lounge, 126 S. Highland Avenue, 15206.
Just email pat@jacksonclark.net to sign up or learn more, or visit www.guyasutafellowship.com.