News Around the Neighborhood

Port Authority Public Comment Period

Port Authority of Allegheny County is considering eliminating its multi-zone system and switching to a single-zone, $2.50 flat fare, pay-on-enter system that would give riders a financial incentive to use their ConnectCard and make getting from A to B a better overall experience and value. A second public hearing will be held on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 from 3:00pm – 7:00pm in Alumni Hall, Connolly Ballroom, 4227 Fifth Avenue, Oakland. Those wishing to speak should pre-register by calling (412) 566-5187 (or (412) 231-7007 for TTY) weekdays from 9:00am – 3:30pm.

Farewell and Best Wishes to Lisa!

For the last 17 years, neighbors on the Allegheny West route have received friendly, prompt delivery from our mail-carrier, Lisa. Unfortunately for us, Lisa has decided that it’s time to move on. Her last day was February 19. We’ll all certainly miss her conscientious service, cheerful conversation, and pleasant smile! Thank you and best wishes, Lisa!

Tickets for Northsiders: A Lesson Before Dying

A Lesson Before Dying

Presented by Prime Stage Theatre
Sunday, March 6 and 13 | 2:30 PM

“I want you to show them the difference between what they think you are and what you can be.”

Jefferson is condemned for a crime he didn’t commit. Desperate, his godmother persuades a teacher to visit Jefferson and teach him to die with dignity. Romulus Linney adapts Ernest J. Gaine’s powerful drama about the value of human life.

Special Free Tickets for Northsiders

Coupon Code: NSS
Use this coupon code at check out to apply the discount.
[ebor_button style=”pomegranate” url=”https://primestage.secure.force.com/ticket#details_a0Sd000000EVgn8EAD”] Get Tickets Now [/ebor_button]

City of Asylum: Vu Tran Reading

Join us for an evening with Vu Tran on February 12 at 7:00 pm. He will be reading from his debut novel, Dragonfish.

7:00 p.m. Reception | 7:30 pm Reading, Talk, and Q&A | 8:30 pm Dessert and Informal Discussion

More information HERE

Carnegie Science Center: National Parks Adventure Day

Celebrate the grand opening of National Parks Adventure with an event all about the great outdoors.

National Parks Adventure, a new giant-screen film experience from MacGillivray Freeman Film, will play at Carnegie Science Center’s Rangos Omnimax Theater this winter and spring. The film, shown on Pittsburgh’s biggest screen, commemorates the U.S. National Park Service’s 100-year anniversary through breath-taking images of America’s natural treasures. Come inside, and fall in love with nature!

Find out more about the Grand Opening HERE

AWCC Now on Instagram

Allegheny West is officially on Instagram! Follow us @AlleghenyWest_pgh
Share (or continue to share) your pictures of our beautiful neighborhood by tagging them #AlleghenyWest or more directly with us by tagging us, putting @AlleghenyWest_pgh in the comments of your pictures on Instagram.

If you are new to Instagram or this makes absolutely no sense to you for any other reason (and you would like help figuring it out) you can email Sara at communications@alleghenywest.org.

CSA Tickets for Northsiders: A BRAND NEW WORLD

A Brand New World

Part of the New Hazlett CSA Performance Series
Thursday, February 11 | 8PM

The Community Supported Art performance series continues on Thursday, February 11 at 8PM with Ricardo Iamuuri’s A BRAND NEW WORLD: kill the artist. As Northside community members, we’d like to offer you a special discount to this new show.

You are invited to Cool World, where nothing is hotter than being cool, and creativity is packaged and sold for anyone to buy. One man challenges this reality, and now he must stand trial for his incendiary acts of arson. You are the witnesses, the judges, and the jury. The fate of this Wildfire Man rests in your hands.

Ricardo Iamuuri has created a six-part sound composition featuring foley art, timed events, and a visual score. Each object onstage carries an instrumental element, and field recordings and audio clips are woven throughout to sustain the narrative. The performance element adds yet another layer that engages the audience directly.

Special $15 Tickets for Northsiders

Coupon Code: NorthsideCSA
Use this coupon code at check out to apply the discount.
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Letter from the President – February 2016

Decisions, decisions…

Please come to the membership meeting this month. There are several issues that the Civic Council needs to make a decision on, and the more input we have the more likely we are to make decisions that benefit the entire neighborhood. (Plus, honestly, we need a quorum to actually make a decision…and I begged the ZBA for an extension and we’ll look kind of goofy if we still can’t take a position.)

First up: The Stables building has been in front of the Historic Review Commission and the Zoning Board of Adjustments this week. The Historic Review Commission has continued the decision to next month and asked the developer to address specific issues such as the proposed fourth story addition to the Stables, and design elements that more clearly differentiate the new addition from the historic building. AWCC has an option to make recommendations or raise concerns at next month’s hearing. The developers also managed to snag a spot on an incredibly crowded ZBA hearing agenda. (Apparently the next unscheduled openings are in April/May…I’m choosing to take that as a sign that there are lots of potentially interesting projects happening in the City, although I realize there are other possible interpretations.) However, because the hearing was scheduled after the developer’s presentation to the Membership, the ZBA agreed to give us 10 extra days to take a formal position and submit evidence. I want to make sure people are able to make an informed decision, so if there are specific pieces of information that people want to have in front of them at the meeting please send me a quick email at president@alleghenywest.org. We will provide the most current plans available, although the density and height requests have not changed since the last presentation. (Please please help us get to quorum…my dignity thanks you.)

Light of Life will also be presenting a plan for a zoning variance. They are requesting to increase the height of the wall on the property on Ridge Avenue to better secure the property. They also have made some additional progress on a plan to overhaul how their services are distributed on the Northside. It’s still in the early stages but we expect them to return in the next few months asking for additional community input.

Also, the Pittsburgh Oldtimers are also going to be on hand to make a presentation to the neighbors.

Finally, I’d like your opinion on how we should make use of the crime reports that the Zone 1 police department has started producing at the NSLC safety committee’s request. I’m one of those people who avoids the evening news because I think it spends too much time reporting on “interesting” crimes and it ends up making me paranoid and depressed. (Facebook, mumble mumble…) On the other hand, I’m a lover of data for data’s sake, and do think it’s important that we have an accurate understanding of what’s going on in our neighborhood. It’s really hard to argue for more resources if the official reports don’t show any issues in the neighborhood. I’m waffling between just posting the reports on the website and actually sending them to the email lists. I welcome your thoughts on this.

Trade-off: There always seem to be trade-offs.

Catherine Serventi
President, AWCC