News Around the Neighborhood

Above & Beyond

Feb 5, 2016 | , ,

This week I’d like to call out all the folks who have been working so hard to make the Stables project work. The developer, Andrew, and his team have been to well over a half dozen meetings, taking feedback from the neighborhood and incorporating it into the designs. That also means that various combinations of neighbors have been attending these meetings, pouring through plans and financials, asking important questions and making suggestions. Michael and Tim have also been working for literally years on the submissions for various historic designations. And Jon (the NSLC Conference) and Christa (our realtor) have been holding our hands the entire way. Maintaining and developing a historic property is amazingly complicated and much like the tour it would take an entire newsletter to list everyone (especially since I’ve only be heavily involved for 5 years and this project has a lonngggg history in the neighborhood).

Port Authority Public Comment Period

Feb 5, 2016 |

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. Unlike every other fare proposal Port Authority has implemented in the last 35 years, this proposal would lower the average cost for many riders in Allegheny County.

Public hearings will be held:

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Omni William Penn Hotel, William Penn Ballroom
530 William Penn Place, Downtown
11:00 am – 2:00 pm and 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Alumni Hall, Connolly Ballroom
4227 Fifth Avenue, Oakland
3:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Those wishing to register to speak at one or both hearings are encouraged to preregister by calling (412) 566-5187 or (412) 231-7007 for TTY weekdays from 9:00 am – 3:30 pm. Oral testimony will be limited to three minutes per speaker. Port Authority will provide a sign language interpreter.

One Clean Northside

Feb 5, 2016 |

Allegheny CleanWays, an organization that strives to engage and empower people to eliminate litter and illegal dumping in their communities, is working in the Northside! ACW is looking for volunteers to clean up illegal dumping (with the DumpBusters program), and is ready to partner with communities on existing and new litter cleanup efforts. ACW, along with the Pennsylvania Resources Council, also has recycling bins to distribute and is developing an anti-litter campaign.

If you are interested in any of these programs, please email Samantha Weaver at samantha.weaver@alleghenycleanways.org.

Mardi Gras on the Northside

Feb 5, 2016 | ,

It’s time for Northside Mardi Gras! More than two dozen Northside businesses are celebrating this weekend with live music, food and drink specials, and more! Try everything from Dixieland to rock & roll, from gumbo to po’boys, from classic cocktails to regional beers. You can find the full schedule of events at pittsburghnorthside.com. Just click the Mardi Gras logo to find your favorite music, food and drink!

We’ll finish with a great Fat Tuesday Party at the Allegheny Elks Lodge #339 on Tuesday, February 9th from 7:00-11:00 pm. Dixie Doc and the Dixieland All Stars will be playing, Jack “Johnny Angel” Hunt will be singing with the band, and we’ll crown our 2016 Mardi Gras King, WQED’s Rick Sebak! The Elks will be cooking New Orleans style and the bar will have specials. $15 at the door. Get there early because we sold out last year!

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Remember this Weekend’s Blizzard

Jan 26, 2016 |

Now that the snow is melting away, we can probably take a look back on the winter weather that just was, right? Neighbor Jim Wallace shares these photos from his front porch, looking out at Lincoln Avenue.

5th Annual Brunch Challenge to Support Northside Common Ministries

Jan 20, 2016 | ,

Are you free this Saturday, January 23rd from 11:00 am – 1:00 pm? If so, consider:

Each year 19 ti 12 chefs grin sine if the best eateries in the area come together to test their skills. They make a tasty brunch appetizer out of the food commonly distributed in the community food pantry. Along with a delightful meal, attendees enjoy some great music and a chance to meet other supporters of our neighborhood food pantry.

The event is at the New Hazlett Theatre in the Allegheny Center square. To reserve a seat, visit www.ncmin.org or call (412) 323-1163. Tickets sell out early – they are just $25 – so order now! All proceeds benefit the Northside Common Ministries Food Pantry.

Calling All Cooks!

Jan 20, 2016 |

Allegheny West is starting to gather recipes to compile a neighborhood cookbook to use for a fundraiser. Do you love to cook and have favorite recipes you know people would enjoy trying? Are there delicious and cherished family recipes you would be willing to share? Please send your recipes to Debra Kelly via email. Please double check for typos and ingredients and include your name. If you are submitting a family recipe, please include the name and relationship of the person whose recipe you are including.

Letter from the President – January 2016

Jan 8, 2016 |

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I’m one of those people who makes, and occasionally even keeps, New Year’s resolutions, so I thought I would share a couple of the resolutions I made for this year.

But before I do that, I do want to take a minute to send out a huge thank you to everyone who did such an amazing job on the Tour. Trish, along with Gloria & Carrie were really able to recruit and organize an amazing amount of support for the tour. I’m tempted to just list out everyone who helped but I’m pretty sure that it would take up the entire newsletter. I’m not sure folks realize that over 100 volunteers participate in the tour every year! For a neighborhood of somewhere around 300 people that just boggles my mind. We’ve been working with some of the other neighborhoods on how to support each other’s efforts and when people ask us how we manage to pull ours off I always end up saying “Have wonderful, great, amazing neighbors!” Not sure how useful that advice actually is, but frankly it’s the truth. Please join us for a Tour wrap up discussion before Tuesday’s membership meeting (7:00pm) so we can run through what worked really well and any ideas for things we want to try differently next year.

Back to the resolutions. This is it, this is the year! WE ARE GOING TO FINISH REVISING THE BYLAWS! There I said it, you all heard me. Feel free to stop me on the street and ask me how the bylaws are coming along. I promise not to deluge you with the minutiae of current best practices around conflicts of interest for Board of Directors for nonprofits. (Unless you really want to know…) A couple of more areas we also want to address are things like defining more clearly eligibility for voting memberships and the accountability and management of funds. If you’re interested in our current Bylaws they are posted on our site. Gloria, Jim and Bob M. have also put in a lot of effort on this project which will hopefully end soon.

Also, the grant for the Buhl Foundation came through, so you’ll start hearing a lot more from Martha and I about how we can improve quality of life. I have some other goals: sell all the real estate! Organize the filing in the office! But the bylaws and the Buhl grant will be my main focus for this year. Stay tuned to hear more from new and returning Committee chairs for their plans as well.

Finally, I hope to see you all at the first meeting of the new year. We’ll have presentations from the folks who are purchasing the Stables (yay!) about their plans for it, as well as our annual update from Calvary. We’ll also be welcoming the new Board members and thanking Board members who are rolling off the Board or changing positions. Hope to see you all there!

Catherine Serventi
President, AWCC

Our Community